The Little World

I used to pore over wartime copies of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. I found a trove of them in a school library in the 1960’s and read all I could. I wasn’t after pictures of native girls with bare chests – I wanted colour photos of fighter planes. NG had access to the US Navy and Kodachrome A film and made as much of it as they could.

One of the odder stories was in black and white – it dealt with the delivery of US biplanes to Canada in the very early period of WW2. A number of surplus Curtiss SBC-4 Helldivers were flown to a field in the US and then towed across the Canadian border by tractors and trucks. It circumvented some part of the neutrality laws.

The story was more complex – the planes were destined for France before it fell. They were painted in French colours when delivered and were to have been freighted to Europe by the British. They got to the docks just as France was lost, and were then either taken over by the RAF as ” Clevelands ” or shipped off to a French Caribbean island…where they rotted away.

I spotted this kit at a model exhibition as a part of a stash sale. The seller dropped $ 5 on the price – unbidden – and I was delighted to add it to my collection.

I intend to build it in the livery in which it was delivered. The exact colours are not crucial – I’ll wing it from current supplies. And hope the decals will stand the strain.

Good old Heller!