Revell 1:48 Stearman PT-17 Build

Bearcat57

My Stearman arrived the other day. Looking it over, I haven't decided whether to rig it with EZ-line or very thin piano wire cut to length and pop the ends into holes drilled with a micro bit.
As I believe was previously alluded to, it would've been handy if Revell would have provided guide holes or notches for the rigging.

Oh well, all part of the "I built it myself" experience I s'pose.

The problem with stainless steel wire is that in a size that is reasonably close to scale, it is very flimsy and floppy. It will not stay straight unless you get to nearly 30 mil, and that looks to big.  I intend to use mono thread, which is about what the EZ-line is.  I find it can be colored with a silver marker pen.

The prop looks great!I think this one should win its fair share of awards!

That prop looks beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The easier cover to leave off would be the one on the starboard side. The port side cover has the starter attaching to it.

Maybe I have acquired obsessive/compulsive dusease (friends are telling me so), but I have decided to mask the formers and stringers inside the fuselage halves, to paint same color as the other framework.  If it were not for Tamiya tape it would not work at all.  Even with all care, I cannot keep all lines even thickness (they are about a 32nd inch wide), but since some of this stuff is covered by the main framework, maybe it will not be too noticeable. Sure is going slow.  Have on half ready to paint, maybe half done on the other side.  But I have held the sides and top together and it is indeed visible, so it is not one of those completely hidden detail things.

Also, it looks to me like the fuselage sides behind the engine are intended to be removable, so I may finish the accessories section on the back of the engine. I had thought it would be completely covered, but it looks like if I make one of those covers removable, it will be visible.

I did a further google image search and did find several pics of the Continental Stearman with wooden prop.  So I guess either prop can be used and be correct.

What is in the kit is very definitely a Continental W-670.

PT-17 was the designation for the Continental W-670 powered Stearman and it could have either the McCauley metal prop or Sensenich wood prop, in civilian life a Hamilton Standard ground adjustable aluminum prop is also certified to it but I don't if they were used by the military.  THe Lycoming R-680 Stearman was called the PT-13 and although I think they also could use both props I am not so sure as I am on the PT-17.

Don Stauffer

As far as the wooden prop, I got to wondering.  The PT-17 was built with two engines.  I wonder if the wooden prop was used on both engines. I forget which engine the kit has- I'll need to check that out soon as I am about ready to start painting engine- but wonder if the wooden prop is correct for the engine in the kit.  All the photos I found with a google image search, of planes with both engines, showed the metal prop.

As far as the wooden prop, I got to wondering.  The PT-17 was built with two engines.  I wonder if the wooden prop was used on both engines. I forget which engine the kit has- I'll need to check that out soon as I am about ready to start painting engine- but wonder if the wooden prop is correct for the engine in the kit.  All the photos I found with a google image search, of planes with both engines, showed the metal prop.

Thought you replaced the prop with a wood one until I read that it's a decal, and wow that looks fantastic. Been trying to see what the difference is between the wood and metal prop. Someone told me one particular engine may have called for using the metal prop. Thru my searching I discovered that those wood props are not cheap!

Sorry, the prop did not come out looking good.....it came out looking GREAT!!!!

Been quietly following this thread up to now.  I honestly don't build a bunch of airplanes, but now I am kind of itching to pick one of these kits up thanks to you.  The PT-17 Stearman was a regular at all the airshows I went to as a kid and I always loved the way it looked (as, oddly, with a few other famous trainers like the Trojan and the Texan....of which I have a Texan kit in my stash waiting to be built, and I have been itching for a Trojan kit too!)

Can't wait to see more!

Brian

Looking good!

Thanks for comments on what to do about the prop. 

They were very helpful and encouraged me to try the wood decals. I'm glad I did. The decals didn't cover the entire prop, especially on the edges so I needed to paint those in -- Tamiya Flat Aluminum for the metal, Tamiya Brown for the brown tips and Model Master Acryl Leather for the wood. They were all pretty good matches right out of the bottle. It still needs a gloss coat for protection and maybe a tiny bit of wear.

I think they came out pretty good.  

I also put on the wing decals after deciding to use Tamiya Lemon Yellow for the gloss coat over the yellow flat.

I'm still freaking about the rigging. Sometimes procrastination is good, but most of the times not so much. 

Wood props should always be at least satin, or else glossy.  Any moisture getting through the finish leads to imbalance or damage to glue joints, so the finish is usually nice on a wood prop that is airworthy.  Fabric covered propellers may be a different matter, but a varnished prop should look good.

I think (and double check) that wood props were pretty well polyurethaned to protect from the weather.  I would do it wood and leave it glossy.  If you want to weather it and the aircraft, you might brush some flat coat on the leading edge of the prop blades to show the poly coming wearing off a bit.  But I would do so sparingly.

Groot

jeaton01

No go there, Rob, one prop is the metal McCauley and the other is a wood prop.  I have seen a picture of the model with the wood prop using the decals and I think it looked great.

That's true. I'm still not sure about the decals. I'm thinking of doing both and then see what you guys think. The only thing I'm toying around with is whether to use the decals or attempt to paint the wood one.  If I use the decals, I'm not sure how to get it to look wood-like.  The decals are very glossy but I think a flat overcoat wouldn't give it a wood look and the gloss looks unrealistic.  What do you think?

No go there, Rob, one prop is the metal McCauley and the other is a wood prop.  I have seen a picture of the model with the wood prop using the decals and I think it looked great.

For the prop, if you have 2 paint both and pick the one that looks best to you!

Groot

I bet some of the "generic" decals from Yellow Wings could be cobbled together for one of those colorful pre war birds. BTW, I love that in flight shot- I am quite familiar with the area below.

It's great that there is lots of interest in the plane. Hopefully that will encourage some AM development.

Not to much progress to report as it's been too nice out to stay inside!

I've installed her engine but still need to paint the exhausts.  I'm trying to decide what to do with the prop.  The instructions give the option of a wood or aluminum one and they actually provide 2 props.  For the wooden on they do give you decals but I'm not sure they will look very good and I'm not sure I can paint convincing wood grain on smooth white plastic. The aluminum one is a safer bet but not as classy as a wood one. Any suggestions? 

And I managed to assemble and paint the wings.  Remind me when I do the yellow paint scheme -- I hate Tamiya Flat Yellow! It's not that the paint is bad but for some reason it is messy, gets all over me (who knows why!) and clogs up my airbrush  unless thinned way more than other paints in their line. I had to remove the paint twice before I got a good coat. So I just may use Future to gloss it instead of doing Tamiya Lemon Yellow gloss. But maybe now that I know the thinning ratio, I may risk the gloss.  I do know that I'm not going to use the decals for the walking strip on the wings. I'll paint those on.

I've also starting rigging the tail. This part scares me. I've only rigged one plane before and I used thin gauge wire - not too good and way out of scale. So I decided to try EZ-Line. The stuff stretches for what seems like forever, but it's very thin and kind of hard to work with. I keep telling myself, easy... easy... don't rush. If I do this right, it should look good.

That's it for now.

You could probably do the different colors in paint, and looking at the instructions on the Revell site, it comes with those large stars for the Army version.  Just grab some different-colored letter decals from Microscale or dry transfers or something, and I'm sure you could do it yourself!  And if the sizes don't match up perfectly with the kit decals, just use the AM ones.

I gotta get one of these!

Groot

Just snagged mine from Hobby Lobby. It came out to $10.19 OTD with the 40% coupon. Quite a deal! Was looking over the parts and it's an incredible value for a very well tooled kit. Way to go Revell! Now we need a more colorful navy marking option than the included one. Bearcat's colorful picture may be an option to custom make.

Nice picture, Don.  It clearly shows the birdcage of aluminum hat section that gives the Stearman it's rounded shape in chromate, and the fabric behind it.  Looks like ceconite or something like that, a little more blue toned white than cotton fabric would be in WW II.  The other thing of note is that the pad of foam rubber is missing from the instrument panel.  It was 1 1/2 inches thick or so, but deteriorated rapidly.  I've only seen remnants of it on original parts but in WW II with a cloth helmet it was the crash pad for the noggin.  

I think the rudder heel panels (clumsy wording but you get the drift I hope) are too far out and too narrow maybe in the kit.  They were also sometimes varnished wood on Stearmans. They should line up with the rudder pedals, which are manfully wide apart compared to most light planes.

Found a really good cockpit shot using Google image search;

ww2psycho

Great work! I must ask what are you using for the yellow? I'm doing the all yellow Navy.

Yep, this is a brand new mold. Here's a great review: modelingmadness.com/.../5264.htm

That's unusual that Solvaset didn't work on these decals as it's very strong.

Don Stauffer

ww2psycho

When did this kit first come out?

I'm pretty sure this is NOT a repop, but a new kit, with their new molding technology.

AlanF

Then a decal attempt on the rudder. The kit decals look good but they are way too thick and almost impervious to any kind of setting solution. They just won't conform to the rudder detail and this was after multiple Solvaset applications. This kit cries out for some aftermarket decals. 

Alan, that's odd, I had no trouble at all using Microscale Solvaset and Microsol on my rudder decal.  You must not have been holding your mouth just right.