Migrant
Senior Airman
Mirage 1/48 PZL-23B Karas (Carp). Complex kit but fully fitted out with resin, PE, paint masks etc. Everything you see here is pretty much OOB.
Flying Carp
- Thread starter Migrant
- Start date
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wow nice job
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Superb job!
T Bolt
Colonel
Beautiful job Migrant1 never saw that plane before.
Matt308
Glock Perfection
Nor have I. Well done. I like the idea that the Poles pimp out their rides with raised white letter dunlops. Good stuff.
Excellent work!
otftch
Staff Sergeant
Very Nice.
Ed
Ed
Crimea_River
Marshal
Looks like a museum piece, along with all the others I've seen from you. Maybe you should publish some tips for us mortals!?
hawkeye2an
Staff Sergeant
The Germans saw them for about 5 minutes, BEFORE they shot them all down.
Seriously, they were outmatched although the brave pilots made some effective attacks notwithstanding the fact that they had no armor, light armament and low speed.
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vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Very nice! I stumbled across one in 1/72 that I enjoyed, but I would love to build one in 1/48!
kgambit
Tech Sergeant
Superb detail! Great job. 
lesofprimus
Brigadier General
Totally agreed, very nice work and detailing.... Slightly too clean for my eye, but the pit work looks phenominal, great job...
- Thread starter
- #13
Migrant
Senior Airman
Thanks for your feedback guys.
Most of these were destroyed on the ground and never really saw much active combat, and photos show very little wear and tear (except the shot down and destroyed examples... of which there were many). Thanks for your comment.
Most of these were destroyed on the ground and never really saw much active combat, and photos show very little wear and tear (except the shot down and destroyed examples... of which there were many). Thanks for your comment.
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Beautiful!
Night Fighter Nut
Master Sergeant
That is exceptionally well done. Bravo!
looks pretty good though!
Polish---------English
Karp----------Carp
Karaś---------Crucian, a smaller fish, 3 Kg would be very big. Sometimes erroneously said to be the species from which the goldfish was derived.
In the period 1937-1939 there were strict limitations imposed on photographing military aircraft. As war approached, fear of espionage grew, and therefore significantly fewer photographs were taken in the air regiments and flying schools than before, and those were usually unofficial anyway. As a result photographic documentation during this period is badly lacking, mostly from official displays and exhibitions, presentations of equipment to foreign delegations, or the press service of aircraft factories. In those circumstances it is not surprising that the aircraft are looking at their best and nicely polished. In those of the souvenir type or taken during exercises, the aircraft appear much more matt, with some fading and staining. By 1939, older types, such as the P.11 which were to be replaced in 1940, can look well worn but there is seldom much missing paint, just the odd chip here and there.
In September 1939, when many cases or subversion were revealed, anyone taking photographs of military equipment was highly likely to be suspected of spying. Only higher level commanders or some risk-takers were willing to take photographs. So very few were taken and those that survived the war were kept in family albums. Thus there are only about twenty known photographs of Polish aircraft taken by Polish airmen in September 1939. On the other hand, the Germans must have taken several thousand of the crashed, damaged, and captured Polish aircraft. Many survived and many more are still turning up in all the usual places from junk shops to e-bay. These are the principal source of knowledge of the camouflaged and markings of Polish aircraft in the September campaign. Photographs of shot aircraft are comparatively rare but often there is little to see. From what can be seen in of those that were captured, i.e., abandoned, damaged in force-landings, etc., there is little difference in appearance form earlier times. A little more worn perhaps, the paint faded and stained, particularly wings. Certainly nothing like the appearance of some models in magazines, that look like a Cadillac that's been baking in an Arizona scrap yard for twenty years and with great chunks of paint missing. Strangely, what nobody seems to notice, are the very long, narrow, sooty exhaust stains along the side of the fuselage that end in a fishtail.
This particular fish , No 6, serial number 44.214, buzz-code T-05, never made it to the war. It crashed in October 1938.
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This is nonsense. The Karaśes of the Bomber Brigade flew extensive missions during the September Campaign carrying out at least 15 major bombing raids against Germany's armour concentrations. Not until the 14th September did the Luftwaffe finally locate an active Polish airfield and destroy any Karaśes on the ground.
First deliveries of the Karaś B commenced in the autumn of 1936, starting with the eskadras of the 1st Air Regiment. By the middle of the following year several Karaś eskadras, with a statutory strength of ten aircraft each, reached full combat readiness and participated in various military exercises. By early 1938 fifteen Karaś eskadras were formed and deliveries of 200 P.23Bs against the original order were approaching completion. Surplus in the Aviation Department's budget for the year ending in the winter of 1937-8 permitted the purchase of an addition ten machines, bringing the total to 210. Due to wear and tear in extensive exercises conducted in realistic field conditions and withdrawal of some machines for routine maintenance, reserves were quite insufficient to keep the units going at full operational strength and an average of only seven or eight P.23Bs per eskadra were serviceable at any given time.
To resolve the situation, during the reorganisation of the air force in 1938 it was decided to disband three Karaś eskadras; two of the 1st (Warsaw) and one of the 3rd (Poznań) Air Regiments. The aircraft withdrawn from these units permitted the twelve remaining eskadras to operate at full strength and keep a marginal reserve of equipment.
In the spring of 1939 the first-line elements of the Lotnictwo Wojskowe (Military Aviation) were regrouped to meet anticipated combat demands of the Polish High Command. Five Karaś eskadras, 21, 22, 55, 64 and 65, joined four Łoś eskadras to form the Brygada Bombowa (Bomber Brigade sometimes called the Independent Bomber Brigade), an independent formation under the direct orders of .C.inC. Polish Armed Forces. The remaining Karaś eskadras were attached, one each, to the seven land armies; 31 to Army Kraków, 31 to Army Karpaty, 32 to Army Łódż, 34 to Army Poznań, 41 to Army Modlin, 42 to Army Pomorze and 51 to Independent Operational Group Narew; these units were completely subordinate to the armies' commands, their task being reconnaissance on the armies' behalf.
On the night 23rd August 1939 mobilization of the LW was announced. The Air Regiments were disbanded, replaced by air bases. Between August 27th and 31st 1939, almost all eskadras were moved from their peace-time bases to secret combat airfields, first to emergency landing grounds and then to their secret operational airfields. Once the move was completed, the eskadras camouflaged their aircraft and COs reported combat readiness to their new superiors. Most units within the Brygada Bombowa were given new identities. The 21st, 22nd, 64th, and 65th Eskadras now became the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Eskadras. 55 Eskadra ws renamed 55 Samodzielna Eskadra Bombowa (55th Independent Bomber Flight, Bomber Brigade).
On 1st September 1939 the LW had a total 224 Karaś aircraft. Combat units had 114 aircraft of which the Brygada Bombowa had 50 and army assigned units 64. Ten Karaśes were included in the equipment reserve. Training establishments had a total of 45 machines (25 P.23A and 20 P.23B), and a further 55 (10 P.23A and 45 P.23B) were undergoing overhauls and repairs. In addition, on 3rd September 41 Eskadra obtained five P.43Bs built for Bulgaria and operated them alongside their P.23Bs for the rest of the September Campaign.
Despite their obsolescence, slow speed and limited lifting capabilities Karaś aircraft of the Brygada Bombowa flew extensive bombing missions throughout the September Campaign. On 2nd September eighteen Karaśes of the Dyon VI/6 (64 and 65 Eskadras) made the first concentrated bombing attack against the Germans and inflicted heavy casualties, but only eleven aircraft returned, three of which were damaged on landing. The following day twenty-eight Karaśes from 21 22 and 55 Eskadras made three attacks on enemy armour in the Radomsko region, putting out of action 30 per cent of the enemy's vehicles. Between the 4th and 8th September some ten bombing raids were carried out, with a total of over 100 Karaśes taking part. These attacks alternated with heavy bombardments by Łoś eskadras, were directed against German armour concentrations in the Radomsko-Piotrków sector on the central front and in the Pultusk region on the northern front, and resulted in heavy losses to the German 10th Army Group's 4th Armoured Division and the "Kempf" Armoured Division; but losses to the Polish bombers mounted quickly, and the pressure could not be kept up. Although operational sorties were still being flown in mid-September, these were of small significance as the number of airworthy machines was very small.
Karaśes of the Armies' Air Force were not put to best use. Split into insignificant detached units, they were engaged mostly on reconnaissance and only occasionally on bombing attacks which were generally ineffective. The tasks given to these eskadras by various army commands were often unrealistic. The crews operating under continuous fire from German and Polish ground defences alike, did an excellent job bringing back accurate information about all major movements of the enemy but these were of limited practical value as the shattered and ill-equipped Polish armies were not in a position to counter the developing German attacks. If the seven Karaś eskadras had been employed in force on well-coordinated bombing, they could have inflicted heavy casualties and slowed down the advancing German armour.
Contrary to German propaganda claims, the LW was not destroyed on the ground in the first days of the campaign. The Karaśes fought valiantly in the Polish skies against overwhelming odds until nearly 90 per cent of them were lost in a hopeless battle. Excluding three aircraft lost in landing on bombed airfield, none of the Karaśes were destroyed on the ground until 14th September. Only on that and the following day did the Luftwaffe manage to smash nineteen Karaś aircraft on detected landing fields.
With the Russian invasion the LW evacuated to Rumania. No less than twenty-one Karaś A and B aircraft were taken with them. These were overhauled by the Rumanians and by cannibalization they obtained nineteen serviceable aircraft. Some of these had external features of both versions.
kgambit
Tech Sergeant
Attachments
1 [ex 21] Eskadra Bombowa Lekka.
Commanded by Cpt Jan Buczma, the Eskadra left its peace-time base at Kraków on 27th August for Radom. On 30th August they transferred to Wsola landing ground 10km north of Radom.
On the morning 2nd September the crew of Wójcik, Kasprzyk and Kwiecień took off at 4.00 am to carry out reconnaissance of the German columns that had crossed the Polish boarder between Leszno and Lubliniec. At first they found no major enemy troop movements but then spotted a 3 km long motorised column on the road from Praszka to Wieluń. Under AA fire they dropped two 100kg bombs. In the afternoon Uryzaj, Wilczak and Ścibach reconnoitred the Częstochowa area. At Gidle near Radomsko it was attacked by four Bf 109Ds of I/ZG 2, and, after a short fight, shot down in flames. All the crew were lost. Hptm Johannes Getzen, CO of I/ZG 2 was credited with the victory.
On 3rd September the 1st, 2nd and 55th Eskadras of the Brygada Bombowa made a number of attacks in three aircraft sections against the German XVI Panzer Corps columns that had broken through Polish defensive positions at the junction the Łódż and Kraków Armies near Radomsko and Częstochowa. Around 9.30 am the first sections of the 1st Eskadra took off, followed by the 2nd Eskadra, each aircraft carrying eight 50 kg or six 100 kg bombs. They found German armoured vehicles near Radomsko and Pławno. The 1st Eskadra bombed and strafed under heavy German fire and were then attacked by nine Bf 109Ds of I/ZG 2 that shot down the Karas of Buczyłk, Alberti, and Mazur. The pilot and observer bailed out but the gunner was fatally wounded in the encounter. The Germans credited 3 Staffel CO Olt Josef Kellner-Steinmetz.
In the afternoon one section of 1st Eskadra flew another attack against German armoured units and was attacked by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76. The aircraft of Obiorek, Król and Mularczyk was engaged by three of them after it dropped its bombs. The pilot attempted to evade, descending from 1,800 m to ground level. Mularczyk the gunner hit the Bf 109 of Rudolf Ziegler but he managed to hit the starboard wing of the Karaś igniting the fuel tank. Only the pilot bailed out successfully, the rest of the crew being killed in the aircraft that crashed at Gorzkowice. The Germans did not escape unharmed. Karaś gunners shot down Olt Dietrich Hrabak, CO of 1 Staffel I/JG 76. He force-landed and hid until German forces overran the area.
Over the next three days the Eskadra carried out reconnaissance sorties whilst moving airfields, Podlodów on the 5th, Marianów on the 6th. On the afternoon of the 7th the CO of II Dyon, Maj. Jan Biały was given orders to bomb German armoured troop to the north of Łódż. Three cres of the 1st Eskadra and five of the 2nd Eskadra were assigned to the attack. At about 16.00 Zykow, Witalis, and Gara took of the 1st Eskadra took off to find the target. They were shot down by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76 (Ofw Johann Klein) and force-landed at Rawa Mazowiecka. The gunner, Gara, was wounded; the others only suffered slight injuries. The bombers were forced to locate the target on their own, which they did in the Ozorków-Stryków area. After carrying out the attack successfully, the 1st Eskadra was attacked by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76. Karaś gunners claimed one Bf 109 shot down but there is no record of a loss in German documents. The Karaś of Procyk, Kuna, and Sroka force landed at Wojcieszków, 8 Km from their base, because of severed control cables.
On the 8th September the Karaś of Dziubiński, Wojtal, and Wolny was shot down by a Bf 110 of LG 1 whilst bombing a German column at Wyszków. The crew suffered wounds and burns but all bailed out successfully. A second Karaś was forced to land, only to be shot down returning to its base after a temporary repair, two days later at Niwy Ostrołęckie.The crew,Palecki, Wyciślok, and,Chromy all died.
On the 11th September only four serviceable aircraft remained which were turned over to the VI Bomber Dyon. The personnel were evacuated to Rumania on 17th September.
Between 1st and 11th September they flew 32 combat sorties dropping 10,000 Kg of bombs. Losses were nine killed and six aircraft lost.
Commanded by Cpt Jan Buczma, the Eskadra left its peace-time base at Kraków on 27th August for Radom. On 30th August they transferred to Wsola landing ground 10km north of Radom.
On the morning 2nd September the crew of Wójcik, Kasprzyk and Kwiecień took off at 4.00 am to carry out reconnaissance of the German columns that had crossed the Polish boarder between Leszno and Lubliniec. At first they found no major enemy troop movements but then spotted a 3 km long motorised column on the road from Praszka to Wieluń. Under AA fire they dropped two 100kg bombs. In the afternoon Uryzaj, Wilczak and Ścibach reconnoitred the Częstochowa area. At Gidle near Radomsko it was attacked by four Bf 109Ds of I/ZG 2, and, after a short fight, shot down in flames. All the crew were lost. Hptm Johannes Getzen, CO of I/ZG 2 was credited with the victory.
On 3rd September the 1st, 2nd and 55th Eskadras of the Brygada Bombowa made a number of attacks in three aircraft sections against the German XVI Panzer Corps columns that had broken through Polish defensive positions at the junction the Łódż and Kraków Armies near Radomsko and Częstochowa. Around 9.30 am the first sections of the 1st Eskadra took off, followed by the 2nd Eskadra, each aircraft carrying eight 50 kg or six 100 kg bombs. They found German armoured vehicles near Radomsko and Pławno. The 1st Eskadra bombed and strafed under heavy German fire and were then attacked by nine Bf 109Ds of I/ZG 2 that shot down the Karas of Buczyłk, Alberti, and Mazur. The pilot and observer bailed out but the gunner was fatally wounded in the encounter. The Germans credited 3 Staffel CO Olt Josef Kellner-Steinmetz.
In the afternoon one section of 1st Eskadra flew another attack against German armoured units and was attacked by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76. The aircraft of Obiorek, Król and Mularczyk was engaged by three of them after it dropped its bombs. The pilot attempted to evade, descending from 1,800 m to ground level. Mularczyk the gunner hit the Bf 109 of Rudolf Ziegler but he managed to hit the starboard wing of the Karaś igniting the fuel tank. Only the pilot bailed out successfully, the rest of the crew being killed in the aircraft that crashed at Gorzkowice. The Germans did not escape unharmed. Karaś gunners shot down Olt Dietrich Hrabak, CO of 1 Staffel I/JG 76. He force-landed and hid until German forces overran the area.
Over the next three days the Eskadra carried out reconnaissance sorties whilst moving airfields, Podlodów on the 5th, Marianów on the 6th. On the afternoon of the 7th the CO of II Dyon, Maj. Jan Biały was given orders to bomb German armoured troop to the north of Łódż. Three cres of the 1st Eskadra and five of the 2nd Eskadra were assigned to the attack. At about 16.00 Zykow, Witalis, and Gara took of the 1st Eskadra took off to find the target. They were shot down by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76 (Ofw Johann Klein) and force-landed at Rawa Mazowiecka. The gunner, Gara, was wounded; the others only suffered slight injuries. The bombers were forced to locate the target on their own, which they did in the Ozorków-Stryków area. After carrying out the attack successfully, the 1st Eskadra was attacked by Bf 109Es of I/JG 76. Karaś gunners claimed one Bf 109 shot down but there is no record of a loss in German documents. The Karaś of Procyk, Kuna, and Sroka force landed at Wojcieszków, 8 Km from their base, because of severed control cables.
On the 8th September the Karaś of Dziubiński, Wojtal, and Wolny was shot down by a Bf 110 of LG 1 whilst bombing a German column at Wyszków. The crew suffered wounds and burns but all bailed out successfully. A second Karaś was forced to land, only to be shot down returning to its base after a temporary repair, two days later at Niwy Ostrołęckie.The crew,Palecki, Wyciślok, and,Chromy all died.
On the 11th September only four serviceable aircraft remained which were turned over to the VI Bomber Dyon. The personnel were evacuated to Rumania on 17th September.
Between 1st and 11th September they flew 32 combat sorties dropping 10,000 Kg of bombs. Losses were nine killed and six aircraft lost.
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