The Antarctic and Arctic GB: All welcome; We made it to 32!

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 5:50 AM, MarkSH said:

Cheers Tony,

 

The Hagglunds BV-206 variant was the  vehicle I initially thought of but I am more swayed toward the Trans Antarctica Expedition equipment and two shots of one of the TAE Tucker Sno-Cat 743s are included in your post above, but also the Ferguson TE-20 Tractors that were fitted out for the 1955-57 expeditions are really interesting especially considering some of them made it all the way across the continent:

 

 

Heller do a 1/24 TE-20 it would take some work to convert but we love a challenge don't we?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Look at those tracks! I love this as an idea for a build 👍.

As with most Polar transport, incredible colours. 

There’s nothing quite like a good challenge 😉👍

 

TT

[Robert Stuart]

How far back do you want to go with vehicles?

 

This was part of Shakleton's 1909 Nimrod Expedition, Bernard Day driving an Arrol-Johnson

 

 

 

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:05 AM, Pin said:

Just curious, would Chkalov's USSR-USA over The North Pole ANT-25 flight qualify?

 

Yes! 😊👍

Again, an almost essential build. A stunning aircraft and an incredible record of achievements.

 

On the occasion of the landing of the Chkalov flight aircraft in the USA, it gave the welcoming committee quite a surprise, and US aircraft designers something to think about 😂!

 

For those not familiar with the aircraft; here’s a link.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_ANT-25

 

At least one kit has been available; I think I have it by the manufacturer ‘Maquette’ in 1/72 up in my old stash 900km away.

 

Some Creative Commons licence images of the aircraft:

 

 

 

 

😍 

 

TT

 

[TonyTiger66]

12 minutes ago, Robert Stuart said:

How far back do you want to go with vehicles?

 

This was part of Shakleton's 1909 Nimrod Expedition, Bernard Day driving

 

 

 

That fat back at least Robert. Maybe that’s the earliest car used there?

 

Thank you, that’s a superb photograph.

I wonder what the reliability was like in the extreme temperatures? Probably very good.

 

That very scene would make a superb diorama.

 

What kind of car is it? Maybe a Peugeot? 

Thank again Robert, I hope that you or someone else is inspired to build this 😊.

 

Best regards 

 

TT

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 2:54 AM, vppelt68 said:

You mean the Arctic Circle would be the defining matter, and everything north of it would be eligible? In that case, please count me in! I'm interested in WW2 operations in that region, but it's very active in this day too. V-P

Yes V-P, that’s what I was hoping for.

 

My inspiration and enthusiasm for all things cold and polar began with stories from my grandfather.

 

He took part in three of the Arctic Convoys in WWII. The once secret missions, referred to by Churchill as the ‘Trips to Hell’.

 

My grandfather finally showed his photographs to me on the night of my 18th birthday. No party needed for me; that made the night very special.

 

Stunning and in some cases, shocking photographs of extreme oceans, sometimes awash with burning oil. Stalactites of ice hanging down on wires over the icy decks, the potential for an unfortunate slip to an icy death ever present. 

 

The size of the waves in some was just unbelievable. After that, I became fascinated to visit Northern Norway, Finland, Finmark, Russia , Iceland, Greenland. Antarctica of course, but the latter is neither easy nor affordable for most people, including me.

 

The potential for military modelling is superb in this GB. Time for us to get out the whitewash and slap it over the camouflage!

 

I hope that I can count you in V-P? Thank you for asking and welcome on board with us hopefuls if so 👍 

 

Best regards

TonyT

[CliffB]

8 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

I’m wondering if this is enough for civil aviation fans, or should I just say it’s ok for civil and cargo aircraft that are known to fly over eg the poles, to be included? 🤔 

 

 

For what it's worth Tony, I agree with your initial view that civil aviation subjects should have a tangible link to the polar regions (i.e. not just happen to fly over them simply because they are en-route to another place).

 

Thinking about my own choice, I'm tending towards the SAS DC-9 that made the inaugural (official), flight into Svalbard's airport in the mid 1970s.  It took two attempts, due to fog on the first day!  I was part of a scientific expedition to Spitsbergen in 1978, so have a particular affinity for the place .

 

Another subject that intrigues me is Air New Zealand flight 901, which was a scheduled DC-10 Antarctic sight-seeing flight.  Unfortunately, flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus on Ross Island on 28th November 1979 (with the loss of all on board).  The causes of the accident (and its controversial aftermath), are fascinating and it's well worth watching this contemporary TV documentary if you have a spare hour. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

9 minutes ago, CliffB said:

For what it's worth Tony, I agree with your initial view that civil aviation subjects should have a tangible link to the polar regions (i.e. not just happen to fly over them simply because they are en-route to another place).

 

Thinking about my own choice, I'm tending towards the SAS DC-9 that made the inaugural (official), flight into Svalbard's airport in the mid 1970s.  It took two attempts, due to fog on the first day!  I was part of a scientific expedition to Spitsbergen in 1978, so have a particular affinity for the place .

 

Another subject that intrigues me is Air New Zealand flight 901, which was a scheduled DC-10 Antarctic sight-seeing flight.  Unfortunately, flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus on Ross Island on 28th November 1979 (with the loss of all on board).  The causes of the accident (and its controversial aftermath), are fascinating and it's well worth watching this contemporary TV documentary if you have a spare hour. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Cliff, if the ANZ antarctic flights are worthy of inclusion then the annual QANTAS flights could also be included, they fly out of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth each southern summer. B747s are used , I wonder if they will switch to A380s when the remaining 747s are retire retired in a couple of years?

[vppelt68]

@TonyTiger66 sure you can count me in! V-P

[Vingtor]

23 hours ago, CliffB said:

A great idea Tony.  It should be a very colourful affair!

Count me in please with a Scandinavian airliner of some sort (taking on board the requirement to demonstrate scheduled service to the Arctic region).

 

Finland is actually not part of Scandinavia....

 

Nice model though!

 

Nils

[vppelt68]

30 minutes ago, Vingtor said:

Finland is actually not part of Scandinavia....

 

Nice model though!

 

Nils

Indeed not, and neither is Denmark. I believe the correct geographic term for Finland, Sweden and Norway is Fenno-Scandia. Add Denmark and Iceland to the soup bowl and you have the Nordic countries, but that's a political, not geographic, definition.

[CliffB]

1 hour ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

Well Cliff, if the ANZ antarctic flights are worthy of inclusion then the annual QANTAS flights could also be included, they fly out of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth each southern summer. B747s are used , I wonder if they will switch to A380s when the remaining 747s are retire retired in a couple of years?

I didn't know about these QANTAS flights Ray (but to be fair I only learnt of the ANZ ones because of the crash).

I'm guessing that the fact that folks are regularly using wide-bodied jets for sight-seeing flights, will be news to many.  I'm not sure what the view's like from the middle ?

[TonyTiger66]

50 minutes ago, Vingtor said:

Finland is actually not part of Scandinavia....

 

Nice model though!

 

Nils

I have spent a lot of time in your country Nils. It has been a while now.

I lectured at university in Oslo, also did research in Bergen, a Hardanger Fjord project from Tveit and then in Tromsø and further north.

 

There are many superb subjects to choose  from wearing Lima November.

 

Would you be interested in joining the Group Build? It would be great to have you on board.

 

Best regards to Norway from far on away the other side of the globe, 

 

TonyT

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 5:10 AM, vppelt68 said:

Most of this good for the GB, @TonyTiger66 ?

http://en.aviation-report.com/exercise-arctic-challenge-2017/

Yes, Absolutely V-P! 😊👍

 

It’s right there in the title ‘Arctic Challenge’.

 

I would be happy for someone to make a scale model of the best luxury working class British pudding of the 1970’s; the Arctic Roll   😋!!

 

😉

 

I have an old set of ‘Arctic Tigers’ decals/transfers here that even include a Spanish aircraft. I could be very tempted to build that too. 

 

Thanks for helping me to remember this V-P, and getting it onto the thread for others.

 

Best regards 

TonyT

[CliffB]

1 hour ago, Vingtor said:

Finland is actually not part of Scandinavia....

 

In my defence, I'm a Brit 

To quote Wikipedia "In English usage, Scandinavia also sometimes refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or to the broader region including Finland and Iceland, which is always known locally as the Nordic countries."

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 5:19 AM, modelling minion said:

Very interested in this, some great possibilities at either pole.

An LC-130 immediately springs to mind for Antarctica and something from the Cold War based in the Arctic circle with Arctic red panels and stars and bars, possibly used for snooping on the opposition.

So yes you can count me in!

Oooo. Cold War electronic warfare snooping thingies !

 

That would be superb. I think maybe the old B-29’s and B-50’s would qualify for this?

 

I have a set of transfers for the poor Kee Bird, plus an Academy B-29 waiting. I was hoping to build a diorama representing a contemporary press photograph I saw of the C-54 type aircraft that rescued the crew, next to the Kee Bird on the ice.

 

I’m not sure if the now, very sadly (and somewhat needlessly imho) quite burnt remains of the Kee Bird are within the Arctic Circle. One to research.

 

I was recently tempted to find another Arctic related use for the B-29 kit, I should share it as an idea for others;

 

 

Starting at about 2.09, the Tupolev Tu-4 (NATO code ‘Bull’) Soviet analog of the Boeing B-29. These too flew around the polar skies.

 

An LC130 would be superb. This is a stalled project for me. It’s up there in that box. I look at it wistfully, every day:

 

 

The reason for the stall is shameful 😔. I don’t feel confident enough to scratch build the landing ski assemblies 😞.

 

There was an after market set once, long ago, but I haven’t seen one on sale for a long time. I know that Airmodel make a vacform conversion set including basic skis. Has anyone had a go with that set? 

 

Great choices, thanks for joining in; I will add you in to the soon to be scribbled list 👍.

 

Best regards

TonyT

 

 

[TonyTiger66]

On 2/22/2019 at 8:04 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Great idea Tony! 

It would be nice to add an Auster as an Arctic buddy to this Beaver kit.

Best put me down as 'interested', there's always colourful modelling options out there that help brighten up ones display cabinet. 

 

Cheers... Dave 

 

 

 

Thanks Dave,

Its very hard for me to phrase this correctly, ‘in for a penny in for a pound’ as they say;

 

That really is a nice neat clean little Beaver Dave.

🤔 

 

It looks superb in the yellow, pretty stunning to be honest. Is it in 1/72? If so, based on the Airfix or Hobbycraft kit?

 

Both are tricky to get (for me) here down under. I often just miss them in that auction site. 

 

I love the tent; is it completely scratch built?

 

An Auster would look superb. I know that the Airfix 1/72 kit needs a few alterations to make it more accurate, but it’s surely a good starting point? It’s still one of my favourite Airfix kits, as it was when I was a child. Unlike you, clear from the photo above, I was never able to get yellow paint to behave. Many an abandoned Tiger Moth 😉.

 

Shall I stick you on the list Dave, or would you rather me leave you off for now? It would be great to have you on board 😊.

 

Best regards 

TonyT 

[Rabbit Leader]

Well OK Tony, seeing you're twisting my arm (and have said all that nice mushy stuff), you'd better put my name down for this proposed GB. I'm actually keen to see what everyone comes up with and some of those large Russian craft really do look quite impressive. 

 

Now, that Beaver of mine. It's based on the old 1971 Airfix kit and was built as part of last years Classic Airfix GB. Should you which to take a closer look, here's a link to the Build thread. She took a while and I had a few issues on the way, however what kit project doesn't take a slight detour down 'recovery' road? All mine do that's for sure. The Tent and Oil drums are actually part of some Japanese accessories set that I've had for years and never thought I'd actually use. When I'm next raiding the stash, I'll see if I can locate it and tell you the manufacturer. I know these Airfix Beavers are quite hard to come by, however just by chance I picked one up at a local swap meet just before the GB kicked off and things seemed to gain momentum from there. 

 

I do have an Airfix Auster, however its missing one of the fuselage halves (?). I might have to scrounge around for another complete kit or even look a little deeper and build something compeletly different. I shan't build another Beaver, although I do like some of those Arctic Kiwi schemes. 

 

Anyway, great idea Tony and thanks for the kind words.

Cheers.. Dave 

[modelling minion]

2 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

Oooo. Cold War electronic warfare snooping thingies !

 

That would be superb. I think maybe the old B-29’s and B-50’s would qualify for this?

 

I have a set of transfers for the poor Kee Bird, plus an Academy B-29 waiting. I was hoping to build a diorama representing a contemporary press photograph I saw of the C-54 type aircraft that rescued the crew, next to the Kee Bird on the ice.

Yes indeed, much sneaky snooping going on up there and by both sides too.

 

I too have the Academy B-29 and the decals for the Kee Bird and will probably go down that route, and yes I believe she is still within the Arctic Circle on Greenland. I've also got the RB-50 kit which would be good. I like the idea of your diorama with the C-54, though it would take up a lot of room in 1/72!

 

I'm still waiting for the LC-130 set to be reproduced but if it isn't I might look into scratch building a set, can't be that difficult (famous last words!).

 

Some of the Soviet Polar aviation is very interesting, and colourful so that might yet put in an appearance, far too many great options to choose from!

 

Really hope this gets the numbers to go ahead.

 

Craig.

[Robert Stuart]

9 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

That fat back at least Robert. Maybe that’s the earliest car used there?

 

Thank you, that’s a superb photograph.

I wonder what the reliability was like in the extreme temperatures? Probably very good.

 

That very scene would make a superb diorama.

 

What kind of car is it? Maybe a Peugeot? 

Thank again Robert, I hope that you or someone else is inspired to build this 😊.

 

Best regards 

 

TT

 

Yes, it was the first car in the Antarctic - the car was made by a Scottish the firm, Arrol Johnston

Quote

"Under favourable circumstances Lieutenant Shackleton computes that the machine can travel 150 miles in twenty four hours and .... he thinks there would be a fair chance of sprinting to the pole"
- Interview in "The Car" (source: https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica fact file/History/first-car-in-antarctica-shackleton.php)

Conditions were anything but favourable, though they did haul some supplies short distances.

 

Most of my information about the car comes from the Cool Antartica website (worth digging through there!)

[vppelt68]

What's not to like in this combination of WW2 + Arctic region + Hampdens + PR Spitfires +  Catalinas + RAAF and RAF?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orator

[Vingtor]

I might be tempted to do a Royal Norwegian Air Force DHC-3 Otter. Two aircraft were shipped to the Antarctic in 1958, as part of Operasjon Pingvin.

 

Nils

[Colin W]

Great idea for a group build Tony. There's no shortage of subjects here. I built Orange Roughy, the New Zealand Antarctic research bird for last year's Huey GB. She sure stands out. 

 

 

Here's a picture of her being loaded into an RNZAF C130 for shipping to Antarctica. These planes flew without skis, landing on hard packed snow. 

 

I'm not sure what to build but Airfix Walrus springs to mind as Australia used one ( which is replicated in the RAAF museum) as does Pegasus, a famous Lockheed constellation, partly buried since the 50's. 

Count me in anyway. 

Colin 

[vppelt68]

Some excellent Arctic information here! I came across this as my daughter is today participating in the POLARIS 2019 exercise as one of those "passengers of the distress vessel". Quite a way to spend her 22nd birthday which is today, to be evacuated with a rescue helicopter! She´s studying to become a paramedic, so that´ll be kind of a professional training for her too. V-P

[helios16v]

Oooh, lots of potential Cold War subjects here!  I'd be down for this one if my time allows.

 

Hey @Col.!  😜

[whiskey]

If only there was a 1/48 AH-1G.