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I must have bought this set in the 1980s for my model railway

Hi, some fire engines for my Luftwaffe airfield Cheers macki

Hi, everybody. In history, there are many cases when aircraft that were not accepted by military aviation were turned into purely civilian modifications and successfully flew in this capacity for many years. This scheme can be safely applied to the transport and passenger aircraft Curtiss Model 18 "Condor", which had "bomber" roots. In 1927, Curtiss took part in a competition to create a heavy bomber for the United States air force (USAC). The aircraft was developed on the basis of the Martin-MB-2 serial bomber, which at that time formed the basis of the heavy bomber squadron. Its redesigned version was named the Curtiss Model 52 XB-2 and showed good performance during testing, which, however, was not enough to accept the aircraft for large-scale production. The order for the b-2 Condor bombers was only 12 copies, while its competitor, the Keystone XLB-6 (later renamed the B-6) was built by the dozens. Such a ridiculously small order did not suit the Curtiss company at all, and then the idea arose to create a transport aircraft based on a bomber. The fuselage has undergone major changes - in accordance with the new requirements, it has become more voluminous - the maximum width reached 2 meters. The cabin was closed, but the box with the biplane wings remained almost unchanged. The first flight of the Curtiss Model 18 "Condor" was made in June 1929, receiving a certificate of airworthiness in August. 6 passenger aircraft were produced, but this model was not a commercial success. In early 1930, Transcontinental air transport took a few cars into experimental service, but they were returned to Curtiss a couple of months later. The Condor was unclaimed for a number of reasons. By 1930, the world was literally filled with Fokker and Ford Airliners, and there was no room for Curtiss among them. The situation was aggravated by the economic crisis, which actually buried the hope of selling manufactured cars. In June, Glen Curtiss, who died two months later, made his last flight from Albany to new York in a Condor. But it was too early to despair. At the end of 1930, the company Eastern Air Transport, which needed to replenish the fleet of aircraft, expressed a desire to purchase all 6 aircraft, but at a significant discount. Curtiss ' commercial Department simply had no choice, and Condor was transferred to eat. On December 10, 1930, three aircraft were installed on the new York-Alabama line, and on January 1, 1931, routes to Miami and St. Petersburg were opened. The flight lasted 14 hours and passed through Richmond, Raleigh, Florence, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Daytona beach. Such flights were very popular with the rich residents of new York, especially since the passengers of the condors were served by flight attendants - an absolute novelty of the service at that time. In addition, the aircraft had a low noise level in the cabin, hot and cold water in the toilet, individual lighting and good ventilation of each seat. Even with its archaic design, condors could still be improved. Therefore, after the removal of Condor liners from service in 1934, they were replaced with a transport modification. In January 1930, engineer Georg page introduced the T-32, later known as the Condor II. Despite the similarity, the difference between the two condors was very great. The t-32 had a newly developed fuselage, more powerful star-shaped engines, and a retractable landing gear. In other words, the Condor II would have been closer to the most modern monoplanes if not for its biplane design. While the company was in crisis, serial construction of the T-32 was postponed. The aircraft was only delivered to the Assembly line in 1933, when the airlines began to appear high-speed monoplanes Boeing and Douglas. "Condor II" could not compete with them, but the company EAT, which is already familiar with the US, bought 9 aircraft. After that, TAT also bought 9 cars. Of course, this volume of sales can not be called good, but, given the situation, the sale of 18 outdated cars can be considered a good deal. In 1933, two T-32S became part of the air force. the designation YC-30, they were used until 1936 for the transport task. The last "Condor II" was made in a special version and was intended for the Byrd polar expedition of 1933-1935. There is no reliable information about the fate of decommissioned condors. But the chronology of aviation accidents indicates the crash of one "Condor", which belonged to the Swiss company Swissair. Aircraft (reg. Number CH-170) crashed on June 27, 1934 near the German city of Tuttlingen, burying all 12 passengers and Crew on Board. The second accident occurred in the United States on mount Mongop (new York). On June 9, 1934, a T-32 flying from new York to Chicago crashed into Last chance hill during a severe thunderstorm and rain. visibility. 7 people were killed. This was the end of Curtiss's Condor plane, if not for business. Local conflicts do not stop on Earth for a single day, and every war is an occasion to profit from the supply of weapons and ammunition. In 1935, American businessman Hugh wells chartered Condor II to transport presumably civilian cargo. In fact, the plane was loaded with weapons and sent to Bolivia, which was at war with Paraguay at the time. It was impossible to fly without intermediate landings, and the transport team decided to land in Peru for refueling. The authorities of Peru mistreated the uninvited guests-after the discovery of contraband cargo, the plane was confiscated and transferred to the use of Condor Peruana de Aviacion. The Condor II successfully completed transport flights to remote areas of the country, and in may 1941 was presented to the Peruvian air force, which used the aircraft for aerial photography of the area until 1956. Sources: David Donald "the Complete encyclopedia of world aircraft". Barnes & Noble Books. new york. 1997 Wikipedia: the Curtiss T-32 "Condor II» Source: http://aviarmor.net/aww2/aircraft_aux/usa/curtiss_t32_condor.htm The set is very old and killed, it's not even about the lack of more or less pronounced detailing and other flaws of old models (although I came across very decent, even by modern standards, models from other manufacturers), everything is much worse, the details do not converge due to the difference in geometric dimensions, everything is crooked and shabby, glazing with a gap of 1 mm on the side. The molds were manufactured by Ideal Toy Company in 1954. But I still like the old sets, they have a soul or something, an echo of the past time (maybe childhood). I worked with it for a long time, made a lot of changes, and as it turned out later, I could still do a lot. The decals were a little alive, but after the varnish coating appeared silvering, although before the coating was clearly not noticeable. But as it turned out. Paints and varnishes Mr. Hobby, Vallejo. I didn't get much dirty, the glazing is made of transparent plastic packaging, at the end – a photo of the construction site, if anyone is interested. Enjoy your viewing. Sincerely, Mikhail

Hi all, some pics of my recent project, nearly finished - a few ammo boxes missing Cheers Macki

Hi All, This piqued my interest for some bizarre reason and I bought it. The plan is to put it on a sea base, that can be either with sail or anchor. I have so much to learn but haven't a clue on where to start. Suggestions on a couple of good reference books, modelling guides, what's wrong with the kit, what needs replacing...you know the drill. Stuart

Hi folks, I thought you might be interested in the contents of this box of heavy plant: There's a stall selling all kinds of Kibri vehicles at our local model railway show, and at the most recent one I cracked and bought one. I wasn't really sure what to expect as some model railway kits are pretty ancient, but in the box this looks rather nice: The mouldings are sharp, there's clear glazing and separate framing so nothing to mask It's also got decently fine railings and looks to make up into a suitably impressive vehicle. The only real problem is the sheet of cut-out stickers rather than decals. And obviously I don't know how well it fits, but I guess I'll find out in due course. NB: It might be a good companion for my other mining truck! Cheers, Will

Hi all, the finished Morris and gun Pictures before painting you can find here: WIP Cheers Macki

Hi All, some test shots from my latest Diorama Cheers Macki

Hello, some pics of an older project WIP scratchbuilt Dingo Mk. III the whole bunch Shermans are heiser, carrier and 6pdr. from Artitec, Willys is Roco in Belgium 1944 i know it was a Humber Scoutcar in the movie, call it "artistic freedom" happy modelling and have a nice weekend Cheers Macki

Hi all, a "little" project for my Eighth Airforce stuff, all from scratch Cheers Macki

Hi there, some pics of my "Bundeswehr" diorama, autumn in northern Germany Youtube Video hope you like it, cheers Macki

Hi, some older pics of the Waco WIP finished in action Cheers Macki

Hello, some airborne topic. I used the 1/72 ACE kit as a template. Tires are from Rocos Jeep. and in colour Happy Sunday Cheers Macki

Hi there. i tried to make something out of the old Roco models. Were or are Roco Minitanks known in the UK? first the clean up with new details and in colour Thanks for watching an have a nice weekend Cheers Macki

Hi All! Some pics from my recent project. As you can see, there are a few mishaps i have to correct before i can put on the details on the trailer Does anyone have some photos from the wiring, hosing between truck and trailer? Couldn't find much on the Internet. Cheers Macki

Hi, some pics of Airpower87's Choctaw practicing outside landings Have a nice weekend Macki

Hi Folks, some pics of models from different brands, Studebaker is ADP, Jeeps and GMC are Roco, the GMC became a scratched tank construction, ambulance is Trident and fire truck is a converted Wespe kit. Cheers Macki

Hi Folks, some Pictures of my finished P51. the B model is a conversion from the D model. Cheers Macki

I've just finished this wonderful little kit today. It is the Highway Miniatures 1/87 scale 1923 Mack Ladder Truck that I have been building for a good friend of mine with a collection of real fire engines himself. It's a great little kit, packed with detail and working features. Not too bad for a (previously to me) unknown manufacturer this side of The Pond. Here's a link to my WIP thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235002580-187-1923-mack-aerial-ladder-truck/ Here is the write up of the actual truck quoted from the kit instructions: This 1923 vintage Mack 65ft aerial ladder truck was very popular in New York, Chicago, and other big cities in the 1920s. Actually, they were older horse-drawn ladder wagons, which were updated by converting to a motorized power unit. The ladders were raised by spring power, which was encased in the long tubes mounted in the center of the turntable. The spring power was controlled by a foot brake pedal, which came up between the tubes to the steps. The turntable was rotated manually, by the handwheel standing upright on the left side of the steps. To raise the ladders, the steering wheel was lifted off and hung on the side frame, the seat was rotated out of the way, and the brake released. The extension ladder could then be raised by the handwheels attached to the winch arrangement which had cables running up to the top of the stationary ladder, over pulleys, back down and attached to the bottom of the sliding ladder. Winding the cable on the winch drum, raised the ladder.

Finally got this Busch 1/87 GM bus finished. Here's the link to the WIP page. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234985178-ho-gm-fishbowl-bus/