No. 4 Squadron. Australian Flying Corps.

[Taurus]

 

IL-2_GB_SopCamel_4K_4AFC_PreMay1918.zip   < New Skins Pre May 1918. (x18 Serialled.)

 

 

Access to new references required a re-work of these skins to better represent the aircraft.

 

 

- Overpainted rudder fin.
- Serial Numbers varied between styles of fuselage and rudder fin as per photographic reference where possible.
- B Flight aircraft identification corrected to numerics.
- Boomerangs adjusted;
  A Flight: Fuselage boomerang adjusted left
  B Flight: Fuselage boomerang adjusted rearward.
  C Flight: Fuselage boomerang adjusted right.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by Taurus

[SIA_Sp00k]

Excellent mate

[No.23_Triggers]

Awesome. Now we just need the Ozzy Camel pilots to form No.4 (V) AFC! Where's Shot at? 

[FTC_Snowy]

Hello ?
 

Seriously, thank you Taurus, and if anyone wants to fly as AFC occasionally I’d be interested. It would be great to see a flight of AFC Camels in the air.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Snowy
Extra text

[Stumble]

Just a question about skins in general... what are the letters representing? Like here you have A, B, C and so forth Im guessing as flight leader, wingman 1, 2 etc. Or Is it anything random?

 

S!

[RNAS10_Oliver]

3 hours ago, Stumble said:

Just a question about skins in general... what are the letters representing? Like here you have A, B, C and so forth Im guessing as flight leader, wingman 1, 2 etc. Or Is it anything random?

 

S!

As you say the question is about skins in general the answer would be that if historical then it depends on who/what/when the skin depicts.

 

The letters on Camels in 10 (Naval) Squadron for example denoted the flight that the machine was part of. Others might be using the letter to identify the pilot for example how Raymond Collishaw tended to have “C” on his Triplanes and Camels. Others might just use the letter to identify an individual aircraft, the letter bearing no resemblance  to the pilot inside. Some have a letter followed by a number also for example the Airco DH4 that Charles Bartlett used in 5 (Naval) Squadron coded “B1” which I believe was indeed denoting flight and lead. So yeh the meanings behind the lettering varies depending on squadron and date.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Oliver88

[Taurus]

Good question. From my studies, in most cases the historical squadron log books usually refer to the aircraft serial number and pilot only. There will be some other symbology to define the squadron and numbering/colour system for individual aircraft depending on air force and time frame. The UK used the alphabet to identify individual airframes. Unless specifically stated in log records as to the aircrafts specific notation, ie "G" for George, the only other way to correlate all the details is through photographic evidence. In this case I believe "W" was the Commanding Officers aircraft, which would have been Captain Edgar James McCloughry (CO) (Australian War Museum records.) In my limited research it would appear at least for the Commonwealth aircraft that they used alphabetic notation on their aircraft with the leaders taking the end lettering (Z, X and in this case W. But it could be any letter.)

I have since confirmed from new late war images that the 2nd and 4th squadrons AFC retained the squadron markings;

A Flight - A,B,C,D,E,F 

B Flight - 1,2,3,4,5,6

C Flight - U,V,W,X,Y,Z

Which means.... ?

 

As for the CO, an interesting read here

Edited May 1, 2020 by Taurus
New info found.

[Cybermat47]

Nice! Any plans for the May 1918 markings as well? Apologies for the low quality image:

 

 

Here’s a higher quality image of their later markings, though these are on Sopwith Snipes:

 

[Taurus]

NIce Find. Don't know when they dropped the boomerang markings? (Found out the boomerang on the spine can be facing either way too... ) The snipe looks interesting but have only flown it once or twice. They got them in early October when they had just moved to Serny (map grid 0302) so likely they will be done. At the moment just fleshing out a single player patrol mission for 21st March 1918 from Bruay (map grid 0404).

Edited April 19, 2020 by Taurus

[FTC_Snowy]

 

5 hours ago, Taurus said:

1. Good question. From my studies, in most cases the historical squadron log books usually refer to the aircraft serial number and pilot only. There will be some other symbology to define the squadron and numbering/colour system for individual aircraft depending on air force and time frame. The UK used the alphabet to identify individual airframes. Unless specifically stated in log records as to the aircrafts specific notation, ie "G" for George, the only other way to correlate all the details is through photographic evidence. In this case I believe "W" was the Commanding Officers aircraft, which would have been Captain Edgar James McCloughry (CO) (Australian War Museum records.) In my limited research it would appear at least for the Commonwealth aircraft that they used alphabetic notation on their aircraft with the leaders taking the end lettering (Z, X and in this case W. But it could be any letter.)
2. As for the CO, an interesting read here

 

Hi Taurus, I just tried out your No 4 Squadron skins. They look great!  As an Aussie I appreciate you doing these.

 

That is indeed an interesting read. 

 

Here is a photo I took of the replica Snipe flying at Tyabb in 2016.

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Snowy

[Taurus]

Excellent photo there Snowy! Any further reference would be greatly appreciated.

 

4th Squadron received the snipes serialled EXXXX;

3rd October 1918 - x6 Snipes from Marquise

4th October 1918 - x6 Snipes from Marquise

7th October 1918 - x7 Snipes

19th October 1918 - x5 Snipes to complete the complement

 

The Squadron war diary noted that the pilots were impressed with their new mount. The first sortie being on the 4th October 1918 (Squadron paint just dried???).

 

(Courtesy Australian War Museum.)

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Taurus

[FTC_Snowy]

Hi Taurus,

 

According to the RAAF Museum Facebook page the Snipe replica was built by Nick Caudwell from 'the Sopwith plans over a period of 10 years and approximately 10,000 hours of work. All the cockpit instruments and switches are original'. It is an impressive aircraft. I have been fortunate to see it fly at a couple of airshows in Australia. The RAAF Museum at Point Cook in Victoria Australia is a 'must visit' when in Melbourne in my view, as is the Australian War Memorial in Canberra whenever I am there.

[Stumble]

So I could put an S on my planes for Stumble. They have this in the wing as well? I've seen the 3PG have this on their planes.

[Taurus]

@SnowyThanks for the heads up there Snowy. Been a looong time since I've been to Pt Cook. Worth the visit again. Canberra is on the bucket list.

 

@StumbleCannot see why they would break protocol with Identification lettering on the top wing? I've only just started looking at the snipe and will confirm if that is the case.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

Downloaded these the other night because realised that Snowy would be using them online and I wanted to be able to recognise him from the other Camels about. Might I make an observation on something I've noticed? Some of the skins (maybe about half) have strange orange lines cutting across the lower wings, undercarriage struts and palmer detachable shields?

 

[Taurus]

Thanks Oliver88 for letting us know! Unfortunately it is an artifact from a texture technique that I changed too halfway through doing the skins and had not noticed. I will go through and see which skins have been affected and update the zip.

 

My sincere apologies to all those who have downloaded the skins.

 

Fixed... See first post.

Edited April 21, 2020 by Taurus

[No.23_Triggers]

2 minutes ago, Taurus said:

Thanks Oliver88 for letting us know! Unfortunately it is an artifact from a texture technique that I changed too halfway through doing the skins and had not noticed. I will go through and see which skins have been affected and update the zip.

 

My sincere apologies to all those who have downloaded the skins.

As I'm currently working on the 3rd P.G's skins, doing 4 units' worth of skins in bulk, I absolutely feel your pain here ?

Edited April 20, 2020 by US93_Larner

[FTC_Snowy]

8 hours ago, Taurus said:

Thanks Oliver88 for letting us know! Unfortunately it is an artifact from a texture technique that I changed too halfway through doing the skins and had not noticed. I will go through and see which skins have been affected and update the zip.

 

My sincere apologies to all those who have downloaded the skins.

 

Fixed... See first post.

Hi Taurus

Please don't apologise, I am very grateful to you for doing them. 

Cheers

Snowy

 

[J37_GCF]

On 4/12/2020 at 11:33 PM, Taurus said:

 

Sopwith_Camel_4K_4AFC_Fixed.zip   < FIXED

 

My sincere apologies to all those who have downloaded the previous version skins. The file names remain the same so just copy over the top.

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Hi would you like, these great skins, included the unofficial skin bundle ?

[Taurus]

@GCF No worries, as long as they are attributed then have at it.

 

@US93_Larner Mine is nothing compared to your herculean works with those outstanding skins you've done! I really appreciate the ability to load up a squadron of skins and go. 

 

Cheers,

 

[J37_GCF]

thank you, i will put you down as skin creator, for sure, all skins are credited to there skin creator on the lists that come with the bundle.

[J37_GCF]

Final FCUSB chapter 2 update to here.

 

Please Check i have them all good.

 

[Taurus]

Thanks GCF! An invaluable service you are providing.