#Done# Royal Syldavian Navy SAB seaplane fighter, 1930s (Tintin)

[AndrewF]

After stumbling by chance on internet images of the Bernard H.V.120 (a 1930s French racing seaplane designed and built by the Société des Avions Bernard to compete in the Schneider Trophy race - delays caused by engine problems and the crash of the second aircraft delayed entry and the aircraft did not race in the competition), I've decided to create some profile illustrations of a military development of this aircraft. It will be depicted in the service of the Royal Syldavian Navy.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Syldavia, it's a fictional country in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It is located in the Balkans and has a rivalry with the fictional neighbouring country of Borduria. Syldavia is depicted in King Ottokar's Sceptre (late 30s), Destination Moon, Explorers on the Moon (briefly), Tintin and the Lake of Sharks, and The Calculus Affair (1950s), and is mentioned in Tintin and the Picaros (1970s).
Syldavia is a monarchy in the 1930s, ruled at the time of King Ottokar's Sceptre by King Muskar XII. The king is noticeably absent from the later stories set in or involving Syldavia: The Calculus Affair and Destination Moon. Both were set after World War II, at a time when the various Balkan monarchies providing models for the fictional Syldavia had been overthrown and their rulers exiled. It is not clear what form of government is in power in the post-war Syldavia.
The exact location of Syldavia is not given in the books, and nothing more is known than that it is located on the Balkan peninsula, bordering another fictional country (Borduria), and that it has access to the sea. In Destination Moon, the trail of the Syldavian-launched rocket points to a location north of the Danube. There are various inspirations for Syldavia: as Hergé noted himself the primary inspiration was Montenegro, but the country's history is modelled after many Balkan countries. Har Brok writes that Syldavia "may have been modelled after a country like Romania or Yugoslavia". (Summary edited from Wikipedia).

I've already posted some illustrations of my take on the Royal Syldavian Air Force (which is never mentioned or pictured in the books): https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=47387.0 and https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=47432.0, so this one will hopefully develop the series.

[Tophe]

After stumbling by chance on internet images of the Bernard H.V.120

I have (somewhere) the full encyclopaedia of Bernard planes (by J. Liron, "Les avions Bernard", Docavia collection, Larivière publishing, 1990). If that may help I may try to find it again.

[AndrewF]

After stumbling by chance on internet images of the Bernard H.V.120

I have (somewhere) the full encyclopaedia of Bernard planes (by J. Liron, "Les avions Bernard", Docavia collection, Larivière publishing, 1990). If that may help I may try to find it again.

Thanks Tophe, that would be interesting to see if you have any scans!

[AndrewF]

Here's my source material for the actual plane:

[AndrewF]

This is the model I'll be using as a base:

[AndrewF]

And this is the current state of play. I'm raising the pilot's seat for better vision (as this will be a fighter version), hence the higher spine:

[Old Wombat]

That (second) last image is either written in Cyrillic script or it's backwards.

[AndrewF]

That (second) last image is either written in Cyrillic script or it's backwards.

"As presented in the Tintin books, Syldavian has a superficial resemblance to certain Central European languages, particularly Polish and Hungarian, due to its orthography. Like Serbian, it uses both Cyrillic and Latin script, although apparently in somewhat different contexts; it is most commonly written in the Cyrillic alphabet, albeit with the Latin alphabet by the royal court."

So you're right on both counts!

[Tophe]

Thanks Tophe, that would be interesting to see if you have any scans!

If I find it again there would/will be probably more than 100 pages with 3-views, impossible to scan all. Would you be interested only on Model 120?

[Tophe]

Sorry: I have checked (moving the furniture to see the books behind) and it seems I have no more the Docavia book about Bernard aircraft. Maybe I sent it to a friend 10 years ago, that forgot to send it back.

[AndrewF]

Sorry: I have checked (moving the furniture to see the books behind) and it seems I have no more the Docavia book about Bernard aircraft. Maybe I sent it to a friend 10 years ago, that forgot to send it back.

Ah zut! Ce n'est pas grave Tophe - thanks anyway; and I hope you can get your book back sometime 

[PR19_Kit]

That's a VERY smart looking aeroplane. 

I particularly like the stylish treatment of the float struts, so much better looking than the minimalist approach of Supermarine and Macchi.

[jalles]

Are you going to continue posting work in progress pictures? I would love to see how you create these!

[AndrewF]

That's a VERY smart looking aeroplane. 

I particularly like the stylish treatment of the float struts, so much better looking than the minimalist approach of Supermarine and Macchi.

Yes indeed - the float struts look very modern.

[AndrewF]

Are you going to continue posting work in progress pictures? I would love to see how you create these!

Yep, that's the idea - I just have to remember to do lots of screenshots.