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Hudson Mk.III, 24 Sqn, RAF Hendon, Malta- UK Shuttle Service 1942


tonyot

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Hiya Folks,

Here is the latest model to join my Malta collection, it is the recently released Revell boxing of the Hudson done as a Mk.III from 24 Squadron at RAF Hendon, AE581, ZK-L, `Spirit of Tobruk II' which along with others such as AE533 `Spirit of Washington' flew the UK- Gibraltar- Malta- Egypt shuttle. AE533 was the aircraft which carried the George Cross to Malta!

I have to say that this was amongst the worst kits that I have ever built,.....as nothing seems to fit! Some airliner style seats from the spares box were placed inside the cabin as here;

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One of my main references for this model came from the Pathe News website and I`m sure that they won`t mind me sharing these views from their very interesting website;

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Here is the finished model;

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I have added mission markings to the nose in the same manner as those applied to AE533 `Spirit of Washington' although I`m not certain whether AE581, ZK-L actually wore these and also fabricated some sun blinds for the cockpit roof using tissue paper and some guitar string! The cabin doorway was also cut out, although the view of the interior is almost none existent due to the dinghy pack which forms the inside of the door ,......Hope you like it,

Cheers

Tony O

PS- Hand painted as usual but using Humbrol enamels and I was very happy with them. I did try to mask off the windows during painting but some fell inside the fuselage and the paint leaked onto others so most were replaced using Kristal Klear.

PPS- I`ve just re attached the Pathe photo of the Hudson nose which had dropped off the thread.

Edited by tonyot
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Nice one. Never heard of these semi civilianised ones before.

I see that you have used the solid nose and faired over dorsal turret cover that are included on the sprues as spares.

You've made a good job out of a 'challenging' kit. I'm building up the courage to lock horns with my stalled one again (I will not be beaten!)

Trevor

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Nice!

The passenger seats look a bit "modern" though. I'm planning to do a BOAC Hudson soon.

Nils

I`ll look forward to seeing your BOAC Hudson, I like these different schemes. The seats in mine came from a Magna Models Pembroke, so they are a bit `modern' but that is all I had available,..not that they can be seen in the finished model anyway,..mores the pity!

Max- you are not wrong about this kit being `challenging',.....it was awful but don`t let yours beat you and throw down the gauntlet as that is what I did. I`ve also got an RAAF Hudson almost finished and a Desert Air Force transport at the painting stages........, ouch,...modelling bondage! I hope an easier Hudson kit comes onto the market one day?

All the best

Tony O

Edited by tonyot
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Great work, Tony. The interior looks really interesting. It must be a tad frustrating when you do all that and can't see it when the model is finished. At least you have the photos and satisfaction of knowing what's in there!

David

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Brilliant job! :thumbsup:

I've always been tempted to be a complete masochist and buy another kit to build in that configeration, but I'm not sure if any were operated in SEAC markings. :hmmm:

Mike. :)

Edited by MikeR
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  • 10 months later...

Having built the earlier incarnation of that kit myself, I can only say... Great job, and welcome to the club :D

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Wow,....I didn`t expect this one to re emerge again,...thanks for your latest comments folks,

Any idea where to get more information about camouflage of Hudsons from 24. sqn? There were more "Spirit of" Hudsons used by this squadron.

At this moment I have more info just to "Spirit of Prague.

Thanks for help

Karel

Hello Karel,

Unfortunately I cannot help you much,....I went through the `Pathe News' website to find the film relating to 24 Sqn ops to Malta and I hit the books to do some research,......, maybe the 24 Sqn War Diary will have some details and some of these unit war diaries are available to download for free from the website of the National Record Office at Kew. I did write to the current RAF unit at RAF Brize Norton to see if they could help with any info or old photos but they didn`t reply,......they are obviously far too busy at the moment, especially with Afganistan. Info about the Hudson`s of 24 Sqn is hard to find but I`ll have a mosey around and if I find out anything I`ll let you know,

All the best

Tony

PS- I`ve re attached the missing photo from the Pathe website showing the nose of the aircraft as it taxies in.

Edited by tonyot
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