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Catalina PBY-5A - Airfix 1/72

CedB

By CedB
in Work in Progress - Aircraft

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jackroadkill Very Obsessed Member

jackroadkill

Posted
Posted

I've just bought my brother the 1994 boxing of this same kit.  I'll keep an eye on this build on his behalf (and absolutely not because I want to do one myself.  Definitely not that.  At all.).

 

I love the Catalina; when I was a kid I always wanted one to go with my Sunderland but somehow it never happened.

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HP42 Obsessed Member

HP42

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Ooh, in on the second page of a Ced build. I'll pull up a chair, 2m away from everyone else naturally. Got one of these in the stash partly built. She's my longest resident of the shelf of doom as it happens. I remember the rear blisters being awful, so you might want to crack on with that vac former. Any particular scheme chosen yet Ced? I've got a decal set to do 'Miss Pickup' and intend to do the original 1944 aircraft.

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Martian Blabber Mouth

Martian

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6 hours ago, Harley John said:

Ooh a floaty boaty flighty thing. I'll pull up a seat.

You can't beat a good floater (titter, snurf)

 

Martian 👽

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adey m Very Obsessed Member

adey m

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I built one of these on a weekend in 1975, complete with working floats and opening blisters................... don't remember the pilots looking like something out of Doctor Who though.........................

 

regards, adey

Edited by adey m
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CedB Blabber Mouth

CedB

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Wow, page 2 already!

Thanks and welcome to everyone and apologies for not replying individually - it's great to see you here!

 

I've spent and hour or so this morning doing some research and I'll share that below.

Answers to specific questions/comments follow…

 

19 hours ago, perdu said:

And although this is be-blistered by rivets the rear third of the Catalina's wings is fabric covered

 

This is the Danish Cat from Cosford, somebody we know has more than a few pictures of that one for reference should they be wanted...

Thanks Bill :) I've re-read your build this morning and picked up lots of tips! I have to be careful though as yours (like Johnny's) is a different beast (see below)

 

Hmmm. I had wanted an easy build and was planning OOB but I might do something about the wing fabric. Looking at the reference pictures it's hard to 'see the join' and in the BM Walkaround pictures of the Duxford Cat it looks as though I could get away with it. Maybe.

I've thought about it though, gathering the wing sections:

 

49832073943_80a7712d8a_z.jpg

Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

 

… and I've even marked where I think the join is:

 

49832916852_af198fd140_z.jpg

 

The kit has sort of 'double lines' at that point.

 

Bit of a give away inside too:

 

49832610151_b295a7dd06_z.jpg

 

She will be flying with the Nimrod and Sunderland - don't worry!

 

19 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

oooh a cat. lovely. :cat: There is this one I did a while back for a group build.

The academy one but the same scale.    She's a lovely aeroplane, just don't forget LOTS OF NOSE WEIGHT!!!!! :D

 

I'll pull up a stool.

 

Johnny

Thanks Johnny :)

I've re-read your WiP this morning (17 pages!) and I love what you did with the weathering, well displayed in the RFI - gorgeous!

Yours was an Academy Black Cat so, like Bill's, a different variant but some pictures show the canvas wing bits, better represented on the Academy version.

Worried me, so I've researched it a bit more (see below).

 

Lovely pictures of 'Zero the puppy' in that thread too - so cute!

 

18 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Airfix there very nicely catching him midway through mutating into a Bigsworth board...

Thanks Tony :) I thought of you during the research this morning as I found lots of online manuals and drawings (see below).

 

10 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

It actually doesn't look too bad for 1964.  The cockpit transparency worries me, though.  Did Squadron or Falcon ever do a vacform replacement?  Otherwise I'm all for it.  Another heavy!

10 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Yes, but for the Revell kit in Falcon set #11 USN aircraft & for the Academy/Minicraft PBY in an individual Squadron set.

Steve.

Thanks guys - I'll have a closer look later :) 

 

9 hours ago, HP42 said:

Ooh, in on the second page of a Ced build. I'll pull up a chair, 2m away from everyone else naturally. Got one of these in the stash partly built. She's my longest resident of the shelf of doom as it happens. I remember the rear blisters being awful, so you might want to crack on with that vac former. Any particular scheme chosen yet Ced? I've got a decal set to do 'Miss Pickup' and intend to do the original 1944 aircraft.

Hi Phil! :D 

I'm going to do the RAF version from Coastal Command (picture of the scheme in post #1) and yes, I may need the vac former if the canopies aren't good enough.

 

 

So, research.

I'm still feeling lazy with low mojo so this one may be OOB, but then I've said that before…

 

Bill and Johnny's build had a different front turret but the WikiPedia entry here says "RAF renamed ‘Catalina I’ was same as the PBY-5 with six 0.303 in guns (one in bow, four in waist blisters and one aft of the hull step) and powered by two 1,200 hp R-1830-S1C3-G engines, 109 built." so the kit's good to go.

 

The Seawings Flying Boat website is always a good place to start for research and it has loads of stuff on the Cat:

  • a Cutaway diagram showing all the major bits including rear wing fabric (maybe)
  • Pilot handbook for RAF Cats

  • ‘Handbook of Erection and Maintenance’ here - a big PDF showing how to assemble a Cat when it comes in the shipping boxes and

  • 'Handbook of Structural Repair' pdf (not so big) here

If I do decide to sort the wings I'll look through those in more detail.

 

More later, but first this morning I need to give Molly a trim - she's got very shaggy during isolation.

Of course I'll post some before and after pics.

 

Wish me luck!

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CedB Blabber Mouth

CedB

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Thanks Adrian :) Good luck requested for the trimming - hopefully the Cat will be straightforward.

 

Thanks Keith :) No bath this time - but she's usually very good, if not entirely happy!

 

All went well!

 

Compulsory tools shot:

 

49833229042_48139cba85_z.jpg

Untitled by Ced Bufton, on Flickr

 

Before:

 

49833229017_21a723a7d6_z.jpg

 

That's her 'What's going on? We've never done this before' face.

The iPad is showing a video of 'How to groom a working cocker'. Helpful.

 

After:

 

49832385458_9b48747149_z.jpg

 

Not too bad. Could have done better with the sanding :D 

 

Hair today, gone tomorrow:

 

49833229077_fce4c9c03c_z.jpg

 

Looks like we can save ourselves £40 on the grooming then.

Except her claws when they need trimming.

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John_W Very Obsessed Member

John_W

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Put the hair out in the garden. All the local birds will take it for nesting material.

Milo only ever needs his dew claws clipping. I have found the best tool for that is a sprue cutter...

Edited by John_W
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Mr T Very Obsessed Member

Mr T

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Posted

I remember building that kit in the late sixties (1960-9 to the millennials), doesn't look any worse than I remember the bright white plastic. I am sure you will be able to do your magic on it. After this you can try a Mach2 KIT.

BTW the aircraft actually belonged to the RCAF and I think they operated under some US Canadian command if they were based on that side of the Atlantic. Others more knowledgeable will know. Nice to see old kits being built. I have a Rotodyne that keeps talking to me. 

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keefr22 Blabber Mouth

keefr22

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35 minutes ago, CedB said:

Looks like we can save ourselves £40 on the grooming then.

 

I'm a member of what used to be the Civil Service Motoring Club which has morphed into a sort of 'all the essential things you need in life' thing, and they recently sent round a 'things to do in lockdown' e-mail, one of which was an on-line dog grooming course that led to some sort of 'professional' dog grooming qualification! I was thinking of buying one for my son's birthday to see if he could do a better job of giving his Golden Doodle a better haircut! 🤣

 

Tidy job on Molly though!

 

K

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perdu Blabber Mouth

perdu

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Our Molly tidied up a treat Ced, very nice work Mon brave.

As for the mk1 Catalina, beveryaware the mk1 was a flying boat not an amphibian like the kit

 

The kit armaments suit the RAF Cats exactly (except they are junk moulded as rubbish) so there will be no need for gyrastics making different turrets

 

Yes that beautiful cutaway does show the fabric/metal demarcation perfectly

 

If I were posing the Cat on the ceiling I'd simply remove the rivets and make lines to represent the fabric tapes

That would be perfect for the job

 

There is a set of vacform transparencies, I bought them and used some in the end but the kit clear ones do at least give you openable cupolas

 

 

And yes Martian, I have a hankering to build the tall tailed Danish delight too

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perdu Blabber Mouth

perdu

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43 minutes ago, Mr T said:

I remember building that kit in the late sixties (1960-9 to the millennials), doesn't look any worse than I remember the bright white plastic. I am sure you will be able to do your magic on it. After this you can try a Mach2 KIT.

BTW the aircraft actually belonged to the RCAF and I think they operated under some US Canadian command if they were based on that side of the Atlantic. Others more knowledgeable will know. Nice to see old kits being built. I have a Rotodyne that keeps talking to me. 

Build me build me build me build me....

 

Oh pardon me, that was what happened to me with a certain Belvedere

 

Please do not ignore it, I need to see what I let go when I had stash clear-out a long time ago..

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Biggles87 Completely Obsessed Member

Biggles87

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Good work on Molly We will have to do something with Blanche soon, her coat is so thick we’re starting to call her a Pyrenean Rescue Retriever!

Oh yes there’s an aeroplane, I also built one of these many years ago, can’t remember anything about it now.

 

Good Luck

 

John

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Marklo Completely Obsessed Member

Marklo

Posted
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I’ve always liked the Catalina but for some reason I’ve never built one. I think it was one of those big scarey Airfix kits like the HP O/400 that I never took in as a kid.

 

On a vague link to Mollys ordeal I too have resorted to home barber my self today taking my clippers to my own hair. Worked out ok, but at least with the lockdown still in full flight no one else will see it anyway :) 

 

And of course I saved myself a tenner :) 

Edited by Marklo
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Paul J Blabber Mouth

Paul J

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Look forward to seeing progress with this... especially if you plan to 'fabric-ise' the wing!!!

 

Until recently I had the Revell PBY-6A in the Calypso version of Jacques Cousteau . Had intentions to restore it but during a clear out it got really badly damaged when something heavy fell on it. Regrettably it was so bad I had to bin it sadly. And its the only tall fin Catalina ever kitted !!  

 

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billn53 Completely Obsessed Member

billn53

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45 minutes ago, Marklo said:

 

On a vague link to Mollys ordeal I too have resorted to home barber my self today taking my clippers to my own hair. Worked out ok, but at least with the lockdown still in full flight no one else will see it anyway :) 

 

I believe I’ll go for the ponytail look instead. 

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