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Matty's HUDSON MkV, In Progress

Posted by Matty on January 31, 2009, 7:49:24
4.235.201.130

--Originally Posted 1/30/09--

As already described, no doubt the most dramatic episode in U-505's career (aside from the historic capture itself) was the 11/10/42 assault by a Hudson patrol bomber upon her which she survived, heavily damaged from depth bomb impacts - but which the attacking aircraft didn't! The plane was a Hudson MkV, # V9253 of 53 squadron RAF Coastal Command, then based out of Trinidad, southeast of which she caught U-505 on the surface, that fateful day.

As I was already resolved to depict U-505's earlier fit; from the time of this attack, it naturally follows that a build of this plane would be a great accompaniment. Particularly since I still have two "open slots" for RN subjects in my "Paired Twins", twin-engined naval-related aircraft project.

In fact, the Lockheed Hudson is very close - though not an exact match - to one of the "Paired Twins" aircraft I was already planning to build:

Click on Image to EnlargeThe P1V Ventura; direct successor and still very close relation to the Hudson. I have actually sat in the cockpit of a working example (on the ground; before they kicked me out ), and got the powerful impression of a huge, aluminum rattletrap; drafty, frigid and no doubt mind-numbingly noisy in flight. This one was in USN livery - and I had originally planned to build and paint/mark one accordingly - but the inspiration of the U-505 episode now is more than sufficient to warrant a changeover to this Coastal Command plane. Particularly as the above kit is already in my stash, and already with decals for RN markings, to boot.

What it doesn't quite have, is exactly the right fuselage and engines for a Hudson MkV:

Click on Image to EnlargeTo see exactly what it would need, I took a drawing from my Ventura II kit instruction (top), and resized/re-oriented a side view of a real Hudson MkV (center) to permint a direct overlay-comparison (bottom). The Ventura was significantly longer than the Hudson - 51'5" vs 44'4", resepctively; a difference of 1.18", in 1/72 scale - however note the front ends, from the cockpit forward, still fit like a glove. Furthermore, the extension for the Ventura is straight back along the dorsal spine, suggesting the whole tail could simply be telescoped forward, with most or all of the reshaping confined just to the belly area - where the ventral gun position would need to be removed anyway. Meantime, the wingspans were identical; I assume the wings remained unchanged. So this looks like a pretty easy conversion!

A couple additional demands, though, include the dorsal turret which, rather than moving forward with the rest of the Ventura's fuselage, actually has to move further aft - to right ahead of the tail - for the Hudson. Also, close examination of the engine cowlings reveals the Hudson MkV - despite having upgraded to Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines from the earlier Hudsons' Wright Cyclones - still had a shorter and less streamlined engine nacelle than the Ventura II, with its Pratt & Whitney R-2800s.

Scratchbuilding both of the above is still do-able, but here my existing stash may again provide an easier solution:

Click on Image to EnlargeAn early-model B-17 mold (top) - also an Academy kit, notice - could provide engine cowlings (bottom, at right), and possibly even other nacelle details just about perfect for the Hudson MkV conversion; substantially different from the cowling of the Ventura II, shown for comparison (bottom, at left). Of course, my plan in this case would not be to cannibalize my (pristene) B-17B kit but to copy these very simple parts in resin.

The alternative, of course, is simply to buy a bona-fide Hudson kit. And I see inexpensive Airfix Hudsons on-line, though I don't know the quality of that mold; I suspect it may be quite crude, compared to the Academy kit which I have. These days I'm really not jazzed about any new purchase expenses - plus, if I were to get a new kit, then I really wouldn't need the Ventura and be saddled with having to sell it.

What do y'all think of the above? Anything else about the above conversion that I'm missing? Or is there anyone who wants to swap a comparable Hudson kit for my Academy Ventura II - in completely pristene condition - above? If so, let me know ASAP - because I'm psyched to start this build!

Cheers,

-Matty

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Reset Button: Switch to The ITALERI HUDSON

Posted by Matty on April 17, 2009, 22:52:23, in reply to "Matty's HUDSON MkV, In Progress"
4.235.200.147

I guess my S-37 conversion must be providing more than enough "Joy of Bashing" these days, because when I saw a good deal on the Italeri 1:72 Hudson, I switched from my planned bash of a Ventura, and snagged this one:

(Note Hand of God, pointing cheap digital camera out of the clouds, to snap picture! )

Now seen up close, this box art appears possibly to depict a camouflage scheme over bare aluminum sides and undersurfaces - a paint job I would be even more excited to put on this build. (Think: similar to my earlier Nell torpedo bomber.)

Inside, however, the instructions tell a different story:

Click on Image to Enlarge The painting guide for the above aircraft lists flat white as the side/undersurface color - which was very common (predominant?) on Coastal Command patrol bombers of the day. But I have more research to do on the paint job - and again, specifically for the 53 Squadron Hudson MkV #9253, in question.

Otherwise, the kit parts look quite respectable - with some items, particularly the engines, having excellent detail and others less so. Overall, this kit is; if anything, marginally better than what I've come to (pleasantly) expect from Italeri. I did take out the machine guns for further detailing, and subsequent molding for quick-copies, in resin, for additional builds.

Stand by for progress on this build, to start soon.

Cheers,

-Matty

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Looks like a winner...

Posted by Don Murphy on April 19, 2009, 22:59:55, in reply to "Reset Button: Switch to The ITALERI HUDSON"
97.100.249.235

The hand of God looks cool too, ha ha. Yeah, that Coastal Command scheme appears to be the main one used by them up until the end of the war.

The Italeri bird is pretty good by all accounts.

Cheers,

Don

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Agreed.

Posted by Matty on April 20, 2009, 0:59:43, in reply to "Looks like a winner..."
4.235.204.184

Yes, this kit is even marginally better than both their 1:72 B-25 and Do217k, which are the last two of theirs I've worked on - especially when you can get it for under $20, delivered.

The only thing Italeri can sometimes lack is fine detail. For example, on some of the MGs:

Click on Image to Enlarge The gray bare-plastic guns in the foreground are from this Hudson kit; their overall shapes look perfect, but are very short on fine detail (even when not snapped out of focus). Actually, four of these - maybe even all six - are from Italeri kits; the black ones at the far end are German MGs from my Do217k kit. They are quite well detailed - though you can't see it here - with textured stocks and at least some indication of perforations in the barrels. (The tip cones I already hollowed out myself.) But note the Hudson MG barrels are featureless - as also were the barrels on the middle two (green), which may in fact have been from the Italeri B-25 (I really can't remember anymore). Note I replaced one barrel with a thinner one, having some dimples indicating holes in it. All the others I left thick; I'm going to see about drilling fine dimples in some resin copies, cast with wire strengtheners inside. The German ones I'm copying just because they're so good already.

Otherwise, I'm expecting this Hudson - being exactly the MkV fit that I'm after - will build straight OOB, uncomplicated and quickly; still trying to live up to Beebe's standard. Let us pray this be the Will of The Hand of God (which I didn't notice at all, when I shot that pic )!

Thanks for the encouragement, buddy.

Cheers,

-Matty

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I say go for the kit-bashing...

Posted by Don Murphy on February 3, 2009, 8:07:14, in reply to "Matty's HUDSON MkV, In Progress"
205.172.172.132

the Airfix kit is pretty long in the tooth unless they've revamped the mold, which I doubt. The 1970's multi-engined birds had a few batches with warped fuselage halves. This bird (and the C-130) suffered from that.

And of course, already having the kit, you're already halfway there.

Cheers,

Don

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1/72 scale HUDSON kits

Posted by Matty on February 1, 2009, 22:20:43, in reply to "Matty's HUDSON MkV, In Progress"
Message modified by board administrator February 2, 2009, 0:03:02

A quick search on-line turns up the following, 1/72 scale Hudson kits, suitable for this build:

Click on Image to EnlargeFirst of course there is the ubiquitous Airfix kit - this box art depicting an attack on a U-boat (very good! ). However, note it is a MkI; still requiring some engine cowling/nacelle modifications to convert to a MkV. Plus, exactly as feared, I have already seen indications this kit is indeed rather crude; it would be hard to swap my conversion idea using the better Academy Ventura kit in favor of building one of these.

Fortunately, there is a better kit - better in all respects - to be had:

Click on Image to EnlargeA ready-made MkV, from Italeri! And the camo depicted here really grabs me a lot better than the other, "brown boxcar" schemes (though we'll see what's accurate for the Hudson #V9253 in question.) On eBay, this kit is going for a price comparable to my Academy Ventura II; this is the swap that would most interest me, by far. (So, if anyone has one, eMail me!)

A kit which is a bit much for me, both in terms of cost and of detail that I really don't plan to exploit - is the Classic Airframes 1/72 kit:

Click on Image to EnlargeThey have released (at least) two such Hudson molds - either that, or the one kit contains conversion parts for anything back to the Hudson I and the commercial airliner - because I saw even more boxings of those. However this box art - which I am sure accurately reflects the contents - depicts engines looking identical to those on the MkIV/V. Meantime, I seriously love this artwork - not for the aircraft, which frankly is in the way of the spectacular seascape, and ship under attack, in the background! Of course, if anyone wants to swap this boxing of this kit for my Academy Ventura, I won't turn you down.

So, that's a pretty darn good selection, above; a Hudson for virtually every price/quality range. If anyone(s) has any more to suggest, in 1/72 scale (I don't have room for anything larger that that), definitely sing out!

Cheers,

-Matty

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