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The model represents a Nieuport 11 of the 75a Squadriglia of the Italian Air Force, 1916. Why? I liked the colour scheme. It's The Eduard 1/48th kit, non-profi, straight from the box, and yes I know its missing its windscreen. It wasn't till after I got the pictures back that I found this odd bit of clear plastic floating around the box... It's rigged with invisible mending thread painted (clumsily) silver. I learned a lot from building it and the tips etc. from other listees. This is an ideal first biplane kit.
This is the Hobbycraft 1/32nd scale Camel. I did a fair bit of work on it. Getting rid of the "ribs" took a fair bit of time, I used a cabinet maker's scraper and then repaired the damage....then I replaced the rib tapes with lightweight paper as I couldn't find any 5thou. plastic card. I did nothing to the engine bar adding pushrods and spending a bit of time painting it. The area around the guns (Copper State) looked awful, just a gaping hole so I bodged up ammo feeds etc.with bits of plastic card. The struts are of lemonwood, and perhaps should be dyed a bit browner - the colour you see is natural. I built a cockpit frame using limewood and copper (to reinforce the joints) and did the instrument panel in the same wood with CSM instruments. I even wove a seat....you can't see it now that it's in place (sigh). I also redid the 'turtledeck' using very thin copper obtained from an electronics shop. It's one piece, scored to make the 'facets. The rigging is fishing line of various weights.
I had endless fun deciding on the right colour, I think I've invented PC11....The markings are all my own work, didn't like the HC offerings, and really fancied the Black Flight colouring as it's so lethal looking. I picked 'Black Prince' in particular because I fancied having a shot at the gothic M. so I painted the roundels and 'Ms' and made jet print decals for the serials and name.. The 'orrible little tensioner thingy in the forward cabane wires started life as a bit of big size contrail strut material...
I've been messing with this thing since October, and have photographed the whole process... There are things I'm not happy about and it's a bit untidy here and there and it doesn't actually sit 100% straight viewed from the front...but enough is enough. I need to get on with my SE5a and Rumpler...
This is my take on the New Eduard Camel F.1. It represents the Plane flown by Lt. W.R. 'Wop' May, a Canadian and possibly a distant relation. He was the guy in front of M.v R. as opposed to his Fight Commander, Roy Brown who was in a much more sensible spot!
The kit is great, I added a pitot head and built a new Rotherham pumpand mounted iton the port u/c leg. Of course, the engine should have been a Bentley, not the Clerget. I haven't reached the stage of masochism for scratch building rotaries quite yet. More details of the build can be found on my website.
Here's a few pics of my Blue Max Snipe. Comments have already been made about the problems constructing this kit. Suffice to say I had to remove a lot of plastic from the inside of the fuselage before the innards would fit. Though you need an endo scope to see whats in there...Touched up here and there with a bit of Copper State PE, wood/wire struts and an attempt at RAF wire. The RAF wire was done by doubling monofilament through eyebolts I've attached a 'GIF' of how I did it if Matt can find a space for it. It was painted using airbrush and Gunze Sangyo acrylics. the rudder was painted rather than use the transfers, which didn't seem to be a great fit. The others were fine if fragile. I used extremely fine fly-tying silk looped through the holes in the control horns to tie the control lines to them. Thought it looked a bit neater than bending the monofilament itself through the holes. All in all, It's not a bad kit of an aeroplane I really am fond of.