The 1/48 SMER Sopwith Camel has a history going back to the origins of plastic modeling. Amongst the very first plastic kits were those produced by Aurora begining in the mid fifties. These early kits spawned many imitators and not a few copyists, amongst the latter being the British toy manufacturer Merit. Merit Copied most of the Aurora range and went on to make original kits of thier own, amongst them a welcome Avro 504, but in the early sixties they discontinued plastic kit production and the molds found their way to Italy. There Artiplast not only continued the line, but in thier turn added to it, most notably for WW1 modelers with the Ansaldo SVA5. In time most of the Merit and Artiplast molds went to what is now the Czech Republic, from where most of the range is still available from SMER.
The great majority of plastic modelers derive pleasure and satisfaction from building kits straight out of the box (OOB), and for anyone wanting an OOB 1/48 Sopwith Camel the SMER kit is a perfectly buildable if probably not the best option. The excelent Blue Max Camel offers the choice of either the standard 1F1 Camel or the 2F1 "Ship's Camel", while for those on a budget the Monogram reworking of the Aurora original is far more refined than SMER's product. As I shall show, the modeler who enjoys a challenge, or for whome budgetary considerations really are paramount, can not only get a perfectly acceptable Camel from this kit but models of several other aircraft types besides.
A Camel from a Camel
Despite it's age the SMER Camel is reasonably accurate in outline and dimensions, what problems there are being restricted in the main to the fuselage which is slightly too long and a little pinched in plan view. The extremely coarse detail is the kit's real failing and must be the focus of the modelers attention. To correct the fuselage length tape the halves together and remove the kit firewall with one vertical cut of the razor saw, then about 3mm from the tail end to shorten by a total of 5mm. The "hump" over the guns from which the 1F1 gets it's nickname will also need some work. As presented it is acceptable for a few early aircraft (though other parts are more representative of later production) but for the typical Camel it should be open topped and with the guns fully exposed. I cut the top away and substituted Aeroclub Vickers guns for the crude kit armament. For the rest all detail should be removed and the fuselage re-skinned with 10 or 20 thou plastic card. If you have never re-skinned a fuselage before then the Camel is a perfect subject to start with, being essensialy flat sided relieved by easily modelled curved fairing panels from the cockpit forward. The rear turtle deck will nead to be scored, but again this is a simple task and well suited to the "improver" wishing to practice scratch build techniques. Skinning will also greatly assist in correcting the cockpit opening, which although accurate is not typical. The remaining area of concern in the fuselage group is the engine cowling. As molded it is much too angular and the opening too large. Both faults are corrected by cementing a ring of 30 thou card to the front of the kit part and sanding to shape. The engine itself should be replaced, in my case with one from the Aeroclub range.
As with the fuselage the main problem with the wings is the crude and heavy detail. All detail, embossed markings wing ribs and all, should be sanded smooth. A lot of hard work to be sure, but the result is a much thinner and more realistic wing. The opportunity should also be taken to correct the enlarged rectangular opening and trailing edge cutouts in the upper centre section. Although seen on some aircraft they are again untypical of the general run of Camels. As the horizontal and vertical tailplanes are to have thin plastic card replacements, the kit parts provide a ready supply of thick plastic with which to plug the gaps. The lower wings are seperated from the heavily molded centre section and will be butt jointed to the reskinned fuselage. Once a nice smooth wing surface is acheived it's time to put the rib detail back. An effective and easy way to do this is with two blades in a craft knife as described in the Nieuport 16 page of this site. Finally control surfaces should be detached and slightly offset, but not too much.
For my model I replaced all struts and undercarriage vees with extruded strut material. The wheels came once again from Aeroclub, and on reflection I should have used a smaller size. Rigging is from fuse wire as in a Rigging Notes My familiarity with the Monogram Camel extends only so far as having exhamined it in the box, but I have no reason to expect that similar techniques to those described here could not equally well be applied to that kit. The more refined struts and undercarriage might even make it easier.
A Snipe from a Camel
The obvious and strong family resemblance between the Camel and the Snipe is an irrisitable temptation to the scratch builder or heavy duty kit converter. This model could fairly be described as a scratch build and uses the SMER Camel only as an armature around which to construct the scratch built parts, but with the kit as it's core I feel conversion is a more accurate term.
As with the Camel work commenced with the fuselage. The Snipe fuselage is again shorter than that provided by the kit and has it's length is reduced by much the same method as for the Camel. In addition the cockpit area is opened out and formers of the characteristic oval cross section added to the fuselage sides prior to reskinning. In this case reskinning is complicated by the curved cross section, but in WW1 these were not the complex compound curves of later years. The forward fuselage is an uncomplicated cylinder and only the basicaly conical rear section presents any difficulty. If this is skinned in three parts, top and two sides, it's fairly painless. The engine cowling is treated in exactly the same way as the Camel, with a ring of plastic card attached to the front, but also has it's diametre increased by wrapping a band of 20thou around it's circumferance. The Aeroclub Clerget makes a passable Bentley once enclosed.
Based on the Camel wings those for the Snipe require quite a lot of work. Similar in outline the Snipe's wings were in fact greater in span and cord, and here the method of construction used in the SMER kit works in our favour. Four seperate wing panels to the correct span are cut from the kit parts and a new upper wing center section made in card. With all detail once again removed these wing panels are each cut in half from root to tip and then re-assembled with a narrow strip of thick plastic card inserted between each of the two halves increasing the cord. This method and these wings are illustrated in the Scratch Wings page, as is the method of skinning. Tailplanes are again from thin card and all struts from extruded strut material. Wheels and guns are from Aeroclub.
This is a far from easy conversion, and is not suggested as a suitable project for the novice scratch builder, but if any experienced kit converter is looking for a Snipe to add to his or her collection this method may be worth a shot.
A DH5, with a little help from a Tiger Moth
My DH5 is another industrial strength conversion bordering on the scratch build, and it's based on two kits rather than just the Camel so I'm stretching a point here. The second kit is another SMER product, the Tiger Moth, so as two kit conversions go it is at least inexpensive.
The Tiger Moth provides the core for the DH5 fuselage. Taped together the Moth fuselage is sawn off at the fire wall and shortened at the stern post. What I did next was to open up the cockpit area and detail it, as it turned out quite unecessarily as once assembled the only thing visible is the back of the seat, and then only the rim. Perhaps an illustration of just how difficult it must have been to see OUT of a DH5. The octaganal section of the DH5 is at first intimidating from a modelers viewpoint, yet surprizingly simple once you start playing with the plastic. The shape is made up from three paralell strips of thick card, one on either side and one along the spine of the fuselage , spaced with pieces of scrap to achieve the correct outline in plan and elevation. The gaps between are bridged with 10 thou and the whole thing is then skinned, also in 10 thou, and as with the Snipe this is best broken down into small sections. First the cockpit area with it's distinctive stringers , then the rear fuselage in three sections as before. Each section is a paralell central portion with a triangular piece on either side. Gaps can be filled with cyano or milliput and detail added from strip and sprue. The engine cowling is push molded using a modified SMER Avro 504 cowling as the male mold. Stengthening ribs are micro-strip and the Gnome engine and wheels yet more Aeroclub products.
After all that the wings are thankfuly a piece of cake. The Camel wings are exactly right in cord and need only cleaning up and re-shaping to be usable, there is however a little twist. The Camel lower wing becomes the upper wing of the DH5, and it follows that the lower wing panels are formed from the kits top plane. Trailing edge cut outs ar filled as necessary using the Camel tailplanes and rib detail rescribed as before.
These are not the only models which can be made from this kit, the Salamander is an obvious possibility as is the Hanriot HD1 or HD2. I have myself used SMER Camel parts to make Bristol Scout wings and the possibilities from this and other kits in the range are almost endless. Don't overlook a kit just because it's crude or has been superceded, there's very often more in the box than what's on the boxtop.
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