Landlubber Mike

Wow, nicely done Ernie. Great paint job!

Good luck with that - should be really cool!

Next up for me alongside the group build - the Special Hobby 1/32 239 Buffalo Finnish version with some goodies. My first official LSM, so maybe I'll post a separate build log, unless you guys want to keep them consolidated here.

And here is the finished diorama. Figure from Aerobonus, oil drums, ladder and wheel chocks from Brengun. Thanks for looking in!

Hey guys, I finished this one. Here are the completed pictures of the 339-23 originally given to the Australians, then went to the Americans. I even found a picture of the real one. Must have been scary looking down! Big window in the floor of the fuselage!

Finally finished with this one. Probably a bit steep on the difficulty level given that it is my fifth plastic plane model, but I'm quite happy with how it came out. Given that the engine and other panels were removed, I tried to model it as maintenance work on a hangar deck of an aircraft carrier. Couldn't find good color pictures of what the deck looked like, but some of the pictures showed what appeared to be larger squares that were dark gray and/or metallic in color, so I went that route. Just wanted to thank everyone for the help on this build, I really appreciate it. Thanks! Here are the pictures.

I'm just about done with my Wildcat and Buffalo builds, but have been putting in a little time on the Walrus. Spent one evening soaking all the sets, and then over the last few days, started with the fuselage (or is it a hull if it's a boat plane?). It's a little smaller than I would have expected - maybe a touch longer than the Wildcat and Buffalo I'm building in the same scale. The kit's parts seem very sharp and well defined with lots of detail. The one crazy thing is that the bottom and side pieces have a ridiculous amount of ejector pin marks! I don't think you can see much of the inside of the model when it's buttoned up, but I went ahead and sanded and filled them. Here's a picture showing all the pock marks! I have the Eduard sets for this kits, and have been slowly putting together the many PE details that will likely not be seen. But, I figure it's practice and in some ways, therapeutic to get in the groove and put together the micro assemblies - except of course when a part pings off the tweezers. Thanks for looking in!

Looking really great Kevin! Very nice build!

Great start Martin! Those QB items look like fantastic improvements. Looking forward to seeing this come along!

Wow Chris, just saw that you finished this. Really nice job man!! Looks fantastic!

Looks absolutely fantastic Peter!! Good luck tomorrow my friend.

This thing looks really amazing. I'm a sucker for odd aircraft too. Size wise, I guess it would be like building and storing one of those remote control flying planes that people build. I wonder how the sales of their 1/48 Do-X went - another big one. I'd probably consider a 1/72 or even 1/144 version of this beastie.

Thanks Rob - I think I have that exact same jig so will try that out. Great job! I'm also not a big fan of thin CA - I use it only sparingly in limited situations because it runs so much, and even then, I use an applicator to do so. I find medium CA better for my purposes. Also, the thin stuff I have from Starbond smells so much more than the medium Starbond for some reason.

Rob, looks fantastic! Well done on the complicated assembly. A few nights ago I was trying to do something similar on a 1/700 build I was working on. I didn't like the kit support poles, so I made new ones out of brass rod. Took a while to get everything lined up for sure. Mine wasn't anywhere near as complicated as yours, so mucho respecto for your work! If you don't mind me asking, do you have a good way to cut brass tube? I don't think you can use a typical metal cutter as it will crush the ends. Do you saw yours? I think i have a sawing jig that can work for brass tube, but just curious if you have another easy way to cut it.

My condolences Ernie. May he RIP.

I ended up picking up a new Belcher tail for my kit. It's certainly lighter than the solid version (yellow below), and it seems like some of the lines are different. Panel lines are a little lighter as well on the newer version. Just thought I'd post in case folks were considering picking up one of his replacement tails. Both versions are really well done, it's just if you want to save a little weight, the newer version might make sense.

I'm with Kevin - both are looking fantastic! You must have a big desk to host both those big models!

Wow Peter, that is looking great! Love the Yellow Wings scheme!

Have you ever tried Tamiya 2-part epoxy putty? I used it on my SH Buffalo to fill some large gaps fix some other issues, and really liked it. I find that with larger areas, things like Tamiya's basic putty, Mr. Surfacer, Vallejo putty, etc. can shrink and require multiple applications, especially since the putty is considerably softer than the surrounding plastic. The two-part epoxy putty - for me at least - seemed much better for larger areas.

Really excellent PE work there Rob. This is looking fantastic!

Nice looking subject and kit! Thanks for the review Fran.

Thanks Kevin - I need all the prodding I can get, especially since now I'm down to 5 months to finish the group build! I'm just about finished with the Wildcat and Buffalo - hopefully by tomorrow. Putting together finishing touches on the dioramas. I got a little flustered this weekend when I received some brass rod that I ordered for my 1/700 builds. Were really bent! Put me in a bad mood and I wasn't up for hitting the bench.

Ha! I'm trying to finish up at least a couple of the ten plastic builds I have going on. Hoping to get two done in the next couple of days and then will start. Of course I've been saying that for a few weeks now. Just a little hard to get much momentum going as my kid activities take up a lot of time and I end up being too tired or unmotivated to hit the bench in the evening.

Chris, that's really interesting about the tail. The black primer really shows off the difference in panel lines. I just looked at other builds that used the Belcher tail, and I didn't see others have that issue. I wonder if they just scribed the panel lines forward of the tail to match the tail? I did reach out to Mike Belcher to ask about his hollowed tail. He said that when he first did the tail, the PBY-5A wasn't out so tail sitting wasn't an issue. When the amphibious version came out, he realized that the tail weight would be an issue and came out with the hollowed tail. I'll probably buy another tail just in case I decide to do it with wheels down. Interestingly, some logs say the landing gear never failed, but this guy - who built a spectacular one - said his broke in a day 😲 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235078382-revell-148-consolidated-sa-10a-catalina/

Wow! This really turned into a beauty. Given all the apparent kit issues, this is a testament to how skillful you are 🙇‍♂️