Sopwith F.1 Camel

The Sopwith Camel, so named for the hump over its guns, is probably the most famous of all First World War fighters, if not by sight, then by name. Sopwith developed the Camel in late 1916 in an effort to overcome the single gun handicap suffered by their successful 80hp Pup and improve performance with a more powerful engine.The initial F.1 Camel prototype was unveiled in December 1916 and featured two Vickers Mk.1 machine guns and a 110hp Clerget engine.The Camel featured a top wing with no dihedral and coupled with a 5" dihedral on the bottom wing which combined with its concentrated center of gravity, helped contribute to its high maneuverability and a well deserved reputation as a difficult and sometimes  dangerous aircraft to fly. Before going into production the engine was increased to a 130hp Clerget engine. Initial problems with performance above 10,000 feet was attributed mostly to poor quality of British manufactured Clerget engines. Various engines were eventually used. After its initial teething problems were ironed out the Camel proved to be a highly capable fighter and along with the SE.5a and French SPADs, helped wrest air superiority back from the German Albatros fighters towards the end of 1917. The Camel was produced not only by Sopwith but eight other companies as well.

The Sopwith Camel's specifications as follows;

Wingspan 28'
Length 18.75'
Max speed 116 mph
Total number built 5,500 from January 1917 to 1919
Armament consisted of two Vickers .303 machine guns and up to 100lb of bombs.

The Kit

This kit models the Camel equipped with the 130 or 140hp Clerget engine and is one of six kits of the Camel produced by WNW in 1917, the others being the BR 1, LeRhone, USAS, Ship’s Camel and a Duellists version consisting of a Camel paired with an LVG.

While most of the kits in the WNW series can be built out of the box to an excellent level of detail there seems to always be some after market items to enhance things. Many of them are for the engines which are small kits in and of themselves but they can be enhanced with wiring, spark plugs and valve springs. I have not given in to any of this yet and probably won't until I start building and find I have the desire to do some enhancement.

Links to kit builds or reviews

A thorough in box review can be found here, it is for the LeRhone variant but the only difference is the engine and decals and fairly complete build review here.

If you are interested in finding other reviews a good place to look is here. Just enter the aircraft name and search.

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