Academy-Minicraft, Vega PV-1 Ventura. 1/72.

[Markh-75]

This is the last of my prebuilt models today, I completed it in December 2021 and it was a nice kit to build, though I was a tad unsure of it due to its different shape and type, I wasn't sure where they operated but in the end I was quite happy to have built it, as its one that flew from the Aleutian Islands; I started it and by golly I was gonna finish it! It was fairly straightforward to build and the painting took more time than the build due to adding the wing and tail de-icer bootties and the lines between the colours along the fuselage, I dont know why I did it but I painted the nosecone grey, must have been a whim! The wing tanks were quite difficult to get a straight line around when painting so I settled for the wavy line instead, looks okay too.

It was the very last model I made, and painted from the tin, after this I started thinning my paint, Its painted with Colourcoats flat white, intermediate bloo, and glossy sea bloo.

 

The early Venturas had a glazed nose like the Hudson; indeed it looked very like the Hudson and it looks indistinguishable to the Hudson, but in fact its larger and with different armament and engines. Later Venturas did not have the clear nose, instead having a pair of forward mounted machine guns above the nose. It was notable by its large Boulton-Paul top turret and the ventral mounted machine-gun position. The Ventura was powered by a pair of P & W R2800 Double Wasp engines giving it a wealth of power, the PV-1 could actually outrun any version of the Mitsubishi Zero and Tony fighters, and it was so strong it could take direct hits from 20mm shells and survive. The PV-1s operated with great success in the North Atlantic and the Aleutian Islands.

This model comes in the markings of US Navy VB-135, operated from Attu in the Aleutian Islands.

 

Enjoy!

 

 It looks lop-sided; but its fine, its the angle I had the phone at when taking the picture.

 

 If you look at the paint on the wings here you can see that it was painted from the tin and unthinned, my paintwork is much more uniform and solid in colour now that I thin the paint and paint at least 4 coats!

 

 

[Ed Russell]

3 minutes ago, Markh-75 said:

it was so strong it could take direct hits from 200mm shells and survive.

That's a nice model out of the box but you have been reading too much Lockheed PR. A direct 8 inch shell hit might sink a destroyer or even a cargo ship! 😄

You are pretty right about the radome - they were some form of plastic and often unpainted.

Good work!

[Markh-75]

12 minutes ago, Ed Russell said:

That's a nice model out of the box but you have been reading too much Lockheed PR. A direct 8 inch shell hit might sink a destroyer or even a cargo ship! 😄

You are pretty right about the radome - they were some form of plastic and often unpainted.

Good work!

Thank you Ed, I have now corrected that to 20mm cannon!😂🤣

[Wulfman]

Very nice Ventura, good work as usual !

 

Wulfman

[Markh-75]

7 minutes ago, Wulfman said:

Very nice Ventura, good work as usual !

 

Wulfman

Thank you Wulfman!😀 that’s all the models I’ve made now, I won’t say I’m drawing a line under, but I’m sure glad I changed to thinning the paint on models, it’s a much nicer finish and more of a solid colour.

Thanks for your kind words.😀👍

[Pete Robin]

Nicely done.

Regards

Pete

[Markh-75]

Thank you Pete!😀

[aerotechi]

Very nice Ventura. Not a kit you see very often. I just acquired one myself from academy minecraft (different decals scheme) any tips?

[theplasticsurgeon]

Nice model.  As others have said, not seen very often.

I'd be interested to hear your comments about the nose glazing.

Mine had a different width to the rest of the fuselage - leading to a huge gap.

 

[John_W]

Nicely done. Another fine build.

[John_W]

1 hour ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

Nice model.  As others have said, not seen very often.

I'd be interested to hear your comments about the nose glazing.

Mine had a different width to the rest of the fuselage - leading to a huge gap.

 

Their Hudson has the same problem. In the Revell rebox the instructions tell you to put in a shim in front of the windscreen.

[Markh-75]

My glass areas gave no problem at all, and any gaps would be filled with PVA glue, which I use once the clear parts are on and happy, it fills the gap between the glass and fuselage, dries clear and can then be painted. If you wish, you can use PVA to fit the clear parts too.

I don’t usually fit my clear parts until later in the build.

[Markh-75]

1 hour ago, aerotechi said:

Very nice Ventura. Not a kit you see very often. I just acquired one myself from academy minecraft (different decals scheme) any tips?

Not really, it’s quite a pleasant kit to build, quite straight forward.

[Winenut]

Love the Ventura

 

Great version indeed

 

There's always something to learn with techniques and finishes to get the result you want

 

You're a patient man if you now do 4 thinned coats with a hairy stick!! 😲

 

Cheers!

[Markh-75]

Yes it does teach patience, sometimes when I start I new build I catch myself thinking how long it’s all going to take but the thinner coats do work nicely and the results are very good, I  paint a coat let it dry overnight and then rub it down, wipe it down and paint again, repeat , it’s only to take off any surface dust that may have gone into the paint,, or uneven patches but I wait overnight for each coat to dry.

thanks for your kind words 😀