1:32 Sopwith Camel of Barker

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
While I wait for some materials to arrive to finish the display for my Hansa-Brandenburg W.29, I thought I'd make a start on the Sopwith F1 Camel, Serial B6313, of the Canadian ace William Barker.
As many of you will know, B6313 was the highest scoring Sopwith Camel of the war.
William Barker scored his first victory in July 1916, whilst serving as an observer, when he drove down a German scout aircraft using his observer’s gun.
In 1917 he began flying scouts and in B6313 scored a further 46 victories before moving on to fly the Sopwith Snipe, in which he scored his final 4 victories.
Camel B6313 was extensively modified and by 1918 had been altered by having 4 extra cooling slots cut into the engine cowl, cockpit decking removed, upper wing see-through centre section widened and the linen covering to the rear of the centre section removed.

It's this version of B6313 that I'll be modelling.
Here's a few shots of the centre section changes,

Mike

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by sandbagger

[Out2gtcha]

Nice work so far. Looking forward to more!

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Engine cowl extra cooling slots cut,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Here's the 'Clerget' engine, which is the kit supplied engine.
I decided not to fit an aftermarket engine, because as is the case with most rotary engine models, not much of the installed engine is visible through the engine cowl.
Now it's onto the cockpit,

Mike

[dora9]

Nice work on the Clerget!

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Just a quick update.
I decided to use the kit supplied modified centre section rather than the one I modified earlier. 
I've added the support hoop for the linen that was removed from trailing edge of the upper wing centre section of Barkers B6313,

Mike

 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I'm getting close to completing the cockpit, along with replacing the kit molded pipework with copper wire, adding a lot of additional pipework, adding cockpit bracing wires and flight control cables (with turnbuckles) and engine fuel control linkage. Also modifying the cockpit forward decking and adding bracing to the tail skid bay.
Hopefully I should be able to post some shots of the assembly before I close up the fuselage, when of course most of it won't been visible.

Mike 

[Bobs Buckles]

We look forward to seeing the cockpit, Mike!

Cheers,

vB 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Here's the cockpit left side frame, with bracing wires/turnbuckles, all new copper fuel supply and contents pipes, throttle control linkage and elevator control lines.
I still have to add aileron control lines, the under shield with rudder bar with rudder and tail skid control lines and attach the two middle elevator control lines to the control column. Also add the trigger lines to the two Vickers machine guns.
Then it's on to the cockpit right side frame with all of the fuel tank pressurization pipes.

Mike

Edited October 26, 2018 by sandbagger

[LSP_Kevin]

Terrific work, Mike! Seat belts look great.

 

Kev

[Jeff T]

Excellent work Mike!

 

Cheer's,

Jeff.

[SapperSix]

Amazing work!!

[MikeC]

Looking good.

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I think that's about it for the cockpit.

 

‘Barracuda Studios’ Wicker Seat and cushion (BR32332).
‘HGW Models’ Sopwith Camel seat belts (132590).
Copper micro-tubes for fuel supply to engine, main and auxiliary fuel tanks, fuel contents indicator and fuel tank pressurization.
Brass micro-tubes for a pipe 4-way union, pipe connectors and fuel filter.
Lead wire for gun trigger cables and engine ‘blip’ switch.
Rigging wires with turnbuckles for cockpit side frame, under shield and floor bracing.
Flight control cables with turnbuckles for Ailerons, rudder, elevator and tail skid.
Micro-tube for throttle control linkage.

 

Mike

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Uncarina]

Brilliant! Exquisite attention to detail. You’ve brought that cockpit to life!

 

Cheers,  Tom