1:72 Airfix Consolidated PBY-5A catalina

[kiwifire]

coming along well so far, a good challange

[B_Realistic]

I always loved that picture of the stranded Catalina.

Amazing what you already accomplished and that in 1/72nd scale.

[Moggy]

Cool project, great scratchbuilding skills shown AND in the Gentleman's scale

I'd love to see it live!

Looking forward to see this project complete!

Edited March 14, 2013 by Moggy

[dean]

Thanks guys,

Well I couldn't resist, I had to do some more painting. I added one more coat of blue but still got some greys to go on tomorrow, then I'll have to make a start on the engines before the washes and pigments go on.

[Mister No]

Beyond the SuperB !

Regards,

M.No

[zerosystem]

I had missed the beginning of this thread Dean but had seen the story before at work (photo permissions and research) and thought that it looked familiar.

great work

[dean]

Added the dark blue for the leading edge of the wings:

Added two more shades of grey to help with the faded look:

I used the hairspray technique for the leading edge and wore the blue down:

It's really starting to come together nicely now:

[dean]

I've been at work the last 4 days so haven't got much done but decided to make a start on the base. I was going to start a thread on how to make undulating terrain for the sand but came across this stuff totally by chance while I was buying the cork board for the base:

It's working really well so far, I'm just waiting for it to dry over night:

It doesn't look like it in the photos but it's not all flat. I was just going to cover it in white glue and sprinkle sand all over it but then came across this:

It says on the tube it drys to a coarse sandy texture so I'll see how it goes and it might only need painting. I've ordered some Woodland Scenics Realistic Water for the pools in the corners so that'll be here in the next couple of days.

I'm on my days off now so I'll get stuck in to the engines and get them finished.

[USMC6094]

man this build is great, I might to follow suit with a derelict P-61 I've had in m ind for years and years. I cant wait to see how you trick out the engines.

[Hal Marshman Sr]

That is coming along very well, and is most impressive. Showing us the steps you've gone through, and how you performed your effects is a most excellent way to do it. Hal Sr

[dean]

man this build is great, I might to follow suit with a derelict P-61 I've had in m ind for years and years. I cant wait to see how you trick out the engines.

Go for it! It's great fun, after the first few steps you can throw the instructions away and go for gold. This is the second one I've done now, (the first being a crashed Blackhawk) and I must say it's the best way to learn and try out new techniques. And once it's all done you end up with something different that no one else has rather than just a another plain old grey jet.

Cheers

Dean

[dean]

Well the coarse gel wasn't bad but I wasn't happy with the way it looked over the base layer. Imagine a very badly plastered wall complete with all the trowel marks that need a weeks sanding to get smooth and that's what I had. It would be good to build up shapes on a base but not as a final layer. In the end I just covered the whole thing with white glue, which is self levelling, hiding all the lumps and bumps in the base, then covered the whole thing in a few differing grades of sand.

Came out pretty good:

Once the water goes in, hopefully tomorrow, it'll look a lot better.

I finally made a start on the engines.

The resin engines are made for the Academy kit and my cowls have the engines already molded into them. To show some of the engine through the missing panels and to add extra detail I glued the resin engine to the back of the molded in one. Once the framework, exhausts and pipes go on it'll fill the gaps up nicely.

And a pic of it sitting on the base to tease myself with until it's finished:

[Ken Cartwright]

Brilliant build - excellent work!

[dean]

I did some more work on the engines today but haven't got too much to show for it yet:

Just painted, dry bushed and washed with dark dirt wash for now. Most of the weathering on the cowls will be done with paint and washes so they don't look much different for now.

I Got the main gear as good as done, The kit parts were to model the kit with the gear either down or up, but i needed them half way. The easiest way I found was to cut the main part of the strut off and glue it back on upside down to make them look semi retracted:

The one on the right is the original part.

Both done, one extended more than the other:

Now for some rust, I followed one of the tutorials on here and I'm fairly happy with how it turned out for my first attempt:

Base of brown paint

A couple of shades of mig pigments:

Top coat of silver:

Finished part:

Then I started on the wheels, the True Details resin wheel set looked pretty good but the Port main gear is missing it's tyre so I had to grind it off:

My next issue is going to be getting the detail in the other tyre where it is joined to the casting block. The Starboard tyre is in the air so It wont have a flat bottom and will need the tread engraved in it.

Thanks for looking

[stevehnz]

Really superb but oh so eerie. :( I've read about this poor old girl before, you're capturing it beautifully but the whole story is one of so much waste. I'll be looking forweard to the end result.

Steve.

[vince14]

Here's a few more recent pics of the old girl - sadly it looks like she's decaying rapidly.

Vince

[dean]

Thanks guys,

Those new photos are great, you can never have enough reference pics.

I'm between my night shifts today but managed to get some more engine detail done. She's almost complete, I've added some pipes to the engines and have still got some wires to add, then clean it all up before adding the last of the cowling ( which is either missing or hanging off ).

I also did some detail painting on the fuselage and wings, painted some metallic grey on the frame work that shows through the damage and accentuated the bullet holes with some chipping. It all stands out now but the pigments and washes will tone it down.

The engines are only dry fitted at the moment so aren't sitting quite right yet.

Thanks for looking

[Steve N]

That really is looking cool! I've always loved "derelict" dioramas.

SN

[Zero Enna]

:worship: :worship: Waiting to see it totally finished. Best regards.

José.

[dean]

Thanks guys,

Well she's as good as finished. To be honest I'm quite surprised at the amount of interest there's been in it. Over 2000 views for a little Airfix Catalina. I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out. I've just glued it to the base so I've still got some final weathering to go once it's dry so hopefully I'll be able to get some photos up in the display case later on tonight.

Thanks for following along and for all the positive comments

Dean

[Yuri61]

I like it, and it looks really great. Can't wait to see more as you progress.

Great work

Yuri

[dean]

Well she's all done and in the display case.

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=262979&st=0&gopid=2494627entry2494627

[vh-bob]

G'Day Dean

A great build illustrating the sad end of a great aircraft. If you havn't seen it, the full story of N5593V, complete with before, after , and interior pictures is covered in Warbirds International megazine for May / June 2012. Once again ,this is my favourite area in aviation, ex. millitary aircraft put to other uses after WWII as these can often be the basis of today's "Warbird". In this case perhaps not!.

Trev. (vh-bob)

[Steve N]

Looks great!

SN