HPH PBY-5 Catalina

[gfiend]

Hello,

 

Thank you for the positive comments;

 

Paulster, thank you for the information on the bombs. I'll finish them smooth.

 

James, I second that. Come on Dave, there's only several hundred parts that need to be individually prepared.

 

Cheers Iceman, I hope I can keep the updates more regular.

 

Cees, the kit is a bit daunting and unfortunately the chocolate supplied doesn't really last the distance. It's a bit of a zen exercise in sanding and listening to audio books - currently the Game of Thrones series - they're good for about 200 hrs of building time.

 

Cheers Paul

[Dave J]

HeyHeyHey! Your back on to it!

 

I am very temped to start mine too! But I do need to get a couple of things out of the way first!

[gfiend]

Gidday Dave,

 

I'm really enjoying the build, intense though it may be. Everything needs to be individually prepared but it does give you a good feel for the kit. 

 

One thing I do need to do is build/buy a spray booth. Ideally something I can keep covered while parts are drying. As I've only done limited spraying in the past I think it would be helpful to have a dedicated area where I can leave parts to dry and avoid the adverse respiratory effects of some paints. (Lacquers as one example - I've always used a respirator when spraying in the past but this isn't the most comfortable thing to wear.)

 

I'd love to see you start yours - I know I'd learn a lot.

 

Paul

[Fran]

YES!!! You`re back!!! 

I will follow thi fantastic build, to be a guide to my Cutaway Cat!

[Dave J]

Paul what are you using to remove the parts from the backing of the resin pours/thin film excess?

[JeffH]

Yes...I'm curious about that too

[gfiend]

Gidday,

 

I've been using a 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface. I find that it's best to use it wet as this eliminates resin dust. This does take a bit of patience and care as it's easy to sand unevenly. I also use a hobby blade to scrape away excess flash. Both methods are hugely time consuming but I like having control over how much material is removed. (The whole project is very much a zen exercise.)

 

I hope to add an update later tomorrow but I have an arrangement to have a few rums with my neighbour who was a navigator on the Cats during the war. Funny thing is we initially have mostly coke with rum, then later it seems to be mostly rum with coke....

 

Cheers

 

Paul 

[JeffH]

Thanks for the explanation Paul

 

So we're all assuming that the pour stub (sheet in this case) is extra material. The sheet is so thin I was wondering if maybe HpH took its size into account for the

overall length of the part. If the 1 mm (or less) of material was not removed and we just trimmed around the outer edge as if it was flash on an injection-molded

part would the overall fit of these parts be affected.

 

Just wondering out loud. I have 3 of the kits in the stash (Walrus, 410, Fw189) and every time I look at these wafers I go 'hmmmm'

[kahunaminor]

Gidday,

 

I hope to add an update later tomorrow but I have an arrangement to have a few rums with my neighbour who was a navigator on the Cats during the war. Funny thing is we initially have mostly coke with rum, then later it seems to be mostly rum with coke....

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

I had noticed that as well with my mixed drinks. Apparently it's to bring balance to The Force...there must be an equilibrium.

[gfiend]

Gidday,

 

The force was well balanced last night but oddly enough my state of equilibrium seemed to be out....

 

I've made a little more progress preparing parts which I'll show below. This is the horizontal stabiliser and elevator. The instructions are a little contradictory on several points with respect to part numbering. The fillet in the lower right of the picture is shown in the assembly instructions as  Part # 321 and initially appears to be one piece. What is not mentioned is that it  consists of two symmetrical halves and are shown in the parts list as # 319. The elevator mount fillet (The small part shown in the centre of the stabiliser.) is numbered as Part # 328 in the instructions but is numbered as # 326 in the parts list. None of this is insurmountable but does emphasize the need to number and prepare all the parts before glueing. I'd also like to point out that there is some really nice surface detail on these parts, even to the point of lightening holes in the horizontal and vertical stabiliser spars.

 

 

 

 

You can see the elevator mount fillet in the lower right hand corner of the picture below. This sheet comes with both as well as the parts for the vertical stabiliser spars. I was asked earlier if there is a need to sand down the sheet backing. I think it really depends on the fit of the part. If the part is trimmed and fits nicely I would leave it but there are components that need to be sanded. The cylinder heads for the engines comes to mind as one example.

 

 

A word of caution when trimming the rudder. Leave some casting support on the leading edge during clean up as there is only a very small amount of material between the top and bottom rudder. I didn't think that through very well when I was cleaning it up. However, there is enough material for me to drill each part spanwise at the trailing edge and epoxy some wire inside to help strengthen the joint.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm away at for the next few days at work but all going well I'll have another update next week. I'm really enjoying this build and am looking forward to seeing how these parts come up when some paint is applied.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[One-Oh-Four]

Great project! Nowadays Bibles aren't copied by hand anymore, so the patient people need another type of job.... Looking at it; that's where HpH comes in!

Carry on; I love it!

[Dave J]

Great stuff Paul!

[AlgiaNick]

Great kit and very nice work!!! Keep going on...      

[gfiend]

Gidday,

 

Eric, I must have enjoyed cooying bibles in a previous life cause there is a lot of time involved preparing each part.

 

Dave and Nick, thank you for the encouragement. This one is going to be a bit of a marathon.

 

And not being one to avoid adding to the stash, I've just bought the HPH Arado.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[gfiend]

Hello,

 

Just a small update as I haven't had a lot of time. I've been away with work and have just had two days off, and now I'm away again tomorrow.

 

The picture below is really a "heads up" to anyone who might be building this. The instructions label the horizontal stabilisers as 318L and 318R respectively but the parts themselves aren't actually numbered. And they are subtly different. Notice the RH stabiliser has a round access panel at the aft inboard edge. This does not appear on the left hand panel. The elevators too are handed, with the access panels appearing on the underside of each. (See pictures above to see what I mean.)

 

 

There is another potential issue when fitting the stabilisers - the fillet that fairs the rear of the stabilisers needs to be fitted such that the stabiliser tip, elevator trailing edge and fillet trailing edge all line up. This wouldn't necessarily be such an issue if the elevators were modelled hanging down but it is something to keep in mind.

 

 

Finally, I've included the wingtip floats as a comparison between how a part is presented in the kit and how it looks once cleaned up. This took me about an hour, which may give an idea of the amount of effort required when you consider all the parts in the kit. There is some lovely detail as you can see so I think it justifies some care. Incidentally, the notch at the front of the LH float is for the tie-down ring to attach to.

 

 

Until next time

 

Paul

[James H]

Some great tips there, Paul.

 

The fit looks pretty good. I just love the HpH stuff.

[nichenson]

Definitely following this as I have one in the stash.  I have the He111 interior coming today which I will probably tackle way before I get to this though.

[youngtiger1]

Man, look at the size of those hoz tails. I wish I could afford this beautiful beast

[gfiend]

Gidday youngtiger,

 

Yes, it is a bit of a monster. When I was younger I was in the same position as you  and could never have afforded to buy something like this. The flip side is that now I'm older I can afford these kits but am often away working so don't have the time to get much building done.

 

Having said that, I'm hoping to have some time at the work bench later on today.

 

Now, here's a question for any PBY afficionados out there. I really need to make a  decision as to whether or not to convert my kit to a straight PBY. I quite like the four colour PBY-5a scheme that was used by US forces in the Pacific. I think the weathering would be challenging but could look fantastic. However, does anyone have good pictures or drawings of the interior layout of the PBY-5 as opposed to the amphibious version. I ask this because building a PBY may not be as simple as I initially thought. For example, in the amphibian the pilot/co-pilot seats are mounted on to the wheel well structure. Can it be assumed that this approach was kept for the PBY flying boat? Also too, what was the layout inside the fuselage in the area where the main gear would have been situated?

 

The early RNZAF Cats had the single nose gun set up that comes with the HPH kit but were later converted to the dual gun arrangement. 

 

I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts on this.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Dave J]

Your asking some questions that I wanting to know sometime soon Paul!

 

I would think the Cockpit would be the same.. But I am not sure myself. and the other area would be the interior area where the main wheel housing are located.

 

There are few Catalina's that don't have the "Bugeye" Turret fitted...

 

NZ4047 arrived Fiji 15 September 1944. Served with 5Sdn at Espirito Santo as PA-C and then postwar to Lauthala Bay as KN-B with the reformed 5Sdn.

 

 

 

 

NZ4050

 

 

I have seen more,  but I can't remember where... I have been told that 6 Squadron photo album is stored at the National Archives across from my wifes work. I have been meaning to go and have a look at it.

 

But personally I am wanting to do a Bugeye Catalina, So I asked my workmate to start doing this...

 

 

[gfiend]

Hi Dave,

 

Good to hear from you. I've had a bit of a search on the net and I have had a few hints as to the interior layout. This is a link to the Pensacola cutaway Cat, which I believe is a PBY-5. http://www.seawings.co.uk/Catalina-NASPensacolaWRgal.htm  In the amphibious model the pilot seats are mounted on the nose wheel well, whereas the photo below appears to show the seats mounted on built up structure. (Photo linked from Seawings walkaround gallery)

 

 

I can see I'm going to have to do some more research on this. 

 

Cheers Paul

 

PS: That turret looks great too - I quite like the idea of twin guns in the nose.

[youngtiger1]

Hey Paul, I'm glad you can afford to build on such models, I hope to be able to someday but in the mean time, I'll indulge myself seeing you work on this. I do have couple off 1/48 PBY kits and one of them I will build in early yellow wing paint scheme. I'm going to use Belcher Bits windows and tail conversion to backdate it. I wish I could help with interior info but don't have any, but I hope you find some soon.

 

Mike

[crazypoet]

I love this kit! Watching with interest and a touch of envy...

[gfiend]

Hello,

 

I've been wanting to do an update for a while now but every time I've gotten close, something has come up.

 

For anyone who is considering building this kit I would advise cleaning up the parts over a period of time. I cannot emphasize enough how long this process can take. It's a lovely kit and cannot be rushed. Rather than finishing current projects and working on the big Cat I would suggest preparing each part piece by piece while working on an existing project or projects. So, when commencing a modelling session perhaps prepare a part or two from the Cat and then continue on with your main project. It's also a good chance to get a feel for the kit and where everything goes and is an opportunity to think about order of construction. (I've found that the instructions aren't always clear and there are some anomalies throughout the assembly manual with respect to numbering of parts.)

 

Below is the partially prepared right hand gunners blister. Each pod comes attached to a casting block and needs to be carefully removed and sanded. The blisters are beautifully thin and clear but rather fragile so care is needed.

 

 

And below we have all the prepared components for the left hand gun blister. Parts 302 and 302a in the lower part of the picture need to be glued together. Now, being resin there are some limitations as to what can be used for gluing. I was thinking about CA but am concerned that there could be associated fogging. Unfortunately epoxy is too slow acting to achieve a nicely aligned join.

 

 

The last picture shows the walkway tread plates and central walkway trusses. There is a potential issue with the trusses as they should be left and right handed. However, they are all cast in the same way. I'll have a better idea once I start seeing how all these parts fit into the fuselage but I would say I may have some simple scratch building ahead.

 

 

Hopefully it won't be a month before my next update.

 

Paul

[gfiend]

Hello,

 

Not too many pictures in this one but some major construction considerations to highlight.

 

First off, let's have some pictures to show what I'll be discussing:

 

 

As you can see from the above picture I've been considering joining of the fuselage halves. This stemmed from beginning to prepare the frames for installation. Each frame needs to be individually fitted, not only with respect to the fuselage but also the interior fittings and equipment. For example, there is a frame at each end of the nose wheel structure that needs to fit both the wheel well structure and the fuselage contour. During this process it struck me that it's no good getting each frame to fit in the fuselage if the halves don't fit consistently together. So my focus changed from fitting frames to matching and pre-drilling holes in the joining edges. This allowed me to epoxy a wire spigot in each hole in the left hand half. There are no pictures as I'm waiting for the epoxy to thoroughly cure before splitting the halves. (Hopefully I haven't welded the fuselage halves together.)

 

I couldn't resist: Below is the central mainplane sitting on the fuselage - this is a really big model! (Though not anywhere near as large as the proposed HPH Me 323 Gigant.)

 

 

Another problem is highlighted below: While the external fuselage halves match nicely the step on the interior (As viewed through the left hand main wheel well.) leaves something to be desired. I'm left with considering whether this will be covered by walkways and equipment or doing some surgical work to correct the fault. I suspect I know what I'll end up doing....

 

 

Finally, here is a sample of the many parts that need to be individually prepared prior to assembly.....there are many more to go.

 

 

Cheers

 

Paul