1:48 Hudson III/IV/V/VI/PBO-1

An airliner that learned to hunt submarines

The basis was a fast civil twin-engine machine to which a British order added a glazed nose, a gun turret and a bomb bay. Crews of Coastal Command spent hours over gray water with it, and this very type holds one of the most improbable entries of the war: in August 1941 it forced a damaged submarine to surrender right on the surface and waited above it until the ships arrived. The Mk III to Mk VI designations differ from one another mainly in powerplants and equipment; the American naval version flew under a code of its own. The typical finish of that service rested on contrast: white undersides so the machine would not show against the sky, and a dark upper surface for the view from above. The transition between them ran high up the side of the fuselage.

The scope of the envelope

A glazing mask is prepared for the outer as well as the inner view, plus two national insignia. The outline follows the moldings of Classic Airframes.

Let a sprayed marking age

A fresh spray looks like a label stuck on, because it is perfectly even, which an aircraft in service never was. Let the paint cure for at least a day and then go lightly over the marking with a damp sanding sponge in the direction of the airflow; the edges will lighten a shade. Add a fine breath of the surrounding color into the middle of the area and the marking sinks into the surface instead of lying on it. On long-range patrol machines it pays to add asymmetry as well, because one side of the fuselage was always more faded by sun and salt than the other.