**** DONE: 1/72 PBY-5A Catalina RAAF 42 Sqn - Seaplanes / Floatplanes of WWII

[parsifal]

hi guys, Its been a week or so since I last posted, but I have been making good prgresas and will try and post photos tomorrow.

At the moment Im working on the wing assembly, and am preparing the bombs that come with the kit. The ordinance provided is quite nice, but this aircraft was onh a minelaying operation at the time of its loss. This is where I have a bit of a problem. The RAAF undertook more than 2500 Minelaying missions, and this is believed to have caused close to 40% of all enemy shipping losses in the NEI. The RAAF used a mix of US and British air dropped mines, but tended to favour the British types.

If I am to fit mines, I will have to make them, and I need a drawing of one of them and some indication as to where they were carried on the Catalina. I assume they were carried on the underwing stores points, but I would really like to see this in photos.

I did find this....

Mines Away!: The Significance of US Army Air Forces Minelaying in World War II - John S. Chilstrom - Google Books

But I would really appreciated anybody's help on this one

 

[parsifal]

some progress shots. at last we had some reasonable light....

 

[parsifal]

A few more

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all Michael!

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

A good effort Michael.

 

[parsifal]

thanks guys. id appraise progress so far as satisfactory but not outstanding. Nothing has gone horribly wrong, but the general standard of finish is still not up to par. Overall, im happy, but that doesnt say i shouldnt aim for a better finish than im getting. I look at the efforts of the other members, and i know ive got a ways to go yet. but its a start....one day I would like to venture out of the beginners pool, but that day is not yet Im afraid.

Ive spent the last two nights prepping the wing assemblies. Needed a small amount of filler around the nacelles, and i have a small issue of alignement with the port side float (ive fitted them in the up position)I fitted the tail to the two fusleage halves, and finished up fitting the bombs...not enough time now to worry about the mines issue. I hope to have the halves joined and the wings in place by the weekend. after that ill be well on the way to finishing....though a lot of detail parts are still needed to be fitted, like wheels, antennae and the like.

By way of comment, so far, this is a kit I would highly recommend. it goes together very well, and has a good level of detail for 1/72. Some reviews say the rear gun platforms in the blisters are a problem, but i have really noticed that.

 

[Crimea_River]

Progressing well there Michael.

 

[Wayne Little]

Working hard for a good result!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Looking nice!

 

[T Bolt]

Nice!

 

[parsifal]

The wing assembly is put together and the fuselage halves are joined. the fuselage has a problem though. There are locking lugs that should put the halves in perfect alignment with each other. For the most part this has happened, ther is a nice seam match up around most of the join, requiring very little filler to hide the seam. with one exception. The tail sail at the rear of one half does not match up to the tail edge of the other, leaving an unsightly mismatch of about 1/8 inch on the leading edge of the tail. this has not occurred on any other part of the fuselage assembly, leading me to suspect the two halves are not a good match to each other. if it was a fitting error, I would have a corresponding mismatch of the fusleage halves somewhere else....but in this case, its a good match except for one spot.

Im trying to rectify this with filler along the tails leading edge seam, but its dissapointing to see such a poor match up on what was otherwise a very well made kit.

 

[fubar57]

Doing great Michael. Sometimes I think the attachment points are more of a hindrance, aka, almost anything Hobbycraft.

Geo

 

[parsifal]

progress shots for this week. have the halves together, and the wings attached. I decided to apply paint, mostly to see if the NATO Black would work. I decided not to attempt panel lines with this colour, but i may apply exhaust stains once ive moved a long a bit with completion.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

That is a big surface to paint and it's looking very reasonable Michael.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all Michael!

 

[mikewint]

Have been out of town for the last two weeks so have not been able to watch your progress. Some really nice scratch work on the interior a real shame to bury it. Don't know if it's the camera, sun, or my monitor but that NATO black looks Blue to me. Does it look more black in person?
Looking very nice Michael

 

[fubar57]

Must be the lighting Mr. Wint. I use Tamiya Nato Black and it's definitely a lighter shade of black. You gonna weather the crap out of that one Michael?

Geo

 

[mikewint]

That's the problem with color-rendering. On my screen that NATO black appears the same as the backround in Vic B's siggy, i.e. a deep blue