Atlantic Aircraft C-3 Tri-motor from a 1/72 Spirit of St. Louis

[Brian da Basher]

In 1928 a small, regional air-mail carrier decided there was money to be made in carrying passengers as well as the mail. The Pittsburgh based Allegheny Airlines was excited at the possibilites offered by the Fokker Tri-motor and approached Fokker's U.S. subsidiary, Atlantic Aircraft Co. to purchase some tri-motors specifically designed for passenger service. Atlantic's chief engineer, John Barryman, tweaked the C-2 tri-motor they supplied to the Army and came up with the C-3 "Tri-Liner" which was powered by three Wright Whirlwind engines and boasted a new innovation in streamlining: spatted landing gear. The "Tri-Liner" was capable of carrying 8 passengers and a crew of three as well as an additional 1,300 lbs. of payload. Allegheny Airlines took delivery of their new "Tri-Liners" in March, 1929 and immediately put them into service on the lucrative Pittsburgh to Buffalo run. The new airliner was a great success and by October, 1929, Allegheny Airlines had a fleet of 15 new tri-motors working the Pittsburgh to Buffalo, Pittsburgh to Rochester and Pittsburgh to Chicago routes. Allegheny's refusal to pay off Mafia kingpin Salvatore "Spats" Calabrese who ruled over New York's Idlewild Field with an iron fist precluded the "Tri-Liner" from flying the Pittsburgh to New York run. Fortunately for Allegheny Airlines, "Spats" Calabrese suffered a very "hard landing" when going  to the mattresses against New York's Five Families and his body was later discovered buried beneath the Third Base Line at Ebbet's Field (home of the Brooklyn Dodgers - "Dem Bums!") in April, 1930. By adding the lucrative New York route, Allegheny Airlines was able to weather the worst of the Great Depression. Old N125SA can be seen on display at the main passenger terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

This is what I've been up to over the last week. Back in 2006, I saw a 1/72 Testor's (former Hawk) Spirit of St. Louis going for less than $4 at the local hobby shop. Well I can't pass up a bargain so I bought it. After I got it home, I realized this is actually one of those very old kits with the markings ever so thoughtfully engraved for you into the plastic. So my Spirit of St. Louis sat neglected for a while. Last week I pulled it out of the stash and took my Sears Roto-Tool's drum sander to the wings and managed to obliterate the engraved "NX-211s". I re-scribed the ailerons and filled in the "Spirit of St. Louises" carved into the nose. I managed to find some very small radial engines in my spares box (thanks, HOG!) and decided to scale-o-rama my 1/72 into a 1/100-ish tri-motor. I used the tailplanes from another Testor's product, their 1/48 SPAD and found a perfectly shaped fin and rudder in the spares box (thanks again, HOG!). The spats were swiped from a Curtiss F-9C and the props are left-overs. I used the wire "cork cage" from a bottle of Asti to fashion the exhausts. The entire model was brush painted by hand in Model Master's "Primer Gray" and the racing stripes on the spats were done with Polly-Scale Blue. The engines were painted in a custom mix of "Blue Steel" and the tires were painted in Mars Black Artists' acrylics. This project was primarily used as a test for some Allegheny Airlines decals and those decals went on without a hitch, even the cockpit windows.

It took me about four days to build this little tri-motor. It wasn't until after I completed it that I realized I may have subconciously borrowed the idea for this project from the Wings of Peace website. Although that one wasn't finished in Allegheny Airlines livery!

Brian da Basher

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

That looks soooo real, just superb, Brian, great vision/execution (as usual)

Ian

[puddingwrestler]

Magnificent!


How did I know it was going to have spats...?

[frank2056]

That looks fantastic, Brian. Did you also start using a new camera or just better post-processing? The pictures are nice and sharp.

[Rafael]

Definately in love with this one......

Rafa

[kitnut617]

I've looked at a lot of your projects Brian and this one is right up there.  I love it 

[McGreig]

Completely convincing  . If I hadn't read your back story and build details, I don't think that I'd have realised that this was a whiff 

[Brian da Basher]

Thanks guys! I'm really glad you like my little tri-motor! I was stumped for a very long time as to what to do with that Spirit of St. Louis kit.

I started taking my photos outdoors in bright sunlight, followed some good tips and I found my lost copy of Photoshop! I'm really happy the shots are looking better.

You know, I thought I'd subconciously borrowed the idea for this project off the Wings of Peace website, but I went back to look for it and couldn't find it. Maybe it was all a dream.

I'm currently working on an SE-5 for the R.A.F. 100 display. Hopefully I'll have something to show you in a few days.

Brian da Basher

[sotoolslinger]

Mr. da Basher, once again I am floored at how you can both amaze me with something I didn't think I would be interested in and simultaneously make me want to put spats on . Just super

[John Howling Mouse]

WOW!!  This one practically glows off the screen, Brian!  Great job.  Love the backstory but it's the model that really jumped out at me---your craftsmanship has gone through the roof.

Spats, scale-o-rama, engine mods, tailplane swaps, hand-painted markings....what's next from the BdaB studio??   

[cthulhu77]

Totally awesome!  Love the story, dig the plane big time...you've really outdone yourself with this build !

[Ed S]

Clever and well executed.  Nice job Brian dB.

Ed

[Sisko]

Nice stuff!!!!!!!!!

Really looks the goods

[NARSES2]

Fantastic Brian and I really think that aircraft would suit a ski undercarriage.