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Catalina PBY-2


Magua87

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Hi, team. 

 

I was given a Catalina PBY-4 some time ago (Academy, 1/72), but I'd like to build it as a PBY-2. 

 

I'm looking for some images of the colour schemes of the PBY-2 in American service. I've found this great build on Hyperscale and I've been inspired. Can anyone recommend any books or websites or other media which I can use to learn more about these colour schemes? 

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Hi Magua,

 

Two notes on Catalina colors:

 

-  While most golden age Navy aircraft carried the yellow wing color around the leading edge of the wing after 1935, the Catalina was an exception.  The wraparound was ordered to avoid a tiny step at the color demarcation; that step was enough to disrupt the airflow over the wing.  But Catalinas had a panel seam line on the leading edge, so the paint was not a factor.  Catalinas with the wraparound were VERY rare.

 

- Navy orders had called for yellow atop the stabilizer, but this had fallen out of fashion by the time PBYs came into use.  Check your photos, but I don't think you'll see yellow atop any of the PBY stabs.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dana

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:26 PM, Magua87 said:

Hi, team. 

 

I was given a Catalina PBY-4 some time ago (Academy, 1/72), but I'd like to build it as a PBY-2. 

 

I'm looking for some images of the colour schemes of the PBY-2 in American service. I've found this great build on Hyperscale and I've been inspired. Can anyone recommend any books or websites or other media which I can use to learn more about these colour schemes? 

There are two Squadron-Signal Catalina monographs that have excellent b&w and color illustrations of PBY-2 and PBY-4 Catalinas. Both are In Action titles, No. 52 and 10232. There is also a Squadron-Signal Catalina Walkaround, no. 5; all can be had from auction  and bookseller sites at very reasonable prices. Sure wish Tailspin Turtle or Steve Ginter would crank out the definitive Catalina reference! Hope this will get you started. I have always liked the PBY-2's in their prewar stripes. chevrons, and silver laquer finish.

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
corrected spelling
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  • 2 months later...

Hi, team. Another Catalina question. 

 

I ordered some Printscale decals for a PBY-2 so I could build a colourful scheme. Whilst looking for images to support my build I've continued my descent into the rabbit hole. I'm confused as to the colours of the wings and where the demarcations are for the yellow between the engine nacelles. 

 

The aircraft in question is BuNo 0455 of VP-10, Pat-Wing 2 at Pearl Harbour, 1932. Below are the differing interpretations from three sources.

 

Printscale instructions. Silver aircraft, grey and yellow wing (top and bottom). Yellow paint leading edge between engines.

jM6hnpwh.jpg

 

Academy instructions. Silver aircraft, silver and yellow wing. Silver paint leading edge between engines.

z9i2lB8h.jpg

 

Squadron/Signal PBY in Action. Silver aircraft, silver wing (underside it seems), grey and yellow wing (top side). Gray paint leading edge between engines. 

AHPzwZfh.jpg

 

I am royally confused at the moment. I didn't read the Printscale sheet properly and I've painted my whole wing silver and am getting ready to paint the yellow (ignore the small area I haven't filled in between the tape on the second image).

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on the wing colours and the area between the engines (whether the silver or grey reached the leading edge?)

 

fnzb0Obl.jpg

UFDpg7yl.jpg

Edited by Magua87
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Morning, all. I've got some quick research to share. As above above, the aircraft in question is BuNo 0455 of VP-10, Pat-Wing 2 at Pearl Harbour, 1932. 

 

Our first problem with this statement is that the first PBY-2 wasn't completed until June of 1937 (Squadron, Signal - Catalina in Action). 0455 was the second PBY-2 and was received by the Navy in August 1937 (source). 

 

As far as I can see via the Squadron / Signal book, it looks like the yellow wing ends on the leading edge of the whole wing (as per @Dana Bell's comment above). The few images from above various aircraft  show the middle section of colour extending to the leading edge. 

 

Current thoughts are:

  • Yellow top of wing, with no wrap around.
  • Grey mid section of the wing extends to the leading edge.

What I need to find now is the colour of that grey area. Printscale quote FS 36400, but this seems very light compared to images of the aircraft from above. Unfortunately I haven't found any images of the VP-10 aircraft from above and certainly none in colour. The squadron's history is here via the US Navy, but it doesn't shed any light on the subject (P.428, VPB-23). 

 

The DK Decals colour call out for this area is "black" for NC777, the famous PBY-2 "Guba". The Squadron/Signal book notes that the colour on top is unknown for the first PBY-2 (0454) and there's no comment on 0455, except for that I've quote above with the image in my previous post. 

 

I might substitute black for Nato Black or Tyre Black for some scale effect and differentiation from the black chevrons on the wings. That is, unless I can unearth anything else before I commit paint to styrene. 

 

What did I say about going down the rabbit hole? 

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Im not sure if you’ve seen this site ?   

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/pby/

 

I pulled some photo’s from there

oTPPCbf.jpg

UNne8rp.jpg

They show a PBY-2 from VP-10 and possibly a 2nd where the grey goes to the leading edge between the Nacelles. I hope they help ?

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Im not sure if you’ve seen this site ?   

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/pby/

 

Dennis

 

Cheers, Dennis. That's a great find and a great help. 

 

Note how the colour of the mid-section doesn't quite reach the leading edge. I might need to get my yellow paint out again to add a touch more before I start laying down the black. The chevron might reach the leading edge? It's hard to see. 

 

That shot of 10-P-5 is interesting. That's the same patrol group as my aircraft (VP-10). That chevron on top of the wing may be white? It's certainly not black or black with white trim as noted for my aircraft of the same patrol group. It looks like the top half of the engine cowlings are painted in the same colour. Compare that to this shot of my aircraft from the Squadron/Signal publication (which references the Smithsonian for the image). The cowling is a darker colour. Probably the black referenced in most profiles. 

 

OnaDIZQh.jpg

 

I have definitively decided I will paint that area mid-wing as black. In many of the images on the site that Dennis provided, you can see the various wing lines (which we assume to be black) simple merge into that centre panel without obvious demarcation. I've bought a rattle can of Tamiya's Rubber Black (scale effect and all that). I'll mask that area and I think I'll paint all the lines on the aircraft too so they're the same colour. Wish me luck with my masking. 

 

Lastly, if you scroll to the very bottom of this IPMS Stockholm article you'll see the top wing of a Catalina in colour. This is supposedly a PBY-2 (but no reference is provided) and the centre section appears to be black.  

Edited by Magua87
I left out my IPMS link.
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On 10/01/2019 at 07:34, Magua87 said:

 

That shot of 10-P-5 is interesting. That's the same patrol group as my aircraft (VP-10). That chevron on top of the wing may be white? It's certainly not black or black with white trim as noted for my aircraft of the same patrol group. It looks like the top half of the engine cowlings are painted in the same colour. Compare that to this shot of my aircraft from the Squadron/Signal publication (which references the Smithsonian for the image). The cowling is a darker colour. Probably the black referenced in most profiles. 

I have definitively decided I will paint that area mid-wing as black. In many of the images on the site that Dennis provided, you can see the various wing lines (which we assume to be black) simple merge into that centre panel without obvious demarcation. I've bought a rattle can of Tamiya's Rubber Black (scale effect and all that). I'll mask that area and I think I'll paint all the lines on the aircraft too so they're the same colour. Wish me luck with my masking. 

 

  

That dark area in the middle of the wing is an 'anti-slip' area to stop ground crew slipping off the wing when refuelling the aircraft. It would be painted in grit-paint, which was probably a black paint with sand particles incorporated which

would give it a rough finish similar to very coarse sand paper. Same as aircraft wing walks which could either be painted with grit-paint or had a strip of sandpaper-like material bonded on.  It probably started off as near -matt black, but would have turned to a dark grey with fading and/or foot traffic over the area. Quoting a specific FS colour for that is nonsense.

 

The chevron on top of the wing indicates the section within the squadron and conformed to the standard US Navy practice for this. Section 1 (aircraft 1,2,3) was red. Section 4 (aircraft 10,11,12) was black. (All this is shown in any book on USN aircraft colours......) The cowl front indicated the aircraft within the section. Aircraft 10 within section 4 had complete black cowl front; aircraft 11 had upper half of cowl front black; aircraft 12 had lower half of cowl front black. Aircraft 10, as the section leader, also had black band around rear fuselage, unlike 10 and 11 which had none.

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