Miskatonic University
Fall Semester, 1930-31
Courses for graduate students:
GEOL 670: Special Study
(Cross-listed with ANTHR, HIST, MYTH, OCST, SOC)
Cr. 6 F.
Join Professor William Dyer and staff colleagues for a multi-disciplinary exploratory expedition to Antarctica to investigate the remains of a strange prehistoric civilization previously unknown to science.
Side-explorations to the Plateau of Leng and the lost city of R'lyeh may be mounted, as circumstances permit.
[N.B.: Prospective volunteers should be aware of the slight possibility of the development of minor psychic disturbances or subtle physical alterations resulting from their participation in this expedition. Transient symptoms of profound paranoia...spontaneous glossolalia...manic hallucinatory episodes...and/or the sudden growth of extra limbs---or tentacles---may be experienced.]
Having picked up this venerable Airfix gem at a too-good-to-resist price on an auction site, the kit proved to be complete as advertised...but the included original (and rather indistinctly-printed) 'American Airways' decals were a crusty sepia tone that suggested they were well-past resuscitation. As a 'fun project' alternative, I started casting about for something more in keeping with the sturdy 'Tin Goose's' iconic look suggesting 1930s mystery and intrigue. I originally considered doing the 'Lao Che Air Freight' Trimotor from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...but while 'trawling' for images on the interweb, another more dramatic possibility raised its (multiple) heads: one of the ski-equipped charter aircraft from Miskatonic University's ill-fated 1930-31 Antarctic Expedition...as depicted in the classic H.P Lovecraft horror novella "At The Mountains Of Madness."
Airfix's old but well-engineered kit was built per the yellowing instructions, save for half the passenger seats being replaced with a scratch-built 'cargo' of supplies and scientific equipment well-secured in the aft cabin. Skis were made up from laminated styrene sheet and bits of strip. The Airfix kit had earlier donated its 'speed ring' P&W Wasp Junior outer engines to my recent Williams Brothers Boeing 247 conversion, so that kit's similar engines and cowlings were adapted to serve here. I used the cut-down cowlings simply to help conceal the notable lack of detail in the engines themselves; my 'rationale' for the unconventional style cowlings (for a Trimotor) is that they are modified Lockheed Electra cowlings, 'specially fitted' here to improve engine performance in grueling antarctic conditions.
An online build/review conveniently alerted me to the fact that Airfix got the well-molded 2-blade props backwards---with the 'concave' part of the blades facing forward. It was an easy fix simply to trim the molded-in 'shaft' to become the new 'hub,' and flip the props front-to-back...and since I tend to glue my props solidly in place anyway, I just used the original hub as a 'stub' shaft to mount them to the engines.
Color scheme is a standard one for the type, mostly natural metal with areas of colored trim around the nose and passenger windows. The high-visibility orange panels were commonly applied to aircraft which were intended to operate over water...or, in this case, the vast and empty Antarctic wastes. I couldn't resist adding a light wash overall to highlight Airfix's lovingly-rendered corrugated surface...and then partially-removing it in 'sketchy' fashion to give the aircraft a well-used and 'lived in' look suitable to its challenging polar mission.
Decals were home-made, with the 'expedition seal' graphic being adapted from widely-circulated internet images, here modified specifically to depict a Ford Trimotor. The 'Ward' in the charter-company name is a none-too-subtle nod to yet another one of Lovecraft's well-known horror tales. The number chosen for the aircraft's registry---taken from the actual range of those assigned to Trimotor production---seemed the obvious choice, given the sinister ambiance of the project.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
