1/72 Airfix Grumman Widgeon Royal Navy

Gallery Article by Tigre del Aire on Aug 27 2018

 

      

Good morning to all from Colombia, the land of Juan Valdez; today I bring you the smallest of the Grumman family, the Widgeon!

But first, some history: The Widgeon was originally designed for the civil market. It is smaller but otherwise similar to Grumman's earlier G-21 Goose, and was produced from 1941 to 1955. The aircraft was used during World War II as a small patrol and utility machine by the United States Navy, US Coast Guard and by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

The first prototype flew in 1940, and the first production aircraft went to the United States Navy as an anti-submarine aircraft. In total, 276 were built by Grumman, including 176 for the military. During World War II, they served with the US Navy, Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol and Army Air Force, as well as with the British Royal Navy, who gave it the service name Gosling.

On August 1, 1942, a J4F-1 flown by US Coast Guard Patrol Squadron 212 based out of Houma, Louisiana and flown by Chief Aviation Pilot Henry White spotted and attacked a German U-boat off the coast of Louisiana. White reported the submarine sunk, and he was subsequently credited with sinking U-166 and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

However, in June 2001 the wreck of U-166 was found sitting near the wreck of SS Robert E. Lee by an oil exploration team; and the sinking of U-166 on July 30 (i.e. two days before the Widgeon flight) is now credited to patrol craft PC-566 escorting the Robert E. Lee.

White's Widgeon is now thought to have made an unsuccessful attack against U-171, a Type IXC U-boat identical to U-166 that reported an air attack coincident with White's attack. U-171 was undamaged by White's attack, but was sunk four months later in the Bay of Biscay.

After the war, Grumman redesigned the aircraft to make it more suitable for civilian operations. A new hull improved its water handling, and six seats were installed. A total of 76 of the new G-44A were built by Grumman, the last being delivered on January 13, 1949. Another 41 were produced under licence by the Societe de Construction Aero-Navale (SCAN) in La Rochelle, France as the SCAN-30. Most of these ended up in the United States.

McKinnon Enterprises at Sandy, Oregon converted over 70 Widgeons to "Super Widgeons." The conversion features replacing the engines with 270 hp (201 kW) Avco Lycoming GO-480-B1D flat-six piston engines, and various other modifications, including modern avionics, three-bladed propellers, larger windows, improved soundproofing, emergency exits, and increased Maximum Takeoff Weight. Retractable wingtip floats are optional.
(taken from Wikipedia)

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Now let's go to the model, It's a USAirfix kit, some fit problems that could be solved with some sandpaper and putty, I bought a friend's kit and did not have the decals of the model, which made me suppose that I had used them in another job, as well I used the decals that he left me and that correspond to the version of the Royal Navy.

I did some detailing inside the fuselage, I made the floor, I put the seats of the crew and I made the cabin with an instrument panel and as much detail as I could, but when it was closed all that work was lost sight of.

It is the partner in the line of work of the Buffalo, along with two vehicles, so this work was also carried out while the other models dried paint, glue and putty.

I hope you enjoy this work!

Saludos desde Colombia, la tierra de Juan Valdez!

Tigre del Aire

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Photos and text © by Tigre del Aire