Landlubber Mike

Looking great Dave! Nice work on the PE. I have a few 1/700 builds in process now, and I enjoy the challenge of working with the microscopic PE - not easy, but makes for a much better looking model.

Wow, very cool subject Chris! Great start, this is going to be a sweet one! Vallejo is one of the paint lines that I really want to love, but sometimes their paints and primers are temperamental. On the one hand, I've primed using their Gloss Black and painted with their Metal line and really loved how things came out. On the other hand, I've had problems with paint lifting at times when taped. Some pros out there use Vallejo all the time and never have an issue. At the time being, I'm sticking with using Vallejo for interiors and other parts that don't need to be taped.

Nice work! And congrats on all the life changes!

That storm was nice - cooled things off quite a bit! I'm about to try and get some more yard work done now that temps are more moderate. Did I mention I hate yard work?

Wow Rob, that engine and chassis look phenomenal! There are some Cobras on eBay at the moment that look mighty enticing given your pics....

Thanks Chris! Really appreciate the kind words. I just made a big step yesterday in painting the wing yellow, which came out pretty well and juiced my mojo for finishing this. I ended up finding a 1/72 concrete display base on eBay a few weeks ago and painted that, so I'm getting closer to finishing. Now I just have to be strategic with some days I'll be out of town but I should be able to finish it. The landing gear is tricky, as the kit has it in five pieces (minus the wheels). I have four parts either done or close to done. The fifth is the trickiest in that it is in a Y shape and probably bears the biggest load. I'll probably have to scratch it completely using metal rod and tubing, which will be a first for me. Good to know that the Catalina also had that window. I don't think I took pictures, but I struggled for a while trying to figure out an approach for it. What I decided to do was: cut out a window in clear plastic, paint the underside of the window black, glue the window to the model (by adding glue to the painted side, I avoided glue smears had I instead painted the model black and then glued an unpainted clear plastic window to the model), cut down the Eduard PE window frame a bit to match the window's size (the kit section for the window looked perfectly sized, but the Eduard PE for some reason was considerably oversized), and built up the triangular section below the window with some plastic sheet so that it matched up with the window. Hopefully I'll end up with something that looks like a window in the end. Speaking of Catalinas, I was eyeing building mine next after getting inspired by yours. It would be nice to get rid of that big box in my closet. We'll see though, as I might join the upcoming Group Build depending on topic and whether I have a kit in the stash or not.

Just glad that my girls' softball seasons are done. Too hot! I did yardwork earlier this week and needed a few days to recover. Hope you're staying cool!

Holy cow Chris!! That came out fantastic! Really great job! Love the name of the plane too!

Thanks Kevin for looking in and giving me the push. The funny thing is that I typically have worked on models that weren't the easiest to build. I usually would get frustrated or stuck or otherwise lose mojo, but when I finally completed them, I always looked back and said to myself - "well that actually wasn't too bad." I think once I figure out the landing gear and tail wheel, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I've got everything else pretty much put together, so it's a matter of slapping the parts together and getting paint on.

Awesome choice Kevin! Looking forward to seeing it come along! You'll probably finish before I finish my JRS-1 🤪

Thanks Peter! I might just go with the decals as you suggest. If I go the paint route, it's quite possible I don't get to the finish line. I saw Plasmo on Youtube cut out his own masks for the insignia (it didn't look too hard), but again, it will add time to the build. Part of the concern I had though was I saw someone that had used the decals and the yellow seemed to bleed through the white on the decal a bit. I could always paint a white disc underneath the decal, but if I do that, I might as well cut out masks for the star and the red center dot. Well, I better start working on the landing gear. What a pain!

Between fit issues, accuracy issues I can't unsee, and issues like the landing gear (see below), I keep losing the will to want to work on the kit. But with the extension of the group build, I feel like I should get this one completed. This kit wants to fight you the whole way, but I've managed to get the construction for the most part completed. The wing took a lot of work to add the various CMK resin parts and PE handles, etc., but it's looking ok I think. After looking at pictures, I decided to move the antennae. The kit has you add it dead center (and standing straight up) in the front between the two engines. It looks like the antennae was actually off center to the right and angled forward, so that took a bit of work. I did get the wing primed, and I'll start adding some pre-shading before painting the upper surface yellow. I'm debating whether to use the kit decals or just try to paint the US insignia on myself. Given the amount of work needed for the top surfaces of the wing, I'm going to take the approach of painting the top of the wing before installing it onto the fuselage. I ended up modifying the nose of the plane to better match what I think I see on pictures of the real thing. I added stringers to the lower section - these were apparently added to strengthen the front (bow?) after water landings caused damage on the earlier models. These were a bit more pronounced than the PE parts in one of the Eduard sets so I built them out of plastic rod. The kit and Eduard PE also seemed a bit off when it comes to where the stringers met at the nose - the yellow taped section seems to be a very small window. So, I replicated that section as best I could. Next up, I am going to tackle the landing gear. The kit parts are very thin plastic, and I worry that the heavier weight of the model with the CMK resin parts is going to cause problems. Plus, the landing gear in the kit is a bit oversimplified. So, I'm planning to use metal rods where I can, epoxied into the fuselage, to help give it a bit more strength. Also, the tail wheel is completely wrong, so I'm going to try scratching that as well. Thanks for looking in!

Peter, looking great as usual! Nice to have a cooperative kit! Interesting reading the discussion on IPA. I have been soaking parts in dish soap water, but the point about oily fingerprints while handling the model makes a lot of sense. I usually prime with Mr. Surfacer and have never had it lift off, but I might keep the IPA step in mind as part of my prep. I do wash my hands incessantly before touching the model to help keep oils, Cheetos-dust, etc. off the model.

Wow, what a superb build Rob. MFH should use your pics to sell more of their kits!!

Wow, that's insanely good! How big will the diorama be?

Happy birthday Martin!

Wow, that looks great Peter!!

Looking great Rob. I feel your pain. I'm in the same state of mind with my Sikorsky JRS-1 build.

One of my favorite subjects Peter!! Looking forward to this one!

Amazing work Rob! MFH really did a nice job with the assembly of those wheels, look so realistic.

Peter, not to add to the cost of your build, but one thing you might want to consider is adding resin/printed add-ons if you are not going to use the PE. For example, the guns usually end up being a ton of work if you build them up via PE with lots of folds, parts, etc. Veteran, Fine Molds and others make things easier with resin/printed guns that are mostly already complete, with just a few PE parts to add on. Here's an example: Guns can definitely be a lot of work, but things like ammo cases can be just as bad (and painful) as there are usually a lot of them. The kit ones usually are ok, but you can find resin/printed ones that have better detail and you just drop them in without needing to do all the folds (this one is for IJN ships, but I believe you can find them for US as well): These aren't necessarily inexpensive options, but I've actually moved towards buying the ammo boxes as folding dozens of tiny crates is tricky at even 1/350 scale, where you sometimes get those annoying gaps if you don't fold them perfectly.

There are some YouTube videos out there on the device. Essentially, it's more gravity/friction than anything - it does not lock into place (for that, you probably can use a similar rod held by a vice). The ball is really really heavy, and if I remember correctly, there is a rubber pad that helps keep the ball steady. For delicate painting and PE work, I think it can be of big help.

I recently ordered the ANYZ tweezers and they are really nice. I haven't used them yet, but just compared them to my Dumont tweezers and they appear to have a thinner and flatter tip than my Dumont ones. I'll try them out when I next have PE work to do, but I'm expecting that they might end up being my workhorse tweezers. Even better that they cost much less than tweezers from Dumont!

Not sure if they are still in business, but don't buy from North Star directly. They stiffed me on two orders.

Hi Peter, sorry to read your last update. The PE for ship building really is a lot more intense than that for planes, so you really have to enjoy (or be able to tolerate) folding and gluing PE minutia. You could always just build the kit from the box, but then you would be sacrificing a lot of the detail that only PE can deliver. I've built ships at 1/350 and 1/700, and I'm not sure that the PE work is any easier at larger scales. Because things are larger, there are just more tiny details that can be represented by the PE as part of either additional folds or separate tiny PE parts. And destroyers are not easy subjects to start with! I entered 1/350 scale plastic ship modeling with the Shimakaze destroyer and the Infini set (in my signature). I figured a destroyer was small and therefore it should be a simple build, but destroyers have a ton of complicated details that you don't find on the larger ships. Took me a long time to finish that kit as I didn't really know what I was doing. I build another destroyer at 1/700 (the Hatsuzakura, also in my signature), and I'm currently building a third IJN destroyer in 1/700 as part of a diorama of it being repaired by a repair ship after taking damage at Midway. They have many times reminded me of how complicated destroyers are to build. I'd echo what Rob said on tools for any scale ship builds. For me, I'd be completely lost without my Optivisor (with the clip on LED lights). Good tweezers are essential, and most tweezers for modeling are not adequate in the slightest. I have very good tweezers (both regular and reverse action) from Dumont which are used in electronics and science applications. I sometimes use wax pencils to apply tiny PE parts to avoid the dreaded tweezer ping. Folding I use a hold and fold device or the Tamiya tweezers Rob mentioned. It takes a bit of getting used to what tool works better in what application, and after you figure it out, the PE work gets much much easier. In case you are looking for something to help steady your hands, I picked up the Dspiae hand stabilizer which might be something to consider. I also picked up two of their vices which I think will help on building some of the assemblies like the bridges, etc. If you end up getting the urge to try ships again, I can share more of what works for me - tool wise, technique wise, etc. I've tried a lot of things the last few years and have a pretty good system going now.