Hobbycraft Sopwith Camel

[Jester]

Hi Jimbo,

Just thought I would drop in and take a look.... Your work is amazing. The wood grain effect is very well done! I think I should pull out my camel now and take another look! Yes... you have me inspired; keep up the good work! Can't wait to see the finished work.

 

Happy Modeling

Gary in Fla

[Haggis]

I love that wood effect Jimbo, very inspirational.

[Klaus H]

another very nice WWI plane. i am always very impressed about how you guys can copy the look of wood. this dark wood is especially atractive. really really nice.

 

yours klaus

[jimbo]

Hey all;

 

Thanks again so much for the continued kind words and encouragement.

 

I made a lot of progress this past weekend, now this bird really has wings! I made a jig from some foam-core board and got the upper wing in place, with a bit of cussin' & fussin' of course. On the way to my own "That's so F***ing Cool moment, a bit of sweat here and there and presto! She can fly.

 

The biggest surprise to me was that I think the cabane struts may be a wee bit too long, and the bottom (fuselage) front cabane mounts are maybe a wee bit too far forward. The front cabanes now lean towards the rear. Since I don't have very comprehensive research materials, I'm letting it go, but you all may wish to check that. If you go by the side-view profiles on the box-bottom, the front cabane struts should be near-vertical. And, because the cabanes may be a bit too long, the top wing now has a wee bit of "reverse dihedral"; it humps up in the middle a couple of mm's. While I can't do anything about it, I'd like to know (so others may know) if this is correct or not. Of course, if one shortens the cabanes, then that will most likely cure all of these issues, the hump in the wing and the rearward leaning struts.

[jimbo]

A rear 3/4 view; I also dry-brushed the upper wing surfaces a bit, and the areas that need it are clear-coated for decals.

[jimbo]

Spent Sunday afternoon decalling. And dealing with disaster. A hint to all who try it: the decals provided with this kit are printed on white-background stock. PAY ATTENTION! study them carefully! There a several styles of roundel; there are the top-wing style, which are larger, and have the white center AND the thin (1mm) white outer ring; there are smaller bottom wing versions, which have the white center but NO outer thin band, and then there are styles without white centers, for different variations (as indicated by the ? in the color profiles). Since my eyes aren't what they used to be, I used the wrong decals on the bottom wing and had them solva-set in place, both of them, before I realized the error. So I did not have the correct top-wing roundels, and had to cut my own 1 mm band to go round them. As a result, I 1) had to mask and paint over the thin band on the bottom wing and 2) the top-wing roundels are too small, by about 1.5 mm all round. Live and learn. It doesn't bother me, but I just want to make sure others don't make the same mistake

[jimbo]

Here you can see the upper roundels, which should, I believe, span almost from edge-to-edge of the wing. Rats!

 

Lots of detail to come; exhaust pipes, shell-ejection chutes, waethering, paint chipping, flat-coating, and (ack!) rigging... To be continued...

[Gene]

Absolutely masterful work Jimbo! Really captures the delicacy of the wings. Finishing coming along sooo beuatifully. What a treat to behold!

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

really nice work so far Jimbo! She is coming along together very nicely. Don't stress too much over the decals as they don't take away from the model at all. There must have been some variation in the field, and as far as I know there was some experimentation with the sizes of roundrels, at least during the Camofluage trials with the Salamanders.

 

Superb pictures as well Jimbo.

 

Cheers mate,

 

Jay

[jimbo]

Thanks Gene and Jay!

 

Indeed, that's one of the nicer things about this kit, they seemed to capture a very nice, thin wing section, same goes for the struts. The struts needed a bit of clean-up for parting lines, but not too bad, really.

 

Jay, I agree with you re: variations in markings... I hope I can dull them down a bit with the flat coat; they look so, well, new...

 

Thanks also re: the pictures; I bought this camera last June and it was the best thing I've done in a while (It's a Panasonic/Lumix FZ-20, in case anyone is wondering). Big light bucket of a lens, good macro, adjustable settings, etc... I love it.

 

Jimbo

 

PS to clarify my point about the decal sheet being printed on white-background paper, it's very hard to see the white border on the roundels, thus my little f***-up... So use a magnifier and good light to determine which ones you want to use.

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

 

Jay, I agree with you re: variations in markings... I hope I can dull them down a bit with the flat coat; they look so, well, new...

 

Hi Jimbo;

 

you could also use the oils to give the model a "wash" and once they are almost dry ( next day) draw the excess off in streaks across the decals. Once you try it tou will see what I mean and how cool it looks.

 

Cheers mate,

 

Jay

[jimbo]

you could also use the oils to give the model a "wash" and once they are almost dry ( next day) draw the excess off in streaks across the decals. Once you try it tou will see what I mean and how cool it looks.

 

Jay;

 

So, for your washes, do you use some sort of drying-time-extender? The reason I ask is I've been using Grumbacher Artist's Oil paint, thinned with plain old mineral spirits, and it seems to dry within a few hours.

 

Like many folks, washes are, to me, a very tricky thing to get right. Sometimes I have gotten lucky, I guess, and it's worked out fine; other times it seems to have been a train wreck from the beginning. So, your advice, sir, would be most appreciated!

 

I have thought of using some weathering powders (Bragdon's); but would want to do a wash first, if that's the way to go.

 

Many, many thanks.

 

Jimbo

[Guest LSP_Jay L]

Hi Jimbo;

 

I use Gryffin Alkyd Oils from Winsor and Newton, and thin them with white spirits. My washed tend to be thicker than others and I find they are malleable for a day after I apply them. If they get to tacky I simply dip the cotton bud ( Q-Tip to you Yanks! ) in thinner and rub it off. Oild should really be malleable for a week but I use the Gryffin Alkyd as they are much quicker drying. Of course the amount of thinners in them speeds them up as well, which is why I prefer mine to be slightly thicker.

 

The most important part is to ensure you have a good smooth gloss coat on ( acrylic )

 

If you are going to use powders as well, only use them after you matte the model down, otherwise they will not be as effective. I use CMK myself as they are the perfect mix of adhesion and versatility, although I have never heard of Bragdons and they may be just as good.

 

I am just about finished the washing on my P-4 so if you have a look at that thread I'll go do a pictoral now and show you my technique. Hopefully I'll swazzle the lower wing roundel in the manner I am talking about.

 

Cheers mate,

 

Jay

[jimbo]

Thanks so much for the tips, Jay, it means a lot to me for now and for the future.

 

I had already given the Camel a clear flat coat, and so I went ahead with some weathering powders (the Bragdons are adhesive weathering powders, which, unlike pastels, don't necessarily need to be sealed after application; it sounds like CMK are similar). I'll post some photos of my results later; I'm pretty pleased with it.

 

As you all probably know, I'm back in this after a long hiatus and there are so many newer techniques for me to learn. One thing I discovered is that dry-brushing works better on a glossy surface; the detail is picked out better without the entire area being colored. So, too, it would seem that washes will work better over a glossy surface, perhaps for the same reason.

 

The oils I have are pretty old tubes, so I think I will get me some fresh tubes to play with and they may act better.

 

I'm also experimenting with various paint types; so far I have used automotive lacquer primer, Model Master enamels, Tamiya acrylics, Polly-Scale acrylics, Future, Testors clear flat lacquer, Grumbacher oils, and probably others that I can't remember at all... But, like I say, I'm experimating and having fun at the same time

 

I'll check out your P-40 build again too. Thanks again so much!

 

Jimbo

[PietvWdV]

Jimbo, your build is great. But I especially want to comment on the green canvas parts, which have a depth that for me really captures the spirit of the plane and the era. Very well done. I am truly impressed.