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Showing results for tags 'PBY Catalina'.
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I believe this is the largest aircraft model I have ever attempted (and probably the last one this size that I'll ever do!). It's a Canadian RAF "Sub Killer" that I built using the Monogram/ Revell PBY/ OA-10A 1/48 kit along with an Eduards "Big Ed" photoetch and mask set, white metal landing gear, resin wheels and engines and a set of excellent decals and reference materials from Aviaeology ("RCAF Canso A (PBY-5A) Collection 1: The Sub-Killers Of 162 (BR) Squadron"). Tamiya acrylic paints were airbrushed throughout except for Tamiya rattle can fine white primer and bare metal undercoat and a little Alclad on the prop centers and my favorite semi-gloss clear coat, Vallejo Satin. I attempted some chipping on the undersides of the "hull" using the hairspray technique but I think it came out a little too understated than I had hoped. This particular aircraft #9816 was based in Iceland and had the following amazing history: - 11 March 1944: ferried to Reykjavík, F/L Leadbetter and crew as 162 Sqn maintenance rotation replacement aircraft. - 3 June 1944: F/L MacBride and crew attack and sink U-477. 4x D/Cs used. Nose guns used. - 13 June 1944: W/C Chapman (co-captain & 1st pilot F/O McRae) and crew attack and sink U-715. 4x D/Cs used. Nose guns used. 9816 was shot down (3 killed) in 2nd (guns only) attack as damaged sub was sinking. Thoughts and "things learned" from this build: - I used a 1" wide x 5/16" thick hollow rectangular aluminum channel to act as an internal wing strut support based on other builds that recommended adding something inside the wing assembly to prevent sagging and cracking. I found this aluminum material at a home improvement store, I believe it is sold for use for screen door frames. Its was pretty easy to install and made the wind assembly rock solid. - I decided to skip adding weight to the nose to address the tail dragger issue and glad I did. I've read that one must use a A LOT of nose weights and this model is "structurally challenge" as it is due too it's size. I'm ok with the temporary support dowel shown in the photos and will remove it once I hang this beast over my work bench. - I also did not address the tail width issue that many do by splicing in the resin correction and applaud those that do this mod to this kit. I can see how the fuselage looks a little too wide just in front of the tail from the top view but from the side profile, it look's like a PBY to be so I'm happy with it "as is" out of the box. - I used a white metal aftermarket landing gear set and still had problems with the main gear on the right breaking several times after both epoxy and CA bonding as well as bending. I can't imagine building this kit with the kit supplied styrene landing gear. - The biggest assembly issue I had was getting the four wing struts to fully seat into the mating notches in the fuselage and underside of the wing. All four appeared to be too short by about 1/2 mm which I suspect was because the wing didn't "sag" due to the aluminum spar that I added (Anyone else happen to have this issue on this kit after adding wing reinforcement?). If I built this kit again, I would pre-bond the struts to the fuselage and remove the bumps on the wing ends of each strut and just bond the struts flat to the wing undersides and fill any exposed notches on the wing later. Conclusions: Next time I build a large aircraft like this, I think I"ll stick to 1/72 or smaller! This one was just too awkward for me to handle during painting and assembly, required a ton of paint and when completed is much too big to put anywhere in our house! I would also highly recommend Aviaeology.com for decals, I have never had such excellent reference materials supplied with a set of decals before (a beautifully illustrated color booklet pdf with amazing details and history on a multitude of aircraft cane be downloaded and printed after you receive the decals). Despite the kit size and structural challenges, this one was a lot of fun. Never get tired of PBY's! Hope you like it! Cheers, John
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Some 40 years ago a late friend of mine was regularly receiving the US Scale Modeler monthly. For the teenagers (from behind the iron curtain) we were those days these magazines were like the Holy Grail. Till today I remember the cover pictures of more than 200 issues I have read between 1966 and 1981 (when martial law in Poland cut off the supply of US-edited magazines). A few years ago my friend passed away and his widow simply thrown out all his books and magazines (happily the great model collection he made has been bought by the Polish Aviation Museum and thus saved) and today I'm unable to verify my memory condition... Looking into my notes from the 70s I have found that some PBY was featured in the July 1969 issue of Scale Modeler, but I'm not sure, whether this was THE one I need and whether they were other Catalinas featured in other Scale Modeler issues. So I'm looking for your help First - can anybody of you confirm that a PBY Catalina featured in July 1969 (Vol. 4 Issue 7) Scale Modeler is the camouflaged VP-22 (or VP-101) specimen that fought over NEI in January 1942 ? Second - can anybody of you outline me the contents of the SM issues that are missing in my notes? There are few of them: June 1976 (Vol.11 iss.6), November 1976 (Vol.11 iss.11), December 1976 (Vol.11 iss.12), May 1977 (Vol.12 iss.5), February 1978 (Vol.13 iss.2), March 1979 (Vol.14 iss.3) January 1981 (Vol.16 iss.1). Any help will be warmly appreciated. And the specimen itself looks worth of very ineteresting debate for many of us here. Cheers Michael
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