Martin SP-5B Marlin

[SeaPlane]

Good Evening Everyone

 

Well better late than never I suppose, so please forgive me for being fashionably late to the party.  Excuses include life, a long holiday in South Africa and the trials and tribulations of the F-RSIN 1/144 Latecoere 631 - which I would like to show here but HELP, can't get the Flickr URL link to work.  What precisely is the editting required to the BBC code to make this happen now?

 

If you'll accept the offer (and I can get pictures to work), my contribution will be the Martin (pre Marietta and Lockheed) SP-5B Marlin by Hasegawa in 1/72nd finished in either French or USN colours.  This will complete all 4 of Hasegawas big flying boats (the Mavis, Emily and PS-1 are loitering on the shelves) and add further to the space problem.  Sprue shots and Box Art will be provided asap.  Kit is a preowned e-Bay purchase with a window missing, so a little additional effort will be required; otherwise completely as provided by Hasegawa  construction.

 

Some great builds in progress here - hope this effort won't dilute the quality too much - and as always a pleasure to see the craftsmanship displayed.

 

Regards

Andrew

[SeaPlane]

Trying again with pictures.

 

Latecoere 631 by F-RSIN 

 

 

 

 

So that's the reason for my tardiness!

 

The build offering is; 

 

and sprue shots;

 

So having got this far, it seems pretty straightforward - famous last words- with a number of large scale sub assemblies that can go together for priming and painting prior to final assembly. 

 

With that optimism in play off we go

 

Regards

Andrew

 

 

 

 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Welcome to the GB Andrew, that is a very impressive list of Hasegawa shelf fillers.

 

Really looking forward to seeing the pictures when you show Flickr whos boss !

 

Cheers Pat 

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

I  have a later boxing of the same kit and some nice Caracal Decals for mine, will you be doing a kit scheme Andrew?

[AdrianMF]

Looking forward to this. The Latecoere looks fabulous too!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

[jrlx]

Hi Andrew!

 

Welcome to the GB! It's never too late to join! I'll be very interested to see how your build turns out!

 

Good luck

 

Jaime

[SeaPlane]

Hello Everyone

 

Well, what did I say about optimism and its misplacement?  There I was thoroughly enjoying the sub-assemblies, cracking on with wings, ailerons and tail planes and beaching gear etc and nacelles.  And there is the downfall, too quick, too careless, not enough attention - the nacelle halves were not identical!!  Lets call them inner-left, inner-right, outer-left, outer-right - and when you join inner-left with inner-right and then outer-left with outer-right you get nacelles with different profiles to which the engine mounts don't properly fit etc etc - and yes that is what I've done!!  Words of stupidity don't even cover it!!

 

So a build that was to continue the confidence of the Latecoere and restoring the desire to build these boats has fallen into an abyss of recrimination and disappointment.  I shall continue, button the whole thing up, making it look as presentable as possible and hope people don't look too closely at the overall engine profile, but its become rather more of a chore than a pleasure.

 

I was going to comment about the spareness of the cockpit and other details in the kit - indeed sparse is an exaggeration when it comes to the cockpit (no columns no IP no details at all, simply a floor, bulkhead and two chairs!) - but now I'm rather glad I didn't spruce it up a bit.

 

The colour scheme will be something like    although quite what the blue actually is I'm not sure.  I'll probably go with USN Marine Blue although that may be a little flat / matt and a white semi-gloss on top.  I don't think a gloss blue is quite right either.  Still judging by the variety of colours and schemes that can be found on the web for this aircraft, almost anything goes!

 

Sub assemblies look like this;

  and

 

There is a window missing from the model so a little work is required there.  The wings also seem to be missing the locator tabs for the wingtip float support struts so some careful placement will be necessary there too.

 

Perhaps I can find a way to display it where its imposing dimensions of 17inches long, 19.5 inches in span and approx 6 inches in height with beaching gear attached will deter people from looking too closely!

 

I warned you that I might dilute the build quality of this Group Build!!

 

May the modelling gods be with you

Andrew

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

9 hours ago, SeaPlane said:

  although quite what the blue actually is I'm not sure.  I'll probably go with USN Marine Blue although that may be a little flat / matt and a white semi-gloss on top. 

Could be Gloss Sea Blue could be Engine grey. Seaplanes and utility aircraft did sometimes get painted in that. 
 

https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Navy/Martin-P5M-Marlin/545365

 

its hard to tell with the service length on these. 
 

Dennis

[SeaPlane]

Afternoon Everyone

 

Apologies for the delays in posting - 'fraid I'm not really meeting the 'provide a build log' requirement.

 

The perils of purchasing 2nd hand have struck and not only am I missing a window but also the characteristic radome that marks the Marlin and indeed many Martin aircraft profiles.  So whilst my Marlin might fly some 5 - 10 mph faster with a few counts less drag, it won't be seeing very much!  (Without the radome, perhaps I could pass if off as a very early Marlin prototype or What-if?)

 

The build has become a bit of an exercise in futility really.  The blue aspect of the colour scheme has gone well (Tamiya USN Marine Blue rather than anything more sophisticated or glossy), the white much less so.  I can't count the number of apply sand remove replace sequences particularly over the nose and forward fuselage.  I suspect the age of the can, the weather (temperature at least) and my general incompetence.  So whilst the wings, tail and engines have gone together well and look good, the overall look and finish of the whole is poor.

 

I'll post some pictures shortly to show willing and it will be finished, but not necessarily a build that will sit on display at the front of the shelf.

 

Hope the modelling gods are treating you all a little better

 

Regards

Andrew

[Graham Boak]

Later, the aircraft were certainly Engine Gray - also known as Seaplane Gray, which is what I did mine in.  I don't know whether earlier they were in Marine Blue (whatever that is) or Sea Blue Gloss.

[PeterB]

If the missing window is too big for something like Krystal Kleer, I used 1mm clear plasticar on my recent Shackleton build and it worked pretty well. As to the radome, it looks like either shaping one from Milliput, or laminating a few layers of card and filing it down might work - tedious I know but usually worth it in the end. I know very little about post war US Seaplane colours but like Graham I too have heard of Seaplane Grey, but go with whatever you are happy with.

 

Cheers and good luck.

 

Pete

Edited November 25, 2019 by PeterB

[JOCKNEY]

Please keep going Andrew, it's often the trials encountered during the build that makes the completion all the more satisfying.

 

Have a look in the spares box for a spare turret, or possibly a larger scale drop tank end may provide a usable alternative to the lost radome.

 

 Cheers Pat

[SeaPlane]

Hi Everyone

Hope all are well and modelling brilliantly!

As promised some update photos of where we are.  Many thanks for the encouragement but scratch building the radome doesn't engage me at all - so a 'what if' / early prototype / speed machine it will be.

 

 

 

 

 

Some painting of the tail fin and plane to do to represent the anti-icing stuff and then some touch-up details - and then the final wing assembly and decals.  Should be fine for the GB finish date, but I fear not necessarily the quality I was seeking.

 

May the modelling gods go with you

Andrew

 

[jrlx]

Beautiful paint job!

[SeaPlane]

Hi everyone

Hope all are well

Just a few photos to detail the finishing and then a small gallery in the completed area.

Decals were generally compliant, a little touch up here and there but not too bad given the age and yes they have yellowed a bit on the larger ones.

 

 

 

 

 

And then when you put them all together it looks a bit like this

 

Not my most enjoyable, nor I sense my best, build. so again apologies for letting the side down, given the quality of workmanship displayed here.  More in the completed gallery

 

Everyone - have fun

Regards

Andrew

 

[Planebuilder62]

Err Andrew

Do you have any spare ‘stars and bars’?. Might be worth double checking the orientation against the artwork/instructions.
 

regards Toby

[SeaPlane]

Ah well Toby

That's just another thing to beat myself up over isn't it!!

Andrew

[PeterB]

Hi Andrew,

 

Not to worry, I have done exactly the same thing before and I guess most of us have. Also 20 years ago I built a batch of 3 Fujimi Bf110C/D and I must not have noticed the view showing the exhaust installation was from under the wing not over. As a result all the stacks that should be pointing up were pointing down and vice versa. Did not notice until I built another 110 recently and compared it to the old ones - the air turned blue! On a recent GB one of the modellers admitted he had got the large black  underwing serial numbers of a post war RAF plane the wrong way round with those on the left wing reading from the front and the right wing ones from the back when it should be the other way round. We all have brain fade at times. Sheets of Post War "Stars & Bars" are easy enough to get and if you can't get the right size give me a PM as I have several sheets.

 

It's a good looking plane and your paint scheme is great.

 

Pete

[pheonix]

That is a really well finished model - super colour scheme.It was also finished in a fraction of the time that I normally take to make a model so well done on that score. Some of those flying boats really were enormous - difficult sometimes to comprehend just how big they were/are.

 

P

[SeaPlane]

Morning Everyone

Thanks Pete and Phoenix for the support and encouragement.

 

Pete - thanks for the offer but no thanks, I'm done with this; the number of family friends visitors who would understand the error if the plane was ever on display enough to be visible would be precisely zero.  The thought of redoing those Stars and Bars is too awful to contemplate!

 

Phoenix - the sub-assemblies that the major pieces form make the build very simple (my errors not withstanding!) so rapidity is almost natural.  Size is a MAJOR problem - or rather the implication of size, ie STORAGE; really don't know where this one is going.  Perhaps with all the errors the bin?  Given that it is also competing with the Latecoere 631 highlighted at the beginning (1/144th scale and still large) for space only makes the issue worse!

 

Several lessons learnt from this build both personal, BM community-wise and technical; an interesting experience.

 

Great modelling everyone - take care

Andrew

 

[PeterB]

Hi Andrew

 

All my big kits - Victor, Vulcan, B36, B47, B52 are currently sitting on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom where nobody can see them, quietly gathering dust - storage is always a problem, though as mentioned in previous builds I had a perspex shelf over the stairs at one time, which was great. However I was "persuaded" to take it down a few years back when we decorated as SWMBO hated dusting it. I did offer to dust it myself, but lost the argument as usual.

 

Look forward to seeing you around in future GB.

 

Pete

[CliffB]

That's one impressive looking model Andrew - congratulations!

 

Cliff

[AdrianMF]

Very smart in blue and white. Looks great!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Andrew

I know this kit has been a bit of a battle, but it has turned out brilliantly, congratulations. 

Cheers Pat 

 

[SeaPlane]

Thanks Everyone - all kind words much apprecaited

 

A Very Happy New Year and Successful modelling to all

Andrew