1/72nd Special Hobby Lockheed Lodestar transport of 41 Sqn RNZAF at Whenuapai, New Zealand 1944.

[tonyot]

Hello Folks,

               Another one from the excellent NZ/Australia GB,...... 

1/72nd Special Hobby Lockheed Lodestar transport of 41 Sqn RNZAF at Whenuapai, New Zealand, these aircraft were used to fly personnel, mail and supplies between New Zealand and the forward bases in the South Pacific. The aircraft that I have depicted is NZ3515 which skidded and crashed upon landing at Norfolk Island on 26th June 1944 while flying mail and ended up on its belly in a ditch! Repaired,.... it continued in service to fly post war as the civilian ZK-AKW and later moved to the USA as N7611. From NZDF Serials;

Arrived in New Zealand on "Fort George" in December 1943.
Assembled at Hobsonville by No.1 Assembly Depot.
BOC Unit 36 Hobsonville 11 December 1943.
To No.41 Squadron, Whenuapai. Sold to Union Airways from Ohakea on 02 July 1946.
Entered the New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register as ZK-AKW on 19 July 1946 named Kopara.
Transferred to NAC at formation of that company on 01 April 1947.
Sold to Costine and Co, Boston, USA on 24 November 1951 and withdrawn from service by the end of that year.
Left Whenuapai on delivery flight to USA in November 1952.
Became N756 on the American Register.
Sold to Cleveland Iron Company, Ohio.
To Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company as N7611 by 1966.
To May Fran Manufacturing Company.
To Claver Distribution Co, Maple Heights, Ohio in August 1968.

 

The model was quite a challenge to build and was painted using a rattle can Olive Drab with brush painted Neutral Grey undersides. 

Here is the WIP;

 

And here is the model;

 

Cheers

          Tony

[Max Headroom]

Excellent result. Interesting colour scheme too.

 

Trevor

[tonyot]

12 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

Excellent result. Interesting colour scheme too.

 

Trevor

Thanks Trevor.... glad you like it mate. 

[bigbadbadge]

Excellent Lodestar Tony, I like that,  it looks fabulous.   Great work 

Chris

[tonyot]

1 minute ago, bigbadbadge said:

Excellent Lodestar Tony, I like that,  it looks fabulous.   Great work 

Chris

Cheers bud.

[72modeler]

Yowzah, Tony! That is one beautiful Lodestar! Perfect colors and finish, as per usual, Mister Hairystick. Need to check the WIP to see how it was to build. I think @LDSModeller Alan is going to like this one! Wish I could airbrush as good as you can paint. 

Mike

 

True story- I resigned my commission as a Colonel in the Confederate Air Force over a C-60 Lodestar of which I was one of the crew back in 1999. Have to tell you about that one day- it was an actual ex-RAF  Lodestar that I discovered while researching its history and markings.

[John Masters]

First rate Tony.  

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Beautifully done work on such an attractive airframe, as always, Tony!  This one I really like.  It's too bad the kit is such a handful.  Perhaps the likes of Airfix would be interested in a mainstream venture...some day?  Not sure how much service it saw with the RAF, though.

[tonyot]

22 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Yowzah, Tony! That is one beautiful Lodestar! Perfect colors and finish, as per usual, Mister Hairystick. Need to check the WIP to see how it was to build. I think @LDSModeller Alan is going to like this one! Wish I could airbrush as good as you can paint. 

Mike

 

True story- I resigned my commission as a Colonel in the Confederate Air Force over a C-60 Lodestar of which I was one of the crew back in 1999. Have to tell you about that one day- it was an actual ex-RAF  Lodestar that I discovered while researching its history and markings.

Thanks Mike,.... crikey that sounds very interesting! I remember seeing a Lodestar on the back lot at the Disney Studios tour in Florida,.... in pieces.

 

I don`t think Alan will be bothered somehow mate! 

 

Cheers

          Tony

[tonyot]

23 minutes ago, John Masters said:

First rate Tony.  

Thanks John. 

 

9 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Beautifully done work on such an attractive airframe, as always, Tony!  This one I really like.  It's too bad the kit is such a handful.  Perhaps the likes of Airfix would be interested in a mainstream venture...some day?  Not sure how much service it saw with the RAF, though.

Thanks mate,..... yeah it would be nice to have one that is easier to build,.. as well as a Hudson! I learned a lot and the next one might be easier,..... especially replacing the brass etched trailing edges with plastic card! 

The Lodestar was used quite a lot by the RAF,.... especially in the Middle East,..... BOAC used a lot of RAF aircraft too. The RCAF had quite a lot of them too, the RAAF had  few and the SAAF used quite a lot,..... including the well known Ambulance aircraft in the desert.   

[k5054nz]

Beautiful work! It's always nice to see a Lockheed twin in RNZAF markings, especially when they're so well executed. Gorgeous!

[Navy Bird]

Nice one Tony. We don't see too many Lodestars on these forums, so it's good to see one. Even better when it's a Kiwi.     👍

 

Cheers,

Bill

[tonyot]

8 minutes ago, k5054nz said:

Beautiful work! It's always nice to see a Lockheed twin in RNZAF markings, especially when they're so well executed. Gorgeous!

Cheers Zac,.... very nice of you to say so,...... a bit puzzled about the panel painting bit though? 

 

6 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Nice one Tony. We don't see too many Lodestars on these forums, so it's good to see one. Even better when it's a Kiwi.     👍

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill,.... I have a few more planned,.... BOAC and a desert camo RAF one at least. . 

[cngaero]

Nice looking Lodestar Tony. It really suits the colour scheme. 

Nicely built and beautifully furnished. I can't wait to see the BOAC Lodestar. 

[Dunny]

Tony,

 

Lovely build as ever. You've certainly gone over & above on the group build! Although as an Aussie ("HE'S A POM") I'm not complaining,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Vinnie]

Very nice, Tony. I wasn't familiar with the Lodestar but theres more than a passing similarity with the Hudson.

[tonyot]

13 hours ago, cngaero said:

Nice looking Lodestar Tony. It really suits the colour scheme. 

Nicely built and beautifully furnished. I can't wait to see the BOAC Lodestar. 

Cheers Chris,...... yeah I`d like to do a Mossie and Lodestar from the BOAC/Norwegian Scotland to Sweden rung wearing TSS with black undersides. 

 

1 hour ago, Dunny said:

Tony,

 

Lovely build as ever. You've certainly gone over & above on the group build! Although as an Aussie ("HE'S A POM") I'm not complaining,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Cheers Roger,.... although I`m a Pom I do like to represent all of our Commonwealth friends!

 

1 minute ago, Vinnie said:

Very nice, Tony. I wasn't familiar with the Lodestar but theres more than a passing similarity with the Hudson.

Cheers Vinnie,..... the Lodestar was basically a stretched Hudson with a longer fuselage and more area added to the wings,..... with more powerful engines added and a ventral gun position it became the Ventura! All the same family.

[k5054nz]

On 3/31/2021 at 11:39 AM, tonyot said:

Cheers Zac,.... very nice of you to say so,...... a bit puzzled about the panel painting bit though? 

That's my signature, it's not a reference to your work 👍

[JWM]

Very nice as always! 

The Lodestar is in my stash, this scheme looks very attractive. So far I was on thinking on SAAF ambulance from Africa... I am surprised that you consider Airfix engines, are the SH so bad, or you needed them for a conversion?

Best regards and all the best for Easters!

J-W

 

[tonyot]

13 hours ago, JWM said:

Very nice as always! 

The Lodestar is in my stash, this scheme looks very attractive. So far I was on thinking on SAAF ambulance from Africa... I am surprised that you consider Airfix engines, are the SH so bad, or you needed them for a conversion?

Best regards and all the best for Easters!

J-W

 

Thanks mate,.... I`m considering a SAAF ambulance too,..... either that or a desert camouflaged RAF transport. Perhaps the Airfix engines were something of a `brain fart',..... I just had it in my head that they were more accurate looking,..... until I finally dug them out and compared them!

[112 Squadron]

I like that you also cover the lesser known aircraft types Tony. This Lodestar is a real beauty! 👍

Edited April 11, 2021 by 112 Squadron

[kapam]

Great looking Lodestar!

It really has that squat and purposeful stance which characterises the type (to my eyes at least).

Must examine the WIP posts, as I think you've nailed an apparently challenging build.

[tonyot]

20 hours ago, 112 Squadron said:

I like that you also cover the lesser known aircraft types Tony. This Lodestar is a real beauty! 👍

Thanks very much,..... yes I try my best to cover the less well known types or operators

 

15 hours ago, kapam said:

Great looking Lodestar!

It really has that squat and purposeful stance which characterises the type (to my eyes at least).

Must examine the WIP posts, as I think you've nailed an apparently challenging build.

Cheers mate,..... I can concur that it is a tough build,.... as my WIP will testify!! Replacing the brass etch wing trailing edges with plastic card replcements the the thing which helped me to crack it,..... and thank to advice on this forum!

 

All the best

                 Tony