PolMikeD

I must admit that I was a more fearless modeler when I was young. I would try any technique; build any type of model in any type of scheme. Coupled with a child's more fertile imagination, inspired especially by the gadgets I saw in James Bond movies (queue up “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice”) and Sci-Fi films, provided plenty of opportunities for off-the-grid gonzo modeling projects. One of the maxims I have followed regarding my hobby is, "Never throw anything out". My spare parts box was first established in 1962 and, to the chagrin of my wife, has been growing along with my kit collection steadily ever since. I often raid my box of spares, the oldest pieces of which I keep in my father's WWII US Army footlocker - a more fitting place, I could not think of, but what to do with the rest? That is a question that has both vexed me and inspired me from time to time. How about making a model from just the spare parts? Where to start, though? When I was in my "almost-teens" and early teen years I would rummage through my spares box like the proto human in 2001 A Space Odyssey, playing with the animal bones in the prehistoric graveyard for inspiration. Guns, drop tanks, pilot figures, engines, chassis parts, flying surfaces and a bazillion shapes of all types filled the footlocker and a dozen other boxes. I noticed that I had a hell of a lot of plastic bases for aircraft and space models from Aurora, Revell, MPC and Airfix kits. I almost always built my planes with the gear down. Hmmmmn, I may have something here. Flipping the base upside down and Voila! - a shape - a space ship section, a hull for a small boat. Yeah, that's the ticket. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that's the same stream of consciousness that led the Hollywood model builders to use parts from model kits to detail the Star Wars movies' vehicles. I used to kit-bash all kinds of vehicles when I was a kid and make up scenarios and battles related to the designs. This model is a refinement of one these models I built when I was younger. Back in the late 1960s I was into the Desert War in North Africa (thanks to the Humphrey Bogart movie, "Sahara", and the TV series, "The Rat Patrol") with the other influence being the aircraft, boats and vehicles being used in Vietnam. Both my brothers served in Vietnam both are modelers, too. Fast forward to circa 1985-86 and IPMS Region I decided to have a Sci-Fi Special Award as part of the shows theme and that immediately clicked in my memory banks. Going through my boxes I rediscovered my ragged half-broken collection of kit-bash vehicles and found the one I wanted to build again this time with my improved modeling skills. Most of these models were small one or two-man attack boats and hovering flying machines. The background story I developed as a kid envisaged a post-apocalyptic world where the earth suffered the classic two-punch cataclysm started by man and finished by a vengeful Mother Earth. What was left was a world made up mostly of water with island archipelagos, marsh land and small continents interlaced with river systems with the remaining forces of good and evil duking it out for civilization. The name I came up with back in the late 1960's...ready...? - "River World". I’m pretty sure someone sneaked into my bedroom, stole my concepts and designs and 30 years later came up with the Kevin Costner epic - "Waterworld". Someone sure as hell owes me a pile of dough!! The Model The concept for my FA-32 Fast Armored Air Boat is squarely based on the small craft fighting the riverine war of the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam, with a little James Bond thrown in for good measure. The FA-32 is a one-man attack craft armed with a turret-mounted short barreled 30mm Gatling gun and rocket pods. Powered by a radial engine it was capable of high speeds (130 knots!) and incredible maneuverability. The materials used were space-age, light-weight (and, thus, by definition, not top-heavy), but incredibly strong. Likewise, the 30mm rounds and tiny fire-and-forget precision guided rockets packed concentrated explosives. The fuel was also a concentrate, imparting great range to the boat, so necessary given the distances involved between the land masses. Equipped with radar, sonar and a complete package of miniaturized electronics for navigation, attack and counter-measures, this pugnacious little boat was a force to be reckoned with. The parts used are a virtual cavalcade of 1960s-1970s model kits. The Hull An Aurora model display base turned over with the interior sheeted in planked styrene. The deck is a made from another sheet of styrene (believe it, or not, I used cardboard on the original FA-32 I built when I was 12). Oxygen tanks from a long forgotten aircraft model are fitted with the hull aft of the turret as fuel tanks. A radar tit from a 1/72nd scale Airfix F4B Phantom is installed on the underside of the prow as a sonar pod. A slice of Contrail heavy strut stock was glued atop an unknown spares box bit to make up the rotating radar blade, which is mounted on a stainless steel tubing mast, suitably conduited for power and signal. Various bits from plastic sheet are installed on the hull as ship fittings. A whip antenna was added from stretched sprue mounted in a stainless steel tubing base. The Turret A trusty Revell 1/32nd scale AH-1G Cobra Copter Mini-gun chin turret is mounted on a tower base made from ring guards snapped out of old hobby paint spray cans. These rings had a wonderful complex shape to them and the mini-gun turret was a drop fit. I cut a semi-circular opening into the top of the turret and installed a hatch from sheet styrene on working hinges made from stainless steel tube, plastic sheet and piano wire. The turret incorporates a turret basket (made up of plastic sheet and rod), like that seen on tank turrets; and has a seat, instrument panel and large ammo drum installed on it. In place of the Cobra kit's original molded weaponry, I made up a five-barreled 30mm Gatling gun from stainless steel tubing mounted in pre-drilled rings. I decided to drop the 40mm grenade launcher in favor of an infrared sight (a red bullet tail light from a car model) and topped it off with a searchlight robbed from a 1/72nd scale Revell PT-109. An instrument panel was scrounged from a Monogram 1/48th scale jet kit, possibly an F-5E. The Radial Engine Powered by an R-4440 Pratt and Whitney 700hp engine, the FA-32 could really move. The engine came from the Revell 1/48th scale B-25B Doolittle bomber, the rear engine bullet fairing from a Hawk 1/48th scale P-51D kit drop tank with stainless steel tubing exhausts. The whole shebang is mounted on Contrail struts. The prop (reversible, of course) was borrowed from an MPC 1/72 C-130 Hercules. I always thought the spinner and prop of the Hercs were wicked looking, and before some wise guy posts that I have it facing the wrong way - remember - it's reversible, and, besides, I'm controlling the reality in River World! BWWAAAHAHAHAHAA!!! Rocket Pods Monogram 1/72nd scale AH-1G Cobra Copter 2.75" rocket pods mounted on the truncated triangular wing inserts from the wingtip floats of a Revell 1/72nd scale PBY-5A Vertical Fins Monogram 1/72nd scale P-51B Mustang Stabilizers with railroad modeler jewels for lights atop the fins - red for port, green for starboard (they nicely catch the light, due to the facets on the jewels). Paint Scheme Appropriate Riverine Drab Green with red fin tips. Prop is the classic black with yellow tips. The rocket pods are Olive Drab with silver ends and red rocket tips. The sonar & radar pods are gray. Red is used for the fin tips and the spinner to add a bit of color. The mantlet trunnion is graphite and green. The engine is steel. The hull interior is gray and the turret interior is a dirty white. The FA-32 finish has a suitable oil paint wash and dry-brush application to impart a well-used dirty streaky appearance that would be common to these rough and tumble fighting boats. The Base The FA-32 is mounted on keel blocks atop a wood display base stained and sealed with a clear coat. A brass nameplate explains the model. All of my models have a story to them and this story did not end with completion of the model. My FA-32 won the Special Sci-Fi Award at the mid 1980's Region 1 Show in Binghampton, NY. My wife and I were newlyweds and this show was the first IPMS show I ever took her too. I pulled an "all-nighter" to finish it, then made her drive us all the way up to Binghamton. I woke up every 15 minutes, or so, to make sure she was going the right way. After being married to her for 34 wonderful years, all I can say is that I am one lucky modeler. After the show, we took a ride to Oxford, NY to visit her brother and he wanted to see the model. I went into my back seat of my Toyota Celica to get it, but my sunglasses in my shirt pocket launched themselves in a perfect arc into the model box wiping out the engine/struts assembly - damn! Just goes to show you - disaster often comes with triumph. I repaired the damage improving some aspects in the process and the model went on to win several awards at other shows after that. So, what’s in your spares box; and more to the point, what are you going to do about it?

The kit is eminently buildable. sanding off the rivets is easy - rescribe if you want to.

Hey, Thanks for the info.

TO: VH-USB I strongly agree with Roger about the colors/materials of the civil airline L14 Super Electra cabins being fitted out to each customer's specifications/taste. I seriously doubt you'll be able to determine the exact colors of the LOT L14 cabins as I have friends who have tried without any luck. There is a L14 manual available for reading online which gives a highly detailed description of the interior/cabin and the materials used. Unfortunately, no colors are given though... http://www.avialogs.com/index.php/aircraft/usa/lockheed/model-14-super-electra/lockheed-14-super-electra-service-manual.html If you are interested in the LOT L14s, and their noteworthy flights, a Polish friend of mine has published, in two separate books, the memoirs of LOT pilot/director Waclaw Makowski. One book describes flying for LOT and includes a chapter devoted to the 1938 flight of L14 SP-LMK from California to Poland. This book is large and contains many rare photos, but is written entirely in Polish. It's titled 'Waclaw Makowski: Cywil w wojsku Wspomnienia z zycia i wojen'. I was fortunate enough to have Waclaw Makowski's son, who lives in Maine, translate the 1938 flight chapter for me. Is it possible to send me a copy of that translation?

I figured out how to add photos to my original post - take another look

Roger - Thanks, I am pursuing this on several fronts at once. Nils Mathisrud, Yes, I'm in the process of finding a copy at a decent price. So far, it's ranging from ~$74-$150 US. I'll contact my friends at Mushroom to see if a reprint will happen any time soon, as well. The stories of the escape of each LOT Super Electra are fascinating. I'm going to build SP-BPM using the Classic Air Frames kit, which will require different engines, cowls and props, among other changes, like the full clear Hudson-like canopy the Poles installed on several LOT 14Hs.

Admittedly, this at first seems like it should only be in the Civil forum, but, really, this topic straddles both military and civil, since the BOAC "went to war" during WWII. I know how the Lockheed Hudson interiors were painted, but I need the info for the Civil Airliner version. Besides the ones purchased by BOAC, two ex-LOT airlines Super Electras were impressed into service once they escaped from Poland via a circuitous route to England. Those aircraft were SP-BNF & SP-LMK which became, respectively, G-AGBG & G-AGAV. I only have a black and white photo, a black white cut-away view and a photo of one modeler's interpretation, which appears to use a variety of greys, light bluish grey, buff and tan. Anybody have anything definitive on the interior colors of the airliner - especially the passenger cabin? 

I know how the Lockheed Hudson interiors were painted, but I need the info for the Civil Airliner version. Besides the ones purchased by BOAC, two ex-LOT airlines Super Electras were impressed into service once they escaped from Poland via a circuitous route to England. Those aircraft were SP-BNF & SP-LMK which became, respectively, G-AGBG & G-AGAV. I only have a black and white photo, a black white cut-away view and a photo of one modeler's interpretation, which appears to use a variety of greys, light bluish grey, buff and tan. Anybody have anything definitive on the interior colors of the airliner - especially the passenger cabin?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4523808/First-fighter-ace-WWII-Polish-war-hero.html The book's author, Franciszek Grabowski, is a fellow Polish aviation historian, who I have been corresponding with for several years and met in Poland at two of the reunions of the Polish Air Force Veterans Association in Warsaw in 2003 & 2007. I have tremendous respect for Frank. His work is typically meticulous and rich in detail; and I look forward to getting this book. Little has been written about Skalski in the English language, and most of that is pretty basic, only covering the surface. I met Skalski three times over the years, and he has an interesting epic story to tell. This book promises to flesh out the 2 dimensional Skalski we've seen to date, while covering his individual air battles, service with both RAF and PAF squadrons, in particular Skalski's Polish Fighting Team in North Africa in some detail. The book will also cover his post war incarceration by the Polish Communist Government, subsequent release and life after Poland was freed again. It was in the beginning of this latter phase that I first met Skalski in 1989. Needless to say he was not very complimentary about his former jailers. We'll see how much more I can learn from Frank's book. Most likely, Frank has enlisted the support of his close friends, fellow Polish aviation historians, in Poland, who band together and support each others work. The are a great bunch of guys, and they turn out a great product. You can place your order at a discount with The Book Depository in the UK. (works for USA customers, too) I have already.They had the best price with free shipping and I get the books in less than 2 weeks.

Yes, I have Polish Wings 15, and met Matusiak in Poland years ago, but lost his email addy. Hopefully, he'll weigh in on this one.

In some editions of the book, "Figther Squadrons of the RAF", John D.Rawlings, there is reportedly a photo of Spitfire LF Mk.IXc, serial number NH365, later coded JH A, serving with 317 Squadron. I have this book on order, but it's impossible to predict whether the photo will be in the edition I bought. I would like to get in touch with the author to see if I can get a good scan of the original (not just the one in the book, but a good scan of that would be welcome in the interim), or copy of the photo, but I understand that Rawlings may have passed away. Alternately, a contact at the publisher - State Mutual Book & Periodical Service, Ltd., might be helpful, if they are still in business. I could not find them on a Google search. I already have much of the other details of this Spitfire, but would welcome comments and corrections: Manufactured by Vickers Armstrong at Castle Bromwich from production block 349-390. Factory Finishing Notes : 1944 Production/Repair. Vickers at CB was known for high quality finish often adding 20mph to top speed. NH365 LF. Mk IXc equipped with a Rolls Royce Merlin M66, 39MU 18-5-44 AST 6-6-44 317S 'JH-A' 22-6-44 Shot down by flak over Seine crashed in flames 27-8-44 Aircraft was assigned to Polish 317 Squadron - lost in action 27 August 1944 - pilot - Wladek Gnys bailed out - wounded, but survived. Fit details: Merlin 66 equipped with Bendix-Stromberg injection carburettors. Armament - two 20-mm. and four .303-in. guns. Narrow blisters over the cannon. The photo in the book referenced above shows the aircraft to have had extended-horn elevators, but apparently retained the rounded-top rudders. Could be five spoke wheels, but Four-spoke wheels are possible, due to the intention to carry bombs, but the photo only shows covers, so it's impossible to tell. Camera gun in starboard wing root, no hole in port wing root. I'm assisting the pilot's son in his effort to publish a book on his dad, so any help would be appreciated. Mike