I have just put the finishing touches on Revell's fantastic kit, the PV-1 Ventura. Any one looking for a relatively cheap kit that will build easily into a potential show-stopper, this should be your first stop. It is not quite Tamiya quality but it is nevertheless a great kit with solid detail right out of the box and mostly good fit. The only real negative of the kit is its props, which should be replaced with an after-market set containing the wider paddle blades than are what come with the kit. From my understanding, Revell got their design specs based on a restored Ventura that had been fitted with props that were not used on war-time Venturas.
Any way, this is the kit that I built.
In looking for replacement props, I found several detail sets for this kit that inspired me to save some cash and scratch build these details myself. The sets I found are by Eduard and are intended to liven up the wheel bays. I scratched out many of the parts based on photos of the Eduard sets as seen next.
The Eduard set for the tail wheel bay.
My effort at duplicating Eduard's tail wheel set.
The Eduard set for the main wheel bays:
Here is my scratch-built wheel bay:
I also found a photo of this area on a real Ventura that features some kind of piping or tubing running out of the tank and into the strut sub-structure. I figure that is a tank of something like brake fluid but I never found any statements as to what it truly is, but here is how I duplicated that on a nearly-complete wing.
Instrument panel. I used the kit parts. The instruments are a decal from the kit decal sheet.
Finally, I did not really like the decal options. I did not want that freaking green octopus on this bird; plus that decal looked like it would be problematic at best. So I went looking for aftermarket decals and found a sheet called "Sirens of the Sea". This sheet features several ladies in various poses and with little to no clothing. I chose the "Blond Blitz" option, which from what I was able to find via a video that I found just a night or two ago of actual war-time footage, was a Ventura that operated out of the Solomons in about 1943.
So on to my build photos.
Paints for this were Vallejo acrylics - dark sea blue and US Navy blue gray, and PollyScale (I think) for the underside - dirty white. Weathering with Flory wash and MIG Products wash. The exhaust stains are Model Master Metalizer exhaust with some Tamiya weathering compounds mixed on top of the paint. I used a toothpick and a mostly steady hand to paint the yellow stripes on the bombs.
I really enjoyed building this bird. The only problem area was the bomb bay doors. They are a bit fragile and difficult to get into place; at the end of the day I lost patience with the Tamiya liquid cement I typically use and just put a dollop of CA to get those doors to stay in place.
Another praise to sing for this kit is how Revell did the wings. There is a decent wing spar that will slide into the wings. The wings also have small stubs to insert into the fuselage. But what really stands out is that there is a shallow recessed area to insert the wings into, which aided in painting and construction. I did not attach the wings until after everything was painted and weathered. I wish more kits would come like this.