"Time to start your engines, boys and girls! " This campaign (formerly known as the Photo-Recce campaign) will get off the ground July 1st!

Link to Campaign Page
Link to Paparazzi Club Gallery

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Here we go!!! This campaign is dedicated to the brave crews that flew photo-recconaisance missions - most often alone and unarmed deep into enemy territory.

I've decided on my first entry! In my mind, the most beautiful Spitfire of them all. An all PRU blue Spitfire PR Mk.XIX. In Swedish markings, of course.



Here's the pre-campaign thread with lots of pictures and information. Hopefully, it will serve as inspiration for those of you who have yet to chose a subject to build!

Cheers! // PolarBear!

I will start heating up the engines for taking some pictures of the Korean country side. I will join with the colourful Marines F-9F

Looking forward to get started

I had almost forgot this one, and holidays start with sailing in the Baltic next friday, so I might be a slow starter. Decals and blue is in the stash, just waiting for the S 31 Spit.

Jesper: Have you got a tip for a good hobbystore in Köbenhavn? I'm passing through on my way to Hvide Sand, in three weeks, and might have some time between trains. Could be a change to do something else in Köbenhavn besides having a beer somewhere.

Welcome to Copenhagen - in three weeks I can really recommend Stoppel Hobby. They have a great selection and I know quite a lot of Swedes that already travels to his shop to stock up on kits and paints. I bet it will be worth the trip for you.

Here is the address:

Stoppel Hobby
Grundtvigsvej 15
1864 Frederiksberg C
Denmark
Tlf: 38883854
Fax: 38883954

You can also see the homepage HERE The physical store is much better than the homepage and has much wider and better selection. Just notice Mondays and Tuesdays are closed over the Summer. I guess he deserves some free time in the Summer cottage.
Let me know if you decide to go there - it could be fun to meet there if I am in Copenhagen

Good evening friends!

Seems like the usual lot is starting to show up around here as well...

I'm in for the campaign with an Arado 234C, I originally thought this was Luftwaffe 1946 when I got the kit but it actually was a semi-operational PR machine with almost 20 aircraft built.

The kit is from Dragon, from the early 1990s and well known for its fit issues! I'll start a blog later but for now you will have to contend with the box art:



I'll start building tomorrow!



Magnus

Tony - Are you also planning a Spitfire PR XIX in 1/72 for this campaign? I once built the Fujimi Spitfire mk XIVc "Air Race" kit into a PR mk XIX. The conversion included some rescribing etc. For this build, I bought the Fujumi PR Mk XIX "Blue Invader" kit, but was disappointed when I found out that the difference was so little. For example, the panels on the wings are not designed for an unarmed reconnaissance plane, but rather for a fully packed Mk XIVc. I did some rescribing once (and to be honest, it is not that hard to do) but I don't want to do it again.

Before:

After:


The canopy is correct in the"Blue invader" kit, however, as are most other details as far as I can see. The Fujimi kit - considered the best choice by many - has two or three other flaws that I do not like. The side camera window is a bit too low, the cockpit interior is non-existant, and the finished model suffers from a slight hunchback syndrome. Personally, I'm opting for of the limited edition and more or less impossible to find Heritage Aviation/Whirlybird kit. I have no idea if it is a good kit, but I am sure going to make my best effort!



Now that I've totally trashed the Fujimi kit, I was wondering if you Tony (or anyone else joining this campaign)] would be interested in it?! Special price for you, my friend! And Magnus, I still have a whole stack of your Daedaleus Spitfire kits if you want them back! - Nice choice with the Arado, btw! As is, of course, the Panther from Jesper. I hope that we will have entries from all eras pf PR flights in this campaign.

Having too much to do at work, I have not yet had time to design nice tables for the participants etc! Heck, I haven't even designed a nice ribbon yet! Please help me with ideas!! I thought perhaps a ribbon in all PRU Blue (or PRU Mauve, if anyone can tell me what colour that is! ).


Perhaps with a nice and shiny frame?


You guys and girls usually have even better ideas! Please help!

Cheers! // PolarBear

Björn, you seem to have left the starting line with all wheels smokin'.

Thanks for the tips, and for the offer, but I've become a quarter scale man. So I'm going to go scavenging over the holidays.

I haven't given the ribbon much thought, but it feels like it needs a little bit more than just a mauve patch. Isn't mauve a beautiful word, by the way. I'll think some more, and I'm sure everybody else will too

You're right, Tony! By today's standards, a "mauve patch" would probably not be a highly ranked ribbon!

This ribbon is in the three beautiful(?) colours of PRU Blue, PRU Pink and PRU Mauve, and has a stylish camera to go with the theme...

A step in the right direction, perhaps, but far cry from from a final ribbon!!! Please help! It's too hot to think! All I have currently have access to is "Paint"!

Since it is 30 degrees Celsius right now, I'm going for a swim and hopefully some inspiration!

Cheers! // PolarBear

This is a very tempting campaign because I have the Italeri Tornado in the stash for years .. with NeOmega pit, Paragon fin correction, exhaust nozzle and wheels plus the old Xtraparts wings set. I even have the right Markings for AG 51 "Immelman" and a recce pod from the new EF Typhoon .... still i am pretty sure I won't make it

but I'll give it a try.

Must I show the recce pod open??

cheers

Steffen

Hi Steffen!

Welcome to the campaign! Rules say that camera must show - but I believe that some rules were made to be broken... The important thing is to build cool photo reconnaissance aircraft, and a Panavia Tornado is about as cool as it gets!



Go for it!

Cheers! // PolarBear!

Hi Björn

I will do a machine from the Afghanistan detachment ... not that I am glad they are there, but they do their job ....

I have some pix of the pod with open access hatches, but I do not think those are ever open when the pod is on the machine .. .esp. not in that dusty region ...

cheers

Steffen

I think the plastic in the Heritage Aviation kit is of MPM origin. I look forward for your report on which is the best one: Fujimi or HA?


A stack of them? If I don't remember wrongly you just got half a kit from me by mistake I have no immediate need for the parts (I think there are two or three Mk XIX from Ventura in my stash...) so I might as well get them at C4 this autumn. That would be a good excuse to meet you in person as well!

As I promised yesterday, the Ar-234 has been started, as always with the cockpit:


See you soon!



Magnus

I've had an Airfix Etendard IVP kicking around the stash for a decade or so. Perhaps it's time to get it going??!!

Nice choice, Steffen. I hope you will make it to the finish of the campaign.

Magnus, good start, I will follow your build with interest as I have three different versions of the Dragon Arado 234 in my stash.

Looking ofrward to see more

Ryan, that is one great choice! A decade is absolutely minimum for such a duckling to start growing on you! Welcome to the campaign!

Cheers // PolarBear

Jesper: I knew the Dragon Arado had a rather bad reputation for fit: I can reassure you that there is nothing that can't be overcome with some careful use of a file. And it is VERY well detailed, especially the cockpit (and the pedals aren't even there in the photo yet!).

An added advantage: This can be built "Armour-style". That means that the whole kit can be built before the painting stage except for the clear parts, everything is easily accessible from the outside.





Magnus

Nice to hear it, Magnus. Especially since I have a number of these kits. Really nice to have an aircraft that can be build armour style.

Looking forward to see more.

Hi guys!

I'm off for a three week vacation in the Archipelago of Gothenburg! When I get back, I will take care of all the charts, ribbons etc.

Nice to see the progress, Magnus! This will be very interesting!

In the meantime, glue safely.

Cheers! // PolarBear

Hi all,

I was intending to do a Beaufighter Mk If Tac-Recon, modified from the Tamiya Mk VIf kit that was part of a pair used by the Desert Air Force, but have been commissioned to build the Tamiya 48 scale Mk IV PR Mossie as operated by the RAAF in the Pacific Region.
The owner of this bird has supplied sideview evidence of a PRU Mossie that the Squadron {in field} applied a Foliage Green disruptive cammo onto the RAF PRU Blue.

This build will start in about 3 weeks time {as there are several other model subjects that need finishing}, before I start on something new.

Hi all!

Time to kick off another Campaign build!

For the Recce Campaign I choose the RA-5C Vigilante and the kit is in 1/48th scale and comes from Trumpeter.



As always, the build starts with the cockpit.
Even tough the detail is very good in the kit, I choose to use the pre-painted etch from Eduard.
This is extremley well printed and I could never even come close to what Eduard have done.
You get one small fret containing instrument panels, side consoles, seatbelts and several useful and hard-to-paint items.
The larger (and unpainted) fret contains canopy railings, canopy inside detail, tie-downs, and a mass of other details in the gearbays and hatches, exhaust detail and much more!







Then i assembled the engines and brush painted the faces with Humbrol Silver no.11.



I glued the engines in the fuselage halves, and instantly realized I had to do something about the gaping see-trough hole all the way from the intakes to the tail!

Appearantly, somebody at Trumpeter must have been asleep that day....

Well, out with the plasticard, scissors and glue!

Finally I had them boxed in, not beautiful, but effective!



One big advantage though, I don´t have to paint the intake interior with all the white plasticard!





Next I moved on to the front gear, this HAS to be installed BEFORE the fuselage is closed!
This MUST be done now as It is impossible to do it later, like it or not.
This is almost a small kit in itself and very well detailed.
Only thing to add was some braking lines.



I used a 0.3mm steel wire and some round plastic stock drilled trough with a drill-bit.



Then it was time to place the interior in one fuselage half, a perfect fit, and I did not apply any glue before the fuselage was closed!





By now I had decided to use the Aires resin exhausts instead of the ones supplied in the kit.

I had to do some really brutal surgery with my dremel to make room for the new exhausts!
After cleaning-up, it didn´t look too bad, really!



Then I finally could close the fuselage!
The fit was very good, but the mating surfaces was very thin in places, especially at the rear deck.



Her you can see another use of your "plastic";



This pic is a bit blurry, but you can see the general idea, using the excellent strong (used and outdated!) credit-card plastic to reinforce the joins.



When dry, it was a snap to add the tailcone.



Some filler was needed along the spine, but not very much.



Rear deck join will need a smear of filler, and it will be very strong, thanks to the reinforcement.



Then I could paint the new burner cans, I started with Alclad Aluminium and Pale burnt metal for the fans and burner rings.



The cans got Alclad Steel, followed by pale burnt metal and jet exhaust, same goes for the "tubes".
Still needs a black wash to get a bit more depth, but you can see the level of detail in these burners!





Along the way I found this very good and useful reference book by Steve Ginter.



Now I have assembled all the smaller sub-assemblies as wings, fin, stabs, flaps, slats and gears.

I feel I have a good start here!

Cheers!

Stefan E

I was home sick from work the last few days, which meant time at the model bench, even if I felt like crap. So I managed to get a start on a couple builds, including the one I am doing for this campaign.

I starterd a build log (for the first time), because this one is going to be a bit of a bugger. I am kit bashing the Heller 1/48 RF-84F kit with the Monogram F-84F kit in the hopes of making a halfway accurate Thunderflash in my favorite scale.

My build log is here, but here is my current status after doing a little cutting and pasting:

The Heller kit is the silver plastic.

Looks good, Stefan. A nice cockpit and a secure way to ensure nobody will try to misuse old creditcards
This looks like a massive build. How big will the model be?

I cannot find suitable paint for my P-9F Panther here in Latvia, so I will postpone that build. It is now planned as a second build for this campaign.

Instead I am planning for a Bf109G-10/R2 photo recce version. I do not have the camera, but it should be very simple to scratchbuild.
I have 5 photos so far of this version of the Gustav and scale plan for the G-10/R2 version. Right now I am messing around in my references to find more photos or maybe even a colour profile. I will use the Revell/Monogram Me 109G-10 kit.

Looking forward to see more.

Jesper would you share the information re: the 109R when you find any. I have never seen a recc. version of that aircraft.

ROBERT

Hi Robert

there is no such animal as a Bf 109R . but there were subvariants that had cameras built in. Have a look at Jochen Prien's "Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-K series" ... not THE final word on the Bf 109 but fom me still the bible on late mark "hundertneun".

@Jesper: it is probably easier to find a Bf109G-2 to G-6/14 variant .. as I wrote above try to find the book in the Library.

Also good is David Wademans "Aufklärer: Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft and Units 1935-1945". I do not know how good the Classic Publication Aufklärer booklets are regarding the 109 units (also by D. Wadman).

cheers

Steffen