Jump to content

PBY-5 RAAF Catalina "Black Cat" 1/144


Recommended Posts

Hi bianfuxia,

 

Welcome to the GB! A black Cat is always welcome, in whichever scale it is :)

 

I'm looking forward to see your build starting. In the meanwhile, feel free to post pictures of the kit.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll post the pic of the kit soon. Not sure about the decals. I might be able to find something in my decal stash - the markings are pretty simple.

 

the bigger challenge is how to paint it. My grandfather rarely talked about any of this stuff but when he did, he always spoke of "Black Cats". I do know that the upper wings of RAAF Cats seemed to be done in a camouflage scheme including in the only photo we have of a plane when he (according to him) was at the controls. 

 

But in honour of his memory of the whole thing I think I will make the plane black all over. 

 

I hope to get started soon. Kid's first week of school, huge meetings next week, etc. Real life gets in the way, but it's quieter after that!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I've actually taken this out of the plastic bag and looked at it. 

 

That's the first step, right?

 

Life has been impossibly busy recently but I am hoping to get started this week. Pretty quick build a kit like this so I might even get it built before Christmas...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing like completing that first step to get the build started! :)

 

Don't punish yourself for not being able to start the kit sooner. We all know how life gets in the way of modelling. I also haven't touched my Dornier for three weeks now...

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I started it last night & hope to do a little more tonight. Basically just painted the interior green and looked around for some white plastic card to cover up the wheel bays. The one I am modelling was not an amphibian. Test fit of the fuselage reveals it should go together nicely so once started it should go pretty fast. My deadline is 21 December when I finally fly home for Christmas. Can't wait, it's been a really long year!

 

Pics with the next instalment.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've faced reality and this is never going to get done before I leave for Christmas. Got another 3 day business trip tomorrow and so much to do.


So I'm going to take it home with me and hopefully after the Christmas rush I can get some time to myself and finish it off.

 

I mean, it's a 1/144 Catalina in overall black! How hard can it be right? Hahah. But this time of year is just so busy for me and add a nearly-three year old to the mix and building any kind of model seems more daunting than setting up a factory and hiring all the staff to build a real one!

 

This approach has the advantage of meaning I can look up my granddad's old log books as I do the build though. That'll be cool.

 

Stay tuned. I do hope to finish this one. I managed two builds for the Cold War GB earlier in the year but have achieved not much else since. Nice to finish the year out with another completion (My strike rate pre-kid was 24/yr!)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope you can make it! Good luck!

 

I'm also trying to finish my entry in time. This year I only managed to finish one model.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hi @bianfuxia,

 

Any progress on this build? The GB deadline has been extended one week till 14 January 2018, 23:59 GMT. I hope this helps you finishing your build!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh I didn't know that. Cool. In that case I can probably get it done. I took it home at Christmas but my wife has been very ill & with all the other normal Christmas stuff, I did nothing except photograph a few pages of my grandfather's flying log.

 

My wife has stayed home in Australia while I've come back here for work so I started/continued the kit tonight. I think I can make it by the 14th. 

 

She's recovering well so I don't even feel guilty. After all it is nice and warm there and it is ten below here...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So this is where I am up to as of tonight. The little windows are installed and the interior is all green. I've attached the guns and completed the cockpit (going bare bones for this build so I can actually finish it). I put the main wheels in to fill up the space and I have filled the rest up with filler. Later when it's dry I will sand it back and see what I need to do to make it smooth. 

 

Next steps tomorrow will be to get the fuselage together and fix that up. 

 

20180110_213641_resized.jpg

 

20180110_223202_resized.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to know you're progressing in this build and it can be finished in time! Good job in display!

 

I hope your wife gets fully recovered soon.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Progress continued tonight. Just a first coat (brush painted Vallejo flat black) on the wing, and the fuselage is stuck together now. Youcan see where I need to do work on fairing over the wheel area. The cockpit and front turret didn't fit well at all, it's going to take some cleaning up.

 

Thought you might be interested in this:

 

20180107_090933_resized.jpg

 

Take a close look at the last mission entry for 31-10-1943.  

Just now, jrlx said:

Nice black wing!

Just a first coat. Needs one more tomorrow.

 

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

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...