fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 A build from 4 years ago: The conversion of the veteran Heller Potez 54 into a Potez 62 airliner is not unknown to the modeling universe. It is not an easy conversion, and implies serious modifications of the fuselage and, depending on the specific machine chosen, new engines and engine nacelles and other details. The airliner will of course necessitate its new cockpit and a cabin interior, with its many seats and other details, a new set of decals will have to be produced and some extensive research would be in order if you wish to obtain a reasonably accurate reproduction. Some modelers have chosen to modify the Heller fuselage, while others took advantage of the Dujin resin conversion fuselage. This item is not easy to get, but I believe is not impossible to grab one if you persist. I passed on it for several reasons: price, material (resin) and the fact that not having the opportunity of handling one directly I could not evaluate its accuracy and level of detail. This conversion has been tempting me for a while, but my interest picked up in discovering that Argentina, the country where I was born, had two Air France machines operating under French registration on the Buenos Aires / Santiago de Chile route, one of which was later acquired by the Argentinean government and re-registered LV-SEC (F-ANQQ). F-ANQQ was a converted 62.0, therefore had no sweptback as the ulterior 62.1 series machines. At around the same time two Dewoitine 333 and two 338s were also acquired, but very unfortunately they were passed to the military and did not go into civil operation, pity, because I would have loved to build models of them too. The Potez 62 LV-SEC operated only once, in half a flight. That's correct. According to the Pavlovcic article it flew on an official mission to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with some politicians and predictable entourage, only to crash on take-off on the attempted flight back, fortunately with non-fatal injuries but leaving the machine converted in a pile of trash. A not uncommon occurrence regarding many politicians: going half the way, leaving everything trashed, and escape unscathed. The same article features a photo (apparently the only known) of LV-SEC's tail sticking out of the water, not a pretty -or memorable- sight. As I started to gather, read, and compare sources, references and photos, it became obvious, as always, that you can not really take all you read as uncontroverted truth. The Pavlovcic article, otherwise a good effort that deserves praise and has many merits, seems to contain nevertheless a few inaccuracies, the most potentially misleading stating that the engine on the French machine that will become the Argentinean machine has its engines changed from inline (Hispano Suiza 12 Xrs) to radial (Gnome Rhone 14 Kirs Mistral Major) , which I believe is not correct. It seems it is all the way around: having started as a Potez 62.0 it had the radials, but when upgraded to 62.1 received the inlines. Surprisingly enough, in the very same article there are two photos of both Air France Potez with inline engines. Furthermore, he mentions about the Argentinean machine that had a "big radiator in the lower-front part of the nacelles", an undeniable feature of the inline Hispano Suiza, and photos of the Andes crossing taken from the Potez and partially showing the engine show an Hispano Suiza inline front, so I am not sure where this confusion roots. This is important, because being an inline engine, you could use the kit's nacelles, although not without some modifications, as photos show. This mods will be dealt with later on. If you are "un hermano de la Banda Oriental" (that is Uruguayan), being your Potez CX-ADH a 62.1 (ex- F-ANQN), it should include the modification of a 2 degrees sweptback as this one was a 62.1 from factory, therefore it did have the 2 degrees sweptback of the 62.1 series machines. An article by John Stroud on Aeroplane Monthly of May 1986 in his "Wings of Peace" series states that the specific machines that operated in Argentina had five seats. This is understandable if you contemplate that they had to cross the Andes to Chile, reaching an altitude of 5.500 meters (source: article on the Potez crossing the Andes on Revue Hispano Suiza). The same source also states that the two machines had Hispano Suiza X engines, and gives the second machine as F-ANQQ, instead of QO as the Pavlovcic article. In that regard the Pavlovcic article in Lima Victor is not correct. Unfortunately for Pavlovcic (and this mean absolutely no disrespect and does not detract from the merit of the overall effort) all references state F-ANQQ, including the Dumollard book and the registers:http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/f-aaaa.pdf Those original five seats were nevertheless surely increased in number as the machine passed to Argentinean hands, as the count for the infamous flight to Brazil shows: pilot, co-pilot, mechanic, radioman, mechanic assistant (five crew members) and eight passengers (13 total). I started by making the fuselage sides. One quick look at the kit ones made me realize that I would save a lot of time if I just scratched the fuselage instead of trying to cut, splice, patch, fill, putty, sand, smooth out, etc. the kit parts. My wife suggested I could save even more time by not building the plane, but, although her logic is undeniable, I suspect a catch there (as in everything she says in that particularly sweet tone of voice) so I did not follow her advise. 27 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 If I had 100 likes for one post at my disposal I would give you all of them. This is most fascinating again !! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 The completed model is here: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbofan Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 This is amazing, your attention to detail is second to none! I love the interior and just hope it's still visible behind the curtains. All airliners should have curtains! Awesome modelling, thanks for showing us. Cheers, Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 19 minutes ago, Turbofan said: This is amazing, your attention to detail is second to none! I love the interior and just hope it's still visible behind the curtains. All airliners should have curtains! Awesome modelling, thanks for showing us. Cheers, Ian Thanks Ian, you are very kind. It's all about having fun. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Wow! Another stunner there, Moa. I, too, have the Dumollard book, but as I can't read French, a lot of the information is lost to me. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massimo Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 This is another pearl!!!! Those interiors and the toilet are just stunning!!! For the sink and the tap....there are no words!!! The fuselage looks by Tamiya..what else??? well done!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 1 minute ago, dogsbody said: Wow! Another stunner there, Moa. I, too, have the Dumollard book, but as I can't read French, a lot of the information is lost to me. Hi Chris Some scanners are able to "read" the documents they copy and convert them to text files. It's called OCR. Then you can use any online translator. It will not be pretty, but in most cases will be very helpful. Pépe Le Pew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 To be honest, I don't even remember why I bought it. It's not like I just came upon it in a book store. I ordered it from Midland Counties a number of years ago. Ah, the joys of old age! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Brilliant work, totally enthralling build. Stuart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Amazing as always! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andwil Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Fabulous work, I admire your patience in building all those seats and that WC is utterly amazing 👏👏 AW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 (edited) Moa, There are no words in my vocabulary that can describe what you have done with this kit; unbelievable workmanship and attention to detail, which seems to be the norm for everything I have seen that you have built and shared with the rest of us. The historical background and research is always comprehensive and very interesting to me, and I'm not a big fan of the era or type of aircraft you choose to model, but I do recognize and acknowledge modeling excellence when I see it. That being said....where are the ashtrays in the seat armrests and the toilet tissue holder and period magazines in the loo? Ha! Mike P.S. You better hide that F2G racer before @Corsairfoxfouruncle sees it! Edited November 3, 2018 by 72modeler added text 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 42 minutes ago, 72modeler said: where are the ashtrays in the seat armrests and the toilet tissue holder and period magazines in the loo? Ha! Ahem... The magazines are invariable stolen by passengers from Texas. That was a non-smoking flight. 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 5 minutes ago, Moa said: Ahem... OMG! I'm not worthy! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: P.S. You better hide that F2G racer before @Corsairfoxfouruncle sees it! Há! Take this, you two! ( this is 4 years ago): Edited November 3, 2018 by Moa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Ho-hum. Another masterpiece from Moa. Brilliant job, as always! Best Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 12 hours ago, 72modeler said: OMG! I'm not worthy! Mike For what it's worth, we Texans tear out the magazine articles we really like and leave the rest of the magazines for others- we are a considerate population, after all! Mike 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 I think this one may be your best yet.....Stunning and truly lacking for nothing on the detail front. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Splendid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjaweijfopi4j48 Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 1 hour ago, manuel said: Splendid Thanks, Manuel, merci, gracias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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