CANicoll

Actually, I have those, and have one in a handle right now! That's right, then you can burn off the excess CA. I...Must...use...tools...I...already...have.... LOL.

BTW, any update on Paul and rebuilding after losing his house and workshop in the fires? Nothing on his website. I seem to remember he lost everything - molds and inventory? Very sad.

I had no idea this kit even existed but I knew of the aircraft. The write up and the history is fantastic, thanks Hubert for sharing! Read every message! Your 'start' is looking good. I know of Fisher's kits, but actually have never put my hands on one. So definitely will be watching this closely! Good to see you also keep reference materials handy. I keep a folder of pictures from the internet to use as references for each build, this way I can zoom in when I need to. Keep going!!

Making a bit of progress, and the more I look at the bits in this kit, the more I am impressed with this oldie. The kit seats are actually pretty good compared to the resin seats as you can see here. It will be a shame to put a pilot into these seats and cover up all the detail! The other area where I think the kit has done really well is the instrument panel. Originally I thought the resin IP was going to be more detailed, but as you can see here, the kit IP is actually a more detailed panel. On the left side of the resin panel some of the gauges are actually off-center. Painted (gloss black) the kit IP looks even better. The resin sidewalls, however, are very detailed and fit perfectly. Attempted some preshading Decided it would be appropriate to dig out the old paints (Model Master Acryl!) to use on the old kit. I actually still have a bit of the Acryl thinner (and two and a half bottles of the Acryl cleaner). As I remembered, the paint layed down very smoothly. Coverage was pretty good, too. \ Massive ejector pin marks huh?

Scott, No worries!

Oh.. HELL ...NOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Wow, Carl, your PE work is just amazing. I would not even attempt such fine work. Wow. What do you use for your bends? And how do you get that tiny dab of CA to keep it all together? I'm in awe... Chris

Not much of an update at it took a long time to get the True Details seats separated from their pretty big pour blocks. Finally took out the Dremel tool. Cockpit is coming together but next up is painting the cockpit, as well as the interior (after getting the resin sidewalls installed). Got the sidewalls, IP and an overhead panel separated from their pour blocks which was pretty easy. The seats fit into the kit frames pretty well. They definitely have more detail than the kit seats - which I should have ground off or just used the kit seats since I'll be putting pilots into the seats. Hmm, thinking as I'm typing this. I should have thought about this a lot earlier! It's a start!

Thanks Jeff, kinda looking forward to the surgery, just hope I don't screw it up! The resin bits look really good.

Scott - Oh, that is a GREAT idea on the decals. The kit has definitely been taken care of so I'm hoping I have a similar experience to yours on the decals. I have the tail for the PBY-6A conversion from Belcher if you are interested? Belcher Bits no. 7, set BB-07 with the two-piece hollow tail. Let me know if you want it.

Hi Mike and Happy New Year neighbor! Mine is the early version with the solid tail (one piece) but I've started to hollow it out. It will take a lot of time, and in the end not sure it will make a lot of difference. Let me know how yours works out. Peter suggested a water-rescue scene which is really appealing and certainly deals with the tail-sitting issue.

Thanks Peter! Also for the display suggestion. I'm thinking about how to do that!

Hey Peter, Not really sure how to display this big beast. I LOVE the idea of the Cat in the water with a downed pilot in a liferaft paddling up to the Cat. I'm just not sure I know how to do it!

Thanks John! I haven't had to deal with Flash in a LONG TIME!

While the Catalina stuff was drying, made a bit of progress with the Voodoo. You can tell I'm really not into jets as I had to pry open the wing halves to insert the jet intakes. Oops... Plus, you really can't see the intake fans. Oh well. Cockpit was mostly painted by hand and it is amazing how poorly the various parts fit - especially the seats which I'll finish fitting after I see how they look in the fuselage. The nose gear bay is a puzzle which took a bit of fitting and refitting to try and get the geometry right. Still not quite there, but close enough I think. I forgot how well Model Master Metalizer sprays and looks. The photo doesn't quite catch the colors. Not sure why I bothered with this as you really cannot see the intake fans down the intakes! After having to pry the wing tops off to slide the intakes in... In my defense, that part of the instructions is on the OTHER side of the instruction sheet! Next up, the fuselage camo. The bottoms have been sprayed with a USAF Light Gray. Oh yeah, I need to go dip the canopies!! And off to the Catalina...

Just to continue the flow: I'm in with the venerable (and HUGE) Monogram ProModeler PBY-5A Catalina and some resin bits (new tail, cockpit details). Going to go with the 'in-flight' option which will be interesting as the kit comes with four crew - two pilots and two waist gunners. Will be doing some first-time surgery to graft on the new tail. Seriously considering drilling out the tail to try and lighten it at least a little. Have saw, will travel...

Whoa!!!

I still love this aircraft. Can't wait to see what you do with this, Peter! We seem to be hitting the old Monogram kits for this build. The Cat has a fair bit of flash to deal with - ahh, just like the old days! Chris

Scott, That is a very cool chest for your builds! Wow Can't wait to see how this goes. Chris

Very cool! I've always wondered about this kit as I think it is a terrific subject. Looking forward to your build, and the flak gun add-on. Chris

It begins! With the older models - this one from 1996 - I always give the sprues a good bath, and the resin got washed as well. I built a 1/72 Catalina and completely underestimated how BIG this bird is. OMG. The sprues didn't fit in the sink! There is something weird with some of the sprues, however. More on that in a minute. Oh yeah, with the resin tail I can't imagine this not being a huge tail-sitter so going to show this build 'in-flight". Amazingly, when I opened the box, the sprues were still in their bags. I don't think the box had been opened beyond the top being removed to put the resin bits in. Not much in the way of decals. Spruebrothers has a decal set for the Black Cats, but over all these planes are largely devoid of markings so not sure it is worth $14 just to get some codes. On the other hand, not sure 27-year-old decals are going to hold up very well... We will see. This is a lot of styrene!! Whew. Didn't photograph everything exactly... They took up most of the kitchen, drying For some reason, several places look like there is some sort of residue left over - and it would not wash off. Hmmm. This is a first for me! At least it is only on the insides. Somewhere along the way some goodies got included in the box - so TECHNICALLY I'm building OOB, since this stuff was IN the box when I bought it... The True Details set adds really nice-looking sidewalls and a couple of pilots seats among other bits. The resin TD IP is pretty detailed, so will see how well the decal does with it, or might just paint it and either add individual gauges from my spares, or will just paint each one individually (not ideal!). And now here is some major surgery that I don't think I have ever attempted before: So will see what I start with on Monday. And in the meantime, making progress on the Voodoo. This will be interesting! Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm hoping to build 20% of John's 2022 total. Who is with me?

Rob, Beautiful build and the frustrations at the end not withstanding - a great looking bird. I'm with you. It really takes a lot of steam out of me too, when I get to the finishing stages, and things like staining blue tac (I don't even try and use it anymore), or fogging canopies (I still dip all mine in Future and now I have THREE different clear cements to use!). But once things are fixed and you get a result a nice as you have, well yes, the memories of the pain and frustration are still there! And we now have proof from you and Scott of the Nautilus builds so no sneaking them into the GB this year!!

Beautiful John!! Love your cockpits - excellent work there! BTW, do you have a clone that takes care of esoteric things like eating, and grocery shopping, doing laundy and such so you can model?

Wow, look how faded and worn the paint is! esp at the gull-wing but also top of the fuselage to the bottom..

Oh boy. Let's see I built the 1/32nd F-101, and two Me-262s: 1/32 and 1/48. There was a 1/72 Serian in the mix...Working on the F-104 now. Ummm... that's half a years' worth of building for me...