Landlubber Mike

Great start Chris! That interior green looks really nice. Looking at the IP, I wonder why True Details even bothered? I have the TD pack for my kit, I should take a look to see what it looks like.

If you can't decide, just build two

Nice choice! Looking forward to this one!

Looking great Ernie! I like the version you are doing, compared to the other in that kit which is all one color minus the markings. I have the Pro Modeler 1/48 kit in the stash (two actually) and your scheme was what I was envisioning for one of them. I see Infinity also has a separate boxing for the Atlantic scheme.

Awesome PE work! This is going to be fantastic!

Thanks Ernie, quirky indeed! Funny thing is this all started when I randomly came across the the NeOmega catapult set, and I thought that would make for a more different display. Plus, with the catapult, you can model the Walrus with wings folded to take up less space. I'm super psyched to have found the Niko kit to pull it all together. Some of the other ships were battleships and cruisers like the HMS Cumberland, which are a little less interesting to me. The Albatross seems aptly named as the design is a bit awkward but it all works -- kinda like its namesake, the bird.

Thanks Peter! Always appreciate your support and help on my builds. I have a ton of 1/700 kits in the stash, mostly because I like the more quirky subjects and the Japanese auxiliary ships fit that niche well. I have some of the more prototypical battleships and carriers as well, but these "working ships" just seem so cool to me. The great thing about the 1/700 kits is that there is a ton of AM out there for them. Outfits like Flyhawk and FiveStar have complete upgrade kits for lots of 1/700 kits, as well as sell more targeted items for diorama settings. Pontos in the last year or two came out with an all-in-one kit of the Yamato in 1/700 scale. It's got resin and PE specifically designed as part of the kit, so you don't have to take another kit, shave half of it off, and fit the AM parts. A cool development in the 1/700 space, and it will be interesting to see if others do the same. I added it as a post-Christmas present to myself last week as FreeTime Hobbies was running an end of year sale. FiveStar also has a few resin all-in-one kits of things like minelayers (one of which I'm almost done building) and some of the smaller Japanese carriers, though I've found you have to go out and buy some AM like main guns and planes to complete the kit (which is annoying). The bad thing about 1/700 kits is that some of the parts can be very small. Just two nights ago I was finishing up installing parts on the destroyer, and dropped the searchlight which is probably only 2mm high. It's an important detail for the ship, and unfortunately I didn't have any spares, so I spent close to 30 minutes on the floor searching for it. Ultimately found it - it's amazing how far these little pieces can bounce off to - and poured myself a stiff drink to cool myself off.

I was going to keep this on the shelf a while longer until my skills got better, but with the Group Build and especially after finding the 1/700 kit of the Albatross, I figured I might as well go for it. The most ambitious part of the build will be finishing it in six months given how slow I work!

I think you're right Ernie - there's a close affiliation of CMK and Special Hobby, and I think you can buy SH kits direct from CMK. I'm using five CMK aftermarket kits for my Special Hobby Buffalo build. First time using them, but the quality and detail is high. Similar to the quality I experienced using the Aires set for my Wildcat build. Pieces can be fragile as with any resin, so check the bags in case any of the parts have pieces broken off. You also have to sometimes put in some elbow grease to make the parts work, but overall, I've been very pleased with them. I have their sets for a few of my other 1/48 and 1/72 kits and the quality looks quite nice.

Are we supposed to log in here on this thread for the GB? Mine is the Airfix Walrus in 1/48 sitting on an NeOmega catapult coupled with a Niko HMS Albatross in 1/700.

Looking forward to this one Chris. It's definitely a big one for sure! On the weight, is your tail solid? I think the later versions are hollowed out, as the solid ones are really heavy. Mine I think is one of the first iterations and it weighs a ton. I was hoping to build mine on the ground, but I wonder if the landing gear can handle it. In flight is probably the way to go!

Looking forward to this one Hubert - good luck with the house moves!

Nice! Looking forward to this one! Nice big scale for it.

I find the 1/700 PE isn't that bad - usually you have fewer pieces but more folds. 1/350 seems to have more pieces but with small pieces on the order of what you see in 1/700. I like the 1/700 scale models as they have a lot of very interesting subjects that you don't see in 1/350 or larger scales, especially when it comes to auxiliary ships. An Optivisor and really fine tweezers are a must! I have a two-ship diorama of the Asashio getting repaired after Midway that I'm trying to finish up so I can work on this GB. I've got an abbreviated build log on MSW, but here are a couple of pictures. First is of the IJN destroyer Asashio. Second is of one of the repair cranes of the IJN repair ship Akashi.

Thanks Rob - I'm happy you changed your mind too as your model would surely put mine to shame. I'll let you know how the kit is - it seems to get fairly good reviews out there.

Cool! Have always liked the looks of these.

That picture is great lol

Just wanted to say that the Niko kit is really really nice. I have a few 1/700 Niko kits, and am really impressed by what you get. Lots of resin and PE, and the hull already includes lots of crisp details. Should be a fun one to put together.

Thanks! Should be a cool project. Hope the frustration factor isn't too high! They give two! And with multiple parts to it!

Great to hear that the old kit looks so good. 1967 molds, wow! Can't wait to see your work! Ugh, didn't hear that about Yellow Wings Decals. All these small AM guys put out great products for a few years then close up shop. Really sad

Some cool pics of the Albatross: Some catapult pics - these I think are from other ships:

Excited to join you guys on my first GB! Just saw that I only have six months so at the rate I build, I'll need to step things up. I'm building the Airfix Walrus in 1/48 using this kit: With lots of aftermarket goodies, including a Vector resin engine given how prominent the engine is on this plane: Resource: I also have the catapult set from NeOmega: I wasn't too enthused by building this as a "silver wings" scheme, so I went looking for decals (unfortunately I couldn't find the earlier release of this kit which had the two tone camo scheme which I preferred). That led me to picking up the following decals and mask/stencil sets: There were a few options I liked that were ship-based and launched from catapults. In particular, I really liked these two schemes which were based on the HMS Albatross. Although I like the first scheme a little better, I have the HpH 1/32 Walrus kit which has a similar scheme so I'm leaning towards the second one. The Albatross was a quirky looking ship, which really piqued my interest and I came to found out that Niko Models made a fantastic 1/700 kit for it. Even better, it includes a 1/700 scale Walrus to add to the catapult at the bow. After an extensive search, found a kit at Freetime Hobbies, and here it is: So, I'm planning to build a combined display of the Walrus on the NeOmega catapult, coupled with its ship the HMS Albatross. I'm thinking a two tiered display with the 1/48 Walrus/catapult as the main, higher tier of the display, with the 1/700 version presented on a lower tier to the side and/or front of the main Walrus. Hopefully can pull it all off!

Wow, this will be a cool subject. Looking forward to seeing this one come together!

Looking fantastic Ernie. The paint lifting shouldn't be too difficult to correct, nice job!

Wow, this is looking really good. The chassis is incredible, and those resin parts really add a lot of detail. I better stop reading your log or I'll be wanting to add trucks to the stash 😬