Hi,
I found out that the campaign regulations allow to participate with an already started build. So here I am. (if I'm wrong don't hasitate to remove me from the list and change the topic). By the time of the start of this campaign I had prepared just the parts from the cockpit. Most of the progress was done this year.

For the build I use the Eduards kits in the profipack standard (taken from the dual combo box so I still have one more Camel to do one day). I decided to build the one and only Camel in the Polish markings, the plane which belonged to Lt. Murray (as a private property) in late 1920 (it wasn't used during the polish-bolshevicks war). After the war Murray has sold the plane to the Polish government. It was crashed in 1921 and scraped. There are only 3 or 4 pictures known of this particular Camel with the Polish chequerboard. I'll publish them later, I just want to find and check the publication title.

Anyway, here's where I am right now.























Yestarday I attached the upper wing to the struts and made some rigging, but I didn't take any pictures. I hope to show the progress in the next update.

Hi there Michal.

Nice work, and an interesting subject to choose too.
I have this kit, have gone to start it several times and been lured away to the other side.

I don't see a problem in your joining the KotS group build, my Roland was accepted and I was almost finished.

Si I get to say first Welcome


Keith

Hi MIchal:

Great looking Camel so far. Your work on the engine and interior is noteworthy. Looking forward to more and welcome to the build. There is lots of time to do more too.

Best

Mark

Hi Michal,

Congratulations on the subject! Nice to see some polish feature (polish-american to be precise) here. To anyone interested in history of 7 Eskadra Mysliwska (Fighter Squadron), or Kosciuszko Squadron and its part in polish-bolsheviks war of 1919-1920, I highly recommend the book "Flight of Eagles" by Robert F. Karolevitz and Ross S. Fenn. Great read on this little known period of polish aviation and involvement of american volunteer pilots in it.
There is also polish edition of this title (I bet you already read it Michal, didn't you?). Actually, I'm going through it as we speak.
More suitable for modellers could be Mushroom Model Publications book "Kosciuszko Squadron 1919-1921" by Tomasz J. Kopanski and Z. Kozak. Apart from the story of the squadron and its pilots, the book contains also many b/w photos and several color profiles of the aircraft. Unfortunatelly, the latter title is out of print, so it's not widely available (I bought mine at Hannants, I think they still carry couple of them; it shows up at ebay from time to time as well).
Just so you know...in case you might be interested...or looking for unusual subject (like Oeffag D.III in polish markings).

Michal, I'm looking forward to see her ready for take off!

Best regards,
Tomasz

Welcome to the build. Great start.

Thank you all for the welcome and all your kind words. It's my second biplane so the results are far from the "top-notch" builds which I have seen on this forum.

The interior was build using the kit parts, both plastic and PE. I just added some cooper wires and cables. I tried to reproduce the internal rigging of the fuselage for the first time and I experimented with different materials and techniques to find "my way" so I'm not very satisfied. But I got new experience which is priceless Thank God the worst is not visible from the outside

The engine was upgraded using the injection needles 0,45mm (external diameter) for the push rods and kits PE for wires. It could be better, especially in the valves area. Painting was done with Gunze Metalic (not the "Super" ones, just normal), Vallejo black wash and a covering varnish of very diluted future.

Surprisingly yesterday I made some new &@%#%@$ wires in the rigging. Only few hundred thousands more to finish...

Nicely done so far Michal !

I also add my welcome. Great start; I am anxious to see the finished product.

Wah! Really like what I see!

Thank you again for the kind welcome.

Just three quick shots to show the progress.

It's coming along nicely. Please describe your turnbuckle effect. Did you make them yourself?

There's nothing special in my technique. Before I started the work the fishing line was painted using the black marker. I drilled the 0,3mm holes through the wings at the proper angles, pushed the fishing line through it and glued firmly at one end. Then I placed the two sleeves cuted from the injection needle 0,45mm and glued the fishing line on the other end. Finaly I glued the loose needle-sleeves at both ends. That's it.

Today just a short update without pics about my Camel. Well, it was a stupid idea not to glue the ailerons and rudder. I have some difficulties now with preshading them and rigging as I don't remeber which colours I used. It's also much more difficult to paint these parts in the same style. Well, I think that's what we call "gaining experience".

Yes mikael, I've been there and done that, difference is I never learned my lesson and did it time and time again.

Nice work though anyway.


Keith

Ok, I think I have finished my entry for the KoTS campaign. I look at the model and see few places which require some extra care but I think the general look of the plane will not change. Although I'm not very satisfied with the model, I know I could do it much better. Thank God i have one more Camel in the stash so with the current experience I hope to improve next time.

Nicely Done! What company does the Polish unit and national markings? You might want to add some black to the strut tips entering the wings representing the metal sheaths.

Many thanks Stephen.

Well, I'm affraid than currenty none. The decals were taken from the KAGERO publication about Camels or 7th Squadron (I don't remember) and they added the decal sheet to the book. It was good few years ago. A fellow modeler gave me the Camel chequerboards, emblems and numbers. One of the large chequerboard has rolled-up in water and completely disintegrated so I used two decals and painted two others with the self-made masks. Guess which one

Edit: spelling.

Michal,
Very nice build. An unusual color scheme and your undersides, shading effect etc. are really well done. You work with just the right amount of weathering; I try but seem to overdo it most times.
Don't be so critical of yourself; I think you've done a great job and the detail in the 1/48th Scale is impressive.

Cheers,
Lance

Thanks Lance, good to hear your positive comment.

Tell me please what do you mean by "unusual painting scheme"? Colours which I used? It should be painted as natural linen on the undesides (I used Gunze Radome) and some shade of RFC green (Gunze Olivegreen on the pre-shading), but the problem is that nobody knows what was the shade on this plane. So it's just my variation/interpretation. BTW: it's the only Camel in the Polish service, there are about 4 or 5 known photographs of this particular machine.

Let's say I'm satisfied with some parts of the model: interior, partialy engine, opened guns muzzels, scratched paint on the wheels.

Michal,
By unusual scheme I mean just as you say, very few (in this case one) Camels in Polish service/markings. If a hundred Camels appeared on this site I am certain 98 or 99 would be in British markings; nice to see something different!
And again, nice model!

Cheers,
Lance

Lance, thanks again. You set my mind down now. I was affraid that I completely missed some colour and your "original" was the polite form of "wrong"
I'm not the biplane expert, it's my second biplane ever build, so I realise that I still lack a lot of knowledge and modeling experience.

Your doing fine. Plumb and square and a bit of penash!

Hi Michal.
Great looking Camel mate.
After doing a few months of research on PC10 I think you could paint it any colour from olive drab to chocolate brown and be correct! It would appear that as well as variables in the amounts of stuff that were originally mixed to make the colour, it faded very rapidly in the sun to sometimes very different colours to what was applied.
Then we have the trouble of no colour photos being available to check the colour. Maybe once we invent time travel we can go back and check the colour out..
Unusual markings for a Camel and a welcome change form the RFC ones most people build.
What are you going to build next?

Thank you Stephen and Warren, I apreciate.

Warren, to the problems with mixing and fading of the PC10 you can add another one that nobody knows whether this Camel was repainted after its arrival to Poland or not. It were really busy days then (although the war was at the end and the negotiations were taking place) so problably not, but hell, nobody knows for sure. It may be advantage or disadvantege of the problem "how to paint the model"

What next? Maybe another Camel... I got the Combo edition and there's no other biplane in my stash. I like the "Black Mike" from the kit schemes. But seriously, I want to finish few other models: B-17G, Me-262 and a figure at first so another biplane must wait some time.