WNW Sopwith Camel (Bentley BR.1)

[ZachP319]

Work progresses on the camel. 

 

Little more work done on the Bentley: 

 

Used a number of washes to make this look like it's had some hours on the engine. I deviated from the WNW painting instructions a bit as it was just a tonal crush of silver so I added some blacks grays and rusts to give it some interest in the cowling. Iginition wiring was done using beading wire which I bought at Michael's for such purposes. As it comes off the spool it's a little too stiff to be truly useful or lifelike but I find that if I anneal it in a tea light it is quite malleable and in this case the annealing process gave the wire a nice finish so I did not need to paint it. 

 

I have decided to use this scheme:

 

I realized I have a little theme going within my biplane collection of immediate post war service and I think it will be interesting. I have Soviet AF decals for the My Nie 17, Irish for the Bristol, RAF for the Ninak, Freikorps for the Roland D VIb and Yugoslav for the HPH Aviatik Berg D1. So a Polish Camel fits right in. I could probably find something 

 

 

I have actually made more progress than the engine but I am a little frustrated. I joined the fuselage halves but something must have been misaligned because they bottom seem was a real PIA to close up and I actually needed a little filler. Leave it to me to need filler on a WNW kit. The bottom wing was a very snug fit but I got it seated properly. This was difficult as there very little you can put pressure on to get it seated. I got it set but in the process one of my internal rigging lines came loose and I haven't a prayer of getting at it to fix it. 

 

I feel like this is grounds for being put in Wingnut Jail. Nothing seemed to be misaligned but not matter what i did this was a tough seem. 

 

Here is a shot of the interior in the fuselage

 

here the top deck is just dry fit onto the fuselage assembly

 

 

Zach 

[Wolf Buddee]

Looks good so far Zach.

 

Don't be too surprised by the fact you needed filler for the bottom fuselage join. Dry fitting all the components and closing up the fuselage on my own kit shows that the lower fuselage doesn't fit level at the seam so some filler is going to be needed to get a perfectly flat fuselage bottom. It's not anything you did Zach. I think the lower fuselage is a weak point on this kit as there is no fabric over wood frame detail at all on the bottom either. I think WnWs would have had to provide a separate lower fuselage piece to create that effect. Nonetheless it's a brilliant kit. I just need to get my rear in gear and back to it.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

[geedubelyer]

Hi Zach, too bad about the seam under the fuselage.

Can't help wondering if it may have been caused by paint in joints. I've read many accounts where paint has caused similar issues on these WNW kits because fit is so tight.

Glad you got it sorted though and it's great to see how beautifully your engine turned out.

Keep at it as I can see the end result being spectacular.

Cheers.

[LSP_K2]

Well here goes. Every time I do a WIP thread its a death nell to that project at least in the short term....

 

Zach

 

I can certainly relate to that. I'm working on the Dragon/Cyber Hobby BF 109E-4 kit right now, but have no WIP, and for that very same reason.

[MikeC]

Hi Zach, too bad about the seam under the fuselage.

Can't help wondering if it may have been caused by paint in joints. I've read many accounts where paint has caused similar issues on these WNW kits because fit is so tight.

Glad you got it sorted though and it's great to see how beautifully your engine turned out.

Keep at it as I can see the end result being spectacular.

Cheers.

Yes, I've found myself that paint in the wrong place does make a difference.  But you got it sorted, and moving on.  Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

 

You say "I feel like this is grounds for being put in Wingnut Jail."  Not for a first offence, but just watch yourself ...