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Oops, I done it again! Restoring a Koster PB4Y-2 Privateer FINISHED!


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Yes I've done done it again.  :oops:While finishing up the recent B-26 redo, I heard about BIll Kosters passing. Not much after I had originally finished the B-26 all those years ago I had gotten a 1/48 PB4Y-2 from KAE.

Now At that time I had neither built a vacuform nor had  I ever worked with a conversion set. Took forever to do. I think at one point I finished the fuselage and it sat on the shelf for a year before I touched it again I was so traumatized Though quite proud of myself when I FINALLY finished it, it wasn't all that good. So if you're crazy enough  to watch me flail about travelling down the hole of the white rabbit once again. come on along. Be warned though, beyond this point they be dragons and it  will probably be a long journey. I want to pull out all the stops I can think of in terms of restoring and updating in the memory of a great modeler.. Here is what I will be working with.

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Age(about a quarter of a century) and storage(5 years give or take) have not been kind to the old girl. What I do want to accomplish with this build are removal of the paint job back to bare plastic. Repairing or if necessary replacing any damaged plastic or resin. I know some parts I'll have to print new pieces. the some of 0vac parts are probably very frail and may need to be placed as well. The interior will most likely need updating. After all that I want to  drop all the control surfaces in addition to making extended flaps. As has been noted here within these hallowed halls I'm certifiably bat you-know-what crazy. Don Quixote got nuthin on me.

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I do have reference material and P/E sets on order for the updating but those will take a while in getting here. so in the mean time lets get our hands filthy stripping off paint and separating the various parts.

Because of the age of the CA most of the parts separated kinda easily. From there I dump everything into a BIG bucket of some stuff called "Purple Power". The original paint job is a mixture of acyrlic, oil based enamel and hardware store spray paint. I'm used to using Testors Paint Stripper but since the Testors paint line is being closed down if you can find the stuff its outrageously expensive. And I didn't want anything that would damage the already frail vac pieces. Something you can get here in the states called Simple Green works really well but is more than I can afford in bulk. a Check online said this works as well if not better. If you're wondering I haven't been able to find any oven cleaner. which I find odd. can't see why that would be hard to get in a pandemic.🤔

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I'll let this set for a day orso to soaking and soften the paint.

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6 minutes ago, Mike said:

You lucky duck! :jealous: I always fancied one of those, but never got round to it.  Not an option anymore, unless I win the lottery sometime soon :pray:

I know. I think when I first got it I was concerned that it cost the "Outragious " amount of $39.95 + S/H to find one now it would be cheaper to buy one of the Aeroclub 1/48  Vulcans. Not to mention easier. Hence the careful restoration.

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3-4 days of soaking and scrubbing and Gently, very gently with a tooth brush and soaking more and scrubbing even more I have arrrived at what looks to be the bottom and now see bare plastic.

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Bondo stains and all this is going to be a long build. The original B-24 plastic has faired ok. some of the vac plastic will definitely have to be either moulded as a new vac piece, used milliput or re-print new resin. 

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2 areas of greatest concern, the areas of the nacelles and the side turret glass.

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the turret glass especially one side has heavy damage from excess glue bottom part I'm not worried about but the top around the frame will be interesting.

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After getting all paint off now shows me I didn't remove all plastic along the edge as I should have. I'm glad Martian is on holiday. were he to see this he'd smack me with so many right tentacles I'd be begging for a left

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I did try and test scribe some of the lines they are hard to pick out and on this model I'm going to try add some riveting to the detail.

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1 hour ago, Mike said:

You lucky duck! :jealous: I always fancied one of those, but never got round to it.  Not an option anymore, unless I win the lottery sometime soon :pray:

Then just imagine how you might feel to know that I acquired from my friend, when he passed away, a KAE Privateer AND a resin Privateer conversion WITH the B-24s that my friend had started doing the work on. I cannot tell you who manufactured the resin set, I'm sorry to report. I really need to consider getting the resin kit off the storage area of doom and actually doing something with it, then maybe the KAE conversion. But where in the world do I park two 1/48 scale Privateers!?! 

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1 minute ago, bigbadbadge said:

Crikey this is a heck of a project,  great start.  Although after seeing what you did with the B26 Stump Jumper I have no doubt in your abilities to do this. 

Chris

Thank you Bigbadbadge, nothing that patience, perseverance, luck and plenty of Guinness won't cure, or failing that ,suitable amounts of explosives. Your mileage may vary.

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16 minutes ago, Mike said:

My house :wicked:

Or mine !!

In good company with a lot of Navy Birds...

 

Another great rescue mission Loren !!

Already, you've got a good result !!

I'll tag along if I may ??

CC

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Just now, corsaircorp said:

Or mine !!

In good company with a lot of Navy Birds...

 

Another great rescue mission Loren !!

Already, you've got a good result !!

I'll tag along if I may ??

CC

I got dibs! :tease:

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17 hours ago, Mike said:

Not an option anymore,

There was a posting on Hyperscale a while back saying that someone had bought the KAE masters, while Bill was still alive, and there were going to be made available again.

Not heard anything since,  and I regret not ordering some items when I could myself,  like the P-47 conversions and the B-24 turret set.   

I'm sure if this does occur it will be quickly known.

I did get a slightly started (some bit cut out)  Koster A-20 kit a while back, it's a very impressive package.

 

Also, IIRC, Lone Star Models are doing a full resin Privateer kit, this again was posted on Hyperscale. 

 

Neat restoration project there @LorenSharp

 

cheers

T

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2 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

There was a posting on Hyperscale a while back saying that someone had bought the KAE masters, while Bill was still alive, and there were going to be made available again.

Not heard anything since,  and I regret not ordering some items when I could myself,  like the P-47 conversions and the B-24 turret set.   

I'm sure if this does occur it will be quickly known.

I did get a slightly started (some bit cut out)  Koster A-20 kit a while back, it's a very impressive package.

 

Also, IIRC, Lone Star Models are doing a full resin Privateer kit, this again was posted on Hyperscale. 

 

Neat restoration project there @LorenSharp

 

cheers

T

I'm really sad about Bill's demise, but that puts a slightly brighter spin on it from a modelling point of view.  I guess we'll see what transpires.

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From what I understand Resin2Resin bought all the BIll Koster's molds and stock a few years back. but no word on when, or if ever any of it will be released.  I saw where Lone star is releasing an all new kit in Jan 21(tentative).He had a pre-release  -pre order sale of $250.00US but that has since expired. He's locked out his site for ordering until he can catch up with all his current release projects. Hes's got several kits/update sets I want to try and get.

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Was there also a Meteor prod resin set for the Monogram B-24.

I was about to buy it a bit before Meteor stopped its activities...

Opportunity missed, now it was an opportunity at 199$...

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Then of course there is WildSauResin . he's got some Privateer parts available, reasonably priced but uneven quality ,but better than with his earlier stuff ,compared to Lone Star

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Just now, corsaircorp said:

Was there also a Meteor prod resin set for the Monogram B-24.

I was about to buy it a bit before Meteor stopped its activities...

Opportunity missed, now it was an opportunity at 199$...

CC

Meteor products resin is even more rarer than Koster and more expensive. He has started back up with limited decals though. heres the link https://fineartofdecals.com

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Hello, I will look at this one. Odd looking one compared with the early looking B-24's, but I've grown up with70/80th Matchbox kits and they were more than unique then in several aspects an mesmerized me.  Ok 1:72, but who cares.

Cheers

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Welcome aboard bbudde! All kinds of room. Make yourself at home and pay no attention to the rambling goings on if they should transpire. All par for the course in these parts.

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6 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

Meteor products resin is even more rarer than Koster and more expensive. He has started back up with limited decals though. heres the link https://fineartofdecals.com

I know, I've had some good contacts with Dave, The way I've started the AD-4 flown by his uncle...

It was fine productions, I still use a lot of meteor prod resin parts...

CC

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Tidying up the 3 main parts of the fuselage is next. 50413168427_2957da9e72_c.jpg

When I originally built this the instructions had me trim around the connecting lips where the vac attaches to the plastic center bomb bay section. not paying as close attention as I should have  made for very wide gaps at the join. and as a result I used A LOT of Bondo (Autobody filler).

Time and aging maturity(no jokes please)has shown less is more. So, fragile  as it is, the vac plastic will need to be trimmed and matched to the center as close as possible.

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Thin  and delicate re-enforcement will be the order of the day here.

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