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I've never had much success with my own in progress thread - but that's mostly because I tend to move around between builds. My hope is that this thread will keep me on, gain some wisdom from you all, and help my complete this build by the end of July.

This will be the first black finish I've done - I'm a little nervous about weathering a black seaplane - but also excited to try something new.

Honest feedback & suggestions are highly appreciated. I think it will help motivate me with the build.

This is the aftermarket I'll be using for this build - pretty simple. I also have a Eduard canopy mask set that didn't make the photo.

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Fuselage walls have been preshaded, painted and oil washed.

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No aftermarket in the cockpit area as the detail is already quite nice - and I'm fairly certain you wont be able to see much anyway when the build is complete.

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Cockpit was painted interior green with aluminum drybrushing and an oil wash.

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Here is the rear gunner's area. Still work to be done on the ammo chute. Same process as the cockpit.

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Rear bulkhead. You can also see the beginning of the work I've done on the instrument panel in the upper left of the photo. I have some IP decals to place once the future is dry.

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Not the best photo - but here is the work done on the gear bay. Can anyone confirm or deny what color these would have been painted? As well as the color of the gear struts?

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thanks for looking!

Edited by mynameismatt
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One thing that amazed me is the size of the wing on the PBY - its friggin' huge! The way monogram designed the wing is quite nice. I'm fairly certain I can wait until the end of the build to attach it. That said. I've glued the wing together and have started the sanding and putty process. Some gaps need to be worked on, but overall nothing major.

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Here is a seam on top of the wings that will need some love.

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Some work on the wingtips needs to be done as well.

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Coming along nicely!

I have this kit and those same decals as well...they give some great tips on painting a well weathered "Black Cat". I plan on building mine looking quite used and abused.

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Minor work done today as well as some confusion on my behalf. Seems I can't find part 62 (the clear window on the front of the hull). Strangely enough though - it doesn't appear to be a place for it on the clear sprue? No "62" marker on the sprue as well. Strange. I'm sure I'm loosing it on my end, but could someone who owns the kit confirm or deny the existence of this part? Luckily, making a new once should be easy using some clear plastic from product packaging.

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Anyways, cleaned up some of the clear parts and dipped them in future. I don't always do this - but most of these pieces had some odd scuff marks.

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And here's my hi tech dust prevent system while the future dries!

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Look elsewhere for the door, as you can see on the instructions it's not labeled "Clear" as the other windows are.

I think it may be on the sprue that has the main wing center section (looking at online sprue shots).

This is one of the few kits that I built as soon as I received it (PBY-5), it never got shelved, it was one of the nicest building kits I've done, very relaxing.

Curt

Edited by Netz
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Small update - but hoping it will keep me "on track"

Glued the sub assemblies into the fuselage. Some minor warping might make joining the two halves together we shall see.

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Gear wells are installed as well - I glued them in and then used a strip of testors tube glue around the interior joints of added support. I don't want them to "cave in" once the fuselage is joined. Well is painted interior green, but these will get a spray of black as it appears most PBYs had the gear wells the same color as the fuselage. In this photo you can also see that I've istalled the eduard masks. I love these things - and pick them up for whatever build I'm currently working on. My last build was a 1/48 B-24 and it saved my sanity!

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IP installed. "Mystery" front window - found and installed. I still need to paint it to match the interior.

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Future has dried on the clear parts. Man, I love this stuff!! I'll probably wait another 24-48 hours before masking them off.

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Thats about it for now. The build is somewhat on hold while I wait for a set of nose weights to get delivered. I've used nightiemission's weights on a 1/32 A-10 in the past and it made life super easy. A great product! While I wait, I'll most likely work on sanding and prepping the wing. Or I'll drink a beer. Or both wink.gif

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There's an old Rogers and Hammerstien musical, South Pacific (1958) that has an interesting PBY in it, also some interior shots.

Curt

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This is the only scene I could find.

Edited by Netz
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Seen whut the Cat just suggested for yer build, Matt? w00t.gif

Clickie!

Tempted already?

Cheers,

Unc²

I've been SO tempted to pick this up - as it looks like a fine piece of resin at a good price.

But - I think I'm going to hold off. I'm no PBY aficionado so I can live with the kit error. Probably the biggest reason for me to skip it is because adding that resin weight on the tail pretty much guarantees me being stuck with a tail sitter.

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Is this the case of reprinting a decal sheet after more information became available?

I am planning on using the old yellowhammer decal sheet #Y48-10 with black and white instructions. If you notice - the "Nite Life" bird has the normal front turret/blister. However, I did a quick google search of the sheet and it looks like Yellowhammer did a reprint at some point as they changed the sheet # to YHD4810. And...if you look at the color profile you'll notice "Nite Life" now has the "eyeball" turret.

Can anyone shed some light on this? My gut instinct says that the newer sheet was modified for a reason....

UPDATE: I emailed Dave Klaus and he replied very quickly. He stated that the artwork and decals were printed by the previous owner of yellowhammer - however the "eyeball" turret would be correct for this bird. Problem solved. yay.

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Edited by mynameismatt
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Hey There Matt! Joe A. here. I finally made it over here in order to follow your build. Let me tell you, it is well worth it. Your work on the detailing and painting is simply outstanding. I'm with you concerning Eduard masks. I get one for each kit I have if it is available. My bench time is rather limited and the masks are a fantastic time saver. Keep on bringing it.

Edited by JOERIX
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Just a quick update.

The build slowed down a bit over the holiday. I'm also remodeling my basement - so precious modelling time is at an all time premium.

I managed to close up the fuselage. Squadron white putty is drying on the seams and the next couple of days should involve my least favorite part of the hobby - sanding. gr_eek2.gif

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Not too much to show - but with the fuselage closed up - I've been able to install the canopy and mask it. As you can see I've used white-out to fill in the small gap. This will get "sanded" down with a qtip and paint thinner.

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blister canopies are masked off as well.

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that's all folks.

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I've never seen white used as a filler. Is there a special trick or did you just spread it on then sand it down?

Good question - I don't remember where I picked this tip up from, but it works well for smaller seams. I used the White out applicator and carefully apply it to the seam being careful not to apply it over the canopy masking. I'll let it set for 30 or so minutes. It dries pretty quick. Then to remove the excess you can either sand like normal or you can use a q-tip end and gently remove the excess white out using a small amount of paint thinner on the q-tip. Be careful not to use a lot of thinner, in fact I usually rub the q-tip down on some scrap cardboard to get the excess thinner off of it. Then you carefully rub against the seam. Usually I'll use the other end of the q-tip as a "secondary" pass to really clean the residue off.

Here is a photo after me working on one side of the canopy for about 30 seconds. There is still some more to rub away, but you get the idea.

IMG_20140714_173624872_zpspbvuvyiz.jpg

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Mat,

Just saw your build thread, and will be following along to it conclusion. One day I'll finally build my own Cat, but it's going to be 1/72 do to space limitations.

Saw your original question about the color of the wheel wells. As with all WW11 Navy planes, they were painted the same color as the bottom and or surrounding fuselage area, so they would be matt black. Originally from the factory they were painted with Yellow Zinc Chromate, then Blue Gray as the sides were painted for the two tone paint scheme. Almost all of the black paint schemes were done after they left the factory. So a well worn wheel well could be flat black, show some blue/gray paint, some YZC, and even some aluminum. None as far as I can find were ever painted with Interior Green or Bronze Green.

Joel

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Mat,

Just saw your build thread, and will be following along to it conclusion. One day I'll finally build my own Cat, but it's going to be 1/72 do to space limitations.

Saw your original question about the color of the wheel wells. As with all WW11 Navy planes, they were painted the same color as the bottom and or surrounding fuselage area, so they would be matt black. Originally from the factory they were painted with Yellow Zinc Chromate, then Blue Gray as the sides were painted for the two tone paint scheme. Almost all of the black paint schemes were done after they left the factory. So a well worn wheel well could be flat black, show some blue/gray paint, some YZC, and even some aluminum. None as far as I can find were ever painted with Interior Green or Bronze Green.

Joel

Hi Joel - thanks for the info! - that seems to make the most sense. I'll be painting them Blue gray and then black.

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