CANicoll Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 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! 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Looking forward to this one. Love the PBY. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Like Gary, I love the PBY and Im looking forward to your build. You will need a steel rod for the in flight display, this will be a heavy bird. I had only the guts to buy (not build ) a 1/72 one. I really like to see, how you master the black finish and weathering, not easy to do I guess. Cheers Rob 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Chris, happy new year. Great to see a PBY being built, not that many around. If you put enough weight in the nose to compensate the resin tail you could use the u/c…… 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 This one A/C I have never built in any scale don't why unless just the size itself.I have seen some intense builds of the PBY over the years. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Chris So glad the Black Cat is now underway and holy smokes, she is big! I have no idea what the stains are and being on the inside, can you sand them off to be on the safe side? Easily going to be an awesome build with the AM and corrections. As long as the decals are useable, I would go with them, as I completely agree, there really enough specific and colorful markings, to warrant buying an AM decal sheet. I'm front and center for the entire build 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 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! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottsGT Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 Chris, cut the “Pro-Modeler” and “Invisa-clear” and see how they react when wet. My F-16 I finished last month was a 40 year old kit and the decals worked fine. FWIW, I have the regular version of the kit but I did pick up some black cat decals and I lucked up and found brass landing gear. Now I need to get that corrected tail section. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 I can also tell you , Mike's resin bits are top drawer, his stuff is well done and fantastic.. he is a real good guy to deal with as well... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 11 hours ago, Peterpools said: Chris So glad the Black Cat is now underway and holy smokes, she is big! I have no idea what the stains are and being on the inside, can you sand them off to be on the safe side? Easily going to be an awesome build with the AM and corrections. As long as the decals are useable, I would go with them, as I completely agree, there really enough specific and colorful markings, to warrant buying an AM decal sheet. I'm front and center for the entire build Thanks Peter! Also for the display suggestion. I'm thinking about how to do that! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 10 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said: 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! 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 9 hours ago, ScottsGT said: Chris, cut the “Pro-Modeler” and “Invisa-clear” and see how they react when wet. My F-16 I finished last month was a 40 year old kit and the decals worked fine. FWIW, I have the regular version of the kit but I did pick up some black cat decals and I lucked up and found brass landing gear. Now I need to get that corrected tail section. 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 9 hours ago, Jeff said: I can also tell you , Mike's resin bits are top drawer, his stuff is well done and fantastic.. he is a real good guy to deal with as well... Thanks Jeff, kinda looking forward to the surgery, just hope I don't screw it up! The resin bits look really good. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 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! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Great to see a PBY. With the original version of the tail, I don't think you can put enough weight in the nose to get it to sit level. I'm just remembering from when I did mine so many years ago. Carl 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Chris Always something as options and challenges constantly changes through a build. Even though the Kingfisher is way smaller then the Big Cat, I'm already facing some of the same challenges and choices of what to change and as it a very old kit. Thank goodness for flash and mounting pins used to hold all the original interior parts in place.😉 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottsGT Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 9 hours ago, CANicoll said: 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. Seems like that one needs a little more than the tail? From BB instructions: PBY-5 to a PBN; major changes to the nose are required, including a different turret, and references are very sketchy. I just want to go with a 5A correction. Thanks though! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 14 hours ago, ScottsGT said: Seems like that one needs a little more than the tail? From BB instructions: PBY-5 to a PBN; major changes to the nose are required, including a different turret, and references are very sketchy. I just want to go with a 5A correction. Thanks though! Scott, No worries! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 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? 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Chris Some mighty nice progress and I have to agree, putting in the pilots and covering up the seats would be a shame. And completely agree about the IP, the kit IP is way better then the resin replacement - now that something you don't see every day. Sidewall look so good with all the details and pre-shading came through perfectly. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Nice work so far Chris. I'm impressed by the paint still being good. I didn't get the Model Master Acryl paints to ever work for me. Many went off in the bottle before I could even try them and those that didn't, wouldn't stuck. Glad you've had success with them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Carl Same here - I bought some when they first brought the line out and I some issues shooting them and masking tape tended to lift the paint, a problem I didn't have with MM enamels, which I love. I bit the bullet and moved on. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANicoll Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 I've had similar lifting problems with MM in the past - long before I learned the benefits of primer. I definitely like it for interior work and where I'm not masking the exterior. I didn't have too many problems spraying it, especially once I got a new airbrush and moved on from the Aztec I was using to get started. It is really surprising how poor the TD IP looks compared to the kit IP. Off-center gauge recesses, and generally soft detail really don't show well. At least the seats are pretty good and the sidewalls should spruce up the cockpit nicely. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 59 minutes ago, CANicoll said: long before I learned the benefits of primer. All's looking good Chris I pre-shaded the HK B-25 liked the effects quite a bit.The issue of primer has been a new development here of late for me starting with He-111 I built for the last GB been hooked ever since. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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