No one else builds and photographs vintage vehicles in LEGO like Calin Bors. His designs are compact and efficient, distilling the essence of the inspiration into toy-like proportions. Calin’s latest build is a fresh take on the Sopwith Camel, the WWI biplane beloved by flying Aces, both human and beagle. Always on the lookout for new parts to integrate into antique inspirations, Calin incorporates the new Mario Kart wheel as an engine cover. The build comes alive with custom stickers for the livery and a bath of warm light. Red Baron beware!
The cocarde is UK, the fin is French ????
@S with the fin colors, apparently you read back to front, so the RAF (Britain) livery seen here is red, white, blue (all colors of the union jack) whereas a French SPAD plane of the era would shiw the reverse – blue, white, red, like their flag.
No, AFAIK, French has always been consistent with the logic that it’s a “flag in the wind” (= pole front), so always blue front for France, as can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nieuport_17_2_(cropped).jpg
But, indeed, as is explained here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_roundels#Fin_flash
the Brits did it the other way (surprise), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sketch_of_a_Short_seaplane_on_the_water_RMG_PW1792_(cropped).jpg , and eventually changed their mind in the late 1920s forward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spitfire_VB_222_Sqn_RAF_in_flight_1942.jpg
Thanks for the clarification! That explains the order here as the plane is from 1917. Every pic of the Sopwith that I found online showed the Blue-White-Red pattern seen in the model here. I just realized the reason I was seeing Red-white-blue on some SPAD planes of the era is because it was American livery, like Eddie Riddenbacker’s plane.
Well, I’m more used to see French planes :D (Go Guynemer!)
Luckily, France and UK have been on the same side of wars since a tiny bit before WWI.
WP also says UK had the Union Jack at some time but changed it because it looked too much like the German cross. (Also, it was a big mess of colours and signs at the beginning of WWI. Snoopy knows :D)