Pander Postjager 1933, modified Execufom vacuform 1//2nd scale

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A vac from 7 years ago:

 

The Pander S.4 -known also as Postjager and Panderjager- was a very stylized Dutch trimotor designed by Theo Slot that first flew in 1933. It was built by the furniture company Pander & Zonen as a high speed mail plane. Only one was produced and after some mail flights it entered in the MacRobertson air race, during which it crashed and went up in smoke. The accident had nothing to do with the plane or its pilots; it was a collision with a vehicle on the tarmac.

The Pander was equipped with three Wright Whirlwinds and retractable landing gear, its construction material being mostly wood, and its lines were advanced for its time. It sported flaps and “park bench” ailerons.

A good deal of research was carried on before attempting actual modeling. In some images the fuselage registrations and rudder marks are absent. In others the fuselage registrations are there but not the rudder marks. In some images the word Panderjager is on the side of the nose (in small characters) and in others Postajeger is written in a bigger font (associated with a prominent antenna, earlier in the life of the plane). Some images show no nose inscriptions. Some faired bumps that are present on the lower part of the engine gondola aligned with the LG legs are absent in later photos.

 

Execuform molds of the Pander S.4 are in line with its philosophy, simple and robust, providing a starting point for the modeler to build upon and achieve a nice replica with some good ole modeling. The kit includes –besides the vacuformed parts- resin wheels which come in halves, material for the transparencies and printed references.

As said, the modeler will have to add decals, ful interior detail, engines, propellers, tail wheel and external detail at will. Separation lines for the control surfaces are also to be engraved. All this extra work is not that difficult to accomplish and the reward will be an unusual and very sleek reproduction of a pioneering design of the Golden Age of aviation.

I purchased a resin trimotor set from Khee-Kha Art Products and used a few parts from the spares’ bin, scratching most of the detail otherwise and printing my own decals. Navigation lights came from the CMR resin set.

Work started by creating an energy field around the workbench, thus preventing any interference from the exterior, including rays coming from secret lairs somewhere in Europe. A carpet monster zapping device was next installed. Then enough Argentinean empanadas, yerba mate, pastries, Mark Strand poetry books and Edgar Meyer’s CDs were stored in order to endure the rigors of model building.

Look at the photos and if you have doubts go to Greece and consult an oracle. Their answers could be vague –to say the least- but the food is excellent.

Some engineering thought was given and applied to certain areas. Especially when dealing with vacuformed kits or scratched models thinking ahead is a must, to avoid as much as possible trouble later on. It is convenient to build the interior of the model before joining the fuselage sides, the other way around may prove difficult, but otherwise very entertaining -for your fellow modelers-. I decided to make new cowls creating a cylinder with two layers of styrene sheet and a wood part glued to it to carve the front. I did it three times until I was satisfied. The cowls on the original plane are divided in quarters, the upper one is wider than the other three. They are separated by quite visible strips of metal.

There are some details on the plane that you may like to reproduce: a sort of “stacked pancakes” radiator under the nose immediately after the engine cowl. The three exhausts exit through the cowls, central downwards and a bit to the left, and side engines upwards and to the right –from the pilot’s point of view-. Look at photos. The park bench ailerons align -when viewed from the front- with the leading edge. Some photos show a Pitot on the left wing. Most photos show no manufacturer decals on the center prop. Do not forget you have to make the parkbench ailerons. I used styrene sheet and some modified contrail airfoiled material for the supports. Notice that they have mass balances in the shape of rods. Other than control surfaces’ separations I did not engrave other lines, since the machine was praised for its smooth finish. The tail of the Pander requires some elements: struts, nav lights, some sort of cable that runs from mid-fin to fuselage and a conspicuous system of connected elevator horns.

These sort of long-haul projects are better combined with less demanding endeavors, like climbing the Himalayas or making a fortune in a week. But, once finished, there is that extra satisfaction knowing that you put into it a little bit of you.

 

I would like to thank Kees Kort from Holland as well as other friends (you know who you are) for their kindness and help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HansReggelsen]

Fascinating - absolutely fascinating - and a wonderfull build too! 

I'm really glad you've shared this as I have never seen nor heard about the plane before. 

Absolutely beautifull! 

 

Cheers 

Hans J

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 minutes ago, HansReggelsen said:

I'm really glad you've shared this as I have never seen nor heard about the plane before. 

You are exceedingly kind, Hans, cheers!

[Spitfire31]

Rare and shapely bird, recreated thanks to excellent modelling.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[JWM]

Very nice indeed, especially if you look what you had at start!

I did not herad about it before, however there are not so few photos of the real thing in Net

It was very handsome machine

Cheers

J-W

 

[greggles.w]

A very fine machine, on layout & lines it looks as though it would have been a serious contender for the MacRobertson race. Beautifully presented, well done!

[Artie]

Fantastic, as usual.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, greggles.w said:

A very fine machine, on layout & lines it looks as though it would have been a serious contender for the MacRobertson race

Certainly!

[Courageous]

Another great build. Never heard of Khee Kha...

 

Stuart

[toniosky]

The Postjager was a hell of a sexy aircraft. I am dreaming of a 1/48 kit 😌

 

Very nice work on this kit, looks like you spent quite some time on it.

[pheonix]

Another new type for me too. Looking at the photos I find it difficult to realise that I am not looking at photographs of the original machine.

 

P

[Rob de Bie]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:52 AM, Moa said:

A vac from 7 years ago:

 

The Pander S.4 -known also as Postjager and Panderjager- was a very stylized Dutch trimotor designed by Theo Slot that first flew in 1933. It was built by the furniture company Pander & Zonen as a high speed mail plane. Only one was produced and after some mail flights it entered in the MacRobertson air race, during which it crashed and went up in smoke. The accident had nothing to do with the plane or its pilots; it was a collision with a

[snip]

elements: struts, nav lights, some sort of cable that runs from mid-fin to fuselage and a conspicuous system of connected elevator horns.

These sort of long-haul projects are better combined with less demanding endeavors, like climbing the Himalayas or making a fortune in a week. But, once finished, there is that extra satisfaction knowing that you put into it a little bit of you.

Thanks for (re-) posting your Postjager build! A few years ago I almost ordered this model too, but instead I started working on a new and better drawing. I started with the Postjager drawing by C. ter Horst (NVM), but in the mean time I made a completely revised drawing based on research in archives. It's not done yet, so it's shown in a small size here.

 

 

Since you're an expert on early aviation, one question for you - my last remaining problem with all the markings. On the Amsterdam - Indonesia flight, it had a mystery marking between the tail and registration. It's visible in just a few photos only. The basic shape is a sphere with 'wings'. The photo below is the best one. What could it be? My current best guess is a Curtiss-Wright logo, because the aircraft had Wright engines. But I haven't found another a/c with a similar marking so far. The photo appears to be orthochromatic, judging from how dark the orange registration are represented. All guesses are welcome!

 

 

Rob

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

38 minutes ago, Rob de Bie said:

My current best guess is a Curtiss-Wright logo, because the aircraft had Wright engines.

If that would be engine-related it most likely would have been on the nacelles or nose, my guess is a variation of an "Air Mail" logo, "world mail" or such.

I am studying what I have to see if I find anything else.

Lots of little changes in very little time on that airframe.

[Spad57]

 Moa,

Absolutely beautiful modeling my friend. I do love seeing a good vacuform kit build up and your's is one of the best I've seen . Well Done and Congratulations!

Highest Regards,

Gregory Jouette

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

17 minutes ago, Spad57 said:

I do love seeing a good vacuform kit build up

Thanks, Gregory, you are very kind.

Cheers

[Rob de Bie]

11 hours ago, Moa said:

If that would be engine-related it most likely would have been on the nacelles or nose, my guess is a variation of an "Air Mail" logo, "world mail" or such.

I am studying what I have to see if I find anything else.

Lots of little changes in very little time on that airframe.

You made an excellent point regarding the marking's location, I hadn't thought of that. I searched a bit for a Dutch air mail logo, but found nothing close to it.

 

Rob

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

7 hours ago, Rob de Bie said:

You made an excellent point regarding the marking's location, I hadn't thought of that. I searched a bit for a Dutch air mail logo, but found nothing close to it.

 

Rob

Hi Rob.

I spent a couple hours yesterday on the matter and got zip.

Nothing on all the images I have (just faint smudges if anything) and nothing on air mail symbols or graphics.

 

[Rob de Bie]

44 minutes ago, Moa said:

Hi Rob.

I spent a couple hours yesterday on the matter and got zip.

Nothing on all the images I have (just faint smudges if anything) and nothing on air mail symbols or graphics.

 

That's way more than I could have asked for, many thanks!

 

Here's an overview of logos that I considered so far, superimposed on the single other photo that shows it reasonably well. Left to right: the logo of the organising commitee (taken from a letterhead), the Curtiss-Wright logo (copied from a lapel pin), the Aeroshell logo (a sponsor, but it does not match the shape), and lastly a standard Dutch stamp from that era but it no airmail connection.

 

 

The interesting thing is that the logo is hardly visible at departure, when it definitely already had it. That should tell us something about the color(s).

 

 

Rob

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

6 hours ago, Rob de Bie said:

and lastly a standard Dutch stamp

Here is an (unrelated) US stamp of 1934, to illustrate the point of what the design may be like (IF there is any an airmail connection)

and a variation of the CW logo from the Net (discard the ribbon at the bottom)

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by Moa

[Meatbox8]

Quite how you achieve such fabulous results from seemingly unpromising material is a mystery to me, Moa.  A beautiful model of a very interesting and appealing aeroplane (and totally new to me) that looks somewhat ahead of its time.    I must say that resin engine set looks like a work of art. 

[Rob de Bie]

12 hours ago, Moa said:

Here is an (unrelated) US stamp of 1934, to illustrate the point of what the design may be like (IF there is any an airmail connection)

and a variation of the CW logo from the Net (discard the ribbon at the bottom)

 

 

Many thanks for your search! There are excellent matches shape-wise. I never read anything about the US Mail being involved in the flight, so that one is very unlikely.  Which brings us back to the C-W logo ..

 

I'm trying to find a better copy of one of the photos, but otherwise I'm running out of ideas.

 

Rob

[Uncle Pete]

Another belter (and another oddball... Where the devil do you find them?)  You are indeed the Paganini of Plastic.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

5 hours ago, Rob de Bie said:

I never read anything about the US Mail being involved in the flight, so that one is very unlikely. 

Yes, I clarified that in the text.

[glatisant]

A sleek and handsome aircraft, Your skills are astounding.

[72modeler]

Ho hum- yet another fascinating obscure aircraft history accompanied by an incredible vacform build. Have you ever considered a print or electronic book of the aircraft and your builds, giving their history and your wip photos? I would think many modelers would learn a lot, not just of the fantastic designs of the 20-30's but also the techniques for making  vacform models. Just  a thought! This was a beautiful airplane that looks like it's going fast standing still...not sure about those balloon tires, though...kinda reminds me of something Spielberg did with a cartoon  B-17!

Mike