Roden

1/72 Sopwith F.1/3 Comic Fighter (Camel Interceptor)

Kit Number: 051

Reviewed by  Clare Wentzel, IPMS# 1096

MSRP: $12.99 Website: www.rodenplant.com During World War One, as the Germans started to bomb England with Zeppelins and strategic bombers, the Royal Flying Corps was called upon to augment the Home Defense anti-aircraft guns with aircraft that could intercept these invaders. Their first attempt was a modification to the Sopwith 1½ Strutter, a two-seater fighter/trainer with modest flight and performance characteristics. For night interception, the front cockpit was faired over and two Lewis guns were mounted over the wing. Some of these could even fire upward, similar to the German WW II "Jazz Music" scheme. This modification to the 1½ Strutter was nicknamed the "Comic", either because of its strange looks or its marginal performance. To try to produce a better night interceptor, Sopwith then modified their successful Camel for night fighting. To accomplish this, they utilized the same over-wing mounting of two Lewis guns instead of the fuselage-mounted Vickers guns of a normal Camel and they moved the cockpit rearward for better visibility and so that the pilot could better handle the guns. The opening in the upper wing was also increased. For proper balance, the fuel tank was moved to a position in front of the cockpit. This model, the Sopwith F.1/3, also received the nickname of "Comic". The Kit Roden offers an extensive number of kits of WWI aircraft and they try to make maximum usage of the molds by offering as many variants as feasible. Common parts are included on a single sprue and other sprues provide the unique parts. In the case of the Sopwith Camel, Roden offer six different variants, including this kit. As with most Roden designs, this kit is molded from a soft gray plastic and features reasonable detail. Panel lines and surface details are well molded and the fuselage includes a certain amount of interior detail. Decals are provided for four different aircraft. On the negative side, the kit features fairly large sprue connections. Extra care must be taken in removing parts and some parts were really smaller than their connections. A few very small parts disappeared on my desk as I was cutting them off. Also, the soft plastic breaks easily. Much care must be taken with some of the thin struts, etc. A number of them were broken while I tried to clean them up. Construction Construction started with several sub-assemblies, the engine, landing gear, guns and cockpit. The cockpit module consisted of the standard Camel fuel and oil tanks mounted to a new floor frame. The seat provided was somewhat crude so I substituted a photo-etched part from my stocks. I painted the interior of the fuselage a wood color in the forward areas and linen at the rear. I added thin wire between the vertical frames of the fuselage to simulate the bracing wires. The modeler needs to pay attention to the assembly instructions but maintain an open mind. For instance, the instruction drawings show the rudder pedals to be installed to part 8A, the forward lower part of the fuselage. This is the location for the standard Camel but is in front of the fuel tank on the Comic. I mounted this part to the floor frame behind the fuel tank. Attaching the top wing is always the most critical step in building a biplane. Some kits have the cabane struts integral with the fuselage. This allows the top wing to be mounted easily and accurately on them. After the assembly is dry, the interplane struts are carefully installed. Other kits feature "U" shaped interplane struts that mount firmly in the upper wing. When these are mounted to the lower wing, the top wing is firmly in place. In this case, the cabane struts are then carefully installed. This kit, however, has no easy means of attaching the top wing. The eight struts that mount the top wing are all free to move independently and in fact, the mounting locations of the struts are not too clearly defined. I solved the problem by trying to accurately fix the interplane struts in place and then mount the upper wing. First, I needed an accurate drawing of the Camel. I have a copy of Windsock Datafile No. 26 of the Camel in my collection and the 1/72 scale drawing showed a section through the interplane struts. I glued copies of this drawing to some foam core and cut out mounting fixtures that could be used to accurately position the interplane struts. Before gluing the struts in place, I used a small drill to better define the mounting positions. After the interplane struts were dry, I mounted the top wing. Following this, the cabane struts were carefully added.

The landing gear was assembled in a similar manner. The axle was glued to the landing gear struts while the struts were fixed in the proper angle as viewed from the front. When this was dry, the upper ends of the struts were glued to the fuselage. Be sure to check alignment at this stage to ensure that the wings are level. Color and Markings The Roden kit offers four-color schemes for the Comic. The first one, shown on the box cover, from 78 Home Defense Squadron is a mixture of gray, aluminum, wood grain and green. Another was an overall dark green and black scheme from 51 Home Defense Squadron and the final two were dark green over natural fabric from 44 Home Defense Squadron. I chose one of these with a large knight’s helmet with plume marking on the side. I used Model Masters olive drab, FS 34087 to represent RFC NC-10 khaki. I used Humbrol Linen for the undersurface. Finishing Touches Finishing touches include the machine guns, the windshield, the gun sights and the RIGGING. The machine guns are very petite and nicely molded. They attached to the Foster gun mounts and fit onto the mounting locations on the upper wing. The lower part of the mount attaches to the fuselage in front of the cockpit. The exact location is vague. A cut-out clear plastic windshield is provided but seems to be the same design as a normal Camel. I had an old vacuform conversion kit of the Comic from Blue Rider, which has a small photo-etched fret. This included a small rectangular windshield. I used this part and filled it with Kristal Kleer. The kit provides an injection molded gun sight but this was so thick and crude that I substituted the photo-etched part also from the Blue Rider kit.

Finally the RIGGING. I used .008 diameter stainless steel wire for the rigging. I cut each piece to length and glued them in place with white glue. Incidentally, I previously used super glue for this application but a presentation at the 2008 Nationals suggested that white glue was better to use. It worked very well. The instruction sheet from the kit contains an excellent drawing showing all of the rigging. I feel that the aileron control horns on the upper wing are too short but otherwise, the rigging went fairly smooth. I did experiment with spacing the double wire rigging. First, I tried to separate the two wires with a small piece of clay. When they were glued in place and dry, I would remove the clay. The rigging also came loose. Next I tried a small piece of tape. Same results. Next, I simply tried to attach the two wires at the same time. In this case, the surface tension of the glue caused the two wires to pull together. The final answer was to glue the two wires in place, one at a time and letting the first one dry before applying the second. Mine are not perfect but I am happy with the final appearance. Conclusion This kit makes up into a nice, petite-looking model of this interesting modification to the Sopwith Camel. It takes a certain degree of skill and care to successfully install the top wing but outside of this, it is an easy model to assemble. The level of detail on the interior, the engine and the guns is very well done. This kit is recommended for modelers interested in WWI aircraft. Big thanks to Roden for providing this kit for review.

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