Working on cleaning out one of my stash storage boxes, I decided to do up a brace of this venerable kit, one the original Hawk issue, one the Testors re-pop.
The RAAF version depicted was an ex-Dutch Navy STM, purchased by Australia after the fall of the Netherlands East Indies to the Japanese in 1942. Thirty-four Ryan STMs were absorbed into the RAAF, used mainly for refresher training at a variety of aircrew training units, while others were flown on transport missions with communications units. This particular a/c, A50-12, was destroyed in a crash in 1944.
The second is a "what-if" scheme based on a game skin illustration I found online, a float trainer as operated by the Norwegian Air Force training school in the immediate pre-war era. Decals made up on my PC and printed on my trusty HP inkjet printer.
And, of course, the obligatory shots with the kit's pretty cool ocean base:
I added a bit of scratchbuilt cockpit detail and some computer-image instrument panels printed out on cardstock. I had to scratch one set of windscreens from shirt-packing acetate, since the originals had gone missing over the years. I also added the front rollover pylons from a bit of old strut stock. Since the flight bracing wires on the original are so conspicuous, I used .010 styrene rod instead of my usual stretched sprue.
Great fun with a pretty great old kit. Hope you enjoy the pics.