This is the famous Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat of the late 1930s. It was the epitome of luxury air travel at the time, and while not the first such boat to cross the Atlantic, was the first with the range and capacity to master the route. A magnificent machine, and as with so many models, building it has given me even more respect for the original.
It really is very handsome, although for sheer beauty my favourite is still the contemporary Short C Class Empire flying boat. The British government primarily wanted it for the Empire routes down to South Africa and East to Australia, and the carrying of mail was given equal priority to passengers, so it was somewhat compromised when faced with the question of crossing the Atlantic. The opening of the route was delayed by the difficulty Shorts had in adapting the C Class boats to compete with the larger Boeing plane - politically it was seen as desirable to begin at the same time. In due course Shorts developed the larger G Class boat, but only three were ever built, because WWII had started; and by the end of the war, there was an abundance of airfields all over the world, and the era of these gorgeously glamorous airliners, so ill suited to the demands of mass air travel, vanished for ever.
This is a very old kit, old school Airfix, and I've no idea when I bought it. It's quite simple in most respects, but the paint scheme is a major challenge if you want to do it properly. It fits together quite well, though the smaller parts are crude by today's standards - notably those 'horns' above the cockpit. Which didn't even have holes to glue them into. I did some very minor modification, fashioning those mooring posts at the bows, and moving the radio 'teardrop' above the cockpit just to one side. The sort of thing which results from scrutiny of old photographs. Google is our friend (we like to believe). Although a pre-war type, the Boeing Clipper was news wherever it went, and there are a great many photographs to be found online.
 |
| How it will hang |
Some of those photos featured mooring lines and buoys, so I decided that would be a nice and simple way of adding a bit of life to the scene. But it wasn't so easy at all. I wanted to mount this kit on the wall, to join my earlier model of the Dornier Do-X; and later I'll add models of the Martin 130 Clipper and, yes, the Short C Class. Think about it: if it's going to reside vertically like that, how is the mooring line going to hang? I couldn't employ any actual thread or fishing line, as I would for rigging biplanes. I couldn't use the Wonder Wire which I used for the radio aerials on this kit, because it naturally lies straight.
So I stretched some sprue. This practice has mostly died out, but it was the old way of making rigging line. I did it myself once long ago. How, I can't think, because this time I just couldn't stretch it thin enough, and I went through loads of bits of sprue before I even got this short length you see here. There's a definite knack to it. But this was as much as I had any patience for, so that's why it looks like a hawser more suitable for tying up a supertanker.
Another very appreciated feature of the Glencoe kit decals is the inclusion of extensive orange and black wing markings. Hopefully in the future new versions of the Airfix kit, or new kits of the Boeing Clipper, will at least include decals for the black outline markings, what with their being so prominent on the plane. What you see here on the Boeing kit was painted by hand, with the help of reels of masking tape. But much had to be done only with a paint brush, a not very steady hand, and taking very deep breaths. It looks pretty good now, don't you think?
I'm done with titling these 'Corona Builds'! This was the last one. The virus certainly hasn't disappeared but after over a year it's definitely time to move the mindset on and start thinking that proper normal things can be done. I've been jabbed, so...
Comments
Post a Comment