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Short Sunderland in 1/32nd scale


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Tom,

 

Wow 3. I'm getting through a simple 1:72 Stirling build, so the scale of this is simply mind-blowing, let alone the beautiful work within! Have enjoyed the guilty pleasure of this WIP the whole way through, and great to see you approaching the finish line!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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3 hours ago, woody37 said:

WOW, Tom, think this is close with the Halifax as my favourites of your big birds. What a beauty. Telford will be worth going this year just to see it, hope you get to take it there?

Thanks, Neil!

 

Yes - all being well both the Sunderland and me will be back at Telford this year. Will hopefully see you there!

 

2 hours ago, k5054nz said:

She's painted? Just like that! Man, I spend one day away from the boards and it's incredible what can happen. Congrats on a superb job Tom!

I don’t usually work at that pace to be fair, but with being at home isolating and getting over Covid I made the most of the free time. Every cloud…

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  • 4 weeks later...

 Good evening boys and girls :)

 

The painting process on the big Sunderland is now more or less complete - since the last pictures I've added the upper wing insignias and given the model a couple of coats of flat varnish to kill the high gloss Xtracolor paints provide - great for decaling but not so for a WWII-era flying boat!

 

After that, I made and added the radar aerials for the fuselage sides:

 

DSC_0084

 

DSC_0096

 

As well as the one above the flightdeck:

 

DSC_0098

 

The canopy has been unmasked and the good news is it survived the painting process unscathed:

 

DSC_0086

 

I have made the early-style exhausts from Evergreen tube, bent very carefully over the toaster! They were then sprayed with Humbrol burnt steel and added to the collector rings, which have also been painted according to references:

 

DSC_0080

 

DSC_0083

 

I've started the weathering of the upper surfaces by blowing some various greys back from the exhausts:

 

DSC_0088

 

DSC_0093

 

I've also sprayed on the distinctive water marks on the lower hull using various browns as seen on period photos:

 

DSC_0100

 

And here's where we're at now:

 

DSC_0090

 

DSC_0094

 

The to-do list is certainly getting shorter and I'm now entering the home straight, although there's still a lot to keep me occupied. Jobs still to do are:

- cabin glazing

- paint/weather/install wheels for the beaching gear

- rigging on the floats

- make/paint/install radar aerials on the lower outer wings

- make and install depth charge racks and depth charges

- make turret interiors

- paint and install turret transparencies

- landing lights on port wing leading edge

 

A good couple of month's work yet, but the end is getting nearer!

 

All the best,

Tom

 

 

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For the first time today I've visited this thread. No. I haven't read it in it's entirety but enough to realise I've been missing out on something wonderful. There was I thinking it was just another big scale larrikin showing off as I skimmed lists of new content but today for reasons unknown I ducked in & stayed for quite a time, enough to realise something very special has been going on. Tom, my apologies for not visiting this before, I'm certainly the loser here. This is genuine 5 star, top of the heap AWESOME mate. 👍 

Thanks for sharing it with a mere 72nd scale modeller. :) 

Steve

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Hi Tom, I saw this on Facebook and think it's an absolute cracker of a model. I know there's more yet to come but it's looking really, really good. I love seeing these big vacuum formed kits you like coming together - so much more interesting than Tamigawas.

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Looking lovely Tom! Partly inspired by your amazing build I've just received SH's 1:72 Mk.III. I shall be sure to refer to this amazing build for detail and finish. Wonderful work sir!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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Tom.. this is model making taken to a new level. Before plastic kits became widely available this is what people did I guess? It reminds me of the scale models apprentices would be charged to make in shipyards. Utterly fantastic. I wish I had the skills, vision and patience to do something on this scale myself! You must be quietly proud of your skills, and rightly so! 

Kind Regards,

Andy

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On 2/27/2022 at 8:06 PM, Spookytooth said:

Looks wonderful Tom, as you said on the final stretch.

 

Stay safe.

 

Simon.

Thanks, Simon - and yes the end is on the horizon. The trouble is, all the little details such as turrets etc. need to be scratch built and take as long as some kits. A good few weeks worth of modelling left yet!

 

On 2/28/2022 at 2:19 PM, Brandy said:

I just love this. Not my chosen scale but the attention to detail and the quality is outstanding.

 

See you in Telford!

 

Ian

Very kind, Ian - thank you. And yes, all being well I'll take it to Telford so do come and say hi.

 

On 2/28/2022 at 2:41 PM, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Dipped in to this a few times.. I am absolutely amazed. It's brilliant as a project.. I have an original colour print from a WW2 book I'd like to share showing the Sunderland in camouflage.. hope you like it! 

 

I must confess at one point I was seriously contemplating making a Mk.I in the dark earth/green scheme but then realised that if I did, the waist hatches would need to be opened up and that would require another couple of months of interior work! Doing a Mk.II with the dorsal turret seemed the easier choice.

 

9 hours ago, stevehnz said:

For the first time today I've visited this thread. No. I haven't read it in it's entirety but enough to realise I've been missing out on something wonderful. There was I thinking it was just another big scale larrikin showing off as I skimmed lists of new content but today for reasons unknown I ducked in & stayed for quite a time, enough to realise something very special has been going on. Tom, my apologies for not visiting this before, I'm certainly the loser here. This is genuine 5 star, top of the heap AWESOME mate. 👍 

Thanks for sharing it with a mere 72nd scale modeller. :) 

Steve

Great to have you stop by, Steve - your kind words are appreciated and do feel free to hang around! 

 

4 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Hi Tom, I saw this on Facebook and think it's an absolute cracker of a model. I know there's more yet to come but it's looking really, really good. I love seeing these big vacuum formed kits you like coming together - so much more interesting than Tamigawas.

Thank you, Jamie. Kits like this certainly aren't everyone's cup of tea but I do enjoy the challenge they bring. It is, however, important to have a shake and bake on the go at the same time, otherwise one tends to lose one's sanity!

 

4 hours ago, Dunny said:

Looking lovely Tom! Partly inspired by your amazing build I've just received SH's 1:72 Mk.III. I shall be sure to refer to this amazing build for detail and finish. Wonderful work sir!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Great stuff, Roger - it seems to be a nice kit. Don't look too closely at mine though as I've used a bit of poetic license here and there and the Mk.II and Mk.III were very different beasts!

 

4 hours ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Tom.. this is model making taken to a new level. Before plastic kits became widely available this is what people did I guess? It reminds me of the scale models apprentices would be charged to make in shipyards. Utterly fantastic. I wish I had the skills, vision and patience to do something on this scale myself! You must be quietly proud of your skills, and rightly so! 

Kind Regards,

Andy

It certainly is rather 'old school' but really doesn't require any more skills than the average modeller possesses - I can assure you that I am an average modeller! Once you get over the initial hurdle of having to cut out and make your own parts, kits like this are great fun. They do provide challenges from time to time, but for me it's more the thought process of overcoming these rather than the actual execution that's the tricky bit. 'Fail to plan; plan to fail' is the motto, and once you have the ideas formed the build itself is straightforward really. I must confess that building kits like these prepares you well for 'issues' with injection-moulded kits - which when compared to projects like this seem rather minor! It's all great fun :)

Edited by tomprobert
Typos
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Tom, that looks magnificent, I've been following this thread for some time and every visit is a joy. 

The exhaust markings on the wing are particularly impressive, the look as though a big motor has been working hard, with the exhaust departing at some speed! 

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This is, without doubt, the model of the year (decade, century?). One hopes that this model will eventually be displayed in a museum somewhere so that it can be enjoyed by thousands!

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