Jump to content

SAAF Ventura


Recommended Posts

I'd like to join this GB with this kit.

 

20181127-172240.jpg

 

I intend to build a WWII SAAF Ventura with it. I have only done about 45 mins of research so far, but I think that I should be able build a SAAF Ventura from this kit, with relatively minor modifications.

I do believe it was used for maritime patrol, so should fit nicely into the criteria of this GB.

 

I'll post the mandatory sprue shots as well as some reference photos later.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/28/2018 at 12:38 AM, theplasticsurgeon said:

I've just completed this build of that kit. Take a peruse.

Thanks, that's a nice PV-1! Hope I can get to a similar result.

 

So I've unpacked the kit, and here are the sprues

 

20181129-190926.jpg

 

I was surprised at the size of the size of the kit. I know it's a big plane of medium bomber size, but alas I was surprised.

 

This is the reason why sprues need to be washed before hand. These plastics are particularly oily.

 

20181129-190730.jpg

 

Don't tell my wife that I've used this dish to clean the plastic...

 

Lukewarm water with a few drops of dishwasing liquid

 

20181129-191229.jpg

 

I then left the plastic to fully dry after rinsing it off with clean cold water, and patting it dry gently with some paper towels.

 

This is the decals that comes with the kit. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. Maybe a bit thick but looking really nice!

Almost a pity that I wont be using it.

 

20181129-193029.jpg

 

These are the two decal options I have for a SAAF Ventura.

First is a WWII scheme. 

Don't know about the size of those top of wing decals 🤔

 

20181129-193115.jpg

 

And second is a post WWII set.

 

20181129-193240.jpg

 

Lovely scheme but think I'll be doing the WWII option.

 

And this is the instructions. Doesn't look too bad, but all of it condensed in 3 pages, maybe I'll have to figure a few things out for myself.

 

20181129-193436.jpg

 

Next up....

 

Subject photos! Till then.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

 

 

 

 

Edited by JimmyZ
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time for some reference photos!

 

This is the general reference I'm using for this A/C.

 

20181202-153537.jpg

 

And this is the subject I'll be building

 

623b0321.jpg

 

And here's some photographs of a WWII SAAF Ventura from a SAAF Museum.

 

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/military/lockheed_pv1_ventura_6447_01_dvdb.JPG

http://www.sa-transport.co.za/aircraft/military/lockheed_pv1_ventura_6447_03_dvdb.JPG

http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/Blogvorm/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Lockheed-PV-1-Ventura-GR.5-6647-V-South-African-Air-Force.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's all wrong!

 

Okay let's take a step back. I've started cutting out the cockpit parts, and did a dry fit when I thought to check it's accuracy against some reference photos.

 

It's all wrong!

 

20181201-161626-0.jpg

 

The seats are the wrong shape and placed incorrectly, the control sticks are wrong, the control wheels are wrong and the rear bulkhead is wrong.

 

*sigh* what did I get myself into?! I didn't plan to spend much time adding detail to the cockpit, but before I realised I was fixing the errors.

 

First up, the bulkhead is solid and separates the cockpit from the rear of the plane, which is wrong. See below reference photo.

 

13SqninternalviewVentura.jpg

 

 

Luckily is was easy to cut out the opening.

 

20181201-163312.jpg

 

20181201-163340.jpg

 

However the entryway isn't exactly in the centre of the bulkhead, so I had to add in a section on one side.

 

20181201-170138.jpg

 

20181201-170534.jpg

 

And a bit of surface primer added to make the seam smooth

 

20181201-170811.jpg

 

Next up, the placement of the control columns. As the control stick doesn't attach the wheel from centre below, but from the outboard sides, I had to fill the fitting holes.

 

20181202-141425.jpg

 

20181202-141502.jpg

 

These photos show what the the control wheel and stick should look like.

 

PV1-cockpit.jpg

 

Cockpit6.jpg

 

 

So onwards to cutting up the control wheel

 

20181202-141633.jpg

 

20181202-141931.jpg

 

Before and after. Improvement? I don't know 🤔 Guess it is what it is.

 

20181202-143630.jpg

 

 

Added some surface primer, looks a bit better

 

20181202-144028.jpg

 

So then the seats.

 

This is what they look like.

 

20181202-144645.jpg

 

This is what they should look like

 

Work-progresses-on-the-internal-fitout-o

 

So onto fixing it!

 

Before and after

 

20181204-161855.jpg

 

As for the copilot seat (SAAF PV-1 Ventura's had dual seats and controls), it would be more like this

 

true-details-td48500-lockheed-pv-1-ventu

So onto fixing it!

 

20181204-171133.jpg

 

20181204-175153.jpg

 

20181204-180140.jpg

 

Here's both seats. Guess I'm happy with it sort of looking more accurate than OOB.

 

I feel like I could have closed the canopy already if I just built the kit as is!

 

Ah well....

 

Cheers

Jimmy

 

Edited by JimmyZ
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking really good so far Jimmy. I`ve built a number of Ventura`s including a couple of SAAF ones here on BM if you want to have a look at them,

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/search/&q=ventura &author=tonyot&search_and_or=or

 

Could I remind you that the entrance door moulded onto the right side of the fuselage needs to be filled in as the door was only on the left,...... also, the bulkhead behind the pilot was just that,.......a section behind the pilot,...... there was no arched door way!

If it helps here is a cockpit that I converted in 1/48th scale;

M6b

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/10/2018 at 12:08 PM, tonyot said:

Looking really good so far Jimmy. I`ve built a number of Ventura`s including a couple of SAAF ones here on BM if you want to have a look at them,

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/search/&q=ventura &author=tonyot&search_and_or=or

 

Could I remind you that the entrance door moulded onto the right side of the fuselage needs to be filled in as the door was only on the left,...... also, the bulkhead behind the pilot was just that,.......a section behind the pilot,...... there was no arched door way!

If it helps here is a cockpit that I converted in 1/48th scale;

 

Thanks for the info Tony! I appreciate it. I wasn't aware of the port door, so I'll make sure to correct that.

 

Remember, SAAF Ventura's all had duel controls, so would the above then still be true regarding the bulkhead behind the pilot?

 

Cheers

Jimmy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JimmyZ said:

 

Thanks for the info Tony! I appreciate it. I wasn't aware of the port door, so I'll make sure to correct that.

 

Remember, SAAF Ventura's all had duel controls, so would the above then still be true regarding the bulkhead behind the pilot?

 

Cheers

Jimmy

Hiya Jimmy,.... no worries mate As for the bulkhead,...... it doesn`t matter whether they were dual or single pilot fitted,...... the dual conversion was a US Navy kit which provided a new floor section, seat and controls,..... but the bulkhead remained the same,..... it was made into the kit style on the Harpoon. Here is the US Navy conversion kit;

venturaref154

 

Here is the bulkhead diagram;

ventura bulkheads

 

The cockpit bulkhead diagram;

PV-1 Bulkhead behind pilot

 

And the cockpit, seen from behind the Wireless compartment,..... which does have a doorway;

Wingspar bulkhead

 

And here is the Wireless Ops position if you are interested;

0049Ventura radio position

 

Cheers

         Tony

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

Even though I haven't posted in a while, I did some work for the interior.

 

I had to make "legs" for the co-pilot's chair, which I cut out of plastic card.

 

20181208-095301.jpg

 

20181208-102705.jpg

 

Then I closed the original placing rectangular holes for the seats.

 

20181208-100345.jpg

 

20181208-100501-0.jpg

 

And placed a few blobs of surface primer on top to sand smooth when dry

 

20181208-102932.jpg

 

I then sprayed the floor and bulkhead, but luckily Tony saved me (thanks Tony!) from making a mistake, as the bulkhead was only the "half" behind the pilot.

 

20181216-165735.jpg

 

That meant I had to break it off and cut it to size

 

20181216-165837.jpg

 

20181216-165959.jpg

 

I felt that the bulkhead was a little narrow compared to reference photos, so I added a plastic strip. Still needs to be sanded flush.

 

20181216-170759.jpg

 

I also added some scratch built pedals. I decided to make it easy on myself and place it on the floor, even though it's not supposed to, but I am okay with it.

 

20181216-174605.jpg

 

I've drilled new holes for the control sticks, since they needed to move away from the centre of each seat.

 

20181216-175534.jpg

 

Hopefully I'll have more soon!

 

Cheers

Jimmy

Edited by JimmyZ
added more info
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm making some progress, albeit slow.

These photos were taken over the past couple of days. I'm currently getting ready to close up the fuselage, but before that, here's some pictures leading up to it.

 

Spraying the inside of the fuselage.

 

20181225-071019-0.jpg

 

Dry-fit of the cockpit section 

 

20181225-072118.jpg

 

Another dry-fit showing the rear section I've added behind the cockpit which I scratch-built

 

20181226-120128.jpg

 

And the completed cockpit floor and section behind

 

20190102-114325.jpg

 

20190102-114332.jpg

 

20190102-114344.jpg

 

I've also started doing other preparations for closing the fuselage.

 

Painting the outside areas where the windows will go in. Since the windows need to go in before I close up the fuselage, I've painted those sections on the outside while the windows were not yet glued in, since painting those areas will be harder with the windows in-place.

 

20190102-114835.jpg

 

I've also filled the panel lines for the starboard door, as there was none on this aircraft.

 

20181230-123635.jpg

 

I should soon take the final photos of the interior and then close up.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

Edited by JimmyZ
more info
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good Jimmy, nice work there. I am enjoying the modifications you are making and taking notes! :D

 

I have a Ventura to build as a RAAF MTO operated aircraft one day, though my kit has no instructions. So I will have to hunt some down when the time comes.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've spent quite a bit of time on the Ventura this weekend.

 

Firstly I needed to get the fuselage closed-up, since I was spending too much time on the cockpit and interior. Well arguably one cannot spend too much time on it since these scratchbuilding really improves on the OOB, but relative to the quality that is possibly achievable with this kit that has questionably accuracy to begin with, one is to reach diminishing returns on hours spent adding detail to the interior while the bigger outer bits (fuselage, wings etc.) which is actually visible remains of questionable accuracy (shape etc.), but I digress.

 

Below are the final photos of the interior before I closed it up. As stated above, I decided not to add detail aft of the section behind the cockpit.

 

20190104-081925.jpg

 

20190104-081952.jpg

 

20190104-081957.jpg

 

20190104-082018.jpg

 

And glued up. Do not worry, I've modified the turret to glue it on later. Can't be adding turrets at this stage as it's guaranteed to break off in handling. 

 

20190104-144606.jpg

 

The fit of the halves aren't great, to put it mildly. One day later I've removed the tape that kept the halves in place while the glue was drying.

 

20190104-181503.jpg

 

20190104-181453.jpg

 

This photo doesn't show it well, but there is a huge step at the rear of the bomb bay and the fuselage which is supposed be be flush.

 

20190104-181523.jpg

 

Another example of poor fit. I thought I'd check to see how the windshield fits....it doesn't.

 

20190105-102753.jpg

 

Just a preview of the work that awaits me.

 

20190105-102936.jpg

 

After sanding the bottom of the fuselage, which had green overspray from the interior on it, shows the uneven-ness. Not only at the seams, as the photo illustrates.

 

20190105-104741.jpg

 

To address the step behind the bomb bay, I've added thin plastic strip. Also visible in this photo is me marking in blue areas which needs filler.

 

20190105-110026.jpg

 

After the glue dried and after sanding the strip that I've added, it already looks better, but we're not there yet.

 

20190106-084237.jpg

 

I needed to add another thin plastic strip to get it closer to flush (will require thorough sanding)

 

20190106-132834.jpg

 

I also worked on closing the wing halves, which meant I needed to paint and insert the engines. I sprayed it with a few layers of black to start it off.

 

20190104-123805.jpg

 

Then I dry-brushed silver onto the cylinders, as well as painted the centre part (reduction gear?).

 

20190104-130430.jpg

 

And the result.

 

20190104-144627.jpg

 

The first wing half glued. I've already started applying filler here, but another example of poor fit at the area joining the wing root and engine nacelle.

 

20190106-090204.jpg

 

To fix it I've again added thin plastic strip.

 

20190106-090449.jpg

 

then applied more surface primer

 

20190106-161648.jpg

 

then sanded it smooth. Already looking better. A few rounds of applying surface primer, waiting for it to dry, sanding smooth and it should look great.

 

20190106-162105.jpg

 

Somewhere in-between all this I've also glued the nose halves together. This photo shows the window surrounding areas pre-painted before I glued the window. It was (mostly) in vain, since I needed to apply surface primer to smooth the seams, which means I'll need to sand and paint in close vicinity to the window in any way.

 

20190104-144702.jpg

 

That's all for now.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by JimmyZ
spelling and typing errors
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're making great progress, and I really admire your attention (and devotion!) to detail.

 

I also find myself getting sucked into trying to be accurate when I think that I won't.


Regards,

David 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a few more photos of progress made.

 

I took a bit of a risk, and attempted to give the wheels that slightly low pressure look. Maybe I overdid it a bit, but it should look okay in the end.

I basically used a lighter, held about 8cm below the wheel (which was held with pliers to reduce risk of burning myself), and held it there for about 10 or so seconds to start melting the plastic. Then press is down lightly on a flat surface to bulge the tire to look like there is weight on it. I've done it before with great results, but I tend not to do it, since if I screw it up, I'll need new wheels!

 

20190108-175021.jpg

 

I also have a photo of the results of the area I had to build up aft of the bomb bay doors. Looks alright now, only minor smoothing out left to be done.

 

20190112-085049.jpg

 

I knew the SAAF Ventura inlets were a bot different. I don't know if it was done as a field modification or what, but there's plenty evidence showing the different inlets (see below) so I just started with the modification.

 

2.jpg

 

SAAF-6447.jpg

 

I had a good look at the kit inlet's and decided I needed to cut off the front section, make it a bit thinner, then build up the remainder of the inlet and shape it a bit rounder at the top.

 

This is what it looks like OOB

 

20190109-090800.jpg

 

I then proceeded to remove the front part with a saw

 

20190109-093141.jpg

 

And done.

 

20190109-093251.jpg

 

Cleaned up a bit here

 

20190109-093738.jpg

 

Then added a strip of plastic on the top

 

20190109-120826.jpg

 

Applied some surface primer

 

20190110-155755.jpg

 

Then waited for it to dry. The next day I sanded it, and I like the result.

 

20190110-161011.jpg

 

Next I just need to smooth out the upper part of the cowling, and re-add the inlet front. I post some updates soon.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

 

 

 

Edited by JimmyZ
added more info
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

It's been a month! I'm starting to worry about not finishing by the end date.

 

Although I didn't post, I did work on this a bit.

 

I built up the section behind where the windshield comes on. Not pretty but I can smooth it out a bit.

 

20190126-094102.jpg

 

Now the windshield fits a lot better

 

20190126-094512.jpg

 

After smoothing it out it looks ok.

 

20190127-084615.jpg

 

Then I went back to the engine intakes. This after cleaning it up a bit

 

20190127-090801.jpg

 

Glueing back the cut off front of the intake 

 

20190127-090913.jpg

 

Then I added a piece of plastic that will help adding a lot of surface primer easier

 

20190129-170627.jpg

 

And after sanding it smooth, the result looks pretty ok to my eyes

 

20190217-071404.jpg

 

Cheers

Jimmy

 

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've been spending some time on this build in between studying for an exam. Since I work in IT, I guess I will never really be done with studying 😑

 

My aim was to finish the gear bay this week, and I did.

 

Here can be seen the OOB gear bay (I've also started applying coats of white to the wing underside).

 

20190217-082901.jpg

 

I've used these photos I took of a PV-1 at the Swartkop SAAF Museum for reference.

 

 

IMG-7999.jpg

 

IMG_8000.jpg

 

 

There's a section effectively splitting the bay in two (I'm guessing it's the main wing spar), which I tried to replicate

 

 


 

 

20190217-084211.jpg

 

Then I started adding thin strips of plastic

 

20190224-080812.jpg

 

Then painted it

 

20190303-105726.jpg

 

I could have done a lot more in here, but I decided it's enough, I'd rather move on and see if I can finish build in time.

 

The OOB exhaust pipes didn't look great at all...

 

20190224-081329.jpg

 

so I drilled it open. Before and after

 

20190224-082532.jpg

 

Lastly I've glued on the nose. 

 

20190304_170522.jpg

 

I'm currently trying to fill up the seam a bit. Hope to have more to show soon.

 

Cheers

Jimmy

Edited by JimmyZ
Wrong photo link corrected
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all.

 

Unfortunately I'm not going to make the deadline for this GB. I will however continue the build and post updates here.

 

Thanks for everyone's support.

 

Cheers 

Jimmy

  • Like 2
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...