1/48 Blue Max/Eduard Sopwith Camel "Comic" Nightfighter

[coyotemagic]

Back about 4 years ago, when I first came back to the hobby, this photo caught my eye.

I thought it, by far, the most beautiful Camel I had ever seen and wanted desperately to build it in 1/48 scale.  I had seen it built by Karen Rychlewski, an extraordinary modeler from West Virginia, using a conversion kit from Lone Star Models.  Full of anticipation, I dashed off an email to Mike West only to find that the Camel Comic conversion kit was not longer available.  I fiddled around with a few conversion attempts, chopping up an Eduard fuselage, trying out various upper decking modifications, but was never really satisfied.  Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, Colin Strachan, owner of Freightdog Hobbies, sent me a resin conversion kit he had been working on.  I guess I must have made a pest of myself on the 'drome, asking all sorts of silly questions about seat type and location, fuel and oil tank location, paint color, instrumentation and the like, to the point where Colin took pity on me and sent me this marvelous little gem of a kit.  The kit is quite complete with a full fuselage with head rest, a pair of Foster mounts and Lewis guns, Holt flares, nav lights, and frames for the wind screen and Fosters.  I made a vague promise to Colin that I would review the kit, but never really got around to it and for that I am sorry, Colin.  Hopefully, I can make up for it with this build log.  I've been working on it feverishly and reckoned I'd better put some photos up before I got too far along.
Here's a shot Colin sent me of some of the kit parts before sending the kit.

I started painting the interior as soon as I got the kit, blowing my chance of showing the parts in the raw, then let it languish for a couple years.

While working on Monington's D.VII, this kit started calling to me from the stash pile, so I hauled it out and decided to finish her.  First off, I wasn't all that keen on using the Eduard seat, so I worked up a Lone Star resin wicker seat I had in the parts bin.  There were a few air bubbles that I had to patch with green stuff, then I sanded off the backing of the open section of wicker.





Then some paint.



Here's a really crappy photo of the instrument panel and rudder bar.  It's blurry because I was moving so fast.

[uncletony]

Nice...

[Ernie]

That should be a really interesting Camel, Bud.  Great start on the interior...
the seat is beautiful and the wood treatments up to your usual brilliant standards!
I'll enjoy following your build, my friend.

Cheers,
Ernie

[coyotemagic]

Thanks, Ernie and Bo!
The wings are from the Eduard kit and the only complaint I have with kit is that the aileron pulley inspection windows are a solid piece of clear plastic.  I guess it's better than other depictions in 1/48 scale, though.  At any rate, I cut off the little rectangles that fit into the wing and glued them in place.  This is really hard to photograph because the parts are very small and clear and I'm a lousy photographer.



I then sanded the clear covers really thin and set them aside to add, along with some pulleys, after painting.

Instead of the Clerget, the Comic used a LeRhone engine, which is also supplied in the conversion kit.

This is where I am as of now.  Base coat ready for pre-shading.

Okay, time to stop being so wordy and get something done.
Cheers,
Bud

[Dave W]

Great to see this build in progress Bud as I recently purchased the Blue Max Comic conversion from Freightdog and agree it's a very nice set. I reckon the Sopwith Comic is more appealing than a Camel 

I'm following this build with much interest and as soon as my Karaya DH.5 is done, the Blue Max Sopwith Comic is next up!

Er....Apart from that Wingnuts DH9 which just jumped the queue!! 

And a plug for Colin at Freightdog Models- he's keeping the 1/48th WW1 flag flying with some great reissues of Blue Max kits and new products on the way.

cheers

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[coyotemagic]

Thanks, Dave!  I know you'll really enjoy building your Comic.  It's a great kit and an interesting subject.  I'm delighted to hear that Colin has more on the way.  He's a true artist and a gentleman.  We had chatted about him doing a Martinsyde Elephant, but he was reluctant because Karaya had one in the works.  Seems now they've given up on that one, so I'm hoping we can rekindle his interest.
Cheers,
Bud

[RAGIII]

WOW Bud! You haven't wasted any time! I love the wood, seat and panel!!The construction looks to be your usual High Level !! I am looking forward to seeing your progression on this one. How to make PC 10 look COOL 
RAGIII

[xmald]

An ultra interesting build mate, and it`s coming along really nicely. When it comes to the wicker seat I`m tempted to do it with a wire. Keep up the good work!

[Des]

Great progress so far Bud on a very interesting subject, I am very keen to watch this build as I know very little about the "Comic" Camels.

Des.

[rhallinger]

Fascinating project Bud!  I'm really lookng forward to seeing your work on this.

Regards,

Bob

[Nigel Jackson]

Hello Bud
 
This is a lovely piece of work and such a fascinating subject. I'm really looking forward to your future updates

Best wishes
Nigel

[IFF1418]

Hello Bud,

That is going to be nice! Your start is great. Love the chair. In your hands it will turn out to be another great build. The best of luck!

Kind regards
Patrick

[lcarroll]

Beautiful subject Bud, what's the colour scheme for this bird? In the back of my mind I'm justifying the lack of application to my two Hobbycraft Kits (waiting for the elusive WNW release) with a vague plan to someday do a conversion to a Comic version.
Cheers,
Lance

[coyotemagic]

Thank you all for your encouragement, guys.  While working on my last project, I realized that over the past year, I've only completed 3 models.  I usually manage about 3 times that number, so I'm hustling to get this one finished.  To keep SWMBO happy, I'm trying to create the illusion that my stash is not growing in spite of the fact that I'm buying kits faster than I can build them.  Hence the rush to finish.  WNW's release of the DH9 got me itchin' to build the Roden 1/48 scale kit that I have.  It's box is quite large and will leave a nice void for me to fill once I have it on the bench, so it's next after this one.

WOW Bud! You haven't wasted any time! I love the wood, seat and panel!!The construction looks to be your usual High Level !! I am looking forward to seeing your progression on this one. How to make PC 10 look COOL 
RAGIII

Thanks, Amigo, but this one will not be PC10.  I'm building B2402, flown by Capt. George Hackwill of No44 Sqd when, with the assistance of Lt. Banks in B3827, he brought down Gotha GV 938/16.  According to Windsock International, Vol 4 No 2, it was painted at the unit level a glossy dark green dope, close to Methuen 27F8.  I found a match in Deep Brunswick Green:

Beautiful subject Bud, what's the colour scheme for this bird? In the back of my mind I'm justifying the lack of application to my two Hobbycraft Kits (waiting for the elusive WNW release) with a vague plan to someday do a conversion to a Comic version.
Cheers,
Lance

This is what she looks like, Lance (sort of).  These images are from the Blue Max instruction sheet.  3a is the scheme I'm going with.

The actual ship, however, had it's wood and metal panels also painted dark glossy green as in the photo:

Got half of the preshading done and should have the rest finished today.  Not sure when I'll be able to start painting, though.  It's currently 28 deg F and I'm not comfortable airbrushing when it's below 55.
Cheers,
Bud

[lcarroll]

Bud,
   Very nice scheme, I'll be following your Build with great interest.
Cheers,
Lance