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Set: 3451 "Sopwith Camel"
Model Team (billed as "Sculpture" on the LD website)
Rating date: 2 Jun 2001
Rated by: Larry Pieniazek
Story (ala adequate.com)
Dateline: Somewhere in France, late 1918...
Gee Willikers do I hate mud! France has a LOT of mud. It gets in everything.
Fortunately for me, I'm a flyboy, not a doughboy. Those poor souls down in
the trenches have it rough. Here, cruising along at 115 MPH top speed, I'm
above all that. Just the sound of my radial engine, the wind in the wires,
and the sighing of the canvas fuselage to keep me company.
I'm not an ace. Yet. But I will be. Those Jerries better watch out. Sopwiths
have gotten more Hun kills than any other airplane the Allies fly! That'll
show the Kaiser!
Although everyone else in my squad hates the Sopwith, I think it's a sweet
ship. But I almost didn't survive training. My bunkmate did a ground loop in
his and was sent home to his fiancee in a coffin. I myself got into a flat
spin and couldn't pull out till I almost was at ground level. Must have been
one of those Frog engines the early ships had. Well, this bird has a Bentley
and it flies better.
Bra-aa-aa-p!
What's that?? Ack, there's a red Fokker on my tail. Pull up, pull up! OK, do
an Immelman and see if I can get behind him. Fortunately I've got the Lewis
guns which are better synchronised, no worries about chewing off the prop if
the gear slips. That dirty Fokker triwing has wing mounted guns, not as
accurate. So I'll get him! I think.
I think that's the Red Baron on my tail. Gulp.
Brra-aa-aa-aa-aa-p! Brra-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-p!
Ack, I've been hit! Urrreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-Boom.
<telegram>
It is with deepest sorrow that the War department regrets to inform you that
Lieutenant .....
</telegram>
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/gbritain/sopwith/camel.html for more info
---
Ages 12+, 577 Pcs. (C)2001. (4th offering in the "sculpture" line)
52 page manual: 1 Model. No alternate models in the instructions or pictured
on the box.
25 main steps (Total steps much higher due to the large number of subassemblies)
Price Range: $49.99 US Dollars at US Shop at Home website
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: Must-Have / Model: Very-Good / Playability: Fair to Poor
DECALS (stickers) 14, all of which cover multiple bricks
PICTURES
See here for model pics
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=4651 (taken by Tobbe Arnesson)
See here for parts pics and a good discussion thread on this set
http://news.lugnet.com/general/?n=30307 (taken by Christian Gemünden)
SET DESCRIPTION
A predominantly earth toned biplane model with typical Model Team(tm)
construction techniques. Wings and elevator are brown, fuselage is tan and
dark grey with a grey rudder trimmed in red white and blue. A 6 cylinder
rotary engine in a red housing and large brown propellor are at the front.
0 minifigs (the cockpit probably cannote take a Belville or Technic figure
but is a bit too large for a minifig. Jack Stone maybe?)
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
Lots of brown! A number of Belville elements make an appearance including
the 16x6 tile/plate hybrids, and the foam attachment 1x1, used in the guns.
The engine cowling is cleverly made of 4 quarter circle fence pieces in red.
There are a number of new colors for existing elements but, I think, no new
elements. Some very novel uses of mundane elements as well. The radial
engine is especially clever, with the use of the loudhailers as the base of
the pistons.
EXTRA PARTS
I may have missed where one part goes... but I had 4 1x1 round plates (in
brown, dark and light grey, and blue) a half bushing, a full bushing, and
1.5 dark grey technic pin left over when I was done.
IMPRESSION
This set makes a striking and surprisingly large model. It in fact is so
large, for the piece count, that it will be tough to display in my cluttered
house. I found this to be an enjoyable and challenging build. I spent about
3 hours building it, which is a bit slow for me, but I was savoring the
experience. It's the first LEGO(r) set in a while I haven't just parted out.
Construction begins with the radial engine and undercarriage. Step 15
features Belville parts in a novel use. I found step 18 a bit confusing. I
think you could leave one of the 1x1 round plates off the wheels and get the
tan "hubcaps" to be flush if you pushed them in harder. The bracing for the
undercarriage is quite elegant, and I liked the use of the aerodynamic
struts too.
Next is the fuselage spine. Note the use of brown diamond windowpanes for
the seat bottom (and back). I did find one error in the instructions. Step 8
of the "fuselage spine" subassembly got double rendered at a 1 stud diagonal
offset, and it can be quite confusing until you realise it, I thought I had
missed a step!. The bottom wing roots have a tendency to fall off until the
rest of the wing is put in place. I think they are added too early in the
instruction sequence. I was glad that they provided the length guide in step
9, but wish they did that for all the uses of the string/stud parts.
On page 24 we begin the fuselage/tail assembly. This turns out really neat,
but I wish it had a bottom. If I want to hang my model up to display it, I
will have to add something to the bottom, as the fuselage spine is visible
from underneath. The way the rudder root is built up is extremely clever, as
is the use of the studless plates on the control surface part of the elevator.
Page 34 and we're only to main model step 15! Lots of subassemblies! This
step mates the fuselage spine with the tail assembly, and the next few steps
build up the cockpit.
Step 18 sees the fuselage get its upper cover. (and the seatback, using up
the other two diamond mullions)
By Step 21 the lower wings are taking shape, and the next main step adds the
rudder. The rudder has large stickers which I have not decided if I will put
on or not yet.
Step 23 in which the wing box struts are added, was a bit complicated for
me. I kept mis-seating the central braces. Main Step 24 sees the engine
mated and it is quite satisfying to mate it to the cockpit. Building the
upper wing goes quickly. It is fragile until attached
Unfortunately a weak point in the instructions was the final step, in which
the upper wing is attached to the support struts. For the life of me, I
could not figure out if I was supposed to put the wing flush with the upper
1x8 technic beams or a bit ahead. The instruction rendering is very vague on
this point due to the angle used, a cutaway of the wing from the bottom
would have clarified that.
But these instructions are as good or better than many other Model Team
instructions and I was happily swooshing (and making Br-rrr-rr-aa-aa-aap!
noises) my model around in no time. I think 12 is a reasonable lower age
limit. Nik (now 9) looked at the instructions and said "no thanks, looks too
hard for me".
Alternate Model
There is no alternate model. Budget constraints, no doubt, at LD, prevented
them from designing one and budgeting another 40-50 pages into what was
already a pretty large instruction book. But at this price point for what
you get I am not going to begrudge the lack of an alternate model.
RATINGS
Set: Must Have
Brad needs to make his numbers to keep bringing us more great models like
this one, so go buy one!
Seriously, this set is easily worth the asking price because the model is
good, and the per element price is reasonable. It makes a striking model,
it's fun to build, and if you part it out you will get a LOT of plates and a
lot of earthtones.
Models: Very Good
This is a sweet model and it really captures the sense of the real thing. It
will elicit oohs and aahs from your non LEGO friends, and you may learn a
few new tricks. My one beef with the model once it is together is that the
tension strings aren't in tension and it is hard to adjust them to be
tighter. These strings (inside the wing box, and from the tail to the
fuselage) detract from the model appearance if they are not taut. (take a
look at the prototype image on the center part of each instruction page to see)
Playability: Fair
The big reason this model isn't very playable is the fragility of it. This
is prototypical. WW I airplanes are not the sturdiest things around, and in
order to get the appearance correct, the model has to be quite airy. The
wings, for example, are only 2 plate layers thick. A 2 foot wingspan that is
only 2 plates thick is NOT going to be sturdy. But model team models are NOT
about playability. I'm very glad the LD design team decided to go for
appearance first and playablilty second.
The other reason that I had to downgrade playability is that the cockpit
doesn't have leg openings to allow me to place a Technic fig in it.
Other Pluses
- Instructions have a Blueprint background
- Lots of dark grey parts
- Lots of tan parts
- Lots of brown parts
- Lots of plates of all shapes and sizes
- Neat use of parts
Would I buy it again? You bet. It would be a good gift for an older fan.
It's a great source of parts too. I only need one on display so all the rest
I bought would be for parting out.
CONCLUSION
This is the type of set that LEGO should be making more of. It's a modelteam
fan's dream come true. Yaay for LD, bring us more more more!
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: 2 Jun 2001
By: Larry Pieniazek (lpieniazek@mercator.com)
Age 42 Favorite Theme: Trains. I like Town and am fascinated by the RCX as
well.
I have a big collection of sets and parts. Most of what I buy I use to further
my Milton Train Works ambitions.
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 2001, by the author as named above. The
author grants publication rights for all uses, public and private,
with the following exceptions: all information in the document must
be published in full; any for-profit use requires express written
permission by the author for publication in full or in part.
++Lar
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