Airfix Lockheed Hudson

[AdrianMF]

I built this from a type 3 box when I was a nipper.

 

So, fresh from eBay, all parts present and correct (Including stand!) and a replacement set of decals for “Spirit of Lockheed” purchased, also off eBay:

 

I’m going to do it as OOB as I can bear, but I will be interior detailing, fixing the tail and door, and messing with the glazing. I made the mistake of downloading some plans and photos, which always makes a build longer!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

[edit: new cowlings, too]

[dogsbody]

Ooh! A flashback! I'll be watching this one!

 

 

 

Chris

[CliffB]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I’m going to do it as OOB as I can bear, but I will be interior detailing, fixing the tail and door, and messing with the glazing.

[edit: new cowlings, too]

Adrian's definition of OOB: "taking the bits out of the box" 

Should be good!

 

Cheers

[TonyW]

Another rather basic Airfix kit about to be hit with a detailing stick. Should do it the world of good.

 

 

Tony.

[modelling minion]

This is one I have definitely been looking forward to since it was mentioned in the chat section, and having seen Adrian's builds of old Airfix kits before I just know that it will be a world away from an OOTB build.

[Hewy]

I look forward to seeing lots of card stock being used up on this adrian

[Jeepboy]

....turning propellers, rotating turret AND retractable undercarriage....oh happy days come flooding back 🙂

[Rabbit Leader]

Good choice Adrian and I’m sure you’ll make us all drool over your lovely work as you get going. I too had this kit and recall botching it up nice and proper! 
Cheers and good luck.. Dave 

[John]

Loved the Hudson, quite big, good value for your 6/3d and all those moving parts 😍

John 

[AdrianMF]

I’m going for two freely-rotating propellers. Anything else will be an accident!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

OK, I might have a rotating turret too...

[PeterB]

2 hours ago, John said:

Loved the Hudson, quite big, good value for your 6/3d and all those moving parts 😍

John 

Hi John,

 

May be wrong but I think I bought my first one of these together with the Boston III when they were perhaps 4/6. - the Wellington was 6/- but was rather bigger. Of course they went up in price later so perhaps I am a bit older than you. Probably not very accurate but one of my favorite kits for many a year. I bought another one later, and used the turret from the original one on my Halifax Merlin conversion - still have the cowlings and props in one of my spares boxes.

 

Adrian.

 

Looking forward to this! Presume "Spirit" only had one fuselage serial looking at your replacement decs.

 

Pete

Edited April 25, 2020 by PeterB

[AdrianMF]

There is a photo of the stbd side showing no serial.

[John]

My memory is, immediately before decimalisation:

Series 1 2/11

Series 2 4/3

Series 3 6/3

 

A lot of my early financial education came this way! I also remember that Series 1 was priced at 17p after D-Day which was a disaster for my 3/- budget. 

In any event prices went up fast after that:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RLop8CL6N3CULcf_yLLwsWqoANJ6EI3J/view?usp=drivesdk

 

John 

[PeterB]

Hi John,

 

I am old enough to go back to 2/- for Series 1, 3/- for series 2 starting with the Mosquito, 4/6 for series 3 like the Hudson, 6/- for series 4 Wellington, 7/6 for Lancaster series 5, 10/6 for the Sunderland series 6 presumably, and a whopping 12/6 for the B-29! Those were the days - mind you my pocket money was only 1/- a week back then so the big ones were usually Christmas or birthday presents. I was in my final year at Uni when decimalisation took place I think. I did not buy many kits whilst I was there but had a bit of a splurge when I left and was on the dole for a year or sowith nothing else to do, and as you say prices were going up quite quickly then.

 

Apologies for thread hijack Adrian.

 

Pete

[AdrianMF]

No worries! I was a 2/6 kid, must have around 1966/7 when I got hooked...

[AdrianMF]

Well I’ve just got off a build with far too much rigging, so I thought I’d start this one with some relaxing big bits:

 

it makes the box look a lot emptier and less daunting too. Now, let’s find some cockpit pictures...

 

Regards,

Adrian

[modelling minion]

Good to see your build underway Adrian.

Definitely no nasty rigging on this one!

[AdrianMF]

I’ve continued to have a relaxing afternoon gluing things together. I’ve glued the fins and elevators into the tail, and all the passenger windows:

The inside window faces are smooth so I am going to try a @Martian technique and fill them with superglue when the poly cement dries, in the hope that they will sand and polish down nicely. The kit seems to be one window short, but spares boxes are wonderful things...

 

It’s very much a kit of its time: hard silver plastic; pre hands-in-lap pilots that look like the lion from the Wizard of Oz; clunky propellers and undercarriage legs; and a turret that moves but looks nothing like the real thing (and the clear cover doesnt fit). The engine cowlings are completely wrong too. I’m going to have to print out a plan and take a look at it to see how much corrective work I have.

 

The four pairs of windows in the nose are not individually numbered on the sprue but they are definitely fitted to each window, after trying a few different ways round:

Another candidate for superglue and sanding...

[modelling minion]

Good to see you enjoying your build Adrian, i'm intrigued to see this superglue method that you want to use on the windows.

[Martian]

Super goo on the exterior Adrian, its much easier to sand down.

 

Martian 👽

[Mike]

Ah, that brings back some memories My dad built this while I was still a kid, and varnished the whole thing in gloss after, which turned yellow over the years.  I used to play with it a bit until it became badly eroded and disappeared at some point

[AdrianMF]

56 minutes ago, Martian said:

Super goo on the exterior Adrian, its much easier to sand down.

Got it guv! I mentioned the smooth insides because hopefully after sorting the outer surfaces with goo, sand and polish I should have distortion-free windows. Sometimes they are bottle-top-y on both inside and outside. Mind you I don't want them too clear cos I don't want to have to detail inside the fuselage!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[zebra]

Great to see the Hudson - this was one of my favourites when I was a kid. 

[CedB]

On 20/04/2020 at 00:28, AdrianMF said:

I’m going to do it as OOB as I can bear

What the…?

11 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

…pre hands-in-lap pilots that look like the lion from the Wizard of Oz; clunky propellers and undercarriage legs; and a turret that moves but looks nothing like the real thing (and the clear cover doesnt fit). The engine cowlings are completely wrong too. I’m going to have to print out a plan and take a look at it to see how much corrective work I have.

Ah, now that's the Adrian we know and love*…  

 

* In a manly, brotherly way of course. Harumph…

 

I've always loved the Hudson for some reason - all the bits of a 'proper bomber' but somehow more 'cuddly'.

Looking forward to this one  

[AdrianMF]

Many years ago, when one of my nieces was around nine or ten, we were all gathered together at gran’s for Christmas. She and I were given the job of blowing the candles out. I pinched out a couple with my fingers to stop them smoking. She asked me what to do. I told her to lick her fingers first and quickly pinch and release the wick. It didn’t go well, and I still remember the look of betrayal and hurt that she gave me as she nursed her burnt finger and thumb... 

 

Fast forward to today, and if I had a telescope I would have that same look on my face as I gazed upon Mars... My attempt to fill the windows with superglue turned into full-depth frosting:

 

Ironically, the nose windows, which did not receive the superglue treatment, have polished up really well.

 

I don’t know what went wrong. I was using the same glue from a little pool on a tile yesterday to rig my BE2c, and I noted how clear the dried up bits were as I was chipping them off the tile during clean up. I don’t think what I put on the windows was a thicker layer than that.

 

Plan B will be transparent plastic sheet inserts.

 

Regards,

Adrian