USCG HC-123B Thunder Pig - Model 1/144

[ajmm]

Recently completed as part of a GB on another forum, but posting here as you don't see these finished all that often so thought it might interest some people. This is the US Coast Guard variant of the C-123 Provider.

 

 

Quite a challenging kit (the GB this build was part of was entitled 'Nightmare Kits'!). This is the third Amodel C-123 I've built. I tried some new approaches this time that made the build significantly easier, but it's still a classic short run kit. Nothing some good old fashioned modelling skills cannot fix, but - at best - tedious at times. You can if you're interested read the build log here.

 

 

I was intrigued by what the Coast Guard needed the C-123 for - the answer is quite fascinating (or I think so, anyway). The HC-123s were acquired in 1958 to help support the Loran-C network of navigation stations across the world. The USCG took over responsibility for maintaining this global network in 1958. I spent a bit of time trying to understand the Loran navigation system but to no avail. It's pretty complicated stuff. But basically it was a US-led development of the British GEE system used by RAF Bomber Command to navigate accurately deep into Germany. The system relied on ground stations that sent out a low-frequency radio pulse; a receiver on the aircraft (or ship) then measured the time difference between the pulses to get a fix. This GEE system was highly accurate - but only at shorter ranges. The more you 'stretched' the range by lowering the frequency, the greater the margin of inaccuracy (as it were). Successive Loran systems refined the accuracy of the fix obtainable at greater ranges through some Very Clever Engineering (that Angus won't pretend to understand). But there's a good explanation in this Coast Guard film if you want one - and can muscle your way past Siri's narration. 

 

 

 

The Coast Guard had become interested in the Loran system from 1942 (its dual utility for aerial and maritime navigation appealed) and were a major partner in its wartime development. Classic short newsreel feature on this here.  The USAF and USN were actually fairly fickle in their interest post-war - flirting with their own alternative systems or (more complex) inertial navigation systems. With trials proving that Loran-C worked, the Coast Guard took on responsibility for the Loran-C chains from 1958 - it acquired its HC-123s to expand and maintain the Loran chains. Except for an enlarged radome to house the AN/APN-158 search radar, the HC-123B was a standard C-123B in all other respects. The first network of Loran stations was set up  in the Mediterranean in 1959 (with stations in Italy, Greece, Turkey and Libya), the Norwegian Sea in 1960 and finally across the Pacific. Coast Guard Providers were scattered to Florida, Puerto Rico, Italy, Alaska, Guam and Hawaii in support of this until 1972.

 

 

Loran was used extensively by both civil and military aircraft and ships during its lifespan, providing accurate navigation over 12 million square miles of planet earth. Less known, it was used extensively by the allied ballistic missile subs (hence all the repeater stations in the Norwegian sea) to synchronise or update the ship's inertial navigation system without trailing an antenna above the surface (Loran-C signals could be received over 60ft below the surface). 

 

With the coming of satellite-based navigation systems in the 1990s, Loran use dropped off (though widespread civilian uptake ensured it lived on longer than most other navigation systems). The Coast Guard ran and maintained the US Loran chain of around 31 stations for 52 years. It has now largely been shut down (the US decommissioned its Loran network in 2010).

 

Anyway more pictures of the real thing...

 

 

Nothing too difficult really. The undercarriage nosegear needed quite a bit of shortening to get the right sit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I'm honest, I'm unhappy about the metallic panels in these photos - though the contrast is much subtler in real life lighting. But that one on the wing looks odd. Alas. Anyway...

A surprisingly big old girl...

 

And finally with her sister ship. There's a trio of ugly nose jobs the C-123 offered - I've done two of them!

 

Thanks very much for looking!

 

Angus

[JamesP]

Lovely build of an attractive aircraft.

[Tbolt]

Fantastic work 👍

[Homer]

Beautiful models well done 👏 

[Marcello Rosa]

Excellent finish all round. What else was in the “Nightmare kit” category?

[Flyingdutchman]

Very nice build! Well done.

 

Evert

[russ c]

Beautifully done, really nice work. The other one looks great too

[ajmm]

Thank you all for the kind words! As always, they are greatly appreciated.

 

 

1 hour ago, Marcello Rosa said:

Excellent finish all round. What else was in the “Nightmare kit” category?

Thanks Marcello! Take a look here - it's all 1:144 stuff, which as a scale is afflicted by a bad rash of 1970s-era Crown moulds, for which the more up-to-date offerings of a given type are usually short run Eastern European kits which have their own challenges and quirks. It's been good fun.

 

http://www.kampfgruppe144.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=73

 

[SAT69]

Multiple metallic shades and a beautiful diorama. That's fantastic work!

[Remus389]

Remarkable job! 👍

[Vultures1]

Great work and an interesting background story.  Plus metallic finish and yellow panels - well done!

[RMCS]

Superb finish 

[Blue Monday]

Lovely job. Hard to believe that is an Amodel kit. Superb,

 

BM. 

[Navy Bird]

Very nicely done! Both of them...plus a diorama to boot. What's not to like? Great job!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Tim R-T-C]

20 hours ago, ajmm said:

This is the third Amodel C-123 I've built.

 

Quoted for the benefit of the lawyers persuing an insanity charge...

 

Another lesson in determination and effort leading to another superb build.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Very interesting. Thanks for the narrative. Well done all round!

[F-32]

That's a cracking build, looks really good

[Pete in a shed]

Excellent job! I have built a lot of Amodel kits so know the difficulties involved in making them. And it's in the scheme I'm doing at the moment on the Roden 1/72 C123 so nice to see one made up, albeit smaller. I'll be well pleased if it turns out as well as this little gem. Very interesting narrative too.

Pete

[Wulfman]

Excellent build and presentation !

 

Wulfman

[ajmm]

11 hours ago, Pete in a shed said:

Excellent job! I have built a lot of Amodel kits so know the difficulties involved in making them. And it's in the scheme I'm doing at the moment on the Roden 1/72 C123 so nice to see one made up, albeit smaller. I'll be well pleased if it turns out as well as this little gem. Very interesting narrative too.

Pete

Thank you Pete - that’s very kind of you to say! I’ll certainly look out for your finished build - I used the Roden instructions to help me get a few bits of this right and thought at the time what a nice kit it seemed - though I’m sure it has its vices. Good luck and I’ll keep an eye out for it!
 

10 hours ago, Wulfman said:

Excellent build and presentation !

 

Wulfman

 Thanks very much! 

[David H]

A beautiful model, and a fascinating story, coming from my perspective as a pilot. LORAN was a little bit before my time, but we did study it in class and back in the 80s i remember when the commercially available II-Morrow LORAN receivers came out. They gained popularity due to their cost relative to other RNAV systems, but when GPS was made available, they began to fade away quickly.

 

And as for the Kit.... having just finished my VC10 i can completely understand the angst you must have gone through, building that little beauty!

 

-d-

[Konrad]

Great job! Very nice metal finish!