Barracuda Studios have released a beautifully cast resin wickerwork seat for WNW’s recent Sopwith Camel.

The 3-part set is packed in a zip-lock bag with a card backing and comes with a detailed set of instructions.

The casting is essentially perfect in the sample set and the detail is quite exceptional. The back of the seat features a band of semi-open weave in the wickerwork (this is moulded totally solid in the WNW seat), and the individual strands are incredibly delicate. Particularly impressive is how Barracuda Studios have managed to cast the seat with almost no flash to clean out of the holes – there’s the faintest whisper in a couple of places, but most of the holes are already open (quite how they managed that, I really don’t know).

Fitting the new seat will entail a little basic surgery to the kit, because WNW moulded the original integrally with its supporting framework. But it shouldn’t be hard to remove with a fine razor saw, and once that’s done it’s merely a case of lining up the resin side-bars in the positions of the old ones you’ve trimmed off and the job’s finished.

An added bonus is that, where the kit seat only has one style of cushion, Barracuda Studios provide a choice of two - plain or buttoned. The creases and dimples are beautifully sculpted a for perfect well-used look.

Barracuda Studios have included excellent instructions with every one of their sets I’ve seen and the Wicker Seat is no exception. The small sheet has an easy to follow step-by-step guide with detailed advice, backed up by clear colour photos of each stage.

The instructions note that it may fit kits other than WNW's Camel (presumably Hobbycraft / Academy), but it’s designed specifically for the WNW kit, so you may have to make additional modifications not covered in the instructions if you use it in a different kit.

Conclusion

Not surprisingly, I loved WNW’s Camel when I reviewed it, but Barracuda Studios’ new replacement seat is a massive improvement on the kit version. It's just so darned good, it's not so much a question of would you want this for your Camel, but why wouldn't you. It’s very reasonably priced and definitely worth getting if you’re going to build the WNW kit. Unreservedly recommended for all modellers with a little experience with resin parts.

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