Jump to content

PBM-3 Mariner


Tony Whittingham

Recommended Posts

Tony,

 

I went through my copy of Steve Ginter's PBM Mariner monograph, Naval Fighters 97, and  found that the PBM'3-s were all powered by CW R-2600 engines with three blade 15' diameter Curtiss Electric props initially; beginning with the PBM-3R transport and later PBM-3c/d variants, that prop was replaced with CE 4 blade units of  the same 15' diameter. The intakes, oil cooler location, exhausts, and cowlings are different from the later R-2800-powered versions. Other than antenna fit, I think just swapping out the powerplant/prop/cowling swap will get you there from the Minicraft PBM-5/5A kit. From the photos, it looks to me like the cowlings are very similar in appearance to the ones fitted to early A-20's and B-25s- they both used the same R-2600. The carb and oil cooler intakes look very similar to the ones fitted to the 167 Maryland, also a Martin design, whose CE prop hubs could also be used, but the blades would have to be taken form another source or scratchbuilt, as I'm not aware of any 15'  3 or 4 blade props- maybe Aeroclub, but they would be hard to find, methinks. Another possibility might be a set of CE props from an Academy B-29, but they are 17' diameter, IIRC, so would need to be cut down and reshaped to fit either a 3 or 4 blade hub, depending upon the version you want to model. There are a ton of P-47 kits that could serve as donors for the 4 blade hub- the Tamiya and Revell kits offer 2-3 versions of the CE prop, so maybe you could get a pair from a modeling mate. Hope this helps getting you started- if there's anything else I can pull out of the book, let me know. BTW Warpaint 108 on the Mariner has 1/72 scale drawings, as does the Rareplanes Mariner, if that helps. Tailspin Turtle can probably provide much more modeling info on your project than me- if he sees this post, he might offer his expertise.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The undercarridge is the difference, isn't ? Minicraft is  is amphibia and PBM3 was flying boat I think. Here are some drawings which shows huge difference in engines:

https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/modernplanes/martin/75891/view/martin_pbm-1_mariner/ 

or here:

'As designed' sketches of a PBM-3

 

 

However -  there is conversion set available! :) 

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania martin mariner drawings

Regards

J-W

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, JWM said:

The undercarridge is the difference, isn't ? Minicraft is  is amphibia and PBM3 was flying boat I think. Here are some drawings which shows huge difference in engines:

https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/modernplanes/martin/75891/view/martin_pbm-1_mariner/ 

or here:

'As designed' sketches of a PBM-3

 

 

However -  there is conversion set available! :) 

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania martin mariner drawings

Regards

J-W

 

PBM-5's were flying boats; PBM-5A's were amphibians. All versions previous to the -5A's were flying boats. The wheel assemblies shown in the drawings were for the beaching gear which could be attached to all of the flying boat variants so they could be moved onto shore from a seaplane ramp. 

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

PBM-5's were flying boats; PBM-5A's were amphibians.

But Minicraft model is then PBM-5A, the amphibia I think...

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/199639-minicraft-model-kits-11669-pbm-5a-mariner

They are going to release PBM-5, accordingly to Scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/310202-minicraft-model-kits-11684-martin-mariner-pbm-5

It is not available yet

Regards

J-W

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JWM said:

But Minicraft model is then PBM-5A, the amphibia I think...

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/199639-minicraft-model-kits-11669-pbm-5a-mariner

They are going to release PBM-5, accordingly to Scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/310202-minicraft-model-kits-11684-martin-mariner-pbm-5

It is not available yet

Regards

J-W

 

The existing Minicraft PBM-5A kit includes cover plates for the main landing gear bays, so a flying boat version can be done. For the nose gear, just glue the supplied doors shut and fill and sand them to eliminate the panel lines. I have read, but can't confirm that the next release will have blanking plates for the turrets and a different radome   type, as well as beaching gear- I'm just guessing, but think that suggests it will be a PBM-5 and PBM-5R transport version, not a PBM-3.

Mike

 

I just saw an illustration/description for a new Minicraft PBM-5, kit number 11684:  the kit is described as having beaching gear, depth bombs for the nacelle armament bays, and a choice of three and four blade props, which doesn't make sense, as all PBY-5/5A's had four blade props. Not sure what that is all about. The plot thickens!

Edited by 72modeler
added new informatkion
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are completely out of stock of Mariner conversions of all kinds (in fact we are Mariner-ed out, having done 5 versions!).

Unfortunately the Red Roo conversion or some inspired scratch-building is essential to getting the Minicraft kit right.

We doubt the PBM-5 will be released before 2023 by which time we will maybe be up for the fix-up / conversion which will undoubtedly be needed.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Ed Russell said:

We are completely out of stock of Mariner conversions of all kinds (in fact we are Mariner-ed out, having done 5 versions!).

Unfortunately the Red Roo conversion or some inspired scratch-building is essential to getting the Minicraft kit right.

We doubt the PBM-5 will be released before 2023 by which time we will maybe be up for the fix-up / conversion which will undoubtedly be needed.

 

 

Ed,

 

Your conversion was very highly regarded, and I think corrects the major flaws that I discovered, especially when compared to my Rareplanes Mariner. The biggest mistake that I saw was that the rear fuselage of the Minicraft kit was pretty shallow in profile- the Rareplanes fuselage fit the plans I had almost exactly. I was going to make a longitudinal cut in the Minicraft kit and splice in a rectangular plasticard section, which would also raise the horizontal tailplane at the same time....your conversion was sold out at that time, so that was the plan I was going to use. Steve Ginter had one of the first test shots, which I think he included in his Mariner monograph, and IIRC we both saw the rear fuselage and propeller issues. It would be a real shame that Minicraft will most likely not include the engines, props, and cowlings for a PBM-3, but that will certainly help you when you re-release your conversion sets.

Mike

 

Thanks for reminding me that I should have snagged the dash three conversion when it first came out! (But I did get a couple of your F-86F and Boomerang  correction sets!)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We would recommend an added part rather than a splice. There's a decent picture in Mike's review above (5th picture down, the three parts on the left) showing what it looks like. We considered the splice idea but it doesn't work anywhere near as well as adding a small section.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/22/2018 at 3:29 PM, 72modeler said:

The existing Minicraft PBM-5A kit includes cover plates for the main landing gear bays, so a flying boat version can be done. For the nose gear, just glue the supplied doors shut and fill and sand them to eliminate the panel lines. I have read, but can't confirm that the next release will have blanking plates for the turrets and a different radome   type, as well as beaching gear- I'm just guessing, but think that suggests it will be a PBM-5 and PBM-5R transport version, not a PBM-3.

Mike

 

I just saw an illustration/description for a new Minicraft PBM-5, kit number 11684:  the kit is described as having beaching gear, depth bombs for the nacelle armament bays, and a choice of three and four blade props, which doesn't make sense, as all PBY-5/5A's had four blade props. Not sure what that is all about. The plot thickens!

According to Hobbylinc, the guys in Georgia, not Japan, the kit is in stock.  Here is the link to the page:

http://www.hobbylinc.com/minicraft-pbm-5a-usn-post-war-w:2-marking-options-plastic-model-airplane-kit-1:72-scale-11684

They label it as a PBM-5A but the box top illustration clearly states it is a -5 and includes the beaching gear.  I already have two of the -5As, one of which will be built as a -5 even without the beaching gear.

Later,

Dave

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, e8n2 said:

According to Hobbylinc, the guys in Georgia, not Japan, the kit is in stock. 

Many thanks for this info. And Georgia (US), not Georgia (former SU) ;)

Regards

J-W

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

It appears Minicraft sneaked the PBM-5 flying boat on to the market in the last year or so. I have managed to get my hands on one and we spent some time in the Red Roo workshop examining the beaching gear with great interest. Unfortunately for us, while the legs appear correct, the tanks are somewhat oversized and the wheels a bit undersized. This means we will have to consider making our conversion available again............ sigh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Ed Russell said:

It appears Minicraft sneaked the PBM-5 flying boat on to the market in the last year or so. I have managed to get my hands on one and we spent some time in the Red Roo workshop examining the beaching gear with great interest. Unfortunately for us, while the legs appear correct, the tanks are somewhat oversized and the wheels a bit undersized. This means we will have to consider making our conversion available again............ sigh.

Yessss!

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...