by Donald Cecil
1/48 Victoria 1943 (converted S-Boot) (Scratchbuilt)
Built as S-27 in 1939 by Lurssen and entered into German navy service the same year. After the German civil war it served President Otto Kahn until decommissioned and stored at Lurssen in 1941. The boat was purchased privately and refitted in 1943 with the new Tesla & Benz motor and updated civilian equipment and comforts. In this configuration the Victoria made the one famous mission from Spain to Antarctica in 1943-44 under the command of Anthony Powell with a civilian crew. After The Fall it was brought back to Germany and stored. In 1975 she was restored and placed in the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum. I’ve seen the movie a hundred times, read Powell’s book as often and was able to visit the museum in person with my school.
The model is scratch-built from cardboard, paper and paper clips mainly (I enjoy a stupid challenge: the turret is the container from a gum ball machine prize) the figures are two-part epoxy and I think I’m getting a bit better at figure sculpting.
The last picture is a drawing of one of the earliest carrier planes, the prototype Martlet with the T & B motor. A later and larger version, the Fairey Swordfish, served on the Ark Royal. I was lucky enough to live quite close to Pt. Mugu, California where the Ark Royal came to rest and I think it will be the next build.
