Academy 1/72 Scale PBY-5A ...

[RaisingArizona]

I finished my Spad VII ... it was a battle ... and have decided for my next build to make one of my all time favorite airplanes ... the PBY Catalina.  I made a model of this when I was a young lad and later in my life I got to ride in one.  Saw a few of these in commercial service in the Caribbean and as fire fighting aircraft.

 

 

There are several surviving PBY's that are airworthy.  They are wonderful machines.  

 

Back in WWII in 1943, the Australian airline, QANTAS, ran a service from Perth, in Western Australia, to Galle, Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) and then on to Karachi, India (now part of Pakistan).  The flight from Perth to Ceylon still holds the record for longest duration non-stop flights of any commercial airliner.  The length of the flight was 4,000 miles over the Indian Ocean.

 

 

 

As the PBY was not particularly fast, the total flight time ... without refueling ... was 27 to 33 hours, depending on winds.

 

 

I am going to undertake building this kit.  I am not planning on doing the QANTAS version unless I can modify the kit to duplicate that airplane.  Otherwise, it will be the US Navy version.  

 

Wish me luck.

Edited May 25, 2023 by RaisingArizona

[psdavidson]

I like the Catalina a lot

Watching with interest

 

/P

[Ed Russell]

21 hours ago, RaisingArizona said:

the QANTAS version unless I can modify the kit to duplicate that airplane.

PM me your email if you decide to do the Qantas one - there is quite a bit of info available and decals. That second picture is not a Qantas WW2 configuation example.

[RaisingArizona]

Got started on this build.  

 

 

Not a lot of detail in the cockpit.  In fact, quite devoid of detail.  Probably cuz only 1/72 scale.  Put on side blisters and got them masked off.  For ballast weight in the front I used adhesive automobile wheel weights.  They work very nicely and the self adhesive keeps them from moving about.  I got all the seams sanded smooth.  My next step is to assemble the main overhead wing and rear stabilizers and fill any seams that may be result before applying a coat of primer.   I am unable to get decals for QANTAS so going with the kit's decals which are of the aircraft that first spotted the Japanese fleet prior to the Battle of Midway Island.  I do not plan to mount any bombs on the plane, though.  Want to keep the lines clean.  

 

Steve

 

Project is coming along.  

[RaisingArizona]

Making some progress.  Applied paint and decals.  Adding some smaller bits and pieces.  The next big step is to cement the wing and the support struts onto the fuselage.  Followed by landing gear wheels, engines and cowls and some fiddly bits.

 

The kit did not include enough of the small chevrons used as markings on the wing.  Of course, I didn't realize that in enough time and have an uneven number of the right aileron vs the left.  Oh well.  The seam on the top of the fuselage behind the where the wing mounts is still showing.  That will need a bit work.  Should have caught that before the final color coat, but not too big a deal and should be able to fill that in pretty easily and the paint over it.

 

Paint is a bit shiny as that is the effect of the gloss varnish I applied to help with decals.  I will be spraying a matt varnish after all the bits and pieces are cemented on.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by RaisingArizona

[Robin-42]

Just for future reference, V1 decals in Canada does custom airliner decals. He is doing a couple for me. I have used some of his stock ones on an F100, and they are very high quality. https://www.v1decals.com/
 

[RaisingArizona]

Got a bit more work to do ... besides cementing on a couple of fiddly bits.

 

The ends of the wing need a bit more filler to smooth over the surface.  Not a biggy, but nice to do otherwise looks a bit unfinished.

 

The kit's instructions indicated 40 g of ballast required to keep the nose down.  I put in more than that, but the placement for the self adhesive automotive wheels weights was just under the cockpit canopy.  Obviously not far enough forward to keep the nose down.  I went online and found a store where I can obtain what in the US is called "snake shot"  number #12 lead shot pellets.  Used in small arms to shoot snakes and other varmits.  The shot is so small it only has a range of about 10 feet.  I placed an order for 15 lbs of lead shot.  Each pellet is only 1.3 mm diameter and am planning on drilling a small hole in the front landing gear cavity and with the nose of the model pointed down I will add another 20g or so of lead shot to the nose.  I will then shoot some white glue in there to keep the little pellets from bouncing around the interior.  

 

 

 

 

[John_W]

Be careful with the ballast. There is a fine line between getting the nose wheel to touch down and the aircraft being too heavy and the undercarriage collapsing...

[RaisingArizona]

1 hour ago, John_W said:

Be careful with the ballast. There is a fine line between getting the nose wheel to touch down and the aircraft being too heavy and the undercarriage collapsing...

Thanks for the heads-up.  That thought already occurred to me.  There is already about 60g of weight in there.  Two self-adhesive automotive wheel weights under the cockpit floor.  I did not position those weights far enough forward to drop the nose wheel down.  In order to drop the nose wheel, I think I need to add about 10g to 15 g in the very tip of the nose wheel.  I am hoping the total combine weight does not distort the main landing gear struts.  

 

Steve

[RaisingArizona]

I am highly upset today.  I used small lead shot to add just enough ballast to the the nose of the plane to keep the nose down.  

 

 

That part went ok.  But to keep the small lead shot from rolling about inside the plane I injected some white glue.  But I used too much ... 

 

... the white glue got under the inside of the cockpit canopy and into the turret assembly.  This has absolutely ruined the model for me.  Considering trashing this attempt and doing another one.  A learning experience for sure.

 

[RaisingArizona]

Well, I took a chance and prized up the canopy section with my scalpel.  The canopy section was cemented using PVA glue and it released after a bit of gentle persuasion.  I was able to clean off the PVA glue on the underside of the clear canopy.  But there is no way I can get into that front gun turret though.  But at least the clear canopy is not looking all trashed now.  Maybe I will keep this after all.

[AdrianMF]

What a shame!

 

White glue should eventually dry clear, so fingers crossed...

 

You could always model it with a tarpaulin over the front turret if it still looks strange.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[theplasticsurgeon]

Hopefully recovered the canopy.  Here's my Academy Catalina built 2020.

Mine is Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, patrolling the Caribbean and Atlantic.

As you can see, I avoided the ballast dilemma, by using a tail support.

I've checked my spares - and found my leftover flat top turret.

Put a request on Wanted - as that's the only trading folder.

 

[TheKinksFan]

I'm sorry about the white glue accident, but as Adrian said the glue inside the turret will probably dry clear enough so it's not visible from a distance. That tri colour scheme looks nice, Hobby 2000 just released two re-boxes of this Academy Catalina, there's a tri colour scheme in one of them.

 

I have been considering getting some version of those Laser Model Engraver building jigs. Has it been useful, have you been satisfied with it? 

[Thom216]

Glad some work cleaned up the canopy. If the turret is too much of a goner you could rework it into an unarmed civilian bird, like the pic in your first post.

[RaisingArizona]

9 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

What a shame!

 

White glue should eventually dry clear, so fingers crossed...

 

You could always model it with a tarpaulin over the front turret if it still looks strange.

 

Regards,

Adrian

After cleaning the underside of the canopy it is looking much better.  The PVA glue inside the front turret seems to be clearing up.  I hope that glue does go clear enough to not be too noticeable.  I have to let it sit for a while to see if that occurs.  Fingers are crossed.

 

Steve

[RaisingArizona]

8 hours ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

Hopefully recovered the canopy.  Here's my Academy Catalina built 2020.

Mine is Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, patrolling the Caribbean and Atlantic.

As you can see, I avoided the ballast dilemma, by using a tail support.

I've checked my spares - and found my leftover flat top turret.

Put a request on Wanted - as that's the only trading folder.

 

Thanks for the offer.  It would not be an easy fix though as the turret is made in a way that one has to assemble it before cementing the two halves of the fuselage.  I fear breaking that bond would compromise the entire front end.  Am waiting to see if the PVA glue dries clear enough inside the turret to not be too noticeable.

 

Steve

[theplasticsurgeon]

21 minutes ago, RaisingArizona said:

Thanks for the offer.  It would not be an easy fix though as the turret is made in a way that one has to assemble it before cementing the two halves of the fuselage.  I fear breaking that bond would compromise the entire front end.  Am waiting to see if the PVA glue dries clear enough inside the turret to not be too noticeable.

 

Steve

I've just looked up the instructions again.  Yes - there's a lip at the lower edge, which will make a transplant difficult.

The offer is there though -  should you decide to give it a try.

[RaisingArizona]

Thanks for the offer.  It would not be an easy fix though as the turret is made in a way that one has to assemble it before cementing the two halves of the fuselage.  I fear breaking that bond would compromise the entire front end.  Am waiting to see if the PVA glue dries clear enough inside the turret to not be too noticeable.

 

Steve

[RaisingArizona]

I'm sticking a fork in this project.  Calling it done.

 

After cleaning the inside of the top canopy, it came out OK.  When I added some additional ballast to the nose (after pretty much done with everything), I injected PVA glue to keep the new ballast lead balls from rolling about.  I injected too much PVA glue and it smeared the underside of the top canopy section and got into the front turret assembly.  I was able to remove the top canopy and clean the underside, but unable to do anything about the front turret. I am hoping the PVA glue dries clear inside the front turret.  Wait and see.

 

I applied a minimal amount of weathering.  Just a small bit of exhaust streaks and very few oil leaks around the engine cowls.  A bit of discoloring on the top wing.  Some chipping here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      ...  I left the bombs off the model as I wanted a clean underside.

 

Overall, this Academy kit has good detail for a 1/72 scale.  The interior cockpit area has very low detail, but one does not the ability to see anything in there anyway.  The detail in mid section where the side blisters are is good for a 1/72 scale.  Not the best ... but OK.  I read review of other kits where the complaint was made that the mid section had virtually no detail at all. 

 

Overall, fairly pleased with result.

 

Steve

[marvinneko]

Very nice! I was next to one of these at a museum in March and hope to do one in the future in RCAF markings.

[RaisingArizona]

3 hours ago, marvinneko said:

Very nice! I was next to one of these at a museum in March and hope to do one in the future in RCAF markings.

Of the 1/72 scale kits, everything I read indicated that the Academy kit is the best of the lot.  Can't say I read much about 1/48 scale kits.  The Academy kit has a couple of issues, but easily overcome.  I do not believe the engine exhausts are that accurate, but IMO that is minor fault.  There are some after market bits and pieces that one can acquire if dead nuts accuracy is important.  One thing to caution you on ... the instructions state to place 40g of ballast in the nose to keep the nose down.  I put in a bit more than that, but did not position the ballast all the way in the front of nose.  After everything was assembled, the nose did not sit down.  The plane thought it was a tail dragger.  I added some small lead shot into the nose by drilling a small hole in the front landing gear bay and dropping the lead balls in while holding the plane nose down.  I was concerned that the lead shot might roll about so injected some PVA glue, but put in too much glue.  The glue worked its way into the front turret and now the turret cannot rotate.  So ... if you build the kit ensure that you have enough ballast in the nose of the plane to keep it down.  

[Graham Boak]

The engine cowlings are too small, but replacements are available from Red Roo.

[RaisingArizona]

2 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

The engine cowlings are too small, but replacements are available from Red Roo.

I don't know that they are too small.  They certainly do not have the flaps at the rear of the cowls, which would have been a nice touch.  Red Roo's conversion kit has more accurately detailed cowls and fish-tail exhaust but at $34 those few pieces cost as much as the entire kit. 

 

 

So opted not to get it.  But thank you for pointing it out.  

[stevehnz]

This has come up pretty nicely Steve, in spite of your issues with the nose weight. The odd time I used lead shot I mix the shot & the PVA together & then place them, a bit more of a fiddle but they do stay put & avoid issues like you had. If you haven't done so already, get some acid free PVA, the standard stuff can set up a reaction with the lead & if it is tightly packed enough, can cause expansion & crack seams. They sell the acid free stuff for kids to use.

Steve.