Garage21

I was not pleased with the overall look of the rear assembly so I started a new one today. I wanted to capture the two-piece outer struts and the retaining straps on the outside edge and the piece I was working on just wasn't doing it for me. The last picture shows the one I did last week (bottom) and the new one I did today (top). I like the overall shape, proportions and "sleekness" of the new one much better. Once all the sanding and polishing is done, i'll use 1mm stainless steel rivets on the retaining straps which have been drilled out with a #70 bit. I'll finish up these two pieces and start the rudder tomorrow. Stay tuned. G21.

Work continues on the back end. Progress comes slowly... Lots of work left to be done... Last picture is the pot metal pieces that came with the kit next to the brass pieces I started fabricating this evening.

Seems like that's what happens every time I try and build a kit. I suppose that's why i've never competed a large-scale model in less than 9 months.

Second attempt at rear end using actual blue prints proved to be much more successful. The outer line across the rear wing and rear stabilizer is a perfect continuation from one component to the next. Only way I could figure out how to do that was to build both pieces as a single assembly and then split them when done. This way everything should align perfectly. Pictures are post fabrication but pre-cleanup. G21. The new piece is a few cm larger however as I went off the measurements of the Sopwith Company blueprints and not the plans that came with the Model Airways kit..

Lesson learned indeed Bill.

Wow! Stupid Mistake! Just realized that I went off the model plans and not the actual Sopwith Camel plans when I fabricated the rear stabilizer. The design and specs in the kit are completely wrong (big surprise). To be fair, Model Airways had to make some concessions to scale when they did the kit, but there is a lot of detail missing. Off to the Metal Supermarket to get more brass stock and then... Starting Over. Stay tuned.

Sorry Kevin. Didn't mean to confuse. I just found that seeing the flame gives me a lot more control and accuracy. When I used to use a soldering iron, I could never get the metal hot enough or I ended up heating a far bigger area than I wanted to. I have much more success with a gas torch when I'm soldering. When I use a torch, I can make things much hotter a lot faster.

Bill - if you want my advice, skip soldering and get a torch. So much easier and so much more precise. My torch allows me to do three times the work, with much better results in half the time than what a soldering iron used to take.

With the turnbuckles fabricated I decided to work on something a little larger because my hands and eyes were killing me. Started with the rear stabilizer. Hopefully can get the rest of the rear end fabricated this weekend. Still some sanding and shaping to be done. And have to drill out the two inner-most spreader bars and solder in some eyelets. But the shape is definitely there. I love working in brass.

Have you ever been sitting around your workshop when suddenly you say to yourself, "Self... I wonder how long it would take to hand make 110 1:16 scale turnbuckles and what would they look like when I was done?" The answer is "about 10 days" and this. There is still much sanding, shaping and polishing to be done, not to mention redialing the center hole and running the safety wire. But at least they've been fabricated and I can now move on. Stay tuned.

Two - That is the picture i've been looking for! No doubt now what the proper configuration is. And, contrary to what I thought, it's not a strap that wraps around but a rod the uses wood screws at each end. Thanks very much for sharing - that's incredibly helpful. Andy.

Mike - I have to believe they were made of brass. That's what i'll be using.

I just remembered that I bought the blueprints for the Camel. And the answer is... STRAPS.

You are correct Juggernut; that is indeed the rear stabilizer. But every picture of every wing surface seems to show those metal straps (not that I have that many pictures mind you). What I can't figure out is why would Model Airlines go to such length to provide 50 of those tiny little wooden struts if they weren't even historically accurate?

The first and second photo below show the leading edge of the Model Airways 1:16 Sopwith Camel. The third photo shows a 1:1 Sopwith Camel is restoration. If you look at the three red boxes, you can see that the model uses a tiny wooden insert at the leading edge between each wing rib, while the actual plane shows a metal strap in that same position. I've seen other photos of actual camels and they all seem to show the metal strap that winds around the front of the leading edge of the wings. I'm leaning towards the metal strap, but I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into what's right.

OK Tim - We have clarification. What the older gentleman didn't mention (or I didn't hear clearly) was that he was talking about storage. When all the spare turnbuckles were in storage, each end was supposed to be screwed all the way in so the entire unit was as short as it could be and the "tops" were supposed to close on one side while the "bottoms" closed on the other side (when hanging in a row on a wall). I got this from a friend of mine who is a retired Navy machinist. Apparently, he was expected to keep all of his tools stored in descending order according to size. Everything in the shop and in the garage was expected to be perfectly aligned, straightened and facing the same direction as the tools next to it, behind it or in front of it. When I asked my friend why he replied simply "because someone with more stripes on his sleeve than me said so". Apparently it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual usage of the device itself. It was just about keeping and orderly supply room.

I was kinda thinking the same thing Tim and, for the life of me, I can't begin to imagine how this would impact strength or usability. And since the entire design concept of the turnbuckle is that each end is adjusted independently, I'm not sure why this matters. That being said, the gentleman was older than me and seemed very convinced in the accuracy of his advice so I went with it. He was a kindly veteran who seemed to enjoy sharing tales of aircraft mechanics and such. Obviously not a WWI vet, but a proud veteran none the less and that, by itself, demands my respect. And whether it makes a bit of difference or not, it does look kinda cool. Andy

As fabrication of the turnbuckles continues, my production speed is getting better. The first step is the pre-drill the outer sleeve and then score the brass tube (photo 1). Next each individual piece is broken off (photo 2). The the sleeves are sanded down on each end and cleaned up a little bit (photo 3). The last photo is the first two dozen units from last night. Should have the next batch of 30 units completed by tomorrow. NOTE - when fabricating turnbuckles, I was told it was important to make sure that each eye loop "finished" on opposite sides. Soooooooo... each turnbuckle in the picture above has one end with the loop ending on the top and the other on the bottom (effectively creating an elongated figure 8 on its side). Not sure what the engineering principle is behind this, but a guy at the US Airforce Museum told me that's how it's done and he was wearing a Airforce Veteran hat so I didn't argue.

Thanks Mustang. I really enjoyed building both of those cars.

Twobad - these pictures are priceless! Thank you very much for sharing them.

Hi Kensar - No, the airframe will remain in skeletal form. I think the "guts" are the coolest part. Andy.

I cut the inner jackets, soldered the pieces, drilled out the safety wire holes and starting attaching the eye bolt ends. I'll finish the first two dozen tomorrow and then get started on the next group. I figure if I can do 24 per night, i'll have the 100 required for the wings done by the weekend. This first set will have eye bolts at each end as per the reference photo below.

While the first coat of stain gasses out on the wooden spars, I'm getting to work on the turnbuckles. The first step was to pre-drill each center jacket for the safety wire. This was much easier to do before sectioning off each individual piece. I very small end mill made drilling out the hole pretty simple. The jackets will be filed and cleaned up and the first two-dozen turnbuckles should be done tonight. Stay tuned.

You make a very good point Jennings. Now the plane in the photo is a Sopwith, but not a Camel. So if we believe that this is either a replica or a restored original, the question is, did they fabricate and finish the wood in the Pup differently than the Camel? It's hard for me to believe that someone would have gone to all the effort to either create this replica or restore an original and not follow historical protocol. And either way - it does look kinda cool.

So Bill was kind enough to provide me with the Sopwith reference photo as an answer to a question I asked in a different section of the forum. My question was answered, but this photo now raises a second question... If you look at the wing rib caps vs. the spars, it's pretty clear that they are two different tones. I don't know if this is due to using different woods or different stains, but the difference in color tone is clear. So the question is, should I do this on my model? My spars are dark so should I do the caps in a lighter tone? Or an even darker tone than the spars? I think it may look interesting, but I'd like others wo weigh in.