1/72 Sopwith Special Service

[Brian da Basher]

R.A.F. Auxiliary S.S.S. Blitzes Nazi S.S. Chief! screamed the Daily Mail's headline on October 18th, 1940. This one action by a seemingly throwback aircraft would have dire consequences for the Nazi invaders and give the stalwart British defenders a new lease on life and eventually lead to them tossing the Hun back into the sea from whence they came.

Continued...

1st of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

After the fall of France in June, 1940, the British made hasty preparations to repel the feared onslaught of the victorious Wehrmacht from the recently captured coast of Calais. One of these many preparations was the development of a light ground attack aircraft made from non-strategic materials, Enter the frim of Hawker Aircraft and the aging Sir Thomas Sopwith. It was decided to modernize the Camel of W.W. I vintage and produce it by the re-born Sopwith division of the Hawker Co. under the direction of Sir Sopwith himself. The new aircraft was up-engined with a modern 9 cylinder radial engine, the Beardmore Beardless of 750 h.p. A perspex bubbletop canopy was added along with a pair of incredibly sexy and intimidating spats. Some of the curved lines of the original Camel were straightened to ease mass production, and the Sopwith Special Service was born. Legions of W.W. I era workers were brought out of retirement to build the emergency aircraft and it was flown by R.A.F. Auxiliary pilots, many of whom were veterans of the Great War. The S.S.S. was armed with two Vickers guns synchronized to fire through the propellor arc and could carry two 100 lb. bombs and 8 unguided rockets. While not designed for air-to-air combat, the S.S.S.  did achieve aerial victories and was credited with shooting down 79 Me-109s and 117 Me-110s as well as many other Nazi aircraft.

The aircraft shown here, No. 449, was flown by Capt. Chris Narses, M.B.E., D.S.O., D.F.C. and was responsible for "liquidating" S.S. chief Heinrich Himmler as he toured the Nazi beach head. This one daring attack completely demoralized the German forces and they eventually retreated back across the Channel in winter of 1940/1941.

2nd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The inspiration for this little project was a thread eons ago over in Alt. History suggesting that the British could've recycled old W.W. I types to help repel a successful Operation Sea Lion landing by the Germans. This idea has been in my mind for a while now, and when I recently picked up a $5 Academy Sopwith Camel in 1/72, I had what I needed to make the concept take form in plastic.

3rd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The kit was built fairly straight from the box (for me). I decided to turn the curved wingtips to sharp angles and I scratched a new fin and rudder from sheet plastic. The spats were also scratched from sheet plastic and the tail wheel is from the end of a spare prop shaft. I raided a Sopwith Salamander kit for the cowling and the engine was from my spares box. The prop spinner is the tip of a spare drop-tank. I added underwing bombs left over from an Easern Express Vimy and then robbed an Airfix Hurrican of its rockets, gluing them to scratch-built rails on the interplane struts which were modified to an N shape (I will do anything to cut down the amount of rigging needed). Speaking of rigging, the model was rigged with .009 and .011 steel guitar strings attached with white glue.

4th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

What really brought this build together for me was adding a bubbletop canopy that I had left after smash-forming the nose for my U.S.A.F. Group Build entry, the K-44 Cyclone. The entire model was brush painted by hand with acrylics. Polly Scale PC-10 and Testor's Tan were used on the uppers and Testor's Ghost Gray was used on the undersides. The cowling and prop spinner were painted in Testor's Dark Gull Gray. Testor's Olive Drab colored the rockets and bombs which were accented with red stripes courtesy of Polly Scale Red. I used Tamiya Gunmetal on the guns and engine, and I drybrushed Model Masters Steel over the engine to bring out the details. The woodgran propellor was achieved with Model Masters Rust and Testor's Tan. The tires were painted with Mars Black Artists' acrylics.

5th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The decals were a collection of Airfix R.A.F roundels. I really like the dark red or rust color they use on these and thought they'd be very appropriate for an aircraft of this type. The fuselage codes are from an Airfix Avro 504. You can get an idea of how small this model is by the American penny in the shots. I had a blast with this little project and I hope you enjoy it.

Last of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Rafael]

Enjoy it!!!

I'm LOVING it!!!    

That camo is superb, the rigging (I don't know how you manage not to end up covered in little strands of cord) is fantastically well attached, the rocket launchers are marvelous (the choice of 27 Kilogram rockets is great) and the bubbletop canopy is the bee's knees!!!    

Great, fun build, Bri!!!      


Rafa
(Pics stored!)

[lancer]

AMAZING build Brian, one hell of a build. L:ove the canopy and the spats, well I was worried that Spatman had left the building. It's a joy to see him alive and well....Your imagination never ceases to amaze me.  

[PanzerWulff]

Great job Bri can you say SPEECHLESS!!!    
"Panzer"

[The Rat]

I'm going out to buy some wool...  

[Allan]

Hi Brian,
That's a beautiful little plane with a truly convincing AH as well.
And the canopy is an inspired touch!!!
Just think of all those WW1 aces coming out of retirement and increasing their victories!!!!
Great whiffing my boy!
Allan in Canberra

[ysi_maniac]

       B)  B)
This is really a killing machine!
 :salute:    

[Sisko]

Hehehehe fantastic mate!  

[Howard of Effingham]

along with a pair of incredibly sexy and intimidating spats.

that goes without saying doesn't it?  

dunno why but this reminds me of the ancient RoG fokker funfdecker. great stuff!

[Eddie M.]

BdaB,
 I am stunned and amazed at your work! Plus, the scale defines the work you put into these gems. If you don't wear glasses, you will be soon. Outstanding work BdaB . Bravo Zulu!  :salute:
  Eddie