The Hawker Siddeley Nodens

[The Rat]

Looking for versatility in their response to maritime threats, the Royal Air Force of the 1960s proposed a jet powered flying boat to complement the upcoming introduction of the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod. The rationale was that the aircraft could be refuelled by Royal Navy vessels rather than returning to land bases thereby increasing the effective range. An airframe was modified to a high-wing configuration and initial testing revealed only one flaw – the jet efflux over the elevators caused extremely sensitive pitch control. It was decided to reduce elevator travel rather than further modify it with a T-tail, and this was found to be an effective solution. The layout of the aircraft was so different that it was given a new name; Nodens, after a Celtic god of hunting and the sea.





The soundness of the philosophy was proven in 1971 when a Nodens from RAF Kinloss completed a four day circumnavigation of the world without the use of any shore-based facilities, all fueling and resupply being done from Royal Navy ships. Following the initial procurement of three examples a further three were ordered, and at least two can be found far from home at all times as they accompany the Navy on exercises and deployments.

[The Rat]

Thanks to Captain Canada for both the model and the roundels. The fin flashes were made by printing out a flash on paper, cutting out tiny rectangles where the blue met the pink, and affixing them with a tiny dab of white glue. The wings were modified quite simply – the fuselage was cut ahead of the wing and behind and rotated 180°.



The dihedral was so overstated that once this was done there was no need to provide large supports for the floats. They were carved from bombs that came with the very old and very atrocious Spitfire turned out by Aurora back in the sixties. The bulb on top of the fin was another old bomb, this time from the Hawk Lysander. The fin fillet was made from a bread bag tie, and the hull carved from good old balsa.



Windows were drilled out and filled with Micro Kristal Klear, and the paint was Gunze 336 Hemp acrylic. The flight deck windows were painted black and a blade was back-dragged along the window frames to expose the plastic underneath and make them stand out



The model itself was made by an obscure company called Dubena, one of those manufacturers who seem to be intent on helping out us whiffers by making products that are good for nothing else but hacking at with wild abandon!

[Joe C-P]

I like it! I was also surprised at how small the model is when I saw the final photo in the first set.

[Rafael]

Bravo, Rat!!!
That forward hull shape is impressive!!

Rafa

[Captain Canada]

Woah....what a beauty ! She sure looks diferent from the original, eh ? Love the shape of the nose. The underside pic is my fave. Next time you come down this way, bring it with you so I can do a few touch-and-goes in the sink !

Your idea for simplifying the overwing layout is brilliant !

The only improvement I could see making would be to stick a toothpick ( or a wire or something ) into some black paint and then sticking that into the intakes. Then I'd stick my hand into the fridge and pull out a beer.....and then I'd stay up until 3 in the morning flying it around the room !

[ChernayaAkula]

What an awesome idea!  Brilliantly executed as well!

[Weaver]

The scale is very deceptive - everyone here who's looked at it has guessed it to be MUCH larger.

Really nice job - well done! 

[sotoolslinger]

That is amazing

[Howard of Effingham]

this is very good indeed!

and there's me thinking he'd butchered a 1/72 nimrod...... 

i'll get me coat!

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Great idea and an impressive carving job- cheered up my day!

[bobbo]

I like it! I was also surprised at how small the model is when I saw the final photo in the first set.

I was surprised at how small the Nimrod is.  I've seen a few of them at different times at Dover AFB, here in Dover DE.  Seems to be a bit smaller than the C-130 Hercules that seem to always be around.

Bobindelaware

[Sisko]

Very cool!!

[Eddie M.]

Beautiful work! All around great looking project.

[frank2056]

I love small small small scale models and I really love this one! It could even be a RAF answer to the Russian Ekranoplans.

I asked "the google" and it said that the Dubena kits were 1/250 scale.

Frank

[noxioux]

The scale blows me away.  Awesome.