HIC SUNT DRACONES
(Here be Dragons)
And here is one of the two Sea Dragons, the one that -as stated in the building
article- flew between Colonia (Uruguay)
and Buenos Aires (Argentina) over the Río de la Plata,
between 1939 and 1940. The life of the plane ended in an accident as one engine
quit on take-off, but fortunately without casualties.
I was fortunate (and grateful) to find this page:
-see there point 5)
The post describes (in Spanish) the history of this airline
and plane.
(For more information please visit the building thread):
There wasn't much graphic material regarding this subject,
just barely enough to be able to build the model.
The floats as you know if you have read the construction
thread are the ones that come with the Matchbox/Revell Norseman, BUT they have
to be modified to render a more accurate representation; as they are, they
won't do (even for a regular Norseman, by the way, their shape is wrong and
they lack the bottom flutes).
The modifications needed to build a Sea Dragon are:
1) Getting or fabricating the floats, either EDO or Fairchild, depending on what subject is being
modeled. But there are no accurate options for those in the market, so you have
to adapt/modify what there is available.
2) Modification of the bottom of the engine nacelles,
fairing the location of the landing gear according to photos. Beware that these
modifications differed from one another, depending on the float used and
particular machine.
3) Reshaping the fin extending it as per photos.
4) Researching and fabricating all the associated float
struts.
5) Adding a mirroring door on the other side.
6) Deleting/painting over back windows, depending on photos.
7) Reducing the number of seats.
8) Modifying exhausts to match photos (they vary)
9) Modifying props as needed (some were Fairey-Reed, others
seem to be wooden ones of a brand I can't tell)
Now, wouldn't you like to have an accurate set of EDO Yd
6470 / Ya 6235 or Fairchild 5500 floats available as a conversion set, for this
and other projects?
(Aftermarket
industry: wink-wink, nudge-nudge?)
The venerable Heller kit was used, and decals as usual were
commissioned from Arctic Decals, that delivered an excellent product.
Uruguay
and Argentina
have a common historical root, but have evolved in slightly different ways. It
could be said the Uruguayans are better Argentines ;-)
Shuttling between the countries across the Río de la Plata
is extremely common, and many aviation companies throughout the years have
provided that service, since the beginning of commercial aviation in those
countries.
If you would forgive the mention of personal experiences
here, one of the reasons I chose to build this Uruguayan example is this: as
some of you know, I was born in Argentina.
I went to the neighboring Uruguay
many times, always being treated splendidly and enjoying my visits very much,
as the country's hospitality, good manners, and calm demeanor are legendary.
I went the first time as a kid on a school trip, and stayed
at the house of a fellow primary school student. His father was a teacher, his
mother a loving hostess, and that family was extraordinarily kind to me.
My first airplane travel to Uruguay when I was 2 or 3 years old
was in a Vickers Viscount. A project for another day.
I hope you enjoy this little known piece of South American
aviation history, and a Dragon in an uncommon guise.
They both look great on floats.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Mark
Thanks, Mark.
DeleteI am glad I made the conversions, because they certainly do look spiffy.
Very interesting subject, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Armando!
Delete