1/48 RCAF Canso A (PBY-5A) "Sub Killer"

[nearsightedjohn]

I believe this is the largest aircraft model I have ever attempted (and probably the last one this size that I'll ever do!).  It's a Canadian RAF "Sub Killer" that I built using the  Monogram/ Revell PBY/ OA-10A 1/48 kit along with an Eduards "Big Ed" photoetch and mask set, white metal landing gear, resin wheels and engines and a set of excellent decals and reference materials from Aviaeology ("RCAF Canso A (PBY-5A) Collection 1: The Sub-Killers Of 162 (BR) Squadron").  Tamiya acrylic paints were airbrushed throughout except for Tamiya rattle can fine white primer and bare metal undercoat and a little Alclad on the prop centers and my favorite semi-gloss clear coat, Vallejo Satin.  I attempted some chipping on the undersides of the "hull" using the hairspray technique but I think it came out a little too understated than I had hoped.

 

This particular aircraft #9816 was based in Iceland and had the following amazing history:

- 11 March 1944: ferried to Reykjavík, F/L Leadbetter and crew as 162 Sqn maintenance rotation replacement aircraft.
- 3 June 1944: F/L MacBride and crew attack and sink U-477. 4x D/Cs used. Nose guns used.
- 13 June 1944: W/C Chapman (co-captain & 1st pilot F/O McRae) and crew attack and sink U-715. 4x D/Cs used. Nose guns used. 9816 was shot down (3 killed) in 2nd (guns only) attack as damaged sub was sinking.

 

Thoughts and "things learned" from this build:

- I used a 1" wide x 5/16" thick hollow rectangular aluminum channel to act as an internal wing strut support based on other builds that recommended adding something inside the wing assembly to prevent sagging and cracking.  I found this aluminum material at a home improvement store, I believe it is sold for use for screen door frames.  Its was pretty easy to install and made the wind assembly rock solid.

- I decided to skip adding weight to the nose to address the tail dragger issue and glad I did.  I've read that one must use a A LOT of nose weights and this model is "structurally challenge" as it is due too it's size.  I'm ok with the temporary support dowel shown in the photos and will remove it once I hang this beast over my work bench.

- I also did not address the tail width issue that many do by splicing in the resin correction and applaud those that do this mod to this kit.  I can see how the fuselage looks a little too wide just in front of the tail from the top view but from the side profile, it look's like a PBY to be so I'm happy with it "as is" out of the box.

- I used a white metal aftermarket landing gear set and still had problems with the main gear on the right breaking several times after both epoxy and CA bonding as well as bending.  I can't imagine building this kit with the kit supplied styrene landing gear.

- The biggest assembly issue I had was getting the four wing struts to fully seat into the mating notches in the fuselage and underside of the wing.  All four appeared to be too short by about 1/2 mm which I suspect was because the wing didn't "sag" due to the aluminum spar that I added (Anyone else happen to have this issue on this kit after adding wing reinforcement?).  If I built this kit again, I would pre-bond the struts to the fuselage and remove the bumps on the wing ends of each strut and just bond the struts flat to the wing undersides and fill any exposed notches on the wing later.

 

Conclusions: Next time I build a large aircraft like this, I think I"ll stick to 1/72 or smaller!  This one was just too awkward for me to handle during painting and assembly, required a ton of paint and when completed is much too big to put anywhere in our house!  I would also highly recommend Aviaeology.com for decals, I have never had such excellent reference materials  supplied with a set of decals before (a beautifully illustrated color booklet pdf with amazing details and history on a multitude of aircraft cane be downloaded and printed after you receive the decals).

Despite the kit size and structural challenges, this one was a lot of fun.  Never get tired of PBY's! Hope you like it!

Cheers, John 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dunny]

Lovely build and finish John - congratulations! For what it's worth I think your chipping is very effective,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[kiwitrogg]

That's a really really nice looking build. I like the CC scheme.

Thanks for the write-up. I don't have one of these kits, did you add the rivet detail yourself?

I agree with you about the quality of Aviaeology's reference material and decals. And I also agree with your thoughts on building large subjects in 1/48 and better to stick to 1/72......unfortunately I can't help myself. I'm currently on number 5 of 9 in my stash.

Great stuff, well done.

Cheers

Gaz

[Ingo Ritz]

Spectacular model, very realistic! 

[Luke1199]

Absolutely incredible, great job there!

[dnl42]

Wow, fabulous work on this! 

[Winenut]

Stunning!

[VolkerR.]

Great job. Perfect build and finish.

 

[Steve27752]

What a beauty, one small thing if I may?
On the Starboard side of the tail fin the Red, White and Blue stripes should have the red stripe facing forward. As on the Port side.

[russ c]

Really nice work on the Cat`, looks great

[nearsightedjohn]

Oops! Thanks Steve for pointing out the right stripe error, “senior moment”?, unfortunately it’s under CC but maybe correctable if I can find a replacement decal. 
Also thanks to all you guys who responded positively, means more to me than the “that’s very nice dear” response I usually get from my lovely well-meaning scale model friendly wife.

Looking forward to starting something smaller today! (I like to build cars and ships and AFV’s too! 😁).

[Stormpilot]

Beautiful build! Well done

[Maginot]

Very nice Canso conversion. Paint looks excellent.

[stevehnz]

That is a beautiful job on this, there is a lot of "just right" about it, to my eye, a lovely balance of effects without anything being over done. 👍

Steve.

[Meatbox8]

That looks terrific.  A great paint job and weathering and I particularly like the delineation between the metal and fabric wing sections.

[AeroNautique]

Outstanding job John, well done.

 

I have one of these in my stash which is slated to be an RNZAF machine (which means at least the landing gear won't be a problem), so I sincerely appreciate your valuable build notes and feedback. 🍺🍺

[Pete Robin]

That's simply splendid!

Regards

Pete

[Winded Penguin]

A really interesting subject to tackle in 1/48 scale, and great pictures. I prefer the 'understated' stone chips too.

[bryanm]

Absolutely superb and fully agree re Aviaelogy decals although I'm still waiting for their Cat stencil sheet!.

[Pantherhawk27263]

That is a beautifully done Catalina. Very well done!

[robgizlu]

Cracking job

Rob

[simonj]

Wonderful job - will need quite a bit of shelf space !!

On my bucket list, just got to buy a big enough house first

 

[Doolie]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:48 AM, bryanm said:

Absolutely superb and fully agree re Aviaelogy decals although I'm still waiting for their Cat stencil sheet!.

I preordered a bunch of stuff about 6 years ago. I have contacted them several times and gotten many excuses and optimistic ETA's. When they said 4 to 6,  I thought they meant weeks, not YEARS.  Thanks for reminding me, I think it's time to see if their refund offer still stands. I think I've waited long enough.

[Mig88]

Smashing work and a spectacular result. Well done!

 

Miguel