The Officially Shameless PBY/Halloween '09 GB

Sir nam,

I have decided after long debate to go with the 1/48 Monogram, still looking into the color and markings I want to do for this glorious bird.

Maybe I will find some goodies for it at the show this Sunday.

Cheers,

Thom

I've checked my (limited) PBY print refs.....no pics of a Cat in-flight with both LG and outriggers deployed. Not sure. But on the ground.....certainly.

I AM a bit mystified by the LG/Float deployment question. Once the -5 arrived with it's own retractable LG.....it could land on a runway with no need to deploy floats.

Natch.....previous models had the LG that were attached by groundscrew after the PBY had taxiid to a shallow depth allowing the craft to run up out of water. In those instances the outer floats would still be deployed.

cf101b.......Thank you for looking in! Please let us know what 1/48 kit and any other details! Your entry is going up in a few minutes!

cf101b wrote:

This is my first post, but I would love to build a monogram 1/48 pby in early wwII markings and this is a wonderful excuse!

 Welcome  cf101b! Sir Nam shall be welcoming you properly soon. He is busy fixin the porch! Then Going to some model show this weekend!  Welcom to the forums as well as to this group! A finer bunch of fellows you shall not come across!

 I can say since I finally started posting myself my skills have improved significantly just by asking questions and seeing how others tackle their work!  Of course now they can't shut me up!

 Great photos and facts the joint use of floats and wheels! Fellows! Bondo you got me whistling that little tune Richard Dryfus did in always every time he got nervous!

I had that same "oh, yeah... duh!" moment when I saw the video of it going up and down the ramp. Thanks anyway for the help and the info Hans!

You have a PBY pilot's handbook? That's cool!

Kevin

On a PBY-5A, can the gear and the pontoons be lowered at the same time, or is it one or the other? My itty-bitty Cat is going to sit on its wheels, but I'm wondering whether the floats should be up or down.

Can't find anything in the pilot's handbook about floats being down with the gear.  They operate separately, gear's hydraulic, floats are electrical...  All that really matters is airspeed during approach & landing, since the gear and floats have two different max speeds... 122 kts for the gear, 130 kts for the floats.. Both those speeds are well above the normal approach speed... 

Whoops, I take it back... Found something. Pre-flight checklist during walk around, floats are lowered for inspection.  So, techically, gear down/floats down is ok under certain circumstances...

Ah, heck, day late an' a dollar short...

Shoulda used m' head anyway.. When going up & down the seaplane ramp into the water, the floats need to be down....

Thanks for the help everyone, but I managed to answer my own question. I pulled out my Victory at Sea DVDs and in one episode there is footage of a PBY-5A taxiing out of the water, going up a ramp - with both the floats and wheels down. I should've thoughta that. Thanks anyway guys!

By the way, if you're into Naval Aviation, there is possibly nothing better for your modeling mojo than kicking back and watching some Victory at Sea. Awesome!

Kev

I found this lil bit  about the -5 and -5A on this site:

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_PBY-5A_catalina.html

At first the landing gear was the only significant difference between the PBY-5 and PBY-5A, but during the long production run of the amphibian, which lasted in 1945, a series of changes were made. The engines were changed to R-1830-92 Twin Wasps, but the new engines gave the same amount of power as those used the PBY-5.

Late production PBY-5As had the standard open topped bow turret replaced with a new "eye ball" closed top design. This carried two .30in machine guns, mounted in a plexiglass dome on the front of the turret.

No worries Frank!

Excellent photos Richie, thanks!  I saved them to my 'puter for reference.

Nam- Glad you liked the badge!

I've said this in a PM.........

Frankie! Fabulous badge...........Thank You!!!!!!!!!!

Hans von Hammer wrote:

Hey guys, do we HAVE to hit the "quote" button and re-post a bunch of pictures?  Not everyone has a super-fast connection to load pages in a blink...  If ya need to quote, try typing in the commands for it.  Put the word "quote" (all lower case) in brackets [ ], paste the text you want to quote in next to it, then type "quote" again in brackets, with the slash in front of the "q"... [/ ]

I've checked my (limited) PBY print refs.....no pics of a Cat in-flight with both LG and outriggers deployed. Not sure. But on the ground.....certainly.

Still looking into the -5.....-5A question, as well as the MTO/torpedo question.

HvH, I agree........no need to quote an entire photo array. Even with cable, things take extra time to load.....dial-up must be maddening! All one need do is use the 'quote' button.....then place the cursor just prior to the final 'quote' bracket.....then 'backspace' through the pic parts until you reach the text you want to reply to. This will wipe out the extraneous part of the post and allows a reply to the meat of the matter. I'm not saying anything new here. But it saves time.

Richie!!!!!! Thanks so much for the great photos! Just Fabulous!

As always.....the Front Page is updated with all I know........and I thank you ALL for your interest and participation!

Your Benevolent Dictator..........ME!

MIflyer wrote:

I'm short on PBY references, so can anyone tell me: On a PBY-5A, can the gear and the pontoons be lowered at the same time, or is it one or the other? My itty-bitty Cat is going to sit on its wheels, but I'm wondering whether the floats should be up or down. Kevin

Yes a PBY-5A can fly with both the wheels and floats down. Have a look at the photo here of her on the ground:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled-(Plane-Sailing)/Canadian-Vickers-Canso/1276119&tbl=photo_info&photo_nr=26&sok=keyword_%28%5C%27%2B%5C%22g-pbya%5C%22%5C%27_IN_BOOLEAN_MODE%29%29_&sort=_order_by_photo_id_DESC_&prev_id=1290783&next_id=1260873 

And they can be lowerd in the air but i cant find a photo of that right now.

Hey guys, do we HAVE to hit the "quote" button and re-post a bunch of pictures?  Not everyone has a super-fast connection to load pages in a blink...  If ya need to quote, try typing in the commands for it.  Put the word "quote" (all lower case) in brackets [ ], paste the text you want to quote in next to it, then type "quote" again in brackets, with the slash in front of the "q"... [/ ]

Bill I had a look at Red Roo's site under conversions and could not see the conversion u spoke of. Will keep digging and see waht I can find.

simpilot34 wrote:

That's not a bad idea Bill!!!! I'll see what I can do! RedRoo have a great range of stuff that's for sure. It's 1/72, is that ok? Here are some pics of the 'Cat that's flying here in Oz. Will come in handy for alot of us I know so enjoy and download for future ref.

Great detail shots, simpilot! My build is going to be 1/144 so I won't be doing much in the way of an interior, but your exterior shots will be helpful! Thanks for those. The PBY is one warbird that I've never seen up close.

I'm short on PBY references, so can anyone tell me: On a PBY-5A, can the gear and the pontoons be lowered at the same time, or is it one or the other? My itty-bitty Cat is going to sit on its wheels, but I'm wondering whether the floats should be up or down.

Kevin

That's not a bad idea Bill!!!! I'll see what I can do! RedRoo have a great range of stuff that's for sure. It's 1/72, is that ok?

Here are some pics of the 'Cat that's flying here in Oz. Will come in handy for alot of us I know so enjoy and download for future ref.

simpilot34 wrote:

I had a good look at my Airfix kit lastnight and as soon as I pulled out the box I realized it was a -5A. The AM decals I have are for a -5. Is there that much difference between the two besides the fact one has gear. What I'm asking is, would I be able to just fair over the gear wells and add the window on the fuse you think???? My research material is limited for the PBY.

http://www.redroomodels.com/conversions.php?conversion=401

Hey, that's a great idea! I was having trouble deciding on markings! LOL

simpilot34 wrote:

I had a good look at my Airfix kit lastnight and as soon as I pulled out the box I realized it was a -5A. The AM decals I have are for a -5. Is there that much difference between the two besides the fact one has gear. What I'm asking is, would I be able to just fair over the gear wells and add the window on the fuse you think???? My research material is limited for the PBY.

I'll help reasearch Ritchie!

Frank I was thinking of using my new invisible ink ratio I have been working on.

Thad

Thanks everyone, glad you like the badge! 

Thad- Glad to have you aboard.  I'll be keeping a close eye on you, lest you try to paint your PBY pink or something.

Frank,

Great job on the badge.

Cheers,

Thom

OK Frank let go of my arm I in.

Nam put me down with 1/48 PBY  mine is gonna be the sister ship to Franks bird.

I do like the fish net idea.

Thad 

Hey everyone, I'll get in on this. I have several other builds going right now, but this one starts far enough out to commit to.

I'll be building a 1/144 Minicraft PBY-5A... looks like it'll be the runt of the litter.

For inspirational purposes, here's a link to a jaw-dropping 1/48 PBY-5 build. Enjoy!

Kevin