1:72 Revell Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer

[LorenSharp]

Its sneaky like that,, Add a little, then it's Oooo, I can add this, it's "small" and will fit just fine. Then before you know it the model has more stuff in than 3 versions of the actual aircraft.. By the same token, I've built models and you see where the kit designer used the same book you did and didn't pay any attention to what they were designing and putting stuff in that not only didn't go there, it  is was discontinued early in production and this was supposed to be a late production version.

[Navy Bird]

I received the Veronico/Ginter volume on the Privateer from HobbyLink Japan just five days after I ordered it. Amazing. And it still had that just-printed smell when I removed the packaging. Needless to say, I've been devouring that book. My hat is off to the authors, it is an incredible job of researching and collating.

 

I think I now have a pretty good idea of where everything is situated, but this brings up quite a quandary for me - very little interior detail will be seen once the fuselage is buttoned up. I'm not getting any younger and I don't want to spend a lot of time on stuff that no one will ever see. I think the flight deck, bombardier's station, the turrets, the nose gear bay - these need work for sure. I suspect that's what I'll concentrate on. Sure, the book shows me where the loo is (and if you look close enough you can also see the paper holder) but I don't think I need to add that to the model. (Although it is just a "can" and I did add the relief tube to the PB4Y-1 model...)

 

Cheers,

Bill

[CedB]

Ah Bill, the modeller's quandary…

 

I vote for 'things you can see' and 'things that are fun to do'.

We'll see the former and have pictures of the latter.

All to Navy Bird's high standards, obvs  

[Navy Bird]

16 minutes ago, CedB said:

All to Navy Bird's high standards, obvs  

 

Ah, good. No pressure then.    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[LorenSharp]

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

I received the Veronico/Ginter volume on the Privateer from HobbyLink Japan just five days after I ordered it. Amazing. And it still had that just-printed smell when I removed the packaging. Needless to say, I've been devouring that book. My hat is off to the authors, it is an incredible job of researching and collating.

 

I think I now have a pretty good idea of where everything is situated, but this brings up quite a quandary for me - very little interior detail will be seen once the fuselage is buttoned up. I'm not getting any younger and I don't want to spend a lot of time on stuff that no one will ever see. I think the flight deck, bombardier's station, the turrets, the nose gear bay - these need work for sure. I suspect that's what I'll concentrate on. Sure, the book shows me where the loo is (and if you look close enough you can also see the paper holder) but I don't think I need to add that to the model. (Although it is just a "can" and I did add the relief tube to the PB4Y-1 model...)

 

Cheers,

Bill

See I warned you Bill, information overload  with that book. Just remember the mantra: I won't go overboard,... I wont go overboard....I wont go overboard....             much.

[David H]

The little rectangular windows are coke-bottle thick; highly unlikely will see thru them clearly.

 

I'd say obviously the Turrets and to a lesser part the cockpit canopy and engine nacelles will be focal points of the model. Expressed another way, you might say i subscribe to the "Roger Corman* School" of model making- If you can't see it, its not worth adding.

 

*Roger Corman was a film director for American International Pictures, who gave us such cinematic greats as "Queen of Blood" and "The Angry Red Planet". Operating with very small budgets he once said, "If you can't see it on the big screen, its money wasted".

 

-d-

[stevehnz]

I now have the Ginter book in my personal warehouse at HLJ, it turned up within hours of me paying to ship some other stuff, a FM RF-4EJ among them. Do they do it on purpose, now I'll have to buy some more stuff to share the shipping cost.

I'll certainly be watching to see what you think necessary to detail Bill, mine will have Squadron vac canopys in all their crystal clearness to reveal any shirking on my part. 

Steve

[Martian]

9 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

I received the Veronico/Ginter volume on the Privateer from HobbyLink Japan just five days after I ordered it. Amazing. And it still had that just-printed smell when I removed the packaging.

Its great to see that I'm not the only sniffer of new books.

 

Martian 👽

[Navy Bird]

6 hours ago, Martian said:

Its great to see that I'm not the only sniffer of new books.

 

It all started in first grade with those darn mimeographed papers. Ah, I can smell the bouquet even now...    🥀

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I think I just outed my age.

[LorenSharp]

Ahh yes Chateau de Mimeograph 1963 and Eau du Elmer's Paste. Heady times in more ways than one.

[Martian]

3 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

Ahh yes Chateau de Mimeograph 1963 and Eau du Elmer's Paste. Heady times in more ways than one.

And there's me worrying that people might think I am a bit strange! Wibble.

 

Martian 👽

[LorenSharp]

Yep I is a  proddact   of the American School system. Nigh on Gradgiatated the sicdth grade and can do my aughts and evrythin.Gots me a mind like a steel trap,(thats rusted shut). Cain't gets nuthin buys me.

[Navy Bird]

One of these pages I'm going to start the model. Really.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[LorenSharp]

I figured you were taking voluminous notes on all the improvements you're about to embark upon.

[Navy Bird]

16 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

I figured you were taking voluminous notes on all the improvements you're about to embark upon.

 

That, and stickering the F/A-18C. I'm pretty bad at multi-tasking.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Believe it or don't, but I actually had a few moments today to start working on this baby. As is often the case with resin kits or conversions, a good portion of the time is spent sanding and/or grinding to remove the parts from their casting blocks. You may recall this photo which includes the resin cockpit components (note especially the flight deck floor):

 

 

If you look closely at the floor, you'll see there is a lot of resin underneath it that needs to be removed. (The tapered shape on top with the notches is the actual perimeter outline of the floor.) I taped some coarse sandpaper to a glass plate, and sanded away for a decade or so. I used the sandpaper on glass to ensure that I was maintaining a flat surface on the bottom of the floor. Once that was finished, it slides right in:

 

 

 

The resin sidewalls were test fitted and look good. The resin floor has a bit more detail and is somewhat more accurate than that supplied with the kit, particularly in the centre console. The instructions from Cobra show some additional parts of the rudder pedals beyond what is shown in the following photo, so I'm guessing those broke off during shipment. I looked through all the little baggies and didn't find any errant bits of resin, so maybe they were broken prior to shipment. In any event, I'll have to scratch these bits.

 

 

The flight deck seats were removed from their casting blocks, and they are quite a bit nicer than those supplied in the kit.

 

 

The real seats had swiveling armrests, and Cobra provide these as separate parts so you can pose them in the normal position or raised up. I think that's a nice touch, but I suspect that it was also necessary due to the difficulty of casting them in place in the lowered position. The real seats also featured a tubular structure to hold the bottom and back cushions. Cobra chose to cast this structure, as well as the cushions and belts, all in one piece. I think you can get an idea from this photo:

 

 

For a few femtoseconds I thought about using styrene rod to create this tubular framework, but it will be virtually impossible to see once things are buttoned up. I think what I'll do instead is some creative painting - the frame work will be interior green, and the areas between the framework will be black. That way when you peek inside it might look like framework in the unlikely event that you can see it at all.   

 

Where I will absolutely have to get out the styrene rod is for the nose gear strut and retraction linkage. The kit is really old fashioned here, and just has a simple strut that plugs into a hole. You can kind of see the nose gear "well" in the above photos. This will have to be significantly reworked, with bulkheads and sidewalls. But hey, I had to do the same thing with my PB4Y-1 build. If I did it once I should be able to do it again. The Ginter book has some great photos and drawings for this. The book also has photos of the tyres, sometimes with radial tread and sometimes with diamond tread. Luckily, I have both.

 

 

 

The grey parts are Cobra resin; the tan parts are True Details resin. Some things that jump out at me right away:

• The True Details nose tyre has the fender - Cobra and the kit do not.
• The True Details nose tyre has an extra hole for the axle - assuming you wanted it to puncture the tyre. WTF?
• The inboard brake detail is much nicer on the Cobra tyres.
• The True Detail main tyres are flat! WTFx2!

Seriously, that is taking "bulged tyres" a bit too far, don't you think? Since I don't want to mix the tread patterns, it looks like I'll have to scratch a fender (mud guard) for the Cobra nose tyre. Although, and this might be a refrain you'll hear a lot in this build, I don't think you'll be able to see it. Why? Because the nose gear doors will obscure it. We'll see.

 

I think I can start painting some things, but before the resin cockpit starts being glued to the Revell plastic, I will have to work on that nose gear bay, and also see how the nose turret may interface or interfere with everything. There is a bulkhead between the flight deck and the forward compartment which contains the doors for the nose turret, as well the bombardier's sling hanging beneath it. Cobra supplies this bulkhead, but it does not completely match the photos in the Ginter book. But it's probably OK.

 

I have some leftover photoetch for a B-24D and I intend to make use of it, even if it isn't 100% accurate. This includes a pre-painted instrument panel which will look nicer than me painting the resin or kit panel.

 

 

There are more bits to be added, including the control yokes. This part doesn't quite fit onto the Cobra centre console, but I'll make it fit. I have a ball peen hammer around here somewhere.   

 

Onward...

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

EDIT: Oops, I forgot to mention the marking scheme. Thanks to the generosity of @Romeo Alpha Yankee, I now have the hard to find White Dog PB4Y-2 Privateer decal sheet.

 

 

This has markings for "Tail Chaser" and "Blunderbuss." The backgrounds for this nose art is above, and the very nicely printed artwork below:

 

 

I'm liking Blunderbuss at this point. We shall see!

[CedB]

Impressive patience sanding the floor Bill - pleased to see it paid off  

 

I'm with you on the choice of nose art - 'Tail Chaser' is going to, shall we say, distract attention from all your work!

[Navy Bird]

6 hours ago, CedB said:

Impressive patience sanding the floor Bill - pleased to see it paid off

 

Me too! It took forever, even with 150 grade sandpaper.    

 

*****

 

I've learned that the bits missing from the rudder pedals are actually the brake pedals. There are some good photos in the Ginter book.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[AdrianMF]

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

bits missing from the rudder pedals are actually the brake pedals

Errrr what was that mantra again? Ah, yes... "Don't go overboard"

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Brandy]

Nice work so far!

I'm with you on those tyres. Where on earth do these suppliers get the idea that tyres should be bulged? Properly inflated tyres do NOT bulge!

 

Ian

[Max Headroom]

I can tell that you are like a coiled spring waiting to unleash yourself on the unsuspecting kit and to produce another masterpiece.

 

No pressure at all.

 

Trevor

[Fukuryu]

I can't believe I just realize this was going on... 🤦‍♂️ My punishment will be to look through the window and stay outside... and it's winter here...

 

BTW, Bill, the site that left you hanging with your book order is this one, by venture? 

[heloman1]

Looking good Bill, popcorn at the ready.

 

Colin

[Fritag]

On 6/1/2021 at 7:01 AM, CedB said:

I'm with you on the choice of nose art

 

Me too.  The I like the play on words/archaic association between Blunderbuss and Privateer.  But are they Snow Whites (9?) Dwarfs wielding the blunderbuss?  Not so sure about that! Still it take all sorts....Dwarf Blunderbus-wielders 

 

 

[Max Headroom]

3 hours ago, Fritag said:

 

Me too.  The I like the play on words/archaic association between Blunderbuss and Privateer.  But are they Snow Whites (9?) Dwarfs wielding the blunderbuss?  Not so sure about that! Still it take all sorts....Dwarf Blunderbus-wielders 

 

 

For some reason, Bangy and Deathy failed the cut on the Walt Disney version 🤣

 

Trevor