Jump to content

RNZAF Sunderland Mk III (Transport Version)


Recommended Posts

Hi All

 

Those who know me on Britmodeller, know my passion for all things Short Sunderland:lol:

 

That passion of course runs deeper for RNZAF Sunderland's, having grown up on an RNZAF Sunderland base.

6fdaadd1-d948-4fad-82e5-77edab02e79a.jpg

 

My topic is one that I have wanted to do for some time, and that being one of the RNZAF Short Sunderland' Mk III's that

arrived brand spanking new from Britain toward the end of 1944.

In 1944 the then British government approached the then New Zealand Government, and offered them four (4) brand new

Short Sunderland Mk III's configured in a transport version.

There were unarmed, having been stripped of all offensive/defensive armament, and were a basic transport version of a Sunderland,

but not a Hythe Flying Boat.

The  4 Sunderland's left Britain late 1944, and after an epic journey arrived in New Zealand between late November and Christmas 1944.

These then plied the waters of the South Pacific between Auckland/ RNZAF Base Lauthala Bay, and of course operational bases

further a field in the Pacific.

This is  a photo I found some time ago, I suspect it's RNZAF Official that has been cropped, showing NZ4101 at Lauthala Bay,

Fiji

515c3dce-049a-47c8-a03c-0cd41b25129f.jpg

(Used for Illustration Purposes only)

Post WWII they continued to serve, having been stripped of their camouflage as in these photos from my collection

ecdd7ef3-1fee-4624-bab1-e8124e5e736b.jpg

5b931b85-489f-438c-8fdf-4b8e21ff4bf6.jpg

Yes that a Natural Metal Sunderland!!!

Over the years I have seen the odd model rendition on Internet forums, and the occasional article. Some will read either the Air Britain

Ocean Sentenial Short Sunderland (information provided by RNZAF Museum), Or others will have read, is the one printed in this

Book/Magazine.

27d2c7e2-8498-4a51-b569-55918b9c20a8.jpg

 

The Article written in this publication was written by someone who has little or no research on RNZAF Sunderland's,

on the 4 Sunderland Transports the article writer wrote the following

f60b3124-6b75-4868-894f-8212b4329a73.jpg

 

These are the types of articles that annoy me tremendously - If the article writer actually knew any history,

the crews were those 490 Squadron personnel who were in Britain to train on Sunderland's, and these four, were brand

new airframes. If you look at the link below, it is a page out of a log of one of the Pilot's and shows the dates when left

(see upper left hand corner - see 1944) and where the aircraft flew to during their journey - they didn't start in West Africa.

RNZAF Sunderland Transports Air Movements

 

One of my treasured books in my collection, is this book, well read and thumbed

ede49c04-fe86-4a38-afec-be986ac5e6c4.jpg

It's filled with excellent text and photos, and one which is below (being RNZAF Official) which I plan to build my

model and associated diorama

37d6de2c-59c7-4b7a-9fee-0e590e5d929e.jpg

(Used for illustration purposes only)

The Mk III in the above photo is being "Warped" into a Braby at Lauthala Bay in Fiji - Yes the Braby

is a real thing, used to moor aircraft like the Sunderland on the water. I have actually walked on, and boarded Sunderland's

on/in the Braby at RNZAF Hobsonville, here in Auckland.

The Aircraft were delivered in the TSS (Temperate Sea Scheme) of EDSG/DSG/Sky, which is what my model will wear.

One day I would like to do a Post War Mk III in all natural metal.

The box top - I really hope that it is only the artists rendition that shows the wings at quite the angled Dihedral of the wings

(which should be 0 degrees):huh:

 

5dcde805-0eca-464a-8e76-6bd96d03c0be.jpg

 

OK, More in a few moments, as I will fill the next post with the model parts etc

 

Thanks for looking in

 

Regards

 

Alan

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Alan ... Being a yank and somewhat familiar with the sunderland. Id like to say nice photos of the bare-metal one. I think i might follow your build. Once upon a time i did read a book by a Sunderland pilot about 30 years ago. I have long since forgotten the title/author but do wish i could remember ? He mostly flew from england, and several of the missions described were over the bay of Biscay. Im curious if you might have an idea ? 

 

Dennis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All,

 

next Installment.

 

Before anyone asks, Yes I am still doing my Original Mk III as in the link below - Yes I know it has been a long time in gestation,

but I must point out that was personal choice by me, to protect my "Intellectual Property" and leave it at that :whistle:

I hope to finish both in or around the some time, all going well

 

Airfix Mk III Sunderland WIP

 

The Italeri Sunderland Mk III Kit - I'm not going to drone on about the kit short falls, that has been addressed in other forums

I will show what I need to do to "Convert" the kit, and if/as required point out some issues that are one of those

"Pick Your Fights" type thing:viking:

First off - Please pardon my attempts at "Graphic Illustration"..........

Fuselage

c3c9a821-43b2-4e98-b61c-c74e91451264.jpg

f0d3ff5b-f8a0-4207-ba54-8c40561172d9.jpg

79e0c3a3-a4b4-4562-9bed-73684b6da473.jpg

First off the "Additional" windows under the bomb bay should be further along (my mistake), but as you can see

the lower forward "Portholes" , need to be removed/converted into "Airliner: types or equivalent for those times.

Also additional ports on Port side aft of wing training edge.

The Stern keel is way too thick, and when comparing to the Airfix kit you can see the difference - the Airfix kit

is a little more accurate - one of those pick your fights..........

26d4335c-44ce-4b8b-97e7-e40d4aeb131a.jpg

 

What the stern keel should look like on the real thing

cc8c6cef-8ab9-43fc-8111-9857ad3430d2.JPG

 

The annotated photo shows where I will have to add to the bomb bay doors and fill in with some styrene

the hole where the upper turret was replaced with a hatch as in photo below

579cc9c7-f1bc-4328-98b8-1d4bd140cbbd.jpg

 

5eec3fb6-660c-4607-8c68-475fc5b85276.jpg

 

Yes, I have been up through here when the Sunderland's were in service and on the water

 

I have started to take care of the horrid panel lines and rivets using Tamiya putty (applied very sparingly)

and sanded - results thus far - more sanding - I will try putty and nail varnish remover to "spread" the putty

more evenly next "Puttying" session.

85fb4ea5-6c6e-45cc-8f08-9def77f561c4.jpg

 

I also tried applying paint thickly  - epic fail..........

13453f50-b875-4af4-86e2-ef973ec1f538.jpg

 

While waiting for putty and paint to dry, I decided to begin to remove locating pins and fictitious  internal ribbing,

as I will build a proper Interior (like my Airfix Sunderland build)

- need to sharpen my chisel though.......:rambo:

02d842b6-7ae4-4bfe-bd7c-f68a9a8efbac.jpg

 

Anyways, thanks for looking in, more soon (Time for tea (dinner)).

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Alan ... Being a yank and somewhat familiar with the sunderland. Id like to say nice photos of the bare-metal one. I think i might follow your build. Once upon a time i did read a book by a Sunderland pilot about 30 years ago. I have long since forgotten the title/author but do wish i could remember ? He mostly flew from england, and several of the missions described were over the bay of Biscay. Im curious if you might have an idea ? 

 

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

 

The author could be any number of those who flew and then wrote. One Author that comes to mind who flew for

both 10 and 461 Squadrons with the Sunderland, was/is a gent by the name of Ivan Southall.

He wrote "They Shall Not Pass Unseen"  and "Fly west", both centered in/around the Bay of Biscay.

 

I have/read both - good reading!

 

Regards

 

Alan

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

hi Alan, I'll definitely be following you on this, I've long thought this would be a good subject for my Airfix Sunderland one day but had little idea where to begin, hopefully you'll sort some of that for me. :) I think it'll look great in this scheme. I've long wondered about markings for this, 1/48 fighter roundels? :unsure:

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting stuff, never fails to amaze me some of the things that were done in the Second War that can rightly be described as "epic". This looks good stuff, I'm following.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like the unusual markings.

 

Following your comprehensive demolition of all existing Sunderland kits in my recent thread (which successfully put me off buying either Italeri Sunderland), I look forward with great interest to your tutorial on how to lick the Mk.III into shape.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hi All,

 

A bit of time lag in this build, but I've been on a bit of an

RNZAF Build mission of late, Been Summertime here, and we

have had a few good periods of Lower Levels of Covid life, so

time to build

 

I have a few builds on the go

RNZAF SBD-4

44c8258d-918d-44fd-aecc-3452d2c87367.jpg

 

RNZAF Mustang

af5d39b3-d8e6-436c-bc57-74a0ec2dacc3.jpg

44c5828d-be22-4449-a9ac-2afabc799982.jpg

 

RNZAF Bell UH-1D

3394efd1-d894-4a43-8d39-744d0dcfb816.jpg

 

Of Course the RNZAF Sunderland MR5

b7e234dc-25db-43a9-bec7-dfdb1c446e0a.jpg

 

OK enough Grandstanding :)

 

Where are we at with this?

Measured the Bow tunnel as it's a tad bit narrow

6f10f5bd-d180-408c-8cdc-4501114ad5d2.jpg

e65a2bb5-081a-4eab-a51b-5902e3ebb710.jpg

 

So I measured the real thing

6b1a1890-96f8-4bf4-8676-7d9d58dd4e74.jpg

 

Tape measure reads 102cm

d29a7c0d-460f-4692-84d2-eaff35c1d4dc.jpg

102cm = 14mm (+/- 0.1mm) in 1/72 scale, so the Italeri kit is .5mm too narrow, that shouldn't be

too difficult to fix (.5/.5.5mm shim)

 

Added some styrene to the whole for the upper Turret, this eventually will have a Hump

7d75f0ac-761b-4136-bc40-6b38dfb19dcd.jpg

 

This interior photo shows off well the shape

5eec3fb6-660c-4607-8c68-475fc5b85276.jpg

 

Though this is a Mk V/MR5, the Hump is exactly the same,  this view of NZ4109 shows it quite well

MUS98086.t5f7f675e.m800.x6PIGFO8D.jpg

(RNZAF Official - RNZAF Museum - Used with Permissions)

 

I decided to clean off the interior ribbing, as the ribbing will have to fit with the new windows

2ce13572-8607-4e7a-8d9c-4289f9bb9a50.jpg

 

I also filled in the portholes with styrene and sanded that too

85daa7f3-1689-41b9-95fa-1916f34d7c51.jpg

0b285a11-66ec-4e4b-82c6-dc17efcff051.jpg

45924815-e9fc-4853-bb7e-13003df56160.jpg

c5281d81-27ab-487f-920d-adbd1a13701a.jpg

Note in the above, I have sanded the Porthole fillers to plastic level, and added in a styrene support for the flight deck

 

In the photo below. note the filling in of the Panel lines and rivets.

I have outlined the galley hatch, deciding to cut out

 

5ef27e34-f744-4958-a31f-03c1f42a631e.jpg

 

Real galley Hatch

resized_8067099c-85b7-4c38-b61f-59cd7ab7

 

Measured that too, and below is the Tape measure 62cm = 8.61mm in 1/72

1c1d8852-b147-4982-8ecd-150bccc31e1e.jpg

 

Using a scribing template

968d315b-ed27-4ebd-a835-f59d8c87bbf3.jpg

Cut out and using thinner Styrene added in a new hatch opening, note the openings for the main windows

 

3fc556db-f73a-49dd-97df-f1f86ab64fb6.jpg

 

Well that's all for tonight, I also have the Old Model Decals too, see below, more on those later

39710419-2b98-40a8-8b20-5bb0c1689e49.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in More soon

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

 

Not much of an update, but I thought I'd put this  Film clip in

for your viewing pleasure plus some additional info

 

RNZAF Sunderland Transports Arrival late 1944

 

In the clip it makes mention of a wing to wing collision between one of the Sunderland's

and an RNZAF C60 Lockheed Lodestar.

All concerned landed safely, the Sunderland landing on the coast of the upper North Island

for repairs.

The film also mentions the 4 crews were ex 490 (NZ) Squadron Catalina crews based at Jui (Near Freetown, Sierra Leon

West Africa)

MUS100142.t5da3b628.m800.xxW-wazZF.jpg

(RNZAF Official -RNZAF Museum-Used with Permissions)

These crews had actually gone to Britain from Jui North Africa, for conversion to the Short Sunderland.  ( I knew one of these veterans)

While training at an conversion OTU a 490 (NZ) Crew sank a U Boat see photo below

MUS970706.t5eadcca4.m600.x-T3uOl6A.jpg

(RNZAF Official -RNZAF Museum-Used with Permissions)

 

While there (after conversion) some of the crews were picked to fly the 4 Transports to New Zealand.

The journey while not even started had complications :)

It was decided to replace the Non Feathering Propellers with feathering types (My Sunderland Veteran friend,

had seen first hand what a non feathering prop does when separating from a engine).

However the night or so before departure, the RAF Squadron Engineering Officer decided that this was not on,

and ordered all 16 propellers (non feathering) be put back - needless to say the ground crews pulled an all nighter :waiting:

Eventually per film the Sunderland all arrived after an Epic voyage

 

These are three of the 4 at Mechanics Bay (have been there) Auckland. The 4th up North

MUS010872.t5eac729b.m800.xUbtNsqsP.jpg

(RNZAF Official -RNZAF Museum-Used with Permissions)

 

On the Slipway at RNZAF Station Hobsonville (Hobsonville is  a little further up the Waitemata Harbour (pronounce Why-Te-Matt-Ah) ,

still with RAF Markings

PR4418.t5ea344ee.m800.x8OBy4STX.jpg

(RNZAF Official -RNZAF Museum-Used with Permissions)

This is NZ4102 (previous ML793) on the hard in front of the main hangar at Hobsonville (walked around that area a number of times

with Sunderland's being serviced)

Note the already weathered look.  Just an FYI, if you note the Gent (no hat) with back to the hull below Porthole, there is an opening

in the hull side just above his head, that is the Water Closet/Lavatory/Head flush outlet ^_^

PR4420.t5ea4814e.m800.xLqqs-rAW.jpg

(RNZAF Official -RNZAF Museum-Used with Permissions)

 

Well I hope you like the above, back to actual plastic cutting/Gluing soon

 

Thanks for looking in:)

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...