Floatplane On The Water, With Lively Crew: Finished

[Old Man]

I've never done a floatplane. It's putting one on a base that's daunting. I don't like the beaching dolly look, and till now the most water I've tried to replicate is a puddle or two in a muddy field. I probably wouldn't be doing this build if I hadn't sort of mousetrapped myself into it.

 

I've a particular interest in the Gloster Gladiator, which was first used in combat not by the RAF but by Nationalist China's air service. I wanted a model of the first opponent the Gladiator met, built in tandem with an Airfix Gladiator in its initial Chinese livery. I'd figured to stretch a point and do an A5M off the Kaga in April, but have discovered a kit of the first aircraft the Gladiators actually fought could be got. This was a Nakajima E8N; operating from two seaplane tenders off the south of China, a dozen or so of these Type 95 Sea Reconnaissance machines comprised the air strength of the IJN in the area. They were dispatched on February 24, 1938 to bomb the airfield the newly fitted out Gladiators were based at, and an aerial melee ensued.

 

So the base has to be water (beaching dolly here would be ridiculous), and since the plane wouldn't be lowered without a crew, a crew it must have. A pair of standard pilot figures won't do, at least to my eyes. I have a set of Presser figures (ground staff and pilots and passengers from the 30s) for raw material, but they'll need savage alterations. It's not just a question of pose, I'm going to have to make them a good deal smaller overall. They scale out to six feet easy, and would be way oversize for IJN aircrew. I've never done that, and am not sure how I'll manage, but I do have spares. Then I'll have to do some detailing, the IJN life-jacket had a distinctive appearance discernible at scale.

 

So here's the kit:

 

 

It's shaping up to be a nice one, I was pleasantly surprised by the fit of the interior elements.

 

 

 

I intend in this thread to concentrate on the base and figures, rather than any play-by-play of building the model.

 

I have got my sea surface in hand:

 

 

 

 

This was accidental. I'd wrapped a cork trivet in cling-wrap, and on this began applying layers of white glue, each of which was given a glaze coat of dark green or dark yellow or  deep blue. The glue tends to level, I caught it on the point of setting to whip up a wave texture with a craft stick, but even then things got too rounded. So I figured I'd try something else, and when I undid the cling-wrap from the trivet, the built up pat of white glue, dried and layered in colors, separated from the cling-wrap. What you see here is the bottom of the thing, the surface that was in contact throughout with the cling-wrap, shaped to the various wrinkles the process caused in the loosely wrapped stuff. If you do it again it's not a mistake, it's a technique, and conversely, even if things came out right, it's still a mistake if you can't do it again....

 

The plan is to trim this to a clean circle, and affic it to the cork trivet. I haven't decided how to do the actual mounting, the choice seems to be between opening a void to receive the float, or trimming the float down to the waterline.

Edited July 30 by Old Man

[AdrianMF]

Welcome along sir!

 

The sea surface looks great. I presume you will undercoat the base in a suitable colour before sticking this layer on to catch any translucency.

 

Personally, in the three sea scenes I've done, I cut a hole in the base rather than cutting down the model, but that only works if you don't have any tumblehome. 
 

Looking forward to this build!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[AlxBNE]

I think in the spirit of this group build you really must "open a void".

Even if you choose to trim the float down to the waterline.

Lovely accidental genius creation with the water effect.

[Ray S]

This is a very interesting concept, and well up the list with NMCZ-ness. Serendipity is fabulous, especially in times like this. All the best for the rest of the build,

 

Ray

[Old Man]

Have done a good deal more.

 

First, I like my little pat of water, I like it a lot, and appreciate the good reception it got. But I am not going to use it for this.

 

These things were operated on choppier water than that:

 

 

 

So I've done a fresh one, using the technique in a video posted up by Deadman Disciple here:

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235124310-a-cheap-and-cheerful-way-of-doing-water/#comment-4675511

 

The technique is basically slathering watered white glue on successive layers of tissue paper. The fiber, I guess you could say, works kind of like re-bar on the glue, gives it body that will hold a shape. The application of several layers is thick enough you can form waves by pushing at it with a brush (of the 'house-paint' sort), or other former.

 

Here's the new one at present:

 

 

 

This needs to dry several days, and will get glaze coats of tinted Future then. I'll probably put some hints at white on a few high spots. The tissue/glue was applied over a disk cut from a styrofoam 'take-out' container lid which, providentially, had a flat patch six inches square. I traced the outline of the central float on this and cut it out. The tissue sags of its own weight into the hole a bit, and will be cut out when everything is completely dried. I expect any issues then of fit can be fixed by bits of soaked tissue and licks o' paint.

 

Here's the model itself ready for paint:

 

 

It continues to be a good kit, fit has been consistently good, much better than I expected. Nearest thing to a stumbling block is there are only faint hints at where most struts attach, and I made these into solid holes. Surface detail is exceedingly fine, about as close to in-scale as can be got visible in 1/72. I deepened the lines a bit, and have emphasized them heavily with pencil, so they don't get lost under paint.

 

After painting, I figure to get the floats on and do the crew before anything else.

 

[Old Man]

More progress on the water....

 

I settled the assembled float into the void and added fresh tissue. Here it is unpainted:

 

 

Here is how it stands now, trimmed to an even circle and some further paint:

 

 

 

I'm going over the surface figure-style, with high lights and lower bits darkened.

 

Unfortunately, the fit of the float is not so good as it appears in these pictures. Had I shot from straight overhead, that there are gaps of at least half a millimeter in many stretches between float and surface would be clear. In consequence I am going to have to do something I am not at all comfortable with doing, but I can't see a way around it.

 

The float is going to have to be set permanently into the base. It can't be blended in otherwise. From working with the extra tissue and the painting, I doubt the float/surface seam can be tended with the whole aeroplane above the float. So I will be trimming some off the bottom of the float (its deepest point goes about an eighth of an inch below the bottom of the water disk), and at some point the success of the whole thing will come down to attaching a finished model to the float in the base....

 

 

[AdrianMF]

I guess it's unrealistic to expect something to fit perfectly and yet be removable, especially with tumblehome to contend with. The base looks great.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Bobby No Mac]

That's impressive how you've captured the movement through the water. The base looks very convincing  

[81-er]

That base is looking absolutely fantastic! Good luck with the float surgery and getting the plane to fit over the top of it all, you're definitely outside of most people's comfort zones there

 

James

[Old Man]

21 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I guess it's unrealistic to expect something to fit perfectly and yet be removable, especially with tumblehome to contend with. The base looks great.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Thanks, Adrian. Worth a try, anyway. Would have been easier just to waterline it at the start and press it in while the paper/glue was still soft.

 

I am having a good time with the water. You could get some serious sea this way for something in the scale of your Ark Royal....

 

James

[Old Man]

21 hours ago, Bobby No Mac said:

That's impressive how you've captured the movement through the water. The base looks very convincing  

 

Thanks, Bobby.

 

I see the set and setting of this as the machine squaring up to the wind for its take-off run. So I made most of the wave-forms by moving the tissue/glue towards the bow of the float, but put in some trailing ripples along the float's length. I expect a good deal 'banzai' accompanied departure, so the observer will be on his feet with arms upraised, the pilot one arm up (the other on the stick), and both will be looking up towards the cheering crew on the tender's deck (not actually there, of course...)

 

James

[Old Man]

18 hours ago, 81-er said:

That base is looking absolutely fantastic! Good luck with the float surgery and getting the plane to fit over the top of it all, you're definitely outside of most people's comfort zones there

 

James

 

Thanks, James. I'll need the good vibes. I figure to attach struts to float first. The bracing cables are pretty thick, so I intend using quarter-millimeter rod for rigging here. It ought to be pretty sturdy, and so leave some margin for handling error in the final crunch....

 

Nice to see someone else employ the single solid syllable, by the way.

[Old Man]

This is a test-fit, which I am leaning towards making permanent....

 

 

 

 

I had to scratch-build struts for the float. This did not owe to any great deficiency in the kit: a forward strut dropped and disappeared between my feet. That was, though, while I was trimming the piece down a bit, the forward struts are a millimeter long, relative to the rear struts. It's always easier to match your own standard than to duplicate something, so I did them all.

 

I sanded away at the bottom of the float till when in the cavity it rested solid against the wood base, then set the scratched struts to the float with CA. With the float solidly in the base, I put white glue on the tips of the struts and took a run at settling the aeroplane itself onto the struts. The result is what you're looking at above.

 

My intention was to then remove the fuselage, blend the float into the water, and finish building the aeroplane for a later perching on the float. I may not do that. The thing is rightly aligned on all three axes, and I don't know if I can do that again. In course of taking these pictures I extracted and inserted the float as attached. Seeing the thing in place I think I can without too much trouble add material to blend the float in with the whole aeroplane perched above. I expect I can finish the wings without knocking the float off should I make its present attachment permanent. If I do that, I will be accepting that the struts don't all attach quite where the kit's locators are, and a bit of fill would be needed.

 

 

[AdrianMF]

The sea/float join looks very nice.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Old Man]

23 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

The sea/float join looks very nice.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

It's an odd instance of the camera being kinder than the eye. The gap is real, but in pictures sort of disappears into shadow and the raised wave-forms along the float's length. I agree it looks pretty good as is, but doubt I can refrain from improvement to 'fix' it.

 

I'm starting to work on a companion Gladiator. It will have some figure work I'll note down here, but the rest of it is quite within my comfort zone, I've done the Airfix Gladiator several times.

 

James

[The Spadgent]

Lovely Saturday morning read. 😀 I have just done my first toe dip into water modelling in this very GB but nothing as ambitious as this. I love the amount of movement you’ve achieved. I have two float planes that I’d like to add a base to do I’ll be watching with interest. 
 

please continue its fascinating to watch.

 

 Johnny

[Old Man]

On 5/27/2023 at 12:46 AM, The Spadgent said:

Lovely Saturday morning read. 😀 I have just done my first toe dip into water modelling in this very GB but nothing as ambitious as this. I love the amount of movement you’ve achieved. I have two float planes that I’d like to add a base to do I’ll be watching with interest. 
 

please continue its fascinating to watch.

 

 Johnny

 

 

Thanks, Johnny.

 

Here's a link to the video I got the trick from, shared by Deadman Disciple in Diorama Chat:

 

 

It's not hard, I've varied what the gentleman shows but not appreciably.

 

I confess I've found it fun, and am turning over some further floatplane projects now. I expect if I lie down this will pass....

 

May the modeling gods smile....

 

James

[Old Man]

Well, I've bit the bullet: the float attachment is permanent.

 

 

While it was still in the base I got CA gel where it had to go on the end of a toothpick, and put in the main rigging elements before taking out and off. I've used 0.5mm rod for the bracing cables. It's probably a bit over-scale, but not by much if so, and I want this sturdy as can be.

 

I think the squared alignment more important than that my homemade front struts hit the fuselage about a millimeter behind the locating points on the model. Those I have filled and dressed a bit. The paint there needs a bit more attention.

 

 

[Old Man]

Time to make an honest blurb of my headline, and set to providing some lively crew here....

 

The Presser figure set consists of three of these sprues, and another with a few heads.

 

 

The figure with both arms upraised seemed the best starting point for an IJN aviator in mid-Banzai setting out on an attack. A measured six foot easy seems a bit excessive for such an aviator...

 

 

The surgery required is major:

 

 

Cuts were done with a saw about a quarter millimeter thick, and more plastic was filed off the cut surfaces. It was then re-assembled with CA gel, and some creasing/folds put in with needle-file and blade point:

 

 

At this point, I made some attempt to kit the figure out, guided by this re-enactor's model of gear issued in '37:

 

 

 

I turned the original workman's cap into a helmet with file and CA gel, got heavy gloves on, and the kapok life jacket. In the course of this the arms were repositioned a bit, and the neck shortened.

 

 

He will be positioned standing his cockpit, which had surprisingly little freeboard:

 

 

So here's a bit of a preview of his positioning:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is is the E8N with its companion Gladiator:

 

 

While the Gladiator (being well within my comfort zone) has no place here, I do intend to display it with lively figures in a vignette style, which I trust our Adrian will not object to my featuring here, as they are 'downsized' and posed....

 

 

[AdrianMF]

I think we can let you off this time

 

Nice figure work! Great pose, and a big transformation from the original figure too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Ray S]

Yes, amazing work on the figure. I am very happy the fuselage has been fitted to the floats successfully, and very well done too. Great work,

 

Ray

[81-er]

That's a very impressive transformation on the figure

 

James

[Old Man]

On 6/5/2023 at 4:54 PM, AdrianMF said:

I think we can let you off this time

 

Nice figure work! Great pose, and a big transformation from the original figure too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Thanks, Adrian.

 

I was pleasantly surprised it worked well straight off. It'll probably be a Gladiator figure next. I need a better fix on where the upper wing sets, and will want to turn him so his face is towards the model's best side (they've all got one, least all mine do...).

 

James

[Old Man]

17 hours ago, Ray S said:

Yes, amazing work on the figure. I am very happy the fuselage has been fitted to the floats successfully, and very well done too. Great work,

 

Ray

 

Thanks, Ray. I'm getting used to holding the thing for work. Takes practice to never hold by the fuselage when working on the float, or vice versa....

 

James

[Old Man]

13 hours ago, 81-er said:

That's a very impressive transformation on the figure

 

James

 

 

Thank you, James.

 

The life jacket is pretty distinctive, which helps the 'new look' along. A lot of the general slimming is just from dressing seams and keeping things proportional.

 

James