OS2U Kingfisher by Kitty Hawk

[Clunkmeister]

Good o see you back at this, Carl!  

Looking dood so far.

[BlrwestSiR]

7 hours ago, Ryan said:

I don’t have this kit and will be watching.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan! Stay safe out of Dorian's way as best you can. 

[BlrwestSiR]

5 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Good o see you back at this, Carl!  

Looking dood so far.

Thanks Ernie! I've been wanting to get back at it for a while now but decided to try and finish something already on the bench before starting up again.

[BlrwestSiR]

Dropped the boys off for their first day of school and then spent a bit of time at the bench. 

Got the engine cradle put together.

As John and Ernie have mentioned, it may be more of a hindrance to getting everything aligned. But seeing as I'm missing the back part of the engine that mounts to the cradle, that concern might be moot.

Here's the front side with the IP in place.

Next up was the observer's station.  

This isn't done by far. There's a surprising amount of detail to add still. One thing I changed is I moved the observer's joystick to the stored position on the floor.

Finally I added seatbelts to the pilot's seat. The kit doesn't come with shoulder belts but these were added later on during their service. I used some leftover belts from a Tamiya Corsair as I couldn't find any specific ones for the Kingfisher. 

[harv]

Looking killer Carl....harv 

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Harv!

Here's the missing pic for the seat.

 

[TJTX]

Wow! I love the subtle yet detailed paint weathering on the interior.    This is gonna be epic. 

[Clunkmeister]

On 9/4/2019 at 10:18 AM, BlrwestSiR said:

Thanks Harv!

Here's the missing pic for the seat.

 

Carl, shoulder belts are dependent on time frame you’re modeling. Early Kingfishers had lap belts only.

[BlrwestSiR]

7 minutes ago, Clunkmeister said:

Carl, shoulder belts are dependent on time frame you’re modeling. Early Kingfishers had lap belts only.

I'm doing one from early '45 so it should have the shoulder belts. 

[BlrwestSiR]

On 9/4/2019 at 3:54 PM, TJTX said:

Wow! I love the subtle yet detailed paint weathering on the interior.    This is gonna be epic. 

Thanks Tony! I prefer to post shade things so I'm glad you like it.

[BlrwestSiR]

Got some more details done tonight. In the cockpit, it was the side panels and throttles that. They're a mix of kit and Eduard bits. 

For the observer's station, I added the flares and other details.

The other side:

Ernie, would the observer have shoulder belts as well? I've only done the lap ones as I can tell where shoulder belts would go I'd they had them. 

That's it for tonight. Still some more to go before I can close the fuselage up.

[DocRob]

Great inspirational build, Carl. You have to love these naval birds with all their sturdyness and tons of eye catching detail everywhere.

Cheers Rob

[Clunkmeister]

Carl, from what I’ve been able to dig up, no, the observer wore lap restraints only. 

[harv]

Looking great Carl !.......harv 

[BlrwestSiR]

57 minutes ago, Clunkmeister said:

Carl, from what I’ve been able to dig up, no, the observer wore lap restraints only. 

Ernie, thanks for checking. That's what I suspected but it's always nice to have some confirmation.

[BlrwestSiR]

37 minutes ago, harv said:

Looking great Carl !.......harv 

Thanks Harv!

[BlrwestSiR]

Ok, finally took the first steps towards closing up the fuselage. The pilot's seat is in along with the observer's station.

Then I added the IP/firewall assembly.

The observer's gun is giving me fits so I figure I'll get the fuselage closed up and then deal with it. 

[Jeff]

HOLY, Carl, that is so good.................... talk about eye candy..................... I can't wait for more.....

[Bomber_County]

Carl absolutely stunning, the build appears smooth at the moment, when does the cussing start ....

[1to1scale]

So, you seem to be going well with the build, does this mean that “Doogs” review was unwarranted? 

[harv]

[[CAT]CplSlade]

1 hour ago, 1to1scale said:

So, you seem to be going well with the build, does this mean that “Doogs” review was unwarranted? 

I've been seeing a few of these get built recently, so I'm guessing they aren't as rough as he said. Not that they aren't fiddly, but they seem doable. Like Special Hobby's Tempest, which many people have griped about but there is one guy who has managed to build about a dozen of the damn things in record time.

I have both and will build them once I clear my 'in-progress' kits off the bench.

[BlrwestSiR]

3 hours ago, 1to1scale said:

So, you seem to be going well with the build, does this mean that “Doogs” review was unwarranted? 

 

2 hours ago, [CAT]CplSlade said:

I've been seeing a few of these get built recently, so I'm guessing they aren't as rough as he said. Not that they aren't fiddly, but they seem doable. Like Special Hobby's Tempest, which many people have griped about but there is one guy who has managed to build about a dozen of the damn things in record time.

I have both and will build them once I clear my 'in-progress' kits off the bench.

I never read Doog's review so I can't compare to his experiences. I did get tips and advice up front from Ernie and John who both built the kit. The kit can be fiddly but if you test fit things, it seems to be ok. So far I've got very little filler on it but I haven't joined the fuselage halves together permanently yet so we'll see. I am impressed by the detail that they've included that's for sure. 

 

[GazzaS]

It's looking sweet Carl! 

[BlrwestSiR]

Ok, the fuselage is closed up now. 

Overall, I ended up with a small gap in front of the IP. Which would have fine but the cowl flaps are a bit in the way. 

The underside had an odd step on one fuselage half. I sanded it down and everything was fine.

Here's the observer's station. I'm still working on the MG.