(Octopus/Pavla 1.72nd scale) U.S. Army Air Force OA-12A Duck, , 10th Rescue Squadron Alaska Air Command, Ladd AFB, Fairbanks Alaska, 1947

[John Masters]

It's nice to be back home.  I am looking for ward to finishing the Po-2 and starting in on this one.   Although it is the J2F-5 Duck, the Army Air Force referred to it as OA-12A.

 

 

This'll be fun.  I have very few US aircraft so this will be a welcome addition.  There are several different looks to choose from (1 Argentine, and 4 US) and I have chosen the Rescue version with it's striking aluminum and red fuselage and wings.  The kit looks good.

 

 

The sprue is basic, early Czech moulds, good plastic, no flash---and augmented with a very nice vac-form canopy and an extensive resin bag.  

 

 

The decals look very clean and in perfect register.

 

 

Happy Modelling all!

--John

 

 

 

[Dazey]

Hi John,

 

I've noticed this kit online and was very tempted by it. I'm looking forward to seeing how your build progresses.

 

So what's the relationship between Octopus and Pavla? Your kit looks miles more polished than my Pavla kit, and it  comes with a load of resin parts. Jealous!

 

Regards,

David

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Always liked the 🦆 so I think i will follow.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[John Masters]

6 hours ago, Dazey said:

what's the relationship

Thank you David. I am not sure, but on the Pavla website, the Duck they list is the Octopus kit.  

 

http://www.pavlamodels.cz/katalogy/katalog.php?katalog=aircraft&c=al&typ=nahled

 

...and thanks Dennis.

 

 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I have always liked the look of the Duck, it always reminds me of the Murphy's War film.

 

I have had the Airfix kit a couple of times in the stash but never built it.

 

You have chosen a striking scheme for your kit John.

[John Masters]

5 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said:

the Murphy's War film

Thanks Ray.  That would be a good one for the other GB...There are some good pictures online and some excellent modelled versions.  I have the Airfix Duck...I might try it...😁

[John Masters]

With the Po-2 finished (pictures tomorrow), I cleaned off the bench and got down to work on the Duck.  First, I removed the larger pieces from their sprue and cleaned them up.  They required a fair amount of work.  Like many short-run kits (this one's from 2005) the moulds are nice, the plastic firm if a little thick and the flash all seems to be somewhat beaded around the edges.  Sanding, a little sculpting...I will be using some filler and possibly some shimming was well for the fuselage halves, I think.

 

Yet they cleaned up quite well.  I purposely removed the running lights on the upper wingtips.  It was easier to do that than sand/sculpt around them.  I have some nice clear sprue in the spares box so I will add them back.  I'll drill out and clean up the handholds later.

 

 

The resin pieces are very nice, with a full assortment of interior parts and this very lovely Wright R-1820-54 motor...It has been primed, as have the other resin pieces.

 

 

The cockpit components--seats and fuel tank, sidewalls, floor, control panel, etc...there is a lot more resin (engine cowlings, cleats, radio ellipse, etc...), but not for tonight.

 

 

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

[Grandboof]

This will be one to watch 

Martin H

[John Masters]

Thanks Martin.  I have read a blog by another modeller who had built this same kit as his second biplane ever.  He had a lot of warnings about the fuselage/cockpit fit that don't seem to apply to my model.  So that's good news.

 

 

[JWM]

From what I can notice the plstic of Pavla/Octopus Duck mix up J2F5 and J2F6 features.

Here in this photo:

In my opinion the first from left is J2F5, second and third are J2F6. The chord of cowling and the presence or not of exhausts behind cowling are the main difference. In J2F5 no such exhaust, but in Pavla they seem to be. Next is air inlet on cowling (J2F5 only) and a profile of fuselage behind cowling (in J2F5 is flat, in J2F6 rises toward cowling). There is a difference in fairing of wheels, and I think Pavla has that of J2F5, therfore I think it looks like a mix of variants.

Cheers

J-W

 

 

[John Masters]

8 hours ago, John D.C. Masters said:

He had a lot of warnings about the fuselage/cockpit fit that don't seem to apply to my model.  So that's good news.

Famous last words...

 

The initial test fitting seemed alright, but once I assembled the cockpit it was obvious that some surgery needed to be performed.  Not to fear--I will persevere!  In fact, I think many of the issues I will now face with this kit are similar to those I will face when I go back to the P-38 I started a couple of weeks ago and had abandoned.  I have discovered that along with some thinning of the fuselage walls and narrowing of the cockpit floor is the logical rationalization of "How much of this will be seen once I button it up anyway?"  That latter aspect is a fine tool and one, unlike my Dremel, need never be recharged.

 

 

With all of this now in place, a better test fit has proven successful!  The fuselage closes well, top to bottom, fore and aft.  I will have to use a little tape, some squeezing and clamps, but it'll work.  Not much of this will be visible anyway.  😉  See how easy it is to say that?

 

 

The observation windows were an issue.  I felt the vacuum-formed plastic supplied was too thick and when inserted looked odd.  I have replaced it with some thinner clear plastic scrap glued on the inside.  I will add the frame later with Evergreen.

 

 

 

--John

[John Masters]

The arduous task of bringing the 2 halves together is over.  Some serious grinding of the inner parts was required.  Also to be required will be some putty...enter Mr. Milliput!  Later...One small tragedy...the very small resin vent that was supposed to slip into the fuselage above the central pontoon , well, it slipped into the fuselage and is gone.  I have had to fill in the gap with some Evergreen.  Oh well...In the end it will look good, I promise.

 

 

A test fitting of the rudder proved that some work needed to be done for a better fit.  Grind, sand, trim...sand some more.

 

 

The motor needed some better mounting than what was supplied.  A hole through the center, a hole through the motor and bit of bass rod.

 

 

It will be like this...

 

 

The cowling goes around the motor...

 

 

And the whole thing goes like this...just a dry fit at this point.

 

 

The blades on the prop boss.  I'll wager the pitch won't be correct.  I can look beyond that.  It was a real pain in the butt to even get it together.  A touch of putty will fill in any small gaps.

 

 

 

That's it for now.  Tomorrow I am off work until 3-ish so I hope to get the bottom wings on (guessing at a dihedral) and working with the interplane struts/wing connections.  I am thinking little holes and bits of brass wire for security.  😉  I'll also mix up some Milliput  and fill in those gaps all over the place!

 

--John

 

 

 

 

 

[John Masters]

I would call this kit a dog, but it is merely dog-like.  There are moments of real struggle with this for me, mostly having to do with settling with the concept of just getting it together.  I do not like the vacu-form canopy, but there it is, glued in place and puttied around the edges.  To attach the stabilizers, one has to file down the butt-ends of the wings at a 45° angle so they fit properly.  Even then I was left with a sizeable gap to be filled.  So I did that.  The nicely molded cabane struts are attached to the underside of the wing (I have seen this on another Pavla Duck build so I did it too) and I have a feeling it will be a pain to get them onto the fuselage.  I have yet too take care of the lower wings.  The outrigger floats are assembled with their struts and, believe it or not, they almost fit perfectly into the supplied holes underneath the lower wing.  

The cowling/motor component is on and secure.  The prop is done.  I think once I get the lower wings glued on and secure I will be ready to mask the canopy and prime it.

 

Why can't they all be like an Eduard kit?  There is always a moment during a build (at least for me) when it all looks a bit of a mess.  This is that moment.

 

 

 

 

--John

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Keep battling John, your persistence will pay off in the end.

[John Masters]

Thanks Ray.  I was thinking this morning as I was making coffee, "Never again...I will chose models that go together without  a lot of fuss..."

 

In the end, I am a lazy modeller.  I want the parts to fit together properly; I want the instructions to be clear and concise; I want the decals to be in register.  

When it stops being fun, then I move on.  Thankfully, this kit is almost ready for the paint shop, so I am still enjoying it.  

[John Masters]

Some wings are are on and the landing gear is in there and secure.  That was interesting.  There is actually no place to securely attach the inner end of the landing gear to the resin piece inside the pontoon.  Plastic to resin as well, which was fiddly.  Finally, I attached the 'V' struts on the lower section of the gear, attached the axle to those and swung the top piece into position and secured it with liberal amounts of CA.  That seemed to work.  The wings were easy and I used the Eyeball 2018 tool to gauge the correct dihedral.  In the photo below it seems as of the stabilizers are drooping...this is an illusion.  I have checked.  They are 90° to the rudder.

 

 

 

 

 

The hole in the middle is where I will attempt to create a vent. As stated before, the original resin piece is now bouncing around forever inside the fuselage, taunting me it seems, for my lack of skill.  

 

--John

[Dazey]

It looks great, and you are going at a good pace. I haven't even taken any piece of the sprues in my GB! Are you planning on doing a couple of models for this GB??

 

Regards,

David 

[John Masters]

Thank you David.  You know, I am a glutton for these GeeBees.  I find I always bite off more than I can chew and this GB is no exception.  However, I am suddenly attracted to the Grumman GB as well, so I might go over there for a build after this one.  I have a very special Chilean Cessna Skymaster lined up next for this GB for sure...and then before you know it, it'll be 1950s NATO/WarPac...so I think I will jump around from GB to GB.  It keeps it interesting.  I also have a few more Spitfires to build and a new fascination with the Bf-109.  Of course, this all happens when I am in the midst of very earnest real world work.  

 

Onwards with the Duck...My heart always lifts when the priming evens things out.

 

Ready for the priming booth...

 

 

And done...wings, prop, floats, fuselage.

 

 

--John

[John Masters]

It's good to have some real world work to offset the mania that can become my modelling bench.  Plus, the medium format portraiture my students are creating is excellent, which is always a good thing.  So...

 

Some masking...

 

 

And some red!  I tell you, I had a damn tough time with the airbrush.  Spitting, spotting...ugh...so I took the whole thing apart and re-cleaned it, including the handle, spring assemble.  There was a lot of gunk inside the handle part.  Greyish bletch.  Then it worked fine.  I have also painted the anti-glare area.  I'll let all of this dry overnight and re-mask tomorrow for the aluminum.  I learned my lesson with the Sabre to not spray the regular paint over the NMF.  Thinking now about holes, drilling and rigging...

 

 

--John

Edited December 14, 2018 by John D.C. Masters

[John Masters]

I apologize for not showing the re-masked build, but I promise that's what I did!  I used rattle can Humbrol Aluminum for the rest of the build and have highlighted some panels with Vallejo Air Aluminum (hairy brush).  

 

I am not happy with the cabane struts and am thinking of removing them and replacing them with Contrail.  One has already broken and I have found that the resin they have used doesn't work well in conjunction with the plastic.  If I do so, I will leave the very nice sculpted air-foil like connections to the upper wing.  I think I'll attach the 'N' interplane struts and then scratch the cabanes.

 

 

 Now it is time to drill some holes for the rigging.  Not much rigging here, so it is important to have it.

 

--John

[John Masters]

I wasn't happy with the supplied exhausts so I took some tube, slipped some brass wire inside so I could bend it without breaking it, and poured hot water over it.  At this point it is painted gunmetal.  I'll add some black/brass/rust colour later and trim to the size I want.  Obviously more here than I need.  

 

 

All pre-rigged and ready to attach the top wing once the interplane struts are painted and dry...That is TechnoFish Platinum, No. 14, 3.1kg monofilament tinted with black permanent marker.  Note that I have removed the cabane struts but left their mountings in place.

 

 

And the struts are painted and drying...

 

 

All of this I did yesterday afternoon.  Last night I attached the top wing, added the cabane struts, rigged the model, attached the outer floats, the exhaust pipes, the radar 'tear', etc...I'll get some pictures of all of this today and start in on the decals.  Almost finished!

 

--John

[John Masters]

This build is far from perfect but very close to being finished...

 

Wing on, rigging done.  At least that looks good.  Next up, decals...old decals at that, so I anticipate cracking and dissolution...

 

 

 

 

 

--John

 

[John Masters]

All done!  I'll write a bit about it in the gallery...

 

 

--John

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Great little 🦆. 👍’s up from me as well on your chosen scheme. Not a common subject or choice of modelers. 

 

Dennis

[John Masters]

Thanks Dennis.  I think there are a couple over on the Grumman GB.