Reviews : Academy Sopwith Camel WWI RAF Fighter

Like the Academy Spad XIII, this is a good beginner plane because it is such a good price. It’s best used as a beginner’s plane, or a practice piece. It is simple to build, and the parts fit together pretty well, with only one major seam where the tail fits onto the back of the fuselage. The amount of work it would take to fix this hard to reach seam wasn’t worth it to me so I just left it. The seam from where the fuselage joined took a bit of fuss, but was no big deal. I did have to force the nose of the plane together and glue with CA glue to close the huge gap. This is apparently a common problem. The rib supports on the wings were too pronounced and they just looked like lines on plastic and not like ribs covered in cloth. I sanded these down to round them off and make them less pronounced and I think the kit looks much better for it. Also, some of the raised panel lines on the plane should be recessed, but are presented as raised lines. I used the point of my hobby knife to scribe lines on the fuselage using the raised lines as a guide for the knife. When I finished the scribing, I removed the raised lines leaving only the proper recessed lines. There was a small line of flash along some of the pieces easily taken care of with a hobby knife. Some of the parts were too small use sanding sticks and the like. The main problem with this kit is the decals. They are way too thick and didn’t form to the plane very well even after using Micro Set and multiple applications of Micro Sol. They are also too large and I had to trim the ones that are for the vertical stabilizer. Because of their thickness, they had tendency to silver on the edges. I trimmed some of those edges off to keep that from happening, but it wasn’t possible to do that for all the decals. The good thing about the decals is that they are robust, so not a bad choice for a youngster since they don’t tear easily. This kit isn’t bad for the money, but the decals situation makes it a very difficult, and at times frustrating, kit to build.

Have you ever had it happen that you’re at a burger joint, and you’re really enjoying your burger, and then just before your last bite you notice half a cockroach in the burger? Well, this model isn’t quite that bad, but similar. Although there’s nothing super special about it, but it’s a fun little build. There’s not much flash, the pieces fit well, and if you’re looking for a quick fun model for between your more serious projects, this is it. But then you get to the decals (the half a cockroach). I only learned this after the fact, but apparently Academy is infamous for particularly bad decals. In fact, if you look at this model on the actual Academy website, you’ll notice that even they didn’t use their own decals! They painted on the roundels etc.! These decals will not stick, they will not snuggle down no matter how much or what type of setting solution you use (Seriously I tried several), and they silver like crazy. I left the decals on for my pictures so everyone could see how bad they look. So, if you want a fun easy model, buy this one. . . but get some aftermarket decals too!

The Sopwith Camel is the iconic airplane of the First World War. This kit does the prototype great justice. This was the first model airplane I have ever built, and I greatly enjoyed the experience. The kit's injection modeled parts have a nice crisp detail, and the kit is easy and simple enough to go together in a night. The kit is relatively small, which means one could easily mount it on a small base, or on a diorama. It also scales out nicely to go alongside HO/OO scale scenery and structures. Mine in-fact, became some dressing for a model railroad; Standing alongside an airfield. I also went the extra mile and did all the rigging and added an HO scale pilot figure into the cockpit. This is a great kit, and had solidified my opinion on Academy's model kits. If you're a beginner this is a great kit to start with, and if you've got some experience under your belt, a great kit to play with.

So I decided to buy the Stopwith Camel as my First Bi-plane and World War One model. When I first got the model in on Friday the 12 of May 2017, I was somewhat surprised on how much parts, and how small the box was. When I first open the contents of the box The detail on it Was quite amazing and the quality on the Fuselage, The building of the model was quite good but some occasion the wooden parts on the model that would hold the wings, and the gear legs were hard to get in and to balance on the model, But the rest Was easy. But I was putting the decals they had a clear, visible outline to the naked eye, and the decals would curl after taking them off the wet decal sheet. Overall I would recommend this to people if they want a quick model to build up. Or Just to hone their skill's as a modeler.

This kit was bought for my Grandsons first glue together model kit here are the Pro & Con of the model ---Pros: -Good value (very inexpensive) -parts were molded very well compared to the similar Revell kits with minimal cleanup. Cons: -only one decal set -Minimal interior detail -there is no paint scheme. Seriously, they tell you where the decals go and give you a black-and-white picture of the plane with NO paint colors in the instructions. Not too big of a deal, but annoying. After my grandson built the model I tore it apart and attempted to make it look some what like the box. We did a lot of internet surfing to find a color schemes and if they had camo patterns & cable stabilizing for the wings

Academy is known for having average kits. They will go together, but are very light on detail and require a good bit of work to bring them up to modern standards. This is no exception. The trailing surfaces need thinning, the cockpit needs detailing, and the decals need replacing. I have not had good luck with academy decals. They require very careful trimming and often dont stick at all. However, with those shortcomings, its a quick build that can benefit from a skilled hand and a bit of scratchbuilding.

This was the one that was able to face the fokker triplane. It was unstable, not easy to fly, but on the right hands it was deadly. Got the academy kit long ago, and the only difficult thing is to install the upper wings without braking the supports... But... that is the main dificculty of any biplane... Nevertheless, a small, accurate and economic weekend build. If you're starting and want a bigger challenge, or start on biplanes, this is where you can start.

Branching out from WW2 tanks to try building airplanes again for the first time since I was early teens(almost 30yrs) and I was very happy with this kit. It was a fast, simple build, no issues or really small pieces. Propeller moves and I was able to get to wheels to spin by applying a little heat to the end peg to lock it in without gluing! I'll be making more of these in the future. A fleet will look nice on the shelf!

This kit goes together well. The tail is a weak spot the rudder attachment is tiny and will fail if not enough glue is used. The struts are one piece and fit easily. The landing gear is also weak, as the landing gear is made of very thin plastic so be patient and gentle in installing the gear once installed the gear is strong. After that paint and decal . the over all kit looks good once finished.

This kit is very well made and the kit parts had absolutely no flash on any of the parts. Its a small kit with only a few parts but it builds up nicely and it fits together perfectly. All of the parts including the decals are individually wrapped in cellophane to protect them from damage and this is a nice touch. Nothing gets marred while in the box. I will be buying more of these planes

Pros: -Good value (very inexpensive) -parts were molded very well compared to the similar Revell kits with minimal cleanup. Cons: -only one decal set -Minimal interior detail -there is no paint scheme. Seriously, they tell you where the decals go and give you a black-and-white picture of the plane with NO paint colors in the instructions. Not too big of a deal, but annoying.

I agree with the negative reviews preceding mine. The kit is average with fit problems and the decals are below standard. The stripes do not match any of the research photos I have found, nor does the artwork on the cover. It is a good kit to hone your skills as far as learning to fix problems with a sub-par model. If that is not your cup of tea, avoid this kit.

This kit is not very detailed (no cockpit) but as I'm using this for wargaming this is not a issue. The decals look good but there's no list of what paints you use on the model. I would say this would be a good starter kit for someone new to modeling.

Back in the day a lot of farms had these planes sitting around as a crop duster. The assembly looks fairly straight forward for any level model builder. Company could have supplied a detailed painting scheme for the era of this plane.

I bought this kit for my son to play with. It is a simple kit to build and for the price I'm not worried about it breaking. But it seems stronger than some of the more complex kits. I will most likely buy more of these.

Model is a little basic. It's been a long time since I built one of these (50+ years). As such, I bought a smaller scale than I was meaning too. I'll build them though. LOL. Need some flat spray paint first.

The Academy Sopwith Camel F1 : found this to be over rated. Parts for most where vary dourly made . For what instructions ( chines , Japan's , German ) maybe 10 words of English . The diagrams where vary good ,

This kit from Hobbylinc was a gift and being a beginner, I found it fun and detailed enough to give me the practice I need before moving on to more complicated kits.

Well known WWI airplane's kit for display on a small space. Small scale 1/72. Looks nice on the box. Nice to have it

This is a great little model and it is one of six WWI models I have on display. I intend to add many more to my collection

Not many parts at all, most of which are small. For the price I'm satisfied with it.

some things in life suck and this is one of them what i get for buying a 5$ model

Parts need some finessing but overall being such a small model had fun with it.