Republic Seabee - 1/72nd Mach 2 injected plastic kit

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

13 hours ago, Wlad said:

I think you meant they rotated anti-clockwise when viewed from behind,

You are absolutely right, I stand corrected.

 

13 hours ago, Wlad said:

There is a catch in doing that though: the wash-out towards the tips becomes a wash-in

I know. I sanded, -as far as the thickness of the blade would allow it- the tips to minimize that.

 

13 hours ago, Wlad said:

At any rate, it's an improvement over what the kit provided.

You bet it is.

[Courageous]

Those landing legs look fiddly. Nice work on prop.

16 hours ago, Moa said:

just one old Dujin

Leave Dujin out of it, I have another four sitting here...just hope they're better than my current build, daren't open the boxes.

 

Stuart

[dnl42]

Wow. I'm dumbfounded that this is "reputedly one of Mach 2's better kits". 

 

As others noted, I'm sure you will turn this fine pile of Bandini* into a stunning rendition of this aircraft.

 

 

*For those outside Los Angeles, Bandini is a local brand of fertilizer.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, Courageous said:

just hope they're better than my current build, daren't open the boxes.

 

Stuart

Oh, Stuart, it definitely gets better with time: the more of those four you build, the less you have still to build.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, dnl42 said:

Wow. I'm dumbfounded that this is "reputedly one of Mach 2's better kits". 

 

I have seen first hand a few of their kits.

This is, no doubt, the best of them, but of course they have produced a large number of kits, so I can't really tell.

It's not that bad, again, canopy and prop being the parts you definitely have to work on.

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

17 hours ago, John Thompson said:

Excellent build, and excellent photos, too! I recall the Seabee from my childhood in the lakelands of Central Ontario - a cottager used to fly in from the city in one of these. It inspired me to buy the Lindberg kit, decades ago!

 

+1 on your printer comments, too - a couple of years ago I was fool enough to accept the advice of a clerk at a well-known electronics chain - "Get a Brother - all they make is printers, so they must be good!". Yeah, right - whatever happened to just clicking on "Print" when you want to print something, and then having your printer actually print the blasted thing?! Sorry - I'm getting a bit OT. And OG...

 

John

Nice memories, John, must have been a pretty sight.

About ranting and calling out the scammers and those with bad business practices or products, it's never enough, so be my guest, and rant away. I do!

Cheers

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Temporary hiatus since I managed to nick my fingers in both hands:

[72modeler]

Moa,

 

Just discovered your WIP- you, sir, are a brave soul and/or a masochist! Thinking back to all the Mach 2 kits I have seen, it would be easier, faster, and more accurate to get a big bar of soap and carve away everything that didn't look like a Seabee! The old 1/48 Lindberg kit is much better, but not your scale and probably goes for a king's ransom nowadays.  I have no doubt you will triumph over this lump of gawdawful styrene and present us with another of your wonderful RFI's...wish you would hurry up and finish it so Special Hobby can release the new-tool 1/72 Seabee they have had on their future release list for a couple of years now!  (God forbid if it is a Mach 2 knock-off!) 😜

Mike

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

7 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Just discovered your WIP- you, sir, are a brave soul and/or a masochist!

My dear Commendatore:

I am neither. I am a humble Shaolin Modeling Monk, doing a labor of love with rescue kits.

They look at you with those droopy wings and say "build me". Who could resist.

11 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

wish you would hurry up and finish it so Special Hobby can release the new-tool 1/72 Seabee they have had on their future release list for a couple of years now! 

Mike, we all know how this works.

And if the Lee-Richards annular wing (that I scratched ages ago) is being now released as a kit, the chances for a nice Seabee are exceptionally good.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Little activity due to the bandaids.

The control wheel in the kit can't be seen in any of the photos I have, so replacement parts are made.
The kit's attempt at an instrument panel is substituted by a piece of styrene, later to be detailed. Rudder pedals, absent in the kit are also made:

 

I am dabbling at making a simplified resemblance of the Franklin engine, to see if it can be included:

 

 

[Courageous]

Your finger wounds don't seem to be holding you back and you tend to need them with this small stuff.

10 hours ago, Moa said:

They look at you with those droopy wings and say "build me". Who could resist.

That Dujin kit of mine gave me those same eyes, we're right suckers.

 

Stuart

[Marklo]

Sorry to see the fingers. I’ve been doing some carving with a razor blade and am in a similar state  I also managed to stab my thumb with a pin on a circuit board yesterday and it’s surprisingly painful. 
 

The see bee ‘kit’ is going well, will be quite a cute little plane when it’s done.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Marklo

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

9 hours ago, Courageous said:

That Dujin kit of mine gave me those same eyes, we're right suckers.

 

Stuart

😊

[Mr T]

For the Lancaster STGB, I have put myself down to do a York from the March2 kit I acquired at Telford so I am watching with interest how you get on with this. Fortunately I have a 1980 release of the Lancaster that will provide me with some parts. 

I am watching this build with interest to see how your take on Mach2 kit turns out (well I suspect). 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Far from being faithful replicas, but the instrument console and engine look convincing enough:

 

Two failed attempts at vacuforming the canopy. Have have this successfully so many times before that I lost count, but run out of the original sheets ages ago, and only have a few precious ones from other sources (most sold online do not work at all). They are too thin though and thus do not facilitate the job. Will keep trying another day with more inspiration (and healed fingers):

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

53 minutes ago, Mr T said:

I have put myself down to do a York

YES!

I have a York folder and would very much like to build one... one of these days.

 

Regarding the kits, and Mach 2 ones are no pretty babies (at all, whosoever) I believe that with time and perseverance they could render a decent model.

It may vary, they have lots of kits, but the ones I have seen were... traumatizing.

Good luck, Mr T!

Cheers

 

[BritJet]

I think you will get a better result vacforming that canopy if you use something like modelling clay to fill the void at the rear, make it more rounded (similar to the front) and the plastic sheet will form the desired shape much more easily.

 

Hope this helps and keep up the good fight with the Machmonster.

 

Steve

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, BritJet said:

I think you will get a better result vacforming that canopy if you use something like modelling clay to fill the void at the rear, make it more rounded (similar to the front) and the plastic sheet will form the desired shape much more easily.

 

Hope this helps and keep up the good fight with the Machmonster.

 

Steve

Thanks Steve.

Again, I have done these countless times in scratch projects with my own masters, and with modified kits.

The problem is not the pull at the open end, but the thinness into which these after-market replacement sheets stretch, especially at the end of the sides (base), not at front or back. .

Your advice is sound, of course, nevertheless, for this type of project.

[Martian]

On 03/12/2019 at 19:41, Moa said:

Temporary hiatus since I managed to nick my fingers in both hands:

How many times have we told you to have a responsible adult present? 🙄

 

Exasperated of Mars 👽

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

14 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

How many times have we told you to have a responsible adult present? 🙄

 

Exasperated of Mars 👽

I know, you are of course right.

Lasers, blasters, and light sabers should not be used lightly in model-building.

But a modeling monk has to do with what it's provided. 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I went for it.
Left door and mooring hatch are opened (at least the parts that are in the fuselage side of things).
The plastic cut easily, but feels somewhat waxy.
This means, of course, that I will have to cut sections of the clear part, either the kit's or my vac replacements:

 

The cockpit pan and fuselage sides are glued together, to better work on the interior without having, later on, as it invariably happens, to have to trim things down for a good fit.
The kit itself advises you to cut a section of the console pedestal for it not to interfere with the canopy. But we'll see how it plays here. 
Surprisingly, the sides and engraved detail matched perfectly:

 

The opening of the doors of course means that I just extended quite a bit the numbers of hours this build will need.

 

 

A very fine razor saw is used to mark the separation of flaps and ailerons.
In another unexpected surprise, the kit correctly depicts the uneven chord of those, shorter above (about 5.5mm) and longer below (about 6.5mm), so be careful and cut diagonally:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, BritJet said:

Hope this helps and keep up the good fight with the Machmonster.

 

Steve

Never surrender!

(Especially with a never sure ender)

[Mr T]

1 hour ago, Moa said:

YES!

I have a York folder and would very much like to build one... one of these days.

 

Regarding the kits, and Mach 2 ones are no pretty babies (at all, whosoever) I believe that with time and perseverance they could render a decent model.

It may vary, they have lots of kits, but the ones I have seen were... traumatizing.

Good luck, Mr T!

Cheers

 

Thanks, I may need it. The kit has only a limited amount of flash and most parts are cleanly defined, helped, I think by, looking remarkably like bits of Airfix Lancaster from the 1980 issue. The  plastic is an off-white unlike the Seabee and has a slightly grainy feel to it. Credit to Mach2 in that he realised the wheels on most Yorks are of the Lincoln pattern, most had paddle bladed props and it appears to have the right wing span as the wings are shorter than the Lancaster to allow for a wider fuselage with the same span. Not sure about the intakes though. After some the Magna kits I have built, I feel ready for the challenge. 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The kit instructions advise you to cut off a little from the console pedestal, which proved right:

 

 The top of the console is too flat, and should drop a bit towards the nose of the plane:

 

Console installed,  as well as a triangularly shaped console and a step close to the mooring hatch:

 

Finally I was able to pull a vac copy of the canopy, and another of the engine cover (the kit part was too thick and I did not want to waste time thinning it):

 

[Greg Law]

That's a nasty looking beasty. Reminds me of the Beaufort when first seen and it didn't get better next time I opened the box. After giving it a thorough beating it started to perform as it should.

I'm sure you will be able to beat this into submission and end up with another show dog (I mean model).