The Little World

Eastern Air Command, Torbay, Newfoundland.

Well, if you cannot have dedicated patrol bombers from the British Air Ministry, you buy or borrow them from the USAAF. Pressed into service for a long time, they did succeed in sinking a U-Boat and damaging several,

The last few years of their service was arduous and even the RCN expressed doubts about their serviceability. The crews, as well, were sometimes men newly turned out of Service Flying Training Schools. Nevertheless they flew regular patrols on convoy routes and , as mentioned, were successful.

I followed profile drawings from Vincent’s book for this as well as period photographs. The continuation of the Atlantic White up the side of the fuselage to meet a narrow strip of camouflage is real – both drawings and photos show it. Does look a little like a reversed skunk, but I guess they were more concerned with sightings from the sea than the air.

To increase the white-out effect they turned an erc loose with a compressor and a spray gun on the rubber anti-icing strips as well as the sides of the tyres. It was actually fun to follow in the footsteps and make a mess.

My only query is who thought up the idea of the ball turret nearly at the tail. It doesn’t look to be either a good tail or top turret and the position seems very odd in relation to the centre of gravity of the aircraft. However, the odd spot and shape is real and it makes the Hudson I distinctive.