Gone but not forgotten

1/72 Eduard Sopwith Camel Diorama

by Aidan Campbell

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"The Sopwith Camel was famous as one of the most deadly fighter aircraft of World War I. Favoured by the experienced Fighter Aces of the Royal Flying Core for it's agile maneuverability and powerful engine,  it shot down more enemy aircraft than any other plane fighting in this conflict. The Camel is even credited with the kill of the famous "Red Baron". It does however have a slightly less well known and darker side. It is rumoured to have killed more British pilots learning to fly the awkward beast than it shot down Germans. This diorama was produced for someone wanting to remember this darker side to it's character, and all those pilots who gave their lives long before encountering the enemy."

I can't really call myself an aviation modeller, in fact this is the first aircraft model I've built since I was about 12 (Though given that I enjoyed putting it together I doubt it will be the last). I am however a full time professional miniaturist. Working mainly as a figure sculptor for a wide variety of retailers and model manufacturers, but also producing the occasional diorama for private clients, mainly dolls' house enthusiasts and railway modellers, but also military modellers too. As such this project was something of a "one off" outside of the boundaries of the normal day job. The model is based upon the 1/72nd scale Eduard stripdown model of the Sopwith Camel, a kit which given it's delicacy went together relatively quickly and simply. This was then "tarted up a bit" with odds and ends made from brass, plastic, wire, nylon thread and tissue paper to get the look of an old wreck that had crashed long ago. Painting and weathering was all routine  using matt acrylics dry-brushed onto the model in preference to using the air brush. The landscaped base, a simple section of scrubland and hedgerows was knocked together with assorted scenic scatter materials I had to hand, all airbrushed to tone down the colours. The backdrop is nothing more than a printed photograph of a local sunset placed directly behind the model. Back lighting the model to match the effects in the photographed  sunset was an interesting challenge, as was playing around with exposure and aperture settings on the camera so as to get a relatively crisp silhouette of the Camel with just enough blurring of the background as to suggest some distance. The overall effect is not as convincing as I'd hoped for, but given a client with a bigger budget, and more time to experiment with the camera, perhaps I could have got better results before handing over the model. That's the thing when working professionally for others, you can rarely afford to spend the same time on projects as you would if you were making them solely for your own enjoyment!

Anyway there's not a lot to say about this relatively straight forward project; Hope you like it, it was certainly a fun diversion from the normal day job!

If you are interested in any more of my work or just in taking a look at the various free to access modelling guides with tips and techniques, then visit my web site -

 www.aidan-campbell.co.uk

Cheers  

Aidan 

Photos and text © by Aidan Campbell