Introduction:
Early civil conversions of the Short Sunderland started even
before WW2 was over as the Hythe class, which in turn led to full civil
conversions as the Sandringham. The first four Sandringhams surprisingly went
to Argentina, to "Compañía Argentina de Aeronavegación Dodero", of
transportation entrepreneur Alberto Dodero. Later on two (notably) early
conversions that still had the
retractable nose turret and a blunt fairing for the tail position were acquired
too. More Sandringhams arrived to South America, some also being sold to CAUSA
in Uruguay. All these planes had either the Bristol Centaurus or P&W
engines, being the latter predominant. They rendered good services, covering mostly
local and occasionally international routes, but eventually as the era of the
extensive use of the flying boat as transports came to its twilight, they were gradually
but inexorably taken off service, being replaced by land planes. The
Argentinean Sandringhams changed hands a number of times as successive local airlines
bought them or added them to their fleets resulting from mergers. The
information available is not straightforward, and as it seems invariably the
case you will find inaccuracies, sources contradicting each other, and blatant
mistakes and mislabeling. Still, if you apply to it, some degree of clarity can
be obtained.
Politics, CIA, and cloak and dagger:
It is sometimes surprising what you may find doing research for
your model. In this case the dynamics between Mr. Dodero (as mentioned the Argentinean
industrialist that acquired several Sandringhams), Juan Perón (the then
president of Argentina) and the CIA. Here are two of the CIA declassified
documents underlining the situation.
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP82-00457R004000340007-7.pdf
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP82-00457R002700580001-2.pdf
More info about the Sandringhams can be found in:
Propliner 94, Spring 2003 “Ladies of the River Plate – Sandringhams”
Air Britain “The Sunderland Heritage” - 2001
Building big models:
In all these decades of modeling I have assembled many small
and big subjects. It would be no surprise to any modeler that as a rule of
thumb larger models take more time and usually more effort to be completed. As
much attracted as I am to these oversized subjects, I try to be realistic, as
there is no worse model than the one never built or completed. The larger
projects have taken many months of hard labor or even years -on and off-
sometimes. From the top of my head I remember the following:
HP42:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2019/09/hadley-page-hp42-hercules-modified.html
Boeing 377:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/04/boeing-377-modified-academy-172nd-scale.html
Zeppelin Staaken E.40:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2015/07/zeppelin-staaken-e420-completed.html
The recent I.Ae 38 Naranjero
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2026/02/iae-38-naranjero-baron-rojo-172nd-scale.html
Burnelli RB-1:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/scratch-built-172-remington-burnelli-rb.html
Tupolev TB-1 ANT 4 G-1
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/converted-172-icm-tupolev-tb-3.html
Cant Z-506:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/05/cant-z-506-172-scale-modified.html
Sikorsky S.43:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2013/05/execuform-sikorsky-s43-172-vacuform.html
Potez 621:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2014/07/heller-based-172-scratchbuilding-of.html
Blackburn Kangaroo:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/04/blackburn-kangaroo-completed-modified.html
Rohrbach Roland:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/08/scratchbuilt-rohrbach-roland-iberia.html
Handley Page 0/700:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/02/handley-page-o700-airliner-conversion.html
Sikorsky S.38:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2021/12/inter-island-airways-kauai-sikorsky-s38.html
Fairchild C-119:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/05/fairchild-c-119-steward-davis-jetpack.html
Farman 223.1:
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/12/farman-f2231-f-apuz-istres-damascus.html
And some “in progress” -without much actual progress for a
while I am afraid:
Savoia Marchetti S.55 (two of them, still on painting
stage):
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2023/05/savoia-marchetti-s55x-172nd-delta-2.html
Boeing 80 (half-way):
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2021/07/boeing-80a-1-broplan-172nd-vacuformed.html
Fokker F.32 (same as above):
https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2020/07/fokker-f32-mighty-behemoth-modified.html
So…having a few builds midway as noted above gave me pause
when I felt tempted to convert a Short Sunderland to the civil variants flown in
Argentina and Uruguay in the post-WW2 years. Therefore, not wanting to get
tangled in the quagmire of a too laborious conversion that needed large parts
fabricated and modified (as an old resin conversion set is now OOP and not
available), I decanted on the arrivals to the Lands of the South, the airframes
with just minor modifications that still had the retractable nose turret
(demilitarized of course) and the hastily faired tail position. These were transitional
airframes with a new passenger interior and concurrent different window
arrangement. These civil conversions from the Sunderland as explained started
as the “Hythe” class, later to become Sandringhams as the mods become more
involving. The airframes I am considering are again early conversions looking
more like Hythes, although called officially Sandringhams. After a deep dive on
kit reviews I decanted for the Special Hobby rendition, discarding the old and
now inadequate Airfix kit, and after some thought –and somewhat reluctantly-
dismissed the Italeri one for other reasons. Now, these Special Hobby kits have
annoying fit issues according to many reviewers (no surprise here, I have built
many Special Hobby kits experiencing the same), but they offer the early and
late variants with their different engines/props that could allow a small number
of Uruguayan and Argentinean registrations to be built (not without quite a lot
of work, I hasten to add). Nonetheless, most likely because of the tariffs of
president stupid (recently rightfully stricken down by the Supreme Court), these kits have reached at the time of this article discouraging
prices. So to take the plunge you need to be somewhat committed to justify such
expense, and be mindful that more than the usual amount of work will be
required.
The South American registrations that seem to demand fewer changes are Argentinean
LV-AHG (Sandringham Mk5), LV-AAS (Mk3, later CAUSA's CX-AKF) and LV-AHH (Mk5 that
needs a bit of additional faring-over work). Among the Uruguayan are CX-AKR
(Mk5), CX-AKF(Mk3) and CX-AFA (Mk3).
All these planes have the blunt tail (a not elegant fairing
after removal of the tail turret) and the front retractable turret still there
but of course disarmed and modified. They are the least “aerodynamic”
conversions, compared to the more stylized later Sandringham refinements.
Still, the ones that I think may require less work…we’ll see.
Why nobody has come up with alternate civil boxings of these
planes or at least aftermarket conversion sets is a modeling mystery for me. There
were civil Hythe types that would have only required minor changes and a few
added parts.
As mentioned, there is quite a bit of work ahead to obtain
the civil version. As an example, if you are going for the Mk5 version (let’s
say LV-AHG), there are very small details, like you will need to make new
exhausts; and big details: you will need to plug a number of windows and create
many new ones, besides modifying the front area and the very tail of the
fuselage. The kit’s already meticulously detailed interior walls of the
fuselage will unfortunately mean nothing to you, as the civil versions were
insulated and paneled of course. The dozens upon dozens of military parts will
go to the trash can (in that regard actually greatly simplifying your build),
together with some of the internal structure, but bear in mind that floors and
bulkheads may be repurposed or used as patterns for the civil interior.
Adding to the already prickly task of finding reliable
information in references is the fact that there was little or no consistency
among the airframes imported to Argentina and Uruguay. Types were different;
planes of the same type were
different, details like windows and antennas varied even between what was
supposed to be similar airframes, and on top of that airlines applied different
schemes to their planes, even of the same airline!. As it is very rare to
obtain photos of that era of the plane you want from all the angles, you have
to extrapolate, do your best, and cross your fingers.
I have seen online a few brave conversions of the old Airfix
and Italeri kits into civil types. It’s not an easy job, to say the least. Some
of this builds used a resin conversion set now OOP, that included nose, tail
tip and one-part engine nacelles (a poor rendition of them, actually). Since SH
now offers the P&W engines already in their Mk.V boxing, those are not
needed, so the modeler could theoretically produce the new streamlined nose and
tail tip on his own (still many other mods are needed, as discussed). As
explained my belief is that going for the early airframes may simplify the job,
but perhaps carving the needed parts could be easier, and that would open the
subject range to include a number of other registrations, being the bonus that
for some these later types maybe more visually pleasant (personally I like the
clunky and blunt appearance of the early conversion too, but it’s a matter of
taste of course).
There is an Eduard set of masks (not including the needed
civil windows, of course) and P.E. sets that are not really relevant as again
they apply to the military versions.
Be prepared to clear the building area, and even so you may
not escape banging the model against all the surrounding objects, including flasks,
your optivisor and lamp. It takes some adjustment to manipulate these beasts.
Now, those that frequent this blog know that I like to
provide interiors, toilets included when present. Taking into consideration
that this model will need a lot of work even before starting the build itself,
I am not sure how much of that would be reasonable or practical to recreate (nothing would
be seen through those minute widows). I am toying with the idea of detailing a
section of the upper deck, as the kit already presents the roof of that area as
a separate part. In LV-AHG that was the place of the upper deck seats, a small
bar and stairs to the lower deck. Perhaps it would be nice to also detail what
may be seen leaving the cabin doors open. Much to mull over…
LV-AHG carried 51 passengers in what we would call
high-density configuration*, as it was destined to ply the inner major rivers of
Argentina towards the north-east, and to cross the River Plate towards Uruguay.
*The then “high-density” would be today’s business/first
class, to such lows the sardine-carrying aviation industry has stooped for the
general public.
The Special Hobby Sunderland MkV kit is massive, and has a very high number of detail parts (these in their vast majority won't be used for the civil conversion, though). Their box art "motto" is weird to say the least.
A big kit. The majority of those windows will need plugging and made flush with the fuselage skin. Panel lines will need redoing where needed. New windows will need their position asserted and opened, and transparencies for them will need to be fabricated:
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Most of that engraved interior detail will need to be covered if visible, as civil conversions were of course insulated/paneled. Other than those in the cockpit, most floors and bulkheads should receive the same treatment:
So what is still undecided as this point is if I will go for what seems like the path of less resistance and model the early conversions with the retractable nose turret and blunt tail, or modify the nose and tail fabricating new parts for the later streamlined look. And depending on that, which particular Argentinean or Uruguayan plane will be actually modeled. For the moment, I am going through all the references I manage to gather and musing over the very few photos I have of the potential subjects. As mentioned, I don't have the OOP resin conversion set that was once in the market (for the Airfix kit), but getting one of those may prove useful if taking that road, even if needs adapting.
For the very lazy civilized modelers among us, there is an almost direct Hythe conversion from the Special Hobby MkI/II/III boxings (Bristol Centaurus engines): VH-AKO! This build will be basically stress-less (Aussies please perk up your kangaroo/wallaby ears!):
https://www.aussieairliners.org/shortfb/vh-ako/vhako.html
And images from the New Zealand National Library:
Look, mom! No complicated window changes to worry about!
The initial work is to determine which alternate parts are used for the fuselage shell:
As commented above, that separate section of the upper fuselage may be used as a lid to show the interior, that in some planes consisted as seats and a cocktail bar:
The fit in general I think is acceptable within the parameters of this type of kit. The seams may need work:
The later bottom section corresponding to this mark will surely need some assistance to obtain a god fit, and some re-scribing:
Some reviewers have mentioned no locating devices, but in fact they are there. They will also need a bit of help, as the molding technology renders not very sharp devices:
Because at this point is not yet determined what parts of the interior may be represented as the passenger carrying version, ejector towers that seem in the way of bulkheads and floors are ground down:
The engraving for the turrets on the spine section will need deleting:
As mentioned before many bulkheads and floors will need to be replaced or converted to civil standards (paneled). And not all the structural interior parts of the kit coincide with the civil conversion, plus some may need to be fabricated (upper deck if so one wished?). So the task is to identify what may be useful as it is (for example the bow compartment, cockpit, perhaps the engineer/navigator/radio stations?):
There are some drawings representing some of the civil configurations. The planes I am leaning to represent had that upper deck, which is absent in the kit and will need partial modification of the structure (i.e. the area where the ordinance was in the mil version represented in the kit)
Focusing now on the cockpit. First impressions are good. The molding is clean, very little flash, the parts detach easily provided you know what you are doing. Mold lines and the remainder of the gates also clean easily. The sprues have Letters that identify them ("I", "J", etc.) but the parts are not numbered on the sprues, you have to refer to the parts' map in the instructions. Furthermore, parts of the same sub-assembly are spread over multiple sprues, not sure why, may have to do with the capacity to provide multiple versions, but it makes progress slow:
As I go I discard what it´s obviously not needed for a civil plane to have a cleaner view of the sprues:
All mil. parts discarded:
Some color calls seem inaccurate. It's already obvious that minor mistakes have slipped into the instructions. This is no surprise and has become very common across the board in the industry. Texting while working?
Watch out for the little pip there, do not cut it thinking it's part of the gate. It's there to provided clearance for the "curtain":
The fit of the step is not good:
Here is the issue, the "trailing edge" of the part is angled, while the fuselage edge against which is supposed to be glued is vertical. Sanding the angle back to vertical
a little makes for a much better fit. Tabs
must be installed by the modeller to get a more secure fit and properly align both surfaces. While gluing, the panel lines on both parts should coincide:
Getting a sense of the structure. Most parts will either have their structural relief sanded off, have a veneer glued over, or be replaced by styrene counterparts in order to look "civil". Aftermarket seats are being considered:
If represented in the open position, the main access door would need a bulkhead/panel to separate the entrance way from the winch compartment, which I surmise is what it would be done for civil use. In yellow an existing bulkhead, in blue what needs fabricating. It is likely that the perforated floor of the entryway was covered too:
In yellow where the existing bulkhead goes, in green the position of the one needed. It's not clear at this point if those openings were present in the civil version. The front one most likely still was to access the cockpit, but the one to the back I think wasn't (at least in that form) since it would be in the middle of a pax cabin. The structural detail (now the ceiling of the cabins) will have to go:
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The transparencies that close the ordinance exit racks are glued in place. The fit was very good. The civil planes I am looking at used one or two of those portholes. Depending on how much of the interior is represented, some of that internal structure will have to be either removed or covered:
No plane in service in Argentina and Uruguay was exactly the same, which makes things complicated, and forces a decision regarding exactly which airframe would be modeled. One of the aspects of the dissimilitude is the number, shape and position of the windows. So far these are the existing portholes and hatches in the kit that should be deleted:
Of course a number of new oblong windows will have to be opened, these too also varying in number and position. What has become clear is that I will go for the earlier types looking more like the Hythe class, i.e. not not elegantly faired in nose and tail.
Whilst more study goes into the interior arrangement, simpler sub-assemblies are put together:
Two hatches close to the nose that were operational on the Sunderland are not seen in any of the photos I have of potential civil types, thus they are closed with the parts provided in the kit, which again were a good fit. The molding as commented is sharp, but small sinkholes can be spotted in
some parts that will require fixing if they will be visible in the final assembly:
To be continued...
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