ProModeler 1/48 PBY-5A Catalina + Goodies, RFI

[Bomber_County]

Chris, I have been very amiss in following. Just caught up, the new tail looks great shame the trench work was so pronounced. This is certainly going to look a stunner. I have trouble with 35th let alone 48th figures. I she going to be in flight?

[CANicoll]

Thanks Rob and Gary - Now that the poses are basically correct, and I have a better idea of what detail can be seen, I'll do the painting in earnest. Rob - thanks for the link, I didn't see anything there, but it did give me the idea to check out Hannants as SB didn't have any tropical figures that I could find.  Was hoping to maybe find a maintenance crew/ground crew set.  I'm sure there is one out there.

Phil, Figures are something I need to get better at.  Hoping Gary/@gazzas does a tutorial on how he does his masterful work!  She will be 'in flight' but the dio I was thinking of is just too big to do.  In 1/144 maybe!

[Landlubber Mike]

If you can't find the figures you want, you can always try making your own?  They have heads you can by so you don't have to worry about sculpting the faces (I think Ultracast sold packs of them).  Bodies you can make yourself using clay, etc.  Lot of work for sure, but might be an option if all else fails.

[Vandy1 VX-4]

Sculpy  Is a ceramic clay you can fire in your oven and you can use a heads from hornet and I think Ultracast also does them 

[CANicoll]

I'm not quite up to making my own figures, but appreciate the thoughts, guys.  Swapping heads would have been a pretty good idea.  Here is where I'm at so far:

These guys just look horrible close up!  Arrgh.

Hopefully the pilots look a bit better!

Testing the fit and it is TIGHT.  These are the kit figures and had to remove one of the 'steering wheels' to get the legs to fit.  Arms, well, they will be another story...

Painted now, and glued into place with some white glue so I can move them later if necessary.

And both halves.  Once the pilots are in place, I'll construct seatbelts to the cockpit seats.

Getting there!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone.  Italy gave England a late run but came up short in the Seven Nations Championship.

Chris

[BlrwestSiR]

Chris, nice progress. I think a few of us are intimidated by figure painting and could use the practice, me included. I'm not looking forward to when I have to add figures to my Vosper. 

[GazzaS]

Nice progress on those figgies!

[DocRob]

I like the figures in this stage of painting. I'm always astonished, how small these 1/48 buggers are to the un-macroed eye. They will look great with their believable poses.

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

Thanks Gents!  The worst part is the pilots will not be that visible under the canopy.  Oh well!  

[Peterpools]

Chris

Considering the age of the figures, scale and how you are working towards a specific look, your figures are looking good. No question, way better then anything I could do.

 

[CANicoll]

Thanks, Peter!  I'll keep working on them to see if I can do better.

[CANicoll]

Did some test fitting and will have two potential problems to address this weekend.

First, not sure how to address the blister window.  It slides up under the blister itself, but there are not any points to adhere the window to.  I'll get some better pictures but the other problem is that I'm going to have to paint the window first, THEN assemble the window into the blister securing it to SOMETHING inside there, and then paint the blister.

The second problem is fitting the pilots.  Probably should have ground down the seats but may need to cut out some of the middle of the pilots (which will be easy since they are cut in half already).  Test fitting showed the canopy fits onto the fuselage, and the pilots heads just barely touch or maybe just barely clearing the canopy overhead.  Just need to make sure there is additional clearance for the engine controls which are mounted on the canopy roof.

All of this has slowed down work on the Cat, for some reason.  I COULD have masked and painted the wing insignia, but I like to spray all of the insignia at the same time to ensure color consistency.

More to come!

[GazzaS]

Chris,

    Here is where your window attachment point.

 

 

 

[Peterpools]

Chris

Gaz's photograph shows the attachment point very well and should be a big help.

I'm with Carl in that I've shied away from doing figures for all these years and if I tried now, it certainly would a daunting experience. I still have the erg these days to try but working in 32nd or 35th scale will be a lot easier and my only chance of succeeding (quality doesn't count). 

Yup, getting your crew to fit is another issue and the only two options seems to be;

trimming the figures as needed

opening up the pilot's area a bit more in the cockpit - 

Both aren't ideal and both will need a steady hand. I'm sure you will have all under control as you work your way through the problem.👍

[DocRob]

Have you considered leaving the sliding panel away, Chris. In this scale, there maybe is more to win with leaving it off, compared to potentially damage the fixed part of the blister.

One of my Catalina pics from NASM Pensacola

Cheers Rob

[HubertB]

4 hours ago, DocRob said:

Have you considered leaving the sliding panel away, Chris. In this scale, there maybe is more to win with leaving it off, compared to potentially damage the fixed part of the blister.

One of my Catalina pics from NASM Pensacola

Cheers Rob

In this pic, the blister is actually opened, Rob, not removed …

Hubert

[GazzaS]

I would just leave the part off.  it's way out of scale thickness and would probably be a visual distraction.  In 32nd scale, the brave and well-kitted resourceful person might try vacforming the part. 

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, HubertB said:

In this pic, the blister is actually opened, Rob, not removed …

I know Hubert, my suggestion was not based on the picture, I only remembered, I have this pic and it might be helpful.

Cheers Rob

[belugawhaleman]

On 1/30/2023 at 7:51 PM, CANicoll said:

UPS decided, after missing the delivery time, that I needed to 'verify my address' - but they had the address correct.    Actually, UPS didn't show up for the evening deliveries here (I can look out over the complex).  Frustrating, but it seems to happen frequently, and I have to be here to sign for the package (thank you Tamiya!).  Oh well.  Worst things are happening in the world.

Got the next bit of Mr Surfacer on the tail.  Might go back in a few minutes and work on it.  🙂

Always have trouble with UPS. I've told my suppliers; Sprue Brothers, scalehobbyist and

Burbank's house of Hobbies not to ship my orders via UPS. Mr Surfacer is a great product use it all the

time. You're making great progress so far!

[CANicoll]

Hmm, I will see about the fit, but leaving the 'window' off is certainly an option I had not considered - thanks for suggesting.  Definitely the parts are way over scale and I agree with Rob that maybe just leaving them off is best.

Peter - fitting the figures is giving me fits and definitely slowing me down.  I'll sit down and fiddle with it, find that I have another variable to deal with and decide to hold off for a while.  (for example, once the torso is attached to the legs, then it's a matter of attaching the arms so the hands are on the steering wheel(s), which have come off the steering column for better or worse).  Thinking of starting another build but can't clear my head enough to figure out what to start next.

Maybe tomorrow will bring more clarity and motivation.  

[Peterpools]

Chris

Take it from a guy who knows so pitiful little about figures. getting them into realistic stances and blending in, not to mention painting them as well, is no easy feat. It's certainly another difficult variable to deal with. At the point, maybe the best way to proceed, is just skip the figures and move on. Might just get the juices flowing again and lesson all the aggravation.

 

[DocRob]

My shaky approach to figures is, when I think about a project, I plan for the best possibly available choice of figures, quality wise. I have so many ways to ruin a paintjob, that I don't need figures, which don't support me with detailed and sharp casting, good believable poses and correct sizes. Apart from modifying the position of a hand, I haven't done major surgery to figures though. I know, it doesn't really help with your actual project, its only my planning process considering figures for projects.

Cheers Rob

[CANicoll]

Finally just bit the bullet, sat down, and figured it out.  Its not 100% perfect, but with the canopy closing this will hide many of the imperfections.  Win Win!!

After spending too much time trying to fit the figure to the steering wheels, flipped the script.  It actually worked out pretty close.

The arm placement is kind of random but actually is probably more natural looking instead of having all four hands tightly on the wheels.  The pilot on the right has had its head removed and turned slightly to his left - like he is looking out the window.

They do sit a little proud in their seats, still. Hopefully with a bit of adjusting still will not have an issue getting the canopy to sit tight.

Both steering wheels were actually a mm or two away from the bar so fabricated a piece to span the distance for the pilot, and just used some CA for the co-pilot's wheel.  Doubt much of this will be seen anyway.

Next step is to construct some tape shoulder belts to go from the seat to the pilot's shoulders.  Not sure how much will be seen, but I think it will be visible through one of the many windows for the canopy.  Also, getting the waist gunners set up.  Still figuring out the window situation.  But at least some progress, Finally!!

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow, those figures came out fantastic!!  Nice job!

[GazzaS]

Chris,

    The cockpit crew looks great.  Glad to see you are getting through it.