Nord Noratlas from "Le vol du Phénix" (1968)

[KiwiZac]

Hi all,
Starfix 1/175 Le vol du Phénix by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas from Le vol du Phénix (1968 French remake of The Flight of the Phoenix set in Algeria) by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas from Le vol du Phénix (1968 French remake of The Flight of the Phoenix set in Algeria) by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Okay, hang on, let me explain....

The year is 1968. Gaumont has bought the overseas rights for Elleston Trevor's bestselling novel about an oil company aircraft crashing in the desert and being reconstructed to fly the desperate survivors back to civilisation. Director Robert Moreau assisted in adapting the script into French and changing the setting from the Libyan Sahara to Algeria during the war there (although production took place in Spain) and keeping the novel's original conceit of the English aero engineer being a modelmaker (from a thinly-veiled version of real-world model kit company Airfix named "Skybits"). An all-star cast was assembled:
Capitaine Francois Villes - Jacques Stuart
Lieutenant Louis Morant - Richard Fortabitant
Capitaine Herrice - Pierre Bouvreuil
Sergent Wautier - Renaud Freseau
Henry Stringer - Francis Gastwort

Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas from Le vol du Phénix (1968 French remake of The Flight of the Phoenix set in Algeria) by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The fictional Skytruck twin-boom aircraft of Trevor's novel, represented by a Fairchild C-82 Packet in the American film version, was replaced by a Nord Noratlas of the Armée de l'Air. The Phenix itself was built from Noratlas parts supplied by the air force however, unlike the purpose-built (and ill-fated) Phoenix created and flown by Paul Mantz for the American production, it only taxied. The flying scenes were filmed using radio-controlled and scale studio models.

Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas from Le vol du Phénix (1968 French remake of The Flight of the Phoenix set in Algeria) by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The film, titled Le vol du Phénix, was a financial and critical success in France and remains a cult classic among aviation enthusiasts worldwide. The Phenix prop did not survive long after filming, being reclaimed by the French air force to provide spares for the Noratlas fleet. Some filming models did survive and one large-scale model is on display at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace at Le Bourget next to that collection's preserved Noratlas.

Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas from Le vol du Phénix (1968 French remake of The Flight of the Phoenix set in Algeria) by Zac Yates, on Flickr

*****
This is my second-ever Starfix kit and, to be honest, I'd quite like some more! This was a gift from Bungle in answer to my request for therapy kits and had been on my wants list for some time, unless the Heller kit popped up first. The box is a little worse for wear but everything's there:
Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Starfix 1/175 Nord Noratlas by Zac Yates, on Flickr

I don't have any in-progress shots because it went together very, very quickly and I was just having too much fun! For those who can't tell, the process was:
- cement both inner boom halves together so you can mount the horizontal stabilisers, which you cut in half from the single piece original
- saw the port wing off at the outer side of that side's boom/engine the the starboard wing at its inner, cement together
- cement wing to fuselage
- attach the rather nasty gear doors into closed position
- drill out a "cockpit" behind the engine
- attach the kit's main gear to the wing and the nosewheel to a cutout of the lower vertical stabiliser
- find a nice pole (oo-er) to attach aft of the cockpit and rig with elastic thread of your choice
C'est voila! Le Phenix! (As it happens I have a plan for the rest of the kit. I may even get started with it today....)

Amazingly the decals still work, but the roundels were too far out of register to use (so I cobbled together spares). I did use the kit's finflashes though. The FNX codes are from a Ventura 1/48 sheet of 8" RAF WW2 serials and the name was artfully handpainted.

I know the original movie used the clever conceit of oil rig supplies to make skids, and the 2004 film used the main gear in another way, but while I contemplated leaving the one main gear in place and having some kind of lopsided arrangement with the second leg I thought this approach worked best with the bits I had...even if it means the survivors would have to do a bit of work to get them both in place!

I hope you like it 

[loupgarou]

Very nice. I had appreciated the orginal movie, and for an instant I was taken by the idea of a french remake.

[philp]

I loved the movie and have been tempted to try a Phoenix in 72nd scale.  Have seen one built up and looked quite good.

Now I love your take on the idea and think it really works.  Kit does look like the old Heller kit.

Also in the original wasn't the engineer German and built paper airplanes?

[sandiego89]

brilliant! Great idea, carried through to a great build.

[PR19_Kit]

Also in the original wasn't the engineer German and built paper airplanes?

He was German, yes, but designed RC models for a large model company. (read 'Graupner'?)

I've got half an ancient Aurora C-119 sitting in a box, and it has been destined to become a Phoenix for over 30 yrs now!   

[Captain Canada]

Neat build for sure ! Cheers

[KiwiZac]

Thanks all! I really had a blast with this and was so pleased it matched my mental image so well.

I loved the movie and have been tempted to try a Phoenix in 72nd scale.  Have seen one built up and looked quite good.

Also in the original wasn't the engineer German and built paper airplanes?

In the original novel it's British modelmaker Mr Stringer, changed to Mr Dorfmann the German for the first film adaptation.

Prolific classic/vintage civil modeller "Gabriel Stern" (posts as "Moa" at Britmodeller" made a beautiful Timm-Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 in 1/72, it truly is a gorgeous piece of work. I'm keen to make the P-1 in 1/72 too, so far this is where it sits:
1/72 Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

I'd also love to get a 1/72 Italeri C-119 to make the 2004 version as I saw that in the cinema and loved it. If anyone has one going spare...

[Tophe]

As a twin-boom fan, I could say "what a crazy epidemic illness, this destroying twin-boomers to make boring-normal airplanes!", but I will not. I will say: "these new-life derivatives of twin-boomers prove how much the twin-boom layout is superior, providing parts to build a new aircraft after crash!".
I liked the original American film and I am French, I would have liked also the Noratlas one (as a film, I love the plastic model way too)...

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice idea! 

[zenrat]

The Phoenix could have looked very different.If the aircraft designer had been Tophe or Ericr.

Good job Zac.

[Weaver]

That's a splendid idea and nicely executed - well done Zac!

Now we need an all-British production using an Argosy to make a three-engined Phoenix...

BTW I've got the Heller kit and that Starfix one is identical.

[loupgarou]

That's a splendid idea and nicely executed - well done Zac!

Now we need an all-British production using an Argosy to make a three-engined Phoenix...

BTW I've got the Heller kit and that Starfix one is identical.

Yes, Starfix was pirating Heller and producing copies of their Cadet series, so Heller's boss went to Israel and struck a deal with Starfix, giving the right to mould the kits in exchange for bag jobs, including original Starfix moulds. And so some of Heller Cadets are Starfix originals, like the Sikorsky S-55, Bell 205, MiG-21, F-104.
You can find all the info in Jean Christophe Carbonel's: Heller, la maquette à la francaise, recently reprinted.  (shameless plug, he's a friend  )

[KiwiZac]

Thank you for the kind words! Paint is already going onto the leftover parts and I'm hopeful it will be posted tomorrow.

[KiwiZac]

I'm done with the leftovers if anyone's interested?

[Tophe]

I've been inspired by this Phoenix new revival and I imagined the same (differently) from a P-38 Lightning, as drawings at
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=20326.5190
Thanks!