CANicoll

I bet if you send a message to Radu with your question - he would give you an honest answer. I spent a fair amount of time with him in Phoenix at Nationals (and have conversed with him quite a bit over on LSP.com as well). Just tell him what you want to accomplish and see what he says. Good luck! Chris

Joel and Peter - thanks! I'm hoping to get a response here pretty soon. This is the second time I've written them - the first time I did not get a response to. Sothwestforests - interesting on the different color blacks. I think I may stick with the MIG Neutral wash - but probably won't do a lot more with it. I don't want them as stark as in the picture, so going with a different shade of black is appealing. Hmmm Chris

So am still waiting to hear back from Alliance Modelworks - the folks who make the prop blur on which of their product is large enough to fit a Catalina. I may have to go with a prop that is 10% too small. In the meantime - I"m not using most of the landing gear (nose esp) or the radome atop the cockpit, or the props, if anyone needs them. Happy to drop them into the post. Hate waiting! Just want to get this one done... Chris

Can't hurt to contact Eduard to see if they have any extra sets of the Rickenbacker decals available. The Eduard kit is available on EBay for nearly $100 - but that is very pricey. Eduard also sells the SPAD as 'Overtrees' which is just the plastic kit without decals or PE. I used the Revell 1/28 kit and Copper State decals for my build: Definitely not on the same level as an Eduard kit - but it builds up into a nice model all the same. Good luck with your hunt! Merit also offers a 1/24 scale Spad XIII but I've never built one of the Merit kits (and just

Thanks guys! It has its problems but it is an easy kit to get together. So the idea is that this is an 'inflight' Catalina, but am having problems finding the appropriate Prop Blur for the big props the Cats used (11' or 11'6" depending on which prop was used). Alliance ModelWorks has one that might work, but it is about 10% too small so sent them a message to see what they recommend for a 1/72 Catalina prop. Stay tuned! Engines are basically ready to go. Still need to attach the antenna wires, but trying to figure out exactly which antenna set up to use. There were many diffe

Joel: Here are the wing join pics just for you. Pre-painted and just glued together: It is possible to see a bit of a seam in the pics but the fit is very tight and its very hard to see with my eyes (not that THAT is a big endorsement!). If you are not heading to a major competition, you might not care. And the broken clear nose turret and guns: You can see the seam in the nose, which I didn't really clean up for this build. I'm still looking for these 1/48 scale decals for the Monogram kit.

Joel, SO! got the wing all put together and the struts on. The wing actually went together flawlessly. I can't see a seam on top or bottom and I didn't do any special prep. The struts on the other hand are barely hanging on. Might need some epoxy or something as there is a bit of a gap that needs to be filled (and strengthened!). I have it set at the moment using gap-filling CA, but not sure of its strength. I accidentally knocked off one strut when I turned the plane over to check the wing joins. My fat fingers! But it is a beautiful join. Check out yours when you open yo

Thanks Peter! Joel, I think it is easier to handle the plane with the wing tip sections off. I noticed I needed to do some touch-up painting on the nose of the blisters as well as around the base of the nose (the spray paint just did not quite reach there I guess). MUCH easier to see with the masks off as the light shines through. I also had a bit of touch-up as the front windscreen mask actually took up some of the paint on the frame between the front windshields. No big deal. Ciao for now! Chris

Making a LITTLE bit of progress but getting the pieces together. Have not put the full wing together yet. Definitely the right decision not to put the top wing on before taking the masks off the blisters. Once that top wing goes it, there is not a lot of room to pull the front masks off. See: I usually use a toothpick or the edge of a blade to pull up a corner of the mask and then curved tweezers to finish pulling the mask up. One thing I've noticed on the blisters in the Academy kit (and I've not yet checked the Mongram 1/48 kit I have) is that the bottoms of the

Joel: I have not joined them up yet. Two things: 1 - putting on the top wing makes it a bit harder to pull off the masks from the front of the rear blisters and I wanted to wait till I got the decals on and the gloss/matte coats on before putting the wings on. 2 - I want to be very careful to get everything lined up so the wing struts fit properly. There are eight specific mounting points for these struts so want to make sure I don't have the wing a bit crooked before getting them on. SHOULD get the wing on tomorrow evening if all goes to plan. 😉 When using masks I usually run

Thanks Peter! I'm still getting used to the new site so posted the original message without any pictures, added now.... Did not intend on working 3 at the same time, but I was asked to rig that DH 9a so that was the added project. NOT a fan of all that rigging, then I still have to do my Pfaltz too. UGH. But WNW does say to use EZ Line so I guess I am getting a LOT of practice. Chris

So I'm working on three different planes at once: The 1/72 Black Cat Catalina, a 1/32 Roden Pfaltz III and for a friend I'm doing the rigging on a DH 9a so a bit of multi-tasking as you can imagine. Works well as I wait for decals and paint to dry, etc. Here is latest work on the Cat. there are not many decals to be applied, but they are good ones! The KitsWorld decals do not show size application, but its not hard to figure out. I've already noted some differences between the different decal vendors on placement of the decals. All of them actually including saying the wing in

VERY interesting about the yellow nose gear. The nose gear is not yellow in Udvar Hazy but clearly is in some of the period pictures so good catch. Nice looking bird you got there , Bo! Beautifully done. Where in the world do you keep it? Chris

If you have a fine enough airbrush try airbrushing a slightly lighter color in between the ribs or even in random areas around the wing to show some paint fading. Or depending on if you used a primer coat maybe take a light sanding to the wing to wear off some of the paint from the leading edge or the ribs? Just a thought. Good luck! Chris

Thanks Joel, they really are the only way to go in this scale. I know someone who uses BMF and I just can't get the hang of that. I seem to have a decent system with the Eduard masks, although the yellow tape doesn't show the cuts very well. I use a mag light and a very small Xacto blade to gently lift and remove the mask, and then to help me position it on the model. Takes patience, but then again, what doesn't? The glass fits pretty well, but the forward fuselage windows are VERY easy to get crooked (ask me how I know...). The smaller rectangle windows aft and the circular ones seem to

Peter, Joel and Rocat: Howdy! Definitely I see myself buying more and more Eduard Masks and if I can't get them then I may not do the model. I hate Ill painted ball turrets and canopies and such. I used a bit of I JUST noticed that I Forgot to put the armor shields on the blister machine guns. Blast. Contemplating what to do about it at this point. Its always something! 🙂 I put a ring of Formula 560 around the opening for the blisters and the canopy. Here are some pics with the glass in place and I finally got the wheel is a

Ha! I think the three represent three very different strategies on modeling. ZM on the high end, Tamiya, not far behind and Revell on a very detailed cockpit but otherwise a fairly straightforward (and inexpensive) build. But I'd follow your build if you did a three-way comparison! Chris

Hi Viper: AMUR's catalog is here: http://amurreaver.ru/. You order by sending him an email with what you want: He accepts PayPal and ships quickly (I placed an order Saturday and it shipped today on Sunday). Rust Usmanov <rust1968@gmail.com> You can order the Exhausts from Shapeways (who does the 3D Printing): here is the link to the exhausts https://www.shapeways.com/product/LJ4M8D9J9/1-32-p-51-mustang-exhausts-hollow and the link to the exhausts with the shrouds: https://www.shapeways.com/product/L7SYDU5J2/1-32-p-51-mustang-hollow-exhausts

Mine (and apparently most) have a nasty trough down the length of the flap, and lack the rivet detail as well. Revell casts them hollow hence the trough. I tried some Mr. Surfacer to fix the trough, but just messed up the flaps. I really like the AMUR flaps as replacements. Here are all three: AMUR, Revell and Tamiya flaps top to bottom. Trust me they are all the same size - I took the picture at an angle. The AMUR flaps don't have the cut out that the Tamiya flaps have, but have the rivet detail lacking in the Revell flaps. See - the same size ( and the flaps

My first build post here - coming over from LSP. Trying to make an 'In Flight' PBY but having a few issues with the instructions which don't exactly say how to build the wheels up. Still working on that. I have the KitsWorld Black Cat decals as well so am doing #30, one of the few birds with nose art. One thing about the Cats is that with all of that glass, there is a LOT of masking. I'm not a fabulous masker so I am a big fan of Eduards's masks: I didn't exactly count, but yes, it is close to 70 masks for the set. Don't forget the 6 on the fuselage too!

The Enola Gay is at Udvar Hazy which is about 20 min from me. If you want pictures let me know and I'll go take some and send them over. Not sure what may be different from the 'restored' aircraft to what flew in WWII however. Chris

I am finishing up the Revell P-51D and all in all, not a bad kit. Does not really compare to the Tamiya kit, but at a fraction of the cost and time needed you can build up a really nice mustang. The cockpit is really nice, and yes, the flaps need replacing ( I used AMUR's which are amazing ). Also went with the Model Monkey 3D Printed exhausts and shrouds. My clear parts are not fantastic, but some are better than what is in my kit. Fun kit! Chris

Hi folks, I'm building an 'In-Flight' PBY-5A Catalina 'Black Cat' but the instructions do not say how to install the rear tires in the 'up' position. Anyone try this before and do it successfully? Thanks! Chris