BV 138 Sea Cruiser - a post-war private conversion

[Paper Kosmonaut]

The BV 138, made by Blohm & Voss, was known as the flying clog. With its three diesel engines and angular window shapes it wasn't considered the prettiest of planes but I still think it could easily compete with a Catalina. I think it has a beauty in its own. I really like the hull's shape, for example. It's just that wart-like turret up front that makes it less attractive.
There is not a single intact BV 138 left, all of them were destroyed in - or right after - the war. I recall there is only one wreckage on display somewhere in Scandinavia.
But wait... There was one. It was kept safe from harm and after the war it was purchased by a rich person who decided to give the flying boat a more peaceful purpose as an air yacht. Much like the amazing Catalina story, it was more or less overhauled in a way you really couldn't imagine.
The whole of the cockpit section was redone and given a streamlines clear view all around. Lots of observation windows were added and the mid engine was replaced by a small turboprop on which it could solely fly. The two other engines, while still usable, were mostly left idle, apart from when it needed a more powerful take off.

I actually haven't imagined a full storyline around this model, I just wanted to change its shapes a little, when I bought this kit.
Inspirations came from a Dutch comic book series called Franka, about a investigative redhead who, in this specific story, gets involved in the search for a disappeared cargo ship. For the search they use a yellow refurbished BV 138. It eventually crashes and is used as a kind of boat afterwards. It actually is a good story.

The used model is the Italeri/SuperModel 1/72 kit. Very nice fit, of what I can recall of the build (which is some years ago now..). The turboprop idea came when I needed to fill up the gunner's position behind the middle engine and suddenly fitted a kind of exhaust pipe looking piece in the opening. The red canisters under the wing now serve as containers for dinghies. Seemed convenient to me.
The biggest challenge was shaping the new canopies, which I never have done before. I used several moulds before I settled on this shape. Cut from the clear plastic it looked very modern and gave the BV 138 an entirely different look, which I really liked. it laid unfinished for several months before I picked it up again and finally did the rear of the hull. it also was the first time I really started hacking away in an otherwise perfectly good kit. And I liked it!  (-;

I know, looking at it now, it still is a bit crude here and there, It could have done with some more detailing perhaps, and some more putty in some places. Well, like I said it was the first one I ever did. I'd do it different now. But still I like its overall appearance and I hope you will too.

[Captain Canada]

Looks good ! Definitely have a great view in the cockpit of that one !

[TomZ]

I like it. It looks very good.
Great idea to do it as a civil post war conversion.

TomZ

[Dizzyfugu]

Very nice! Great idea/concept. 

[ericr]

very lovely!
great concept indeed; what did you use for the cockpits?

[Paper Kosmonaut]

very lovely!
great concept indeed; what did you use for the cockpits?

Thank you all for the kind words.
For the canopies I used regular transparent package plastic. You know, the stuff in which HDMI cables and other electronics is sold and which is ultimately hard to pry open in any way without injuring yourself.
I heated the plastic over my stove. (kind of tricky, you got to test on which height it gets soft but not immediately melts away) then, I took a rolling pin's handle and pulled the softened plastic over the handle so I got a curved bulbous shape. This I tried and cut out until it fitted snugly over the openings in the fuselage.
The biggest trick is to find ready-made moulds for this which are in the shape you actually want to use.

[kerick]

This looks great! Wish I had thought of that!
For custom shapes try carving and sanding some balsa wood. Only problem working balsa is that it's so easy to cut you might carve away too much.

[PR19_Kit]

Excellent work there, both the model and the backstory. 

[loupgarou]

Yes, the BV 138 merits more whiffs. Interesting shape etc. Your idea is nice, and I liked a lot the use of a rolling pin! 

[KiwiZac]

Well, isn't that just lovely! Bravo! A great concept executed very well.

[zenrat]

Good ideas there.

[Dizzyfugu]

I wonder if a beaching ramp for a raft of jetskis could be integrated into the fuselage's tail...?

[Paper Kosmonaut]

I wonder if a beaching ramp for a raft of jetskis could be integrated into the fuselage's tail...?

The tail end is very narrowly tapered, so I think you'd often have grazed knees when exiting or entering the ramp.. besides, you'd lose the rear view panorama lounge! (-;
Perhaps it'd be better to create a wide sliding door at the side with a fold-out ramp, if you really need a ramp.
Or hide them the floaters. Or even better, make them the floaters! (bottom half of the jet ski used as bottom of the floater, top half snugly fits into streamlined shell which is the blue part you can see now.) A few clamps to secure them not falling off and away you go! fly around, land on a lake, any lake, detach the clamps on the skis and you can enjoy a good splashing around on your jet ski.

[Tophe]

Lovely civilian twin-boomer