Walrus (Airfix 1/48), NeOmega Catapult, and HMS Albatross (Niko 1/700) by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Peter, I think I'm leaning that way.  There is a lot of detail in the front turret with the anchor and winch and some other items.  Shame to close it all up!

[Landlubber Mike]

Making some progress on the Walrus.  Managed to get the interior base coat paints down along with the color PE parts, and started a little bit of the weathering.  Should be able to button it up in the next couple of days.

[GazzaS]

Looks excellent, Mike.  Shame to close it all up.

[Landlubber Mike]

4 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Looks excellent, Mike.  Shame to close it all up.

Thanks!  And I know, what a shame.  I probably will try to model it with the windows and canopy open, and maybe the nose gunner position open as well, so people can get a slight peek as to what's inside.  Would be cool to do a cutaway model of this bird in a bigger scale.  

[Peterpools]

Mike

WOW, the interior is looking fantastic. Right with Gaz that's it a shame most won't be seen when the fuslege is glued up.

 

 

 

[DocRob]

Looks great Mike and leaving all hatches and canopies open, like you consider is the best way, I think.

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Rob - I think that will show a bit more interesting details if I go that way, rather than show it as fully buttoned up and ready to launch off the catapult (kinda boring).

[Landlubber Mike]

Taking a break from putting the finishing touches on the interior, I decided to spend some time on the engine.  The kit engine is quite nice, but I picked up an engine that Vector makes specifically for this kit (VDS 48-118).  Very detailed kit as you can see below.  

Note:  the Vector set includes a replacement bottom part for the engine housing.  If you are building this kit with the Vector engine in the order in the instructions, you might miss this as the engine housing is built first on page 10, and the engine isn't built until page 15 of the instructions.  This part is important as the Vector engine has a different shape to the underside than the kit part which is a little simplified.  As part of the Vector set, you also have to trim off part of the pair of pipes that come down off the part containing the front pairs of legs.

 

My one pet peeve about this and other resin engines I've built (Aires, CMK) is that the propeller rod does not fit the kit propeller (way too narrow).  Why can't they make the rod to fit the propeller??  Now I have to figure out how to make everything fit. 🤬

The engine took a few evenings to put together as I didn't want to rush gluing the cylinders in and having them out of line.  In case you are deciding whether to buy the Vector set, as you can see in the picture below, the kit engine (left, dry fitted) is quite nice, but the Vector engine (right) really takes things up a couple of notches.  I need to do a little filling and cleaning up, but otherwise, I'm really pleased with how the engine came out.

Here is the engine mount, where you can barely make out the Vector bottom piece in the second picture.  I dry fitted the back pair of legs at the moment, as I want to button up the fuselage and test fit the engine mount before finalizing the mount.  There's also an opening in the mount that you can see in the second picture.  The kit provides two different parts that one can include on the side of the mount.  I just need to pick one of them, since I'm building a different Walrus than the three included in the kit.

Interestingly (to me at least), the Walrus Pegasus engine/mount was pointed with an offset of 3 degrees to the left.  The kit is designed this way, so kudos to Airfix.

Thanks for looking in!

[Landlubber Mike]

I've been slowly making some progress on these builds over the past couple of months.  Managed to get the fuselage buttoned up and attached a lot of the exterior Eduard photo etch which adds some nice details to the model.  Fit was very good, and it almost snapped together perfectly.  I did find that there was a bit of an overhang at the front section where the side fuselage halves met the bottom fuselage part, so I feathered in a thin strip of card which eliminated the step.

One odd omission in what has so far been a really well done kit is the lack of the rudder antennae post.  It was fairly easy to add one:

Another project in itself was building up the wing bomb bays using the Eduard PE set.  A fun little side project which adds some extra detail to the model:

At this point I'm a bit stuck as I'm trying to figure out what to do about the rigging.  Eduard adds some PE attachment points that give a little more detail than the kit parts, but I think I would need to drill holes through the PE into the wings in order to fully seat the rigging.  On the rigging, I have this AIMS PE set, but need to measure to make sure that they all fit as they are supposed to.  One build log said many of the wires didn't fit.  Two others I came across said they were a Godsend.  Hopefully they work, otherwise I need to figure out an alternative.

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Anyone know what Parts E34 and E35 are intended to be?  It's some kind of tube that fits on the under-wing bomb racks.  I wasn't planning on adding bombs to the build (at least not the E38 small bombs), but might add this tube thing.

[Landlubber Mike]

While putting off thinking about the rigging, I did start on the Albatross build.  I didn't realize this, but Niko makes two kits for this ship - one from 1939, and the other from 1942.  The 1939 version has a plain gray camo scheme, while the 1942 version has the more intricate dazzle scheme.  Otherwise, except for a few minor modifications, the kit/ship is the same between the two versions.  

I have the 1939 kit - fortunately or unfortunately - which matches up with the 1939-1940 schemes for the Walrus I'm planning to model.  I still haven't fully decided which of the two versions I'm planning to model.  I'm heavily leaning towards the 9F (first below) over the 9U, as I have the 1/32 HpH Walrus on the shelf and the scheme I like from that kit is very similar to the 9U.

Back to the Albatross, the Niko kit is very nice.  It's a mostly resin kit with a sheet of PE.  It's a welcome change from having a plastic kit where you need to eliminate details to replace them with tiny PE parts that you need to glue and fold together.  Building guns in 1/700 using PE is not fun!  Much easier when the guns or other parts are already fully, or mostly fully, molded in resin.

The hull is nicely cast, and didn't require much cleanup.  There is a small tab on the stern platform that you need to remove, but that's about it.  I gave it a lot of thought, and whereas some builders first paint the hull, then add the various details, I decided to add as many details as I can, then will paint the hull -- first painting the wooden decks, and then taping it and painting the rest of the ship.  I think in the long run that will be easier, though there are always advantages and disadvantages to either approach.

I built most of the bridge and side platforms up.  Here's where I was glad I took the approach of building before painting as it's pretty fiddly trying to get all the various parts to line up.  If I painted the bridge assembly first and then tried to install it, there was a good chance it wouldn't fit right.  That being said, I'll add the top level of the bridge separately after priming with black primer as there are lots of nooks and crannies that I might not be able to get to with the top level installed.

I also built up the AA guns, and mostly built up the three bow cranes which will get cables and hooks.  Very nice details on these parts.

Thanks for looking in!

[DocRob]

Great work all around Mike. I can't add to the tube thing question though, maybe it's a mine. I don't think there were dragged sonars by that time. The PE looks tedious, but adds a lot of detail. I can imagine the patience it took, to assemble these pieces.
I never used PE flat rigging, but the AIMS set looks like you should slot the ends of the wires, maybe in a scalpel cut small hole. Measuring will be not so easy, but you could slot in one side and look where the second slot has to be then.

Cheers Rob

[npb748r]

42 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

 It's some kind of tube that fits on the under-wing bomb racks.

It's a MkVIII depth charge - I have just bought a set of these in 1/32 scale.

[Landlubber Mike]

8 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Great work all around Mike. I can't add to the tube thing question though, maybe it's a mine. I don't think there were dragged sonars by that time. The PE looks tedious, but adds a lot of detail. I can imagine the patience it took, to assemble these pieces.
I never used PE flat rigging, but the AIMS set looks like you should slot the ends of the wires, maybe in a scalpel cut small hole. Measuring will be not so easy, but you could slot in one side and look where the second slot has to be then.

Cheers Rob

Thanks Rob!  I kinda enjoy working with PE, as it's like a puzzle often times.  Of course I hate it when I drop parts and spend an hour on my hands and knees looking for them on the floor.  CA and I have a better understanding these days, as if the CA is not behaving, I threaten it with accelerator.  Makes for a nicer relationship.

That was the sense I got from the AIMS instructions as well.  What will be tricky I think is slotting the ends where they should connect with the Eduard PE attachment points (see picture below).  I think it's just a matter of drilling a small hole in the center of these PE parts, and then running the AIMS wire ends into the hole.  I'm probably overthinking this.  

On my first plastic builds in coming back to the hobby after 30 years, I had stainless wire aftermarket from Starfighter that I added to my 1/72 F4B-4 and P-6E builds.  It was really tricky adding them, given that if you didn't fit them just right, the wires would bend.  The parts were double wires which made things even worse.  Hopefully at this scale and the fact that the Walrus rigging involves single wires, the AIMS set should be easier.

[DocRob]

7 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

That was the sense I got from the AIMS instructions as well.  What will be tricky I think is slotting the ends where they should connect with the Eduard PE attachment points (see picture below).  I think it's just a matter of drilling a small hole in the center of these PE parts, and then running the AIMS wire ends into the hole.  I'm probably overthinking this.  

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it seems to me the Eduard attachment points and AIMS wires are not a perfect match. If you have the attachment points already glued, you could use flat elastic rigging material, like Prym produces. I think EZ-Line is also available flat shaped. 

Cheers Rob

[Landlubber Mike]

3 minutes ago, npb748r said:

It's a MkVIII depth charge - I have just bought a set of these in 1/32 scale.

Thanks!  Good to know.  Kit part looks awfully plain, hmm...  

[Landlubber Mike]

20 minutes ago, DocRob said:

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it seems to me the Eduard attachment points and AIMS wires are not a perfect match. If you have the attachment points already glued, you could use flat elastic rigging material, like Prym produces. I think EZ-Line is also available flat shaped. 

Cheers Rob

I haven't glued those points in yet, but I believe I removed some of the plastic points in preparation for the Eduard parts so will need to use the Eduard PE at this point I suppose.  My guess is I will need to drill holes whether I use the AIMS wires or elastic rigging, just so there is a little more security with the bond.  I'll have to play around with it.  A big reason why I put the Walrus down and started on the Albatross 😞 

[Landlubber Mike]

I made a lot more progress on the Albatross the past few nights.  Managed to get the bridge completed, and added a bunch of other items to the rear half of the ship.  I changed my mind and am going to paint the deck before adding all the various deck items.  Part of the issue is that if I put on some of the platforms, I really won't be able to paint the deck underneath.  Plus, a lot of the deck items are resin with their bottoms attached to the plug, so I can paint them off the model, cut them off, and then glue them onto the deck - at least that's the idea.  

Next I worked on the Walruses.  I probably only need one, but built the second up as a spare.  I thought building a biplane in 1/72 was tricky - at 1/700, it's a completely different story!  Good practice for future builds I suppose as I have a few 1/700 aircraft carriers in the stash.

Thanks for looking in!

[HubertB]

Nice work. I would not even dare trying anything in 1/700, so kudos to you 👍 !
Your 1/700 Walruses seem to have grown a Pinocchio nose, however …

Keep it coming 

Hubert

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Hubert!  The Walrus weren't too bad.  I had to run them under hot water to straighten out the wings a bit, but other than that, the hardest thing was not losing the tiny things like the floats and tail wings.  

For the nose, I think part of the look is an exaggeration from the extreme magnification, part is that the kit is trying to show the gun in the front turret.  I'll have to figure out if I want to keep it or not, thanks for pointing it out.

[Bomber_County]

Amazing workmanship on both kits, the Walrus looks great……

[Landlubber Mike]

2 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Amazing workmanship on both kits, the Walrus looks great……

Thanks BC, really appreciate the kind words!

[KevinM]

Well that is looking awfully Good there Mike.The PE on the 1/72 Walrus looks like you have reached Master Status Sir!

[Landlubber Mike]

30 minutes ago, KevinM said:

Well that is looking awfully Good there Mike.The PE on the 1/72 Walrus looks like you have reached Master Status Sir!

Thanks Kevin, really appreciate it!  I'm slowly getting better at PE, and still have room to improve.  It really helps to have the right tools - Optivisor, very fine tweezers, and a good hold and fold unit (I have the Bug and one of the larger units from The Small Shop which I highly recommend).  

[Landlubber Mike]

Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend, at least for those in the US and other places around the world where this important day of remembrance is observed.  Thank you to all our veterans! 

I managed to find some time this weekend to move the Albatross along.  I have to say that I'm very impressed with the kit.  The resin parts are very nice, and the PE is very well done for great details.  Everything fits together very nicely, and seems to be accurate relative to the real thing from the sources I have.

I decided that I'm going to install the deck items after painting the deck, as I think in the long run it will be easier, particularly with some of the hard to reach areas on the build.  So, I primed the deck with a thin coat of Mr Surfacer 1500, then sprayed the decks with Tamiya Deck Tan.  I also started to work on the main mast.  My kit didn't include the rod for the main or rear masts, so I used 0.8mm rod for the main mast and installed the PE for the crows nest and other details.  There is an upper section of the mast that needs to be included as well - I have some 1/700 aftermarket mast sections that I'm hoping will work.

I also worked on assembling the catapult components.  The kit allows you to built the catapult extended or retracted.  I built out the extended version which I think will match up with the extended version of the NeOmega catapult I'm planning on building for the 1/48 Walrus.  Here's a picture of the guns, cranes, and catapult parts that will be painted and then separately added to the model after it gets painted.

Next steps are to finish building the main and rear masts, and rather than use the 2D PE parts for the bow and stern posts, I will scratch build them for a three-dimensional look.  At that point, I can start painting the hull - light grey for the hull sides, and a darker gray for the sections above the decks.  

Thanks for looking in!