Floatplane/Seaplane Group Build 2012

checkmateking02

So that concludes my contribution to the group build.  Thank you, Ordie, for hosting the build and providiing an enjoyable experience.  I will be looking forward to seeing how the larger scale Kingfishers come out in this build--along with everyone else's efforts.

Thanks for viewing.

checkmateking02,

Thank you for giving us so much to view of such little airplanes.  You are the first to finish - congratulations!  I put photos of your planes under your entry on the roster on the first page of the thread. 

I think 1:72 aircraft are challenging, and can't imagine building a plane any smaller.  Great work!  Please check in with us as we go along.  I think I speak for everyone in saying that we'd all be glad to have you with us. 

Again, thanks for sharing!  And you're very welcome.

stoutfella - Good to see your Kingfisher coming along nicely.

Ordie

Thanks, Ordie.  When I can get to it, I'll post a photo of the planes on the ship.  You've been hosting the group build nicely, and it was a pleasure to be part of it.  I will be checking in to see everyone's progress.

checkmateking02: I agree with Ordie. I can't imagine doing that kind of work on something so small. Well done!

Thank you, stoutfella.  I look forward to tracking your build of the bigger brother Kingfishers.  I don't go any bigger than 1/72 when I do aircraft, so I'm always in awe about the detail incorporated in the larger scales.

Good luck with your build.

WOW , nice work on that fleet of 'micro' Kingfisher's

Today , I'll have a little more bench time than I've had for quite a while , so I'll start sawing the parts off the sprue of my Mach 2 Sea Dart and hopfully get a few things glued together .

Something else I discovered last night while catalogueing some Wolfpak decal sheets I recently purchased , was that sheet #72-045 has a gloss sea blue over light grey HU-16B Albatross from the 37th RQS , Danang 1966 .

I have several Monogram 1/72 SA-16 Albatross kits in the stash , so I would like to add one in with those Vietnam era markings along with the Sea Dart build .

WIP pic's to follow shortly .

John .

Thanks, Helo.

I will continue with my build shortly, I'm currently unpacking as I just got back from my summer job.  Expect pictures soon.

Some progress on my Mach 2 YF2Y-1 Sea Dart

Sprue shot ...

A hobby saw is best for removing most of the parts from the sprue with Mach 2 kits

Lot's of sanding to clean up all the pieces

Mach 2 supply a nice tub , seat and control stick  as well as an instrument shroud , no decals for the cockpit though .....

The instruction say the cockpit interior is flat black so I airbrushed the cockpit pieces accordingly and I also gave the insides of the two long intake pieces that fit onto the upper fuselage sides a few coats of flat black as well

With the wings and tail fin halves glued together , later tonight I'll glue the cockpit tub in place and close up the fuselage halves .

John .

Sleek looking jet, John.  One I've never heard of even.  It'll look good.

Brave move John, does it actually fit together ?

Great choice of subject.

Cheers

Tony

As I promised, here are my Kingfishers installed on USS Wisconsin.  There is no particular order to them.  I used the decals that came with the Trumpeter kit.

One thing I did see in the photos, that I can't even see with the unaided eye, is green color of the interior, evident in the first photo.

Thanks for looking.  Again, it was a great experience with the group build.  I appreciate the opportunity, Ordie.

Good luck on the rest of you all's builds.

Fair winds and following seas. 

Helo H-34 - Good to see progress on the Seadart.  I'm a floater fan, obviously, and the Seadart is one of my favorites, up there with the Albatross and good old Goose (no Geese in the gb, something for someone to rectify ... ).  Also, it will be great to see the 'Nam Albatross alongside the Albatross troublemaker66 is building.

M9130 - Welcome back!  Looking forward to seeing more progress photos.

checkmateking02 - Thanks for the look at the Wisconsin home of your Kingfishers.  I just a few minutes ago mentioned in a PM to you how much I was looking forward to seeing it, then I came here to the thread, and there it is!  Thanks.  Also, I have some info on the Seadart here in the office, and I think it's about time for another "Floater Tale".  I'll whip one up soon focused on the Seadart - a very interesting tale ... keep an eye out for it!

Later,

Ordie

Well , I managed to find an hour's spare time this afternoon , so i glued the wings , tail fin and engine intakes into position and the Sea Dart is looking good

The slots in the side of the fuselage halves where the wing tabs fit didn't quite line up with each other ; One wing sat higher than the other . I filed one of the slots along the top edge and filed the other slot a little on the bottom edge to get both wing a close to looking even and in line with other as best as possible . The fin fitted nicely in place as did the intakes . I dry fitted the canopy and it sits okay , I left out the seat and instrument panel for the time being until everything is puttied and sanded . Once that's done , I'll add the seat and consol and glue the canopy in place . So far the kit has gone together okay , shouldn't be too long before I can get her into the spraybooth .

Is it okay if I change my second build , I'm now thinking of building Academy's PBY-5A , finished in an overall gloss sea blue for the Israeli Air Force . They operated three Catalina's from 1951 to 1956 in the maritime patrol role .

John .

The Sea Dart is coming together very nicely.  Good job.

Helo H-34 - Most certainly you may build a Catalina instead of an Albatross for your second build. Everyone's second build is up to them, I'm only holding you all to your first builds.  After that, it's all gravy, and I'll be as pleased as a plate of mashed potatoes to see it coming down ... !  Around here, extra builds = extra fun, pure and simple.  (Besides, I have that same Academy kit in my stash, so I'll be following your PBY build with much interest.)

Tale of the SeaDart

YF2Y-1 SeaDart, Bureau Number 135763
(on loan to the San Diego Aerospace Museum from the US Naval Aviation Museum)

In 1948, the US Navy issued  a design call for a jet seaplane fighter capable of mach .95, and of operating in seas of up to five feet.  The specs were finalized in 1950, and in January, 1951, Convair was given an initial contract for two XF2Y prototypes.  Several serious issues were overcome during testing and development, producing what is perhaps the most successful innovative aircraft never to be produced - that's not a typo:  In spite of meeting and exceeding the issued specs , including ultimately achieving good marks in its sea and flight trials -  and despite Convair's producing several additional YF2Y service trial aircraft, the SeaDart was never put into production.   The end of the hot phase of the Korean conflict caused Pentagon budgets to plummet, and a number of promising military projects were cancelled, including the YF2Y.  Moreover, the fatal crash of a service trial SeaDart into San Diego Bay in 1954 cast a pall over the program (undeserved, IMHO).  The SeaDart's final (and successful) trial took place on January 16, 1956, and the plane quietly faded into the recesses of aviation history.

Convair had previously been awarded a development contract by the US Air Force for what became the F-102 Delta Dagger, and the influence of that design on their Navy project is readily apparent.  The SeaDart would, however, beat the initially problem-plagued F-102 into the air.  The innovations Convair's engineers came up with were astounding - doing away with floats altogether in favor of a floating fuselage plus hydrofoil, and finding a way of keeping water out of the engine, among others - and the plane was shown to be entirely capable of operating in the open ocean.

Four SeaDarts still exist, three of which belong to the US Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL, (all three are on loan to other institutions), and one of which is currently being restored by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

The SeaDart is one of my top five favorite floaters ever (though I love every last floater of any kind ever built), which is why I know a bit about it.  If you are interested in more info about the XF2Y/YF2Y, the June, 2012 issue of Air Classics (Vol. 48, no. 6) has a very nice, fact-filled article about it, with a lot of great historical photos.  I was happy to see John pick it for his qualifying GB kit, and look very much forward to seeing the finished product.

That's it for now,

Ordie

Thanks, Ordie.  That splashdown makes quite a picture.

That's great info and pic's on the Sea Dart , Ordie . oddly for some reason I seem to like the Sea Dart in full flight above the water rathering than skimming along the surface . Late last year I did buy the Bill Yenne book "Convair Deltas" from Sea Dart to Hustler

I have a nice stash of 1/72 Hasegawa F-102's and F-106's but at the time I had just picked both of Mach 2's YF2Y-1 Sea Dart and XF-92 kits and I thought the book might be a good sorce of info . There is only a small chapter on the Sea Dart and most of what I had read dealt with the first prototype with the single hydro ski ; Here's a comparision pic between the single and twin ski aircraft

I much prefer the twin ski arrangement myself . The book I mentioned also covers the XFY-1 Pogo which should make for interesting reading , I have one of those 1/72 kits in the stash .

Back to flying boats , I had forgotten about the Israeli's using several flying boats in the early years and I found both the Academy PBY-5A and Airfix Grumman Widgeon kits in the IDF stash

I already had built the Mach 2 RC-3 Seabee finished in Israeli brown and green camouflage

As far as I'm aware the IDF only used 3 different types of flying boats , so It will be nice if I can build and complete the Catalina and Widgeon to sit along side the Seabee sometime over the next few months .

John .

Very interesting discusin on the Sea Dart.

I've finally made a start on the 1/72 Wildcatfish. It's just athe prop, but at least it's under way.

Cheers

Tony

Very nice little Seabee.  The Israeli camouflage and markings make it stand out.

Helo H-34

Some progress on my Mach 2 YF2Y-1 Sea Dart

Sprue shot ...

A hobby saw is best for removing most of the parts from the sprue with Mach 2 kits

Lot's of sanding to clean up all the pieces

Mach 2 supply a nice tub , seat and control stick  as well as an instrument shroud , no decals for the cockpit though .....

The instruction say the cockpit interior is flat black so I airbrushed the cockpit pieces accordingly and I also gave the insides of the two long intake pieces that fit onto the upper fuselage sides a few coats of flat black as well

With the wings and tail fin halves glued together , later tonight I'll glue the cockpit tub in place and close up the fuselage halves .

John .

 

Len

Greetings,

Yes, interesting discussion and info on the Sea Dart, which I'd never heard of. Nice work so far!

Greetings,

Not much modeling lately. I've been busy and, frankly, this old Kingfisher kit just isn't much fun. As I've said earlier, I've gotten spoiled by Tamiya. I remember the Monogram Kingfisher was state of the art back in the day, but the art has come a LONG way. The plastic is brittle, the fit is not good and the engineering is, well, so '60s, especially this whole slide-the-wing-assembly-through-the-right-fuselage-then-slide-the-left-fuselage-over-the-wing-assembly thing. Sheesh! I'd pretty much decided that if that step went badly, I was going to call it quits and move on to the Tamiya BF-109 that's next in the stash.

After putting the wings together (LOTS of sanding to follow) with superglue and sliding it through the right fuselage, I took a deep breath and applied good old Testors tube glue all around the fuselage edge and quickly slid the left half on. Much to my utter amazement, it didn't turn out as badly as I expected. There's still going to be plenty of sanding and filling, but it looks do-able at this point. So I'll press on, but honestly, I just want to get this thing over with.

One thing I've learned is that you shouldn't judge a build and give up until the end, because there have been plenty of times that I thought everything I was doing was pure crap every step of the way until it was finished and, gosh, it turned out OK. So I'm hoping that's what happens here.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the latest:

checkmateking02 - You're welcome.

taxtp - Saith The Master, "Journey to Wildcatfish begins with single propeller."

Helo H-34 - I like the double ski SeaDarts, too.  The single foil apparently beat the daylights out of the pilot on takeoffs and landings, which the double foil arrangement alleviated a good deal.  Also, I like the way you worked in the B-58 photo.  Yeah, yeah, I know - it's on the cover of the book ... .  If I ever get to command a squadron, I want you for my supply officer.

stoutfella - I'm hoping for one of those outcomes with your Kingfisher, too.  On the upside, I like the PE in your cockpit a whole lot.  In fact, I'm mildly jealous.  I know I've said this before, but my first four builds since my long hiatus from model building ended have all been old Revell kits.  So, I'm kind of viewing your experience from the other direction - if the Tamiya, etc. kits are that much better, then whoopee!  In fact, when I finish the Revell Dauntless I'm working on now, I'll be building my first "newer/better" kit, a Hasegawa P-40E (the only non-US Navy/IJN kit in my stash).  After that, I'll be building a Tamiya Rufe for this GB right here.  Then, after that, I may be taking some cherry bombs and a can of lighter fluid to the rest of the Revell kits in my stash, I don't know, LOL!  (Not really - I'll probably just build them as prototypes for other builds, prove out newly learned techniques, stuff like that, LOL!)  Anyway, seriously, we're all with you, mate.  And we feel ya.  Now, whip that kit!

Later, gents,

Ordie

I, dunno, stoutfella.  Your efforts look good to me, and I think they are paying off.

Hmm, you mean, when that Kingfisher was first created, Hippies still walked the earth??

They not only walked the earth, I fancied myself one of them!

Ordie: Actually, my first two builds upon returning were Revellograms. First was the SBD, which, face it, is more toy than model kit. It was a fun way to get back in, but I mucked up the finish with a nasty orange peel. Next was the P-47 Razorback, and it's not bad. I did a lot of prefitting and sanding before assembly, which paid off. I was pleased with how that one turned out, despite some off-register kit decals. Then the three Tamiyas in a row -- the A6M2 Zero, the P-51D and the Spitfire Mk I. All very nice, with the Mustang being an absolute wonder and the Spitfire not far behind. Tamiya decals are dreadful, but the Mustang came with a Cartograph set, which was sweet.

In my already too large stash, I've got three other Revellograms -- the F4U-4 Corsair, the P-38 (I built a couple of those back in the 60s and 70s) and the F-80 Shooting Star my son gave me for Father's Day. I know all three of those kits have their, um, challenges, but I'll get to 'em. After the Kingfisher, though, I'll do the Tamiya BF109 and F4F Wildcat, as I've committed to group builds for those.

At any rate, I hope to have a few more peaceful days for modeling in the near future, as I gave notice this very day that I'm retiring in about three weeks (though I do plan to find a low-stress part-time job after a decent interval for decompression).

Congrats on the retirement Stoutfella. Keep going with the OS2U, it will be worth it in the long run.

Ordie - regarding your planned builds, I've built the Hasegawa P-40E, it is a good one. The Tamiya Rufe is an older molding, and won't show you what they are really capable of now, although it's still OK.

Anything from Tamiya post the mid nineties is brilliant, in my opinion.

Cheers

Tony

Old Ordie

checkmateking02 - You're welcome.

taxtp - Saith The Master, "Journey to Wildcatfish begins with single propeller."

Helo H-34 - I like the double ski SeaDarts, too.  The single foil apparently beat the daylights out of the pilot on takeoffs and landings, which the double foil arrangement alleviated a good deal.  Also, I like the way you worked in the B-58 photo.  Yeah, yeah, I know - it's on the cover of the book ... .  If I ever get to command a squadron, I want you for my supply officer.

stoutfella - I'm hoping for one of those outcomes with your Kingfisher, too.  On the upside, I like the PE in your cockpit a whole lot.  In fact, I'm mildly jealous.  I know I've said this before, but my first four builds since my long hiatus from model building ended have all been old Revell kits.  So, I'm kind of viewing your experience from the other direction - if the Tamiya, etc. kits are that much better, then whoopee!  In fact, when I finish the Revell Dauntless I'm working on now, I'll be building my first "newer/better" kit, a Hasegawa P-40E (the only non-US Navy/IJN kit in my stash).  After that, I'll be building a Tamiya Rufe for this GB right here.  Then, after that, I may be taking some cherry bombs and a can of lighter fluid to the rest of the Revell kits in my stash, I don't know, LOL!  (Not really - I'll probably just build them as prototypes for other builds, prove out newly learned techniques, stuff like that, LOL!)  Anyway, seriously, we're all with you, mate.  And we feel ya.  Now, whip that kit!

Later, gents,

Ordie

I agree with the others , that the cockpit on the Kingfisher looks awesome and the rest of the build seems to becoming along okay , hopfully any major fit issue's are behind you Stoutfella and everything will go smoothly here on end .

John .

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I'll keep on keepin' on!