Many years ago, 20+ in fact, I went into a model shop in Hull, England and hanging from the ceiling above the counter was a truly magnificent model of an S.E.5a  WWI bi-plane. The model was huge, as far as I was concerned, and finished without fabric covering so you could see all of the rigging, spars, ribs etc. I was utterly impressed.

I learned later the it was one of Hasegawa’s 1:8 scale “Museum” series which also included the Fokker DR.1 and the Sopwith Camel F1. The latter is one of my favourite aircraft and I dearly wanted to get Hasegawa’s kit of it. However, as an impecunious youth, it was out of my price league and many years later when I could afford it I discovered Hasegawa had discontinued the model and all stock had been sold.

I still hankered after the model though, and so periodically, usually after a few beers, I’d cruise eBay looking for one being sold on at a non-silly price. About 6 months ago I finally located one which was part of the estate of a gentleman who had recently departed.

I put my bid in and it was duly accepted. As luck would have it the seller lived close to a friend who resides down London way and who would be coming up to visit me soon. Collection and delivery sorted! (thanks Kat). I could even arrange to give the seller cash at the handover which simplified things for everyone.

So now I am the proud owner of my dream kit. A Hasegawa Sopwith Camel F1 in 1:8 scale.

As the model is going to take me a while to complete I think I’ll put posts on here as each section is finished. That way there won’t be mammoth posts on the thing.

So first…. the Clerget 9B engine.

I’ve been asked a couple of times if I know where people can get the assembly instructions for this model. They are available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nr22gt7gz2dacr5/Sopwith_Complete.pdf?dl=0