Floats and Boats: Amphibious Aircraft Group Build

Steve, Looking forward to watching you build another one. This one is gonna be very cool.

BK

bsyamato

Well done on the dornier Bish :)

 

Jake seats done : aluminium , plastic and masking tape used

 

 

 

 

BK

modelcrazy

Brandon,

While I working on the Eugen and completing the painting on the 747, I will be starting the Mariner. I will be building this in a base landing on the water. My hope is to show it at the Salt Lake IPMS contest in September.

 

One of few large fliyng boats missing again in my stash , great kit :)

Well done on the dornier Bish :)

Jake seats done : aluminium , plastic and masking tape used

Bish, that didn't look all that big until you showed the wing. Dang!! Now it's starting to look its size. I like how you've added the detail inside as well. This is gonna look sweet.

BK

Thnaks Steve. Ye, it fit quite well, i did have to remove the IP and make it a bit narrower as the front would not go together, but i think that was due to the PE side walls.

Yep, definatly a base and a small bit of water. I have never done water before so just want to dip my toe rather than dive in. I will have the aircrfat on its trolley being backed down a ramp towards the water.

I have bitten the bullet and fitted the wing. I did not fancy trying to get everything secured in the right place and risk damageing the paint, so i will just have to struggle to paint under the wing. Its a bit of a beast and rather heavy as well.

Bish, looking really good.  Is that narrow strips of sheet plastic running on the topsides?

regards,

Jack

Nice looking interior Bish. The kit looks like it fits well. This is going to be a stunning build I think. Are you going to put it on a base....maybe water??

Well, i was meant to popst some pics a few dys ago. But i did my usual and just kept modelling. Having had a few slow days, i managed to have a couple of god nights and got quite a bit done.

So with the radios added and 3 crewman in place, i was able to get the pit fitted.

And got the last bits fitted to the rear compartment, useing some balsa for the wooden planks.

With this all done, i was able to close it up and add all the outside detail. Needed a bit of filler in some spots, there a few sink marks on the outside. Also got all the small PE parts added.

So all i have left to do is fit the canopy and add the engines and cowlings, then i can get painting. I have thought i might be able to paint with the wings attached, but i am not sure i will be able to do that. Going to have to dry fit to see if i can.

More soon (i hope)

Bsyamato, looks good, and I see you too have added some weight to the front of the floats.  I didn't know, but is this the norm for floatplanes, just like placing ballast on aircraft with nose landing gear?

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Hey all, thanks again for all those positive comments, really do appreciate that.

Sailor Steve, yes the rigging material is similar to EZ Line, just different brand name - Uschi.   The measurements on their web site is wrong, as they have mixed up inches with mm.

I used their fine size, which is .003" or roughly 0.08mm.  I figure at 72nd scale, that gives a plausible diameter for the wiring. 

regards,

Jack

Hey Jack,  Congrats on your model, it is quite amazing all the detail you put into it, and then to realize just how small that plane really is.

Wow Jack, that's just crazy. Painted decals. You are an amazing building, great work!!

BK

jgeratic

So today I finished up the rigging...

I keep forgetting to ask - what did you use for the rigging? It looks quite good.

Good rigging Jack :)

i'm on jake updates:

finished structures and floor ready for cockpit details, also weighted and glued floats

Yep, stunning work as always jack, your builds never fail to impress. I do like the props and those logo's look really nice.

You continue to amaze me Jack.

Thanks everyone.

The propeller is now attached, but didn't use my home made decals.  They looked really thick on those small blades, plus trimmed close on white decal paper would require a lot of touching up of the edges.

So I hand painted the logo instead, keeping it really simple: a light blue grey circle with a line drawn in brass paint.

regards,

Jack

Nice 

Incredible work indeed and at 1/72 scale. Great job Jack.

Lookin' mighty fine!

Wow Jack, that bird is simply stunning. Holy cow !!, and it's not done yet, wowzerss!!

BK

Thank you Sailor Steve.  using those three nationalities on a google search, it was easy to find the logo decals you are referring to.

So today I finished up the rigging, but I took this photo to also show how the ballast worked out that was put in the front of the pontoons very early in the build.

The aircraft is balancing right on the heel like steps on the underside of the floats.  This is probably close to how it would sit in the water - don't think it could have worked out any better than this.

regards,

Jack

For my insane WW1 building program I found a supplier of propeller logos. Unfortunately they make British, German and Austro-Hungarian, but no French that I've found. I know, that doesn't help at all. I just wanted to say that they can make a difference in the model, no matter how small. I'm glad you found an original so you could make your own.

PJ, you are moving right along with that build, looking good.

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Did as much rigging as I could before attaching the floats. I figured it would be easier this way while the aircraft itself sits flat on the bench, plus no chance of damaging the float structure.

When it came time to attach the floats, I first plugged the four  location holes in the fuselage with green stuff/apoxy sculpt putty.  I needed something that sets slowly to fine tune the alignment.  This was done last evening, and since it takes 24 hrs to cure, it will be too late tonight to work further on it.

In the meantime though, there is still the propeller to do.  Below is an image I found of a possible prop logo:

That was imported into a paint program, cleaned up and shrunk down to size.  Only need two logos, but printed out four just in case ... hopefully these work out ok.  Yeah, hard to see the detail, but at 2mm wide it should do well enough to give the impression of a logo on the blades.

regards,

Jack

Thanks guys, the work on the little guy continues.

Floats were attached

Holes for support wires drilled on wings and pontoons

Pit was completed. Lap belts were made from masking tape and painted brown leather. The thick plastic loop antenna was replaced by one made from thin copper wire.

More to come.

Thanks guys. The kit pit is almost none existant, so if i had not found this at the last minute, i would just have had to scratchbuild but without any refernace pics. So it was a real lucky find.

PJ, nice additional details. That does help the pit come to life and will be visible through the canopy. Nice work.

Bish, wow, that PE really makes the pit look nice. Great decision to go that route; it makes you happier with the completed kit when you get a really nice pit going. In my opinion anyways. Great start.

BK