The Officially Shameless PBY/Halloween '09 GB

simpilot34 wrote:

Sunnas that is exquisite work there!!!! Thanks for the info as well!!!

I agree, very fine work indeed.  Keep those pics coming, I need the inspiration!

Good work, to which I reply with the ever popular;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxJys2XKjJA

And whats the color on the bottom of the Cat??? Looks like black to me!!!

Fine stuff.

Ok, so the question of boat bottoms.

For me I'm almost certain that the all over colour was foliage green. However, this painting was done at 1FBRD Lake Boga, it's a -5A, in green, and has a silver hull. Was this machine having a hull clean and respray?

A partially restored -5 at the current Lake Boga museum. Not sure about colour scheme. Could have been post war...

USN Cat

And again

And finally, especially for you bondoman. A post war civillian cat

So, no definitive answers, just some fuel to the fire!

Thanks Bondoman and Sean.

Generally I'm getting my info from the Australian War Memorial's online photo collection, a couple of books including Catalina in Australian Service, and anything I can glean from the aussiemodeller.com discussion group. The AWM collection is good but all of the pics are b&w, and the book has a number of colour profiles which cover the main camoflage schemes worn by RAAF cats. 98% of my reference pics are b&w.

From the blokes on aussiemodeller I learnt that the only -5A cats that were black were the ones converted back to 5 specs with removal of landing gear to save weight for the massive endurance missions they were tasked with. Cats operating from the north of Australia often laid mines off the China coast, with missions regularly lasting over 24hours, and one RAAF cat set the type's endurance record of over 31 hours (cant put my finger on the exact duration right now) And almost without exception these missions were timed to put the machines over enemy territory at night. Hence the black.

So anyway, one of the colour profiles I have is for a -5A in foliage green operating with 8 Communications Unit. Then today I found this photo:

You can just make out the letter codes ZA-T. The code ZA is for 8 Comm Unit but the caption says that the bird and crew were from 111 Air-Sea Rescue Flight:

MADANG, NEW GUINEA. C. 1945-01. IN 1944-12 THE STORY OF THE DRAMATIC RESCUE OF AN AMERICAN AIR-CREW WHICH HAD CRASH-LANDED IN THE SEA IN ENEMY-CONTROLLED WATERS NEAR BORAM IN NORTH EAST NEW GUINEA WAS TOLD. THE CAPTAIN OF THE RESCUING CATALINA FLIGHT LIEUTENANT (FLT LT) I. J. L. WOOD, IPSWICH, QLD, RECEIVED AN IMMEDIATE AWARD OF THE DFC FOR HIS SKILL AND GALLANTRY. WITH HIS CREW, AND AIRCRAFT OF NO. 111 AIR SEA RESCUE FLIGHT RAAF.

In addition, the RAAF museum is restoring an ASR cat and have, in their wisdom, decided to paint it foliage green. http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/exhibitions/hangar180/catalina.htm

So that's my 411. Sorry for the essay!

Sunnas that is impressive. Mighty fine lines on the preshading. Those mills look great, Alas, while I never quit on a GB I'm three deep till i get to "Always" so it's Jonny Jumps like you that get things started, and slugs like me that crawl across the finish line, nice build by the way. I do not recall ever seeing a green cat before so that is refreshing. Whats the 411 as we say, or more properly, your line of info?

Very nice.

I'm up with Mavis over in the IJN GB and hope to finish her soon, in a civilian color scheme which I also don't have much info on. The few models I've seen have her in silver, which would be paint since she's mostly a fabric a/c.

USN -5as were black often of course, maybe the bottom of yours is?

Hey- whats the drill amongst us all on anti-fouling/ fouled boat bottoms? Your thoughts?

Chaps.

Work is progressing steadily on my cat. I have finally decided on my bird - it will be A24-104 - with 111 Air Sea Rescue Flight RAAF, early 1945. The squadron code was KP, but I'm not sure of 104's code letter, or indeed if they were painted at all on ASR machines. Any help appreciated there.

It's a debatable point, but in the absence of any photographic evidence I'm going for a finish of overall RAAF foliage green. I really wanted a matt black cat, but it wasnt accurate for a -5A so green will do!

Here are the floats - they required quite a bit of filler to get flat on top. The seam along the bottom however is practically perfect!

The Quickboost engines, painted and with the Eduard ignition loom in place. Pretty happy with how this has turned out. The red leads are not strictly accurate (presumably) but they really add detail that may have been lost if they had been black.

...and the engines in place on the wing. Have been playing around with a bit of preshading which is visible here.

Anyone else building Catalinas out there?!!

Nick

That's a deal, Bill!

You may have noted that I have most of today off. Finishing the P-47. That Weekend GB was great fun when I could sit down and do it.

Been tied up, obviously with that GB.....getting back to PBY's soon!

namrednef wrote:

Hi All! Been way too busy with visiting relatives and the blasted Weekend GB!

Man, I mean Nam my eyes are bugging out of my head from immitating frank in an Optivisor for 48 straight. But it was a fun build and hey I actually improvrd my skills.

The new guy from Oz makes a very very good point about what to do with finished models. i'm gonna go down to the seaplane ride deal near my house and see if they want, oh, um, my Seagull, Mavis, and all the great unbuilts like Sunderland, Emily, PBM, in exchange for a kidney, HAHA!!

We're up for the SuperCat over the Holiday, that being as my friend Aaron sez, Channukah cuz he likes my Avia model, or Xmas or whatever reason I choose to make my company unprofitable. Nam give me a call later next week during the day, you got my ## and I'll call you back.

Hi All! Been way too busy with visiting relatives and the blasted Weekend GB!

Buddy.....Great to hear about the start!

I actually DID realize that a styrene filler would be best. I stretched some sprue and will use that. Just too busy with the other stuff to address it now! Good to know that had I not thought of it, someone would have reminded me!

Nam,

I realize by now you've probably fixed the wing gap problem, but have you thought about using strip styrene to fill the gap?  Probably still need to use some sort of filler afterwards but not as much. 

Thanks for the bit of history Nick! VERY interesting!

My large gap in the PBY wing is on the port side. Starboard side is a tiny gap, but trying to make them match would mean the engine mounts would have been way out of whack. The starboard side will need just a tiny bit of attention. I'm hoping gap-filling CA will handle the port side. 

Thanks Frank and BVD and everyone else who's commented.

Yes, I'm working on the Cat everyday. I work on oil and gas projects at the moment and am between projects for now. So lots of time to model! As for the total weight - I knew someone would ask that, and I dont have an answer! I started by folding up the sheet of plumbers lead and fitting it in gaps inder the cockpit assy - but that wasnt near enough - it was really the big half circle sinker in the pic that finally tipped the balance (no pun intended!).

BVD - great to hear that you had exactly the same issues as me!! I'm particularly relieved that you ended up with the same wing gaps! That's not very nice is it?! I'm sure you know what I mean...

I am staying at the family home in country Victoria, not too far from a place called Lake Boga, which during the war was the home of the RAAF's No.1 Flying Boat Repair Depot. This was where most of the heavy maintenance was carried out on the RAAF's (wonderfully eclectic) flying boat fleet of PBYs, Do-24s and Empire S23s. Regular work was also done on USN Martin Mariners and PBYs based on this side of the Pacific.

Today Lake Boga is a speck of a place on a salt plain, a community of perhaps 200 people. Australia is in the grips of a long and devestating drought, and the Lake has completely dried up - quite a surreal sight. All that is left of 1 FBRD is a  a generator building and a couple of concrete bunkers - one of which houses the modest Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum. And so this is the intended home of my cat. After I've built it and admired it for a while, I'll donate it to the museum, as the best they have are some very poorly made Airfix 1/72 jobs hanging from the ceiling.

So that's my story!

Daywalker wrote:

Nick- You are really zipping along with this build!  That's a lot of lead, any idea of the total weight?

's Nick! You have more time than me!

Very nice looking work!

\The LG on this kit are very strong.....should be okay with the weight. Anxious to see how your PBY sits.....I may have to drop some more weight in through the nose turret!

Your patience seems to have paid off glueing the wing and fuse! I took it very slowly. AND I have the same exact gap in the wing.

Also.....toughest part of fuse was between the blisters for me, too!

G'day All

Back again with another update. I have mated the fuselage halves and completed the wing assembly, minus outriggers. Still havent decided what to do with them yet. Am tending toward the wheels down pontoons down option.

First a comparison between the Quickboost engines and kit parts. The improvement is fairly comprehensive, and from memory they're not that expensive. Worthwhile addition I reckon.

Next you can see the seams are very nicely matched, with little filler necessary. This kit is really well engineered.

The only problem I had was between the blisters, but this was my fault, not the kit's - I was a bit heavy on the clamps and didnt see the misalignment. Bugger!

The wing went together really painlessly for such a massive bit of plastic (as BVD has already pointed out) and somehow I ended up with these damn gaps on each side of the upper main wing. They are really annoying and I dont know what I'm going to do with them yet.

Finally - this is about 80% of the lead in the model! Have I mentioned how much of a tail-sitter this crate is?! Crossing my fingers the undercarriage is up to it. I will attatch wheels with epoxy and brass pins and hope for the best!

Thanks for looking.

Nick

Daywalker wrote:

Nam- Thanks for the head's up on the wing assy!  I am keeping notes on all of this so I can use it when I get to play with mine.  Hopefully soon!

I have more Daywalker and All.... The 25" (minus outriggers) wing is together and in very good, if not perfect shape. Pics taken.....try to get them up thru me or Aaron.

I got the engine mounts lined up and worked outward with the top section. This worked well. But where everything meets in the middle.......PITA.

BIG hunk of plastic as an assembly!

lewbud wrote:

sfcmac wrote: 1/72? Way too many subjects for my mind to comprehend!  Nam PM inbound ! Why I dunno just following the bandwagon! Aaron, Not only more subjects, but kit storage is a whoooole lot easier and you can put more kits in the same space-unless you're building 1/72 scale subs that is.  Nam, I'd send a PM too, but the bandwagon went left and I missed the turn.

Just as well Buddy! I read no better in 1/72 than I can build in it!

sfcmac wrote:

1/72? Way too many subjects for my mind to comprehend!  Nam PM inbound ! Why I dunno just following the bandwagon!

Aaron,

Not only more subjects, but kit storage is a whoooole lot easier and you can put more kits in the same space-unless you're building 1/72 scale subs that is.  Nam, I'd send a PM too, but the bandwagon went left and I missed the turn.

namrednef wrote:

On the recent re-issue Revell kit: Be extra careful when assmbling the wing. Dry fit carefully! It is a BIG assembly and has some warp. I don't suggest sanding off the locator pins as you may need them....but some light sanding of the upper panels around the pin socket areas seemed to help. It is not a quick and easy assembly.

Why do you think I build 1/72? The problems are much smaller.

On the recent re-issue Revell kit:

Be extra careful when assmbling the wing. Dry fit carefully! It is a BIG assembly and has some warp. I don't suggest sanding off the locator pins as you may need them....but some light sanding of the upper panels around the pin socket areas seemed to help.

It is not a quick and easy assembly.

Front page is updated.....Buddy got his kit!

Sean....yes someone posted that earlier.....too awesome to believe! But you have helped out others that may have missed it!

I recommend that everyone hit that site.....breathtaking!

I just went through from pg 1 and did not see this build mentioned

http://www.ipmsdeutschland.de/Flugzeuge/Gaeste/Wolf_Catalina.html

Sorry you will have to copy and paste, I have not figured out the linky for this site.

Great start Nick!!!! Well done mate!!!!! and aboard!!!!!!

Mike- Thank you very much for the link!!!

Mike- Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing them!

Sean- Glad to see you here!  Now how about some WIP pics?

Sunnas- Stunning work thus far!  Your interior work is the dog's bollocks.