Rainy Day Fun

I was going to go down to Detroit today.  There were a couple of ships that I was hoping to catch but unfortunately the weather did want to cooperate with me.  By the time it looked like one of them was going to pass, it was getting pretty late and it was already cloudy.    It was still raining when I thought about leaving and I didn't feel like dealing with that.  It was warmer today but not that warm.

I still wanted to do pictures today, so I brought out my light box and decided to take some pictures of a couple of my new models.

First up is the Fairey Swordfish.  This was a plane that served with the various forms of the Royal Air Force from 1934 to 1945.  In that time, almost 2400 were built and were also used by the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Netherland Air Force.

This is the plane that participated in the battle of Taranto where an Italian battleship was sunk and two more were damaged.  That was the battle where the Japanese learned that they needed to modify their torpedoes for the Pearl Harbor attack.  More ships would have been sunk there but aerial torpedoes dive before they continue to their target.  Taranto was shallow enough that a number of these torpedoes were stuck.  The Japanese modified their torpedoes so they wouldn't dive as deep.

The Swordfish was also used in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.  One of them was able to score a hit which damaged the rudder.  That enabled British battleships to finish her off.

It was a fairly maneuverable plane which helped its survivability but not fast enough.

Anyway, I got tired of seeing Bismarcks in my model forums, so I wanted to post the plane that hand a hand in her sinking.

The plane served throughout the war as the British were having problems with the plane that was to be her successor.  The last operational squadron was disbanded in May 1945 and the training squadron was disbanded a year later.

There are two in airworthy condition and both are in the United Kingdom.

This particular model was an Airfix kit and was a pain in the ass to put together.  It didn't turn out as nice as I wanted but not too bad, I guess.

Next up is a Hawker Hurricane.  There were almost 14,500 of these planes produced during the war.  It was deemed the workhorse of the war.

The Spitfire is probably more famous the Hurricane was probably more important.  It could be used as a fighter and an attack aircraft.  It was fairly easy to build and maintain.

The Hurricane Heads to Nicholson

I thought that I would be catching a glimpse of the Hurricane as she left Detroit but for some reason she just headed to Nicholson docks.

 I hope that everything is okay with her.

But at least she gave off a nice profile.

The USS Hurricane Comes Into Dock

As we were still waiting in line, I noticed that the Hurricane was gone.  After a while later, I heard a sound and saw that the Hurricane was coming back into the dock.  I'm guessing she was sailing around the area (which is what she was doing while I was down in Cleveland).

 I'll have to admit, she looks pretty impressive out on the water.  Maybe not as impressive as other warships but still.

 As she gets a little closer.

 Unfortunately, I only took my main lens, so I couldn't get too many closeup shots.

 A shot of her bridge.

 Her officers steering her into dock.

 She inches a little closer to the dock.

 And closer still.

And she's docked.