1/32 Hobbycraft Sopwith Camel F.1, Belgian ace Jan Olislagers

[RAGIII]

Nice work on the masking and painting! Looking forward to your progress!!
RAGIII

[rhallinger]

Thanks gentlemen! 

Patrick, thanks for the words of encouragement for the paint scheme.  I specifically bought this decal set so I could do a Belgian aircraft.  I really like the national colors, and Jan Olislagers' story is a very interesting one, as is that of the entire Beligian Air Service.  I am hoping that WNW will eventually release a Hanriot, then we can do lots of Belgian and Italian fighters!    I would love to see a Farman F.40, but I suspect I will have to scratch build that one.  All that wild nose art!  See this link for some interesting photos:

http://www.belgian-wings.be/Webpages/Navigator/Photos/MilltaryPics/Markings/Farman_f40_&_f60/farman_markings.htm

Now, back to this Camel!

Cheers,

Bob

[IFF1418]

Indeed Bob, Angels, dragons, ducks, bull terriers a.s.o. I wish you good luck! Meanwhile your cowling is so beautifully painted. Keep it up Bob.

Kind regards
Patrick

[rhallinger]

Weekly update time.  The MIL has taken over the bedroom in which my modeling desk is located, so I'm carryng on a bit in the basement and dining room.  The wings are painted with the sand base coat, and the Vallejo colors have arrived in the mail for application of the PC10.  I may preshade, or maybe just wait and postshade with powders, or maybe both.  I have also painted and decaled the tailplane.  Snuck into the modeling room for potos:



It still needs some paint touch up and shading, plus re-drillng smaller holes for the rigging.  The decals are a bit short for the tailplane, the same problem Des had with the Spada tailplane decals on his build.  Spada must have had an out-of-scale plan! 

I'm trying something different with this build.  I plan to include a seated pilot figure in the cockpit and a crew member preparing to swing the prop, and set the model in a small vignette scene.  I will use the PJ Productions British pilot and the Wings mechanic swinging prop:



Both figures are very nicely cast.  The pilot figure bears a reasonable resemblance to Olislagers with appropriate painting and goggles over the eyes, and the mechanic's uniform is close enough to some photos I have of Belgian ground cew members.  I will incorporate the pilot figure into the construction of the cockpit.  That will be some time down the road.  Wing painting first!

Regards,

Bob

[Des]

Looking really good  Bob, the green is very striking. Great idea to use some figures with your build, I will be very interested to see how the pilot fits in, it is a very compact area.

Des.

[rhallinger]

Thanks Des.  I have the same question about how the figure will fit in this cockpit, so I am approaching it by using the figure as part of the pit.  It may require some surgery on the figure, i.e. reshaping of arms, legs and posterior, tomake him fit.  This should be interesting! 

Cheers,

Bob

[lcarroll]

Coming along nicely Bob, and the markings will be spectacular when she`s done. Have fun with those figures: nice touch but you are a braver man then I!
Cheers,
Lance

[Rob Hart]

Watch out for those Spada decals. They need to be coated with something while they are still on the backing. I coated some with Microscale decal film and couldn't get them to lay down on a flat surface.

[mgunns]

Hello Bob:

Glad to see someone else working on the Academy Camel.  Like Des says, it is a decent kit and can be built into something noteworthy.  Des' build log is an invaluable tool.  I did one in the spring using Des' log as inspiration and a guide and it turned out pretty decent.  It looks like a Camel.  It is the old Revell Camel just pantographed down to 1/32nd.   Like you, I like the Belgian colors and wish more were out there, like for the SPAD etc.  Your cowling really turned out nice as did the tail plane.  Looking forward to see how you tackle this kit and the results.  I have one more in the stash and am thinking of doing the Muston Camel.    It will also be interesting to see what you think of the figures and how well the seated figure sits in the seat. 

Best

Mark

[RAGIII]

The tail feathers look great! Keep the pics coming!!
RAGIII

[rhallinger]

Thanks all!  Progress is slowed by the temporary eviction from the modeling room, and also by the Spada decals. 

I got the wings painted, and am happy with the shade.  After a coat of Future dryed for a couple of days, I cut out the Belgian roundels and applied the first on to the top wing.  It virtually disappeared into the relatively dark olive drab of the PC10!  These decals must be printed on an Alps printer, and no white background was laid down first, making the colors virtually translucent.  Ugghhh!  I quickly slid the offending decal off the wing before it could set up, cleaned the wing off with water, and decided that I will have to mask and paint the roundels.  This may be just as well, since I was not really keen on the lemon yellow color in the decals.  I think the Belgian roundels should have a darker yellow color.  I will now paint them to match the rudder.  Time to break out the circle cutter and masking tape!

On a happier note, the black decal for the unit number on the rudder went on flawlessly and looks great. 

I will try to take some photos by this weekend to show all of this graphically.  Next step after painting the national markings will be post-shading of ribs just like Lance did on his Tripehound.  I will also begin fiddling with the pilot figure to see if I can manage to make his derriere fit into the kit-supplied seat.    Some fun, eh?

Regards,

Bob

[IFF1418]

Hello Bob,

Maybe this picture could give you an idea :





Kind regards
Patrick

[rhallinger]

Thanks Patrick!  Very helpful.  This yellow does appear a bit lighter than I had thought.  Maybe it's just my imagination, or tricks of shadow and light, but in the color photos I have seen, the yellow bar on the rudder generally looks a little darker than the yellow in the wing roundels.  It must just be the lighting, since they would have used the same paint for each, presumably. ??  I think I will choose a mid-range yellow for the wing roundels, just a tad lighter than the rudder bar, by adding a drop of white to the yellow I used for the rudder (Pollyscale CNW Yellow, a holdover from model railroading days!).  Thanks again.

Regards,

Bob

[IFF1418]

Yes Bob colors are misleading, certainly on computer screens. I found this  2 links :

http://www.google.com/search?q=belgische+vlag&nord=1&rlz=1W1ACAW_nlBE367BE367&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=77-xUruIBuS5yAOZzIDgCg&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1778&bih=723&dpr=0.9

http://www.modelbouwforum.nl/forums/vliegende-schaalmodellen/125822-stampe-en-vertongen-sv-4b-5.html

Kind regards
Patrick

 

[IFF1418]

Bob, I dont want to confuse you more, here is a last photo.



Patrick