Special Duties Hudson! 1/72nd SH/ Revell Hudson, 161 (SD) Sqn **FINISHED***

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

                Although the Lysander is best known for its clandestine role of flying flying agents in and out of dark fields all over occupied Europe,...... another less well known aircraft also carried out the same duties but carrying a larger capacity of personnel,..... the Lockheed Hudson!  161 (SD) Sqn operated a number of Hudson`s in the agent pick up role where larger numbers of personnel needed to be taken in or out of occupied Europe and they operated alongside the units better known Lysanders.

 

I have wanted to build one of these aircraft for a long time and have been collecting info and photos to help do this and when fellow Britmodeller Alistair (https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/24368-aligauld/ )  very kindly gave me the DK Decals sheet for 161 (SD) Sqn aircraft having built one of the Lysanders from it,.......(THANK YOU!!!!) ,....... all that remained to do was to dig out a Hudson kit from the stash! The Revell boxing of the Special Hobby kit will be used ere combined with a turret from a Revell Halifax as the kit turret is quite poorly shaped. The kit itself is not the easiest to build, but having a few of these under my belt,..... I`ll hopefully manage OK! 

 

So,.... here is the kit with the decal sheet;

 

 

I`ve got a few other kits to built too, so this might be a slow build,...... which is probably the best way to build the SH/Revell/Italeri Hudson,..... with a few breaks along the way. I also have a set of resin ED Models P&W Twin Wasp engines which I may use for this kit,.... depending on whether I`ll be building a Cyclone engined Mk.III or a later Twin Wasp variant,..... I`m still double checking;,

 

Cheers

           Tony

Edited July 6, 2021 by tonyot

[Dunny]

Love it - first at the bar! Looking forward to this one Tony,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, Dunny said:

Love it - first at the bar! Looking forward to this one Tony,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks Roger.

[Putty Animal]

You had me at Hudson.  ❤️

[tonyot]

Well here is a bit of reference,.......

As I said..... 161 (SD) Sqn flew a number of Hudson`s and here ae a few,..... they were generally finished in the night intruder scheme of Medium Sea Grey and Dark Green with black undersides,.......with red codes,..... just  like the Lysander.

Hudson Mk.I, N7221, MA-P;

 

Hudson III T9439, MA-R of 161 which landed in Sweden.

 

And seen here again in Sweden after the national markings were painted out;

 

This special Hudson Mk.IIIa, T9465 was later used by 161 (SD) Sqn (and appears on the DK Decals sheet),... seen here still at Lockheed where the employee`s paid for it, costing $90,000;

And later in Iceland in 1941 as UA-N with 269 Sqn; 

 

For more info on this aircraft, T9465, check out this link,..... after its first agent drop off it diverted to North Africa and was wrecked by a Blenheim attempting to land on one engine after a new replacement engine fell off the aircraft in flight;

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/spirit-vega.html

 

Here is the DK Decals sheet;

 

And some general reference pics,.....

Turret;

 

Engines,,, some Hudson`s had Wright Cyclones and some had P&W Twin Wasp`s,..... and those serving with the RAF & RAAF/RNZAF all had different designations for similar variants too which can throw the unwary!

 

OK,.... Mk.I,..... Wright Cyclone, air intake at rear of cowling and lack of external exhaust pipe as seen on other variants;

 

Some Mk.I`s had spinners too,... 269 Sqn;

Mk.I,.... 208 Sqn;

 

Mk.III/ IIIa,... Wright Cyclone,..... longer style external exhaust pipe and air intake above cowling;

 

Mk.V,.... P&W Twin Wasp,...... AM683, 48 Sqn;

and another 48 Sqn Mk.V;

Mk.VI,.... P&W Twin Wasp,......EW890 at Eastleigh, Southampton prior to moving to the A&AEE;

 

these are Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp variant`s too,.....  but RAAF  Mk.IVa;

 

 

 

Interior;

 

RNZAF Museum Hudson;

 

 

And general;

 

And a very rare Hudson,.....  a decoy on Kota Bharu airfield!

 

I`ll add more later,

Cheers

          Tony

 

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by tonyot

[bigbadbadge]

Excellent, like the others said. Will enjoy this got the SH boxing of this one too and previously built the Italeri kit too so know what you're up against, regular breaks are the order of the day Tony. Good luck with your build.

 

Looking forward to this.

Chris

[lasermonkey]

Definitely following this one. Tempsford is literally a couple of miles away from my house, so very much of local interest.

[isaneng]

Damn you fella, I never knew they used Hudsons, well you learn something new every day! Looking forward to this, particularly the paint job, as obviously it's not what I'd expect on a Hudson! Best of luck!

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Excellent, like the others said. Will enjoy this got the SH boxing of this one too and previously built the Italeri kit too so know what you're up against, regular breaks are the order of the day Tony. Good luck with your build.

 

Looking forward to this.

Chris

Thanks Chris,.... yeah you`ve felt the pain too! I do wish Airfix would consider re looking at the Hudson. 

1 hour ago, lasermonkey said:

Definitely following this one. Tempsford is literally a couple of miles away from my house, so very much of local interest.

Thanks mate,..... always thought Tempsford was a strange place to put secret units,..... right next to the main railway line!  

 

1 hour ago, isaneng said:

Damn you fella, I never knew they used Hudsons, well you learn something new every day! Looking forward to this, particularly the paint job, as obviously it's not what I'd expect on a Hudson! Best of luck!

Glad to have informed you,...... yeah I was surprised when I first read about them many moons ago,....... and the scheme is a corker isn`t it. There are so many decent chemes for the type,.... just a pity we don`t have an easier kit to build,..... and one that is getting quite rare now too.

 

[AliGauld]

Hi Tony,

If it's OK I'll follow along with this one.

Really looking forward to it.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[tonyot]

3 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Hi Tony,

If it's OK I'll follow along with this one.

Really looking forward to it.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

It may take a while Alistair,.... but it wouldn`t be going ahead without you mate,..... thanks again! 

[AliGauld]

No need for any thanks.

However long it takes it will be a pleasure to watch your work.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[JMSmith]

hi everyone, Dogsbody put me on to this, 161 sqn Hudson started my profile career, i was commisioned to do this for James Kightly to present to a crew members family, we did a vast amount of research on the aircraft and crew, there are no known images of MA-Q and there is no known proof of how the agent lleft the aircraft, the first profile is as per the presentation image, second is showing the ventral chute used for agent droping and the third is the RAAF door removed version, so take your pick, the colours on MA-Q were standard night bomber (confirmed), if anyone as other info i would love to see it.

 

 

[Team Aer Lingus]

I shall take a seat in the front row on this one if I may Tony new info and pics on another unsung type and a build of a difficult kit whats not to like

 

look forward to seeing how your elves get on ! 😉

 

Thanks for sharing as always

 

Eamonn

[bigbadbadge]

7 minutes ago, JMSmith said:

hi everyone, Dogsbody put me on to this, 161 sqn Hudson started my profile career, i was commisioned to do this for James Kightly to present to a crew members family, we did a vast amount of research on the aircraft and crew, there are no known images of MA-Q and there is no known proof of how the agent lleft the aircraft, the first profile is as per the presentation image, second is showing the ventral chute used for agent droping and the third is the RAAF door removed version, so take your pick, the colours on MA-Q were standard night bomber (confirmed), if anyone as other info i would love to see it.

 

 

What lovely profiles, very intriguing too 

Chris

[JMSmith]

here is the finished image,

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

That's amazing, what a lovely piece of work and tribute to those brave souls.

Chris

[dogsbody]

John does some great work, for sure! I'm still waiting for him to get his hind quarters into gear and do the Blackburn Shark. 

 

Nudge nudge, John.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[tonyot]

On 6/25/2021 at 7:49 AM, JMSmith said:

hi everyone, Dogsbody put me on to this, 161 sqn Hudson started my profile career, i was commisioned to do this for James Kightly to present to a crew members family, we did a vast amount of research on the aircraft and crew, there are no known images of MA-Q and there is no known proof of how the agent lleft the aircraft, the first profile is as per the presentation image, second is showing the ventral chute used for agent droping and the third is the RAAF door removed version, so take your pick, the colours on MA-Q were standard night bomber (confirmed), if anyone as other info i would love to see it.

 

 

Very nice indeed,..... the Hudson`s were mostly used for landing agents rather than dropping them, that is what the Halifax and Stirling was for,..... the Hudson`s, like Lysanders actually landed in occupied territory.  EDIT,..... Sorry,... I`d forgotten about the late war drops into Holland and Germany where agents were parachuted,...... the parachute exit for troops was usually through the open side door by taking it off and one female agent describes being sat on the bare metal floor in the biting cold which may substantiate this,..... but the ventral turret would seem like a possible exit point too?  

Edited June 27, 2021 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,..... on with construction,.....

 

Here are the parts,.... they look lovely on the sprues,..... and lul you into a false sense of security;

 

Having built a few of these in the past I know that the wings are far too thick,.... so they need to be thinned down,.... like a vacuform,..... something I`ve been doing quite a lot lately!! The wing halves on the left have been sanded,.... those on the right have yet to be sanded and the tailplane has been sanded;

 

And then the wing halves and tail halves  were joined;

 

Next comes the nacelles,..... and here is where it starts to get bad! Obviously the wings have been thinned,.... but even so, and with some cleaning up of the mating surfaces,..... the fit is terrible!

 

Left aside to dry,..... while I cry,...... it was on with the fuselage and I cracked on with the interior which is quite good out of the box,..... although I may replace the pilots seat at least;

 

And here is the model so far with the wings, tail (with sanded, joined and fitted fins) and clear nose,..... having mated up the nose to the fuselage,..... it just does not fit, the nose being much wider and not as deep as the fuselage! I don`t remember my other Hudson kits being this bad,..... so again,... another head scratcher and I may have a look through the spares box to try out some left over parts!! Please Airfix,..... can you release a new Hudson??!!

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony

[bigbadbadge]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

Please Airfix,..... can you release a new Hudson??!!

 

Seconded , please please please Airfix, if Tony has requested surely you must build one !!! 

 

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

Left aside to dry,..... while I cry,......

Know exactly what you mean there!!!

 

Do the thinned wings still slide over the mini spar Tony, I can't for the life of me remember what the standard wings were like did the match the root or were they too big ???

 

Great job so far fella. 

Chris

[Paul J]

Worth following this. I have one in my stash but in the original MPM boxing. I built one once before from the Italeri box but same plastic.   I like the colour pics that you have come across. The one near the start of this thread in colour with U.S>. markings must be printed in revers as the door can be clearly seen and looks like its on the starboard as opposed to the port side. Ina nother colour view threr is a silver civvy one which has also been reverse printed.  But lots of useful reference pics. Almost inspired to get mine going.....

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

 

Seconded , please please please Airfix, if Tony has requested surely you must build one !!! 

 

Know exactly what you mean there!!!

 

Do the thinned wings still slide over the mini spar Tony, I can't for the life of me remember what the standard wings were like did the match the root or were they too big ???

 

Great job so far fella. 

Chris

When I dry fitted the wings the spar brought the top of the wings well clear of the root,..... I`ll cover it in my next post. 

 

1 hour ago, Paul J said:

Worth following this. I have one in my stash but in the original MPM boxing. I built one once before from the Italeri box but same plastic.   I like the colour pics that you have come across. The one near the start of this thread in colour with U.S>. markings must be printed in revers as the door can be clearly seen and looks like its on the starboard as opposed to the port side. Ina nother colour view threr is a silver civvy one which has also been reverse printed.  But lots of useful reference pics. Almost inspired to get mine going.....

Yes I had noticed the reverse photos,.... especially the civvie BOAC aircraft with the serial across the top of the wings. ...... I didn`t highlight it because I thought it was pretty obvious. Come on,.... you have to start building your`s and keep me company in this perversion!!

[dogsbody]

I have reversed Tony's photo to the proper orientation.

 

I believe the mistake was caused by Tony thinking about the thread rotation on screws and nuts & bolts. There's the English way, then the proper North American way.

 

Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[tonyot]

Here is another update,......

 

I altered the cockpit slightly from the basic kit standard,...... first I changed the pilots seat, using one of the jump seats from the 1/48th Ventura kit and I added an arm rest. I also added a second bunk in the main cabin area to cater for the seating of passengers,........ one Hudson sortie landed in France carrying 18 personnel! 

 

Then I closed the fuselage halves together,..... leaving the upper nose area free of glue for now as it needs to be widened to match the clear nose section;

 

 

As you can see,..... after test fitting the nose,...... there is quite a gap that needs to be closed!

 

Closing the nose in a bit doesn`t make it look much better;

 

So here is the fuselage together,..... with the wings alongside,....... the turret section is to be fitted next complete with the turret from a Revell Halifax kit. In order for this to fit, the opening was filed out to make it larger. The tailplane has also been fitted and the seams of the clear nose have been covered with filler. A section of plastic strut has been fitted into the gap along the top of the nose.;

 

 

The turret area has been fitted and it is wider than the fuselage,..... which i a blessing I suppose as it can be sanded down to match the surrounding area. The clear nose section has also been glued into place with tape keeping everything lined up;

 

Then it was time for the wings to be fitted. When fitting the wings over the stubs sticking out from the fuselage,..... the thickness of the wing plastic brought the wings up out of position above the root section,....... so to enable the wings to fit properly the stubs had to be trimmed along the top and bottom. one of the seams along the underside was bad with a large gap, so another piece of plastic strut was used to fill it;

 

The cockpit canopy has been test fitted and then the airframe was put aside for a few days to let the glue dry,...... ready for the mega sanding session to come! I have also assembled the engines, ready to fit after the sanding is complete. 

 

Cheers

          Tony