Floats and Boats 2017- EXTENDED TO MID 2018

Sorry i have not been able to get in on this one BK. I still have not been able to get hold of the kit i wanted and i have pushed it to one side.

Might be one for re doing in a few years.

I'm guilty too of letting other subjects nudge my intended floatplane off the work bench.  The addition of another six months should help most, but for myself I already see a bottleneck forming for next year.  No promisies here ...

regards,

Jack

This GB had a lot of interest early on and went well last year, but unfortunately it has rather fizzled this year. I blame myself for not being as active in building this year as I had planned. That being said I would love to see that interest return and I am considering extending the build for an additional 6 months to allow those who joined more time to build those awesome kits. Let me know how everyone feels regarding this.

BK

Retired In Kalifornia

I have eight pre & WWII era Italian floatplanes built so far this year, currently building a CANT Z.504 & Savoia-Marchetti S.78, should be done with them early next month.

 

BK

docidle

I would like to join but just not sure if I’ll finish in time. Steve

Well, you will never know until you try. Welcome aboard. I too will be pushing it to get done by years end. We'll see how far we get.

BK

I wish I had seen this earlier! I would like to join in but I’m not sure if I have enough time to finish one of my flying boats. I have a Hasegawa 1/72 Mavis and an Emily. Also a Revell 1/72 BV 222 and a 1/48 PBY-5.

As I said, I would like to join but just not sure if I’ll finish in time.

Steve

Well, now that I have a bit more time I am finally back at the Kingfishers. I have begun to rescribe the first plane and I am trying to figure out how I am going to display the open cowling. This may be a tad tricky. I'll post up some pics when I make some more progress.

BK

Those Kingfishers really are beautiful birds. Your details look great and I don't see anything that stands out in regards to the surface textures. Looking great so far! 

The LSM cockpit kit is a massive improvement over the kit parts. It is loaded with tons of detail far beyond my ability to scratch build. The kit I recieved was not the level of quality one would expect from Cutting Edge, but when it's only done by one guy on his own, I think it's fine.

The kit does take a great deal of work to make it fit the fuselage as the pours are rough and there is a great amount of overpour and clean up involved. Again, even with its problems it is a huge improvement.

The part I had the most trouble with is the textured surface of the resin made painting it very very difficult and I had a really hard time making it look presentable. I am not overly happy with the result with regard to my painting, but given the surface I was working with it will have to do. The Cutting Edge kit will work far better, but those are getting rare and very expensive. LSM is really the only game in town for these pits.

I have seveal pieces that still need to be added in to the rear pit but those will wait until I have the seam work done so they are not in the way while I work on that. This kit is similar to the Monogram P-40 in that it will take a great deal of work to make it really nice. At this point I am rethinking making the engine on this one exposed. I may simply swap it out for the kit part and move on. I need to think it over more.

Thanks for looking.

BK

Ok, so.....day one. I'm off and running. I just finished up my Tamiya Beaufighter which was a splendid kit. And I started work on these two today. Now I have to say I'm already scratching my head with how bad the fit and flash is on these two kits. But, since most of the kit parts are being replaced or reworked I'll just have to press on. I also have a Kittyhawk 1/32 Kingfisher that I may build along the way to help give me some details for the 1/48 kits. 

"Build two Monogram Kingfishers they said. It'll be fun the said."

As you can see in the pic below, I've cut off the kit float to make room for the Lone Star Models float which is much more accurate. I will be leaving it off until I have the cockpits done and halves closed up. But, I had to show you something.

BK

BK you are correct that is a lot of work.....but the end result will be fantastic

Well Gents, it's been a while since we updated this thread. We have all had more than our fair share of other things to do but now I'm gonna finally get started on my Kingfishers kits.

What I have planned for these two kits is a complete kit overhaul. They will both receive resin cockpits. One from Cutting Edge and one from Lone Star Models. They both get new corrected floats from Lone Star Models as well. Each will be fully rescribed and corrected where ever I can make the kit better. Squadron canopies, white metal beaching gear, and a Vector Engine for one with an open cowling, while the other gets a reworked cowling and possible a Vector engine as well. The kit part is just awful. 

I have one HUGE amount of work to do on these guys and I am not at all certain that I can get them done this year. We shall see. But, it is a HUGE amount of work.

BK

Tonka, I'm really looking forward to seeing this one in paint. I think it's the only SPit I've ever seen with floats.

Personally, I've been pluggin' away at other GB's, so I've negletted this one. I really want to get going on my two Kingfishers. Those two will be tons of work and I'm really not sure I can do them before year end. Hmm. We'll see I guess.

BK

I finally got the Spit floatie together, wow this was a nasty kit. First coat of primer revealed some more filling and sanding to be done at wing roots, will take care of that this weekend. This model had really bad reviews and deserved each of them. But once you gut your way through the fit issues, I think it looks kinda cool. Plus the kit was a freebie,,,now I know why!!

 I will use one of these as a pilot since the interior was 'sparce' to say the least!!

BrandonK

RealG, I can see why you opted not to proceed with the PE in the pit, that would be very hard at this point, but the exterior looks fantastic. And honestly, the exterior is where 99% of the visual is anyway. Nice work.

BK

 

RealG, I can see why you opted not to proceed with the PE in the pit, that would be very hard at this point, but the exterior looks fantastic. And honestly, the exterior is where 99% of the visual is anyway. Nice work.

BK

I was sampling some of the PE I got in on the Be-10, and it's a mixed bag.  The cockpit consoles will not fit, as I have already glued the instrument panel to it.  The panel is also already too thick, so I may forgo PE in the cockpit.

https://flic.kr/p/RvyMrT][/url]Be-10-46 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The exterior parts fit better, but the wing fences required a lot of deepening of the slots in the wings to settle down properly.  But I am satisfied here.

https://flic.kr/p/RGp1ix][/url]Be-10-49 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The featureless small intakes on the fuselage were replaced with PE screens, which had to be set into holes cut in the fuselage.  I never believed that gluing PE to the surface of the model would look good.

https://flic.kr/p/QsCqRe][/url]Be-10-47 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/RvyM9t][/url]Be-10-48 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I am attempting to build this exact plane. I will be creating decals for wing numbers for it as well as the checkered nose. I have some other photos and there is a website dedicated to the Norseman run by a skydiving school that bought the plane and flew it til it crashed in 1979. I did a diorama of this scene in 1/72 some time ago.

heepey

1/48 Noorduyn Norseman from ModelCraft. It is the same kit as the Matchbox (now Revell) 1/72 kit but enlarged to 1/48. Same parts just bigger. 

This is the photo that I will be building to

 

BK

1/48 Noorduyn Norseman from ModelCraft. It is the same kit as the Matchbox (now Revell) 1/72 kit but enlarged to 1/48. Same parts just bigger. 

This is the photo that I will be building to

BK,

Heh heh, big boys don't cry, so I'm putting away the tank and resuming work on the Beriev.

Real G

This just showed up (in a severely crushed and water damaged box from Hannants!):

https://flic.kr/p/RbjQJs][/url]Be-10-44 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I was waiting for this set, to dress up the pilot's station.  I also wanted the wing fences and intake side screens.

BTW after carefully examining the Hannants box, it seems most likely that some disgruntled person must have overhand smashed the box into a puddle of water and left it there for some time, as the Trumpeter armor kit's box inside was similarly destroyed and suffered significant deterioration from water immersion!  If it just got crushed and wet, the box top would not have started to peel off in fine bits!  And that's my CSI episode for today.  But I have to credit Trumpeter for their sturdy boxes - aside from the instructions and decal/paint guide getting magled and soaked, all parts and decals were safe.

https://flic.kr/p/RmbaHG][/url]Hannants-01 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/RpGkuM][/url]Hannants-02 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

 

 

BK

Looks like an accident at some point in the delivery, either a cart was overturned, or was run into by another crate or something.  Must have happened outside, hence the water damage?   At least it arrived, I'm still waiting for an order from Hong Kong, going on 8 weeks now ...

regards,

Jack

This just showed up (in a severely crushed and water damaged box from Hannants!):

https://flic.kr/p/RbjQJs][/url]Be-10-44 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I was waiting for this set, to dress up the pilot's station.  I also wanted the wing fences and intake side screens.

BTW after carefully examining the Hannants box, it seems most likely that some disgruntled person must have overhand smashed the box into a puddle of water and left it there for some time, as the Trumpeter armor kit's box inside was similarly destroyed and suffered significant deterioration from water immersion!  If it just got crushed and wet, the box top would not have started to peel off in fine bits!  And that's my CSI episode for today.  But I have to credit Trumpeter for their sturdy boxes - aside from the instructions and decal/paint guide getting magled and soaked, all parts and decals were safe.

https://flic.kr/p/RmbaHG][/url]Hannants-01 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/RpGkuM][/url]Hannants-02 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

heepey

 

 

BrandonK

And you still have time for another one this year. 

 

 

 

 

I have a 1/48 Noorduyn Noreseman that I started some time ago, also with some history. This will give me incentive to finish it.

 

BK

BrandonK

And you still have time for another one this year. 

I have a 1/48 Noorduyn Noreseman that I started some time ago, also with some history. This will give me incentive to finish it.

Those PM kits are not exactly packed with detail but somthing different for sure.

A fine looking Goose there, Heepey. 

Would never of guessed this was a toy and not kit, very good work.

-------------------------------

Tonka, looks like a build to practice the modelling skills, sometimes those can be fun.  Looks like you have a choice in props?

regards,

Jack

Tonka, cockpit or not, it'll be a unique build for sure. Nice start.

BK