It was my day off from work today and I had a strong motivation to finish the airwing. Took quite a few hours of work at the bench and I think I went through my music playlist about 2-3 times.

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Also painted the deck and dry fit the elevators and island to see how everything fit.

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For the figures I have decided to go with the Eduard models pre painted 1/800 scale set. Painting 1/800 scale planes was hard enough, trying to paint 1/800 scale humans would be nearly impossible for me. 

Time to toss someting into the mix as it has been quite some time since my last update. Today I am going to talk about the aircraft for my USS Arizona. For any of you who have this kit or read any review, the OS2U Kingfisher float planes that come with the kit on initial inspection look off. Here is what they should look like:

- first take is that they are flat or look squished. This is a kit plane:

Then on second look you will notice that the wing profile is totally wrong as is its pitch. OK, I'll stop the numbers, the entire plane is wrong. From the engine cowling, to the entire tail section, the center floats profile is totally wrong, as are the wing floats and bracing. Pretty much everything is incorrect with the kits OS2U's.

Modelers like us are lucky in that there are after-market companies who make 1/350 OS2U replacements. There are 3d printed versions, but I purchased mine from Trumpeter, they come as six (6) in a box:

Looking at the drawing and comparing it to the kit and Trumpeter versions, you will immediately see the Trumpeter aircraft are very accurate. Here are a few photos to compare them to each other:

The Trumpeter aircraft as you can see are molded in clear, very hard and brittle clear plastic; regardless if you us a cutter or razor knife, etc. Actually two came in pieces when the box was opened. Sure glad I only wanted to show two of the three...

One thing I did not understand was why they chose to mold the fuselage/canopy section in three pieces; the bottom that also has the wings attached, and two top halves split down the center of the canopy(?). You need to be very careful when assembling the two top parts so not to graze or frost the canopy section. I used CA glue for the front engine cowling and just a dot for the rear where they connect under the tail. For the center I will attach it using paint, in this case clear / future as the adheasive when painting the aircraft.

I was hoping to paint the lower half center interior green so it would reflect through the canopy, but with it split, I am not sure it will show through very well. In the photos above you see what comes in the box (less prop). I want to add a few more items to the planes, much like I did the boats. The photo below shows more detail for what I am after:

- bracing for the wing floats

- cable braces for the center float

- antenna and antenna wire

- air speed sensor on the left wing leading edge

Not so sure which ones will end up on the finished aircraft, but wish me luck. Next update should show them further along. 

So long for now....

Ben

Drums01 whatever you end up achieving I know is gonna be neat! Looking forward to seeing it. Dang shame so many came broken tho. 

Drum,

No matter how much time you put into the Trumpter clear planes, it wil lbe well worth it. I see so many of these models where people had put a lot of time and effort into a very detailed model and then use those cartoon character planes that came in the kit.

I have been away for a while, and may be away again, but I had some time to rig the Kansas.  I tried a .003" fillement line and I am not happy with it.  I may re-rig it it I don't break the masts. They are quite brittle.

John, nice work. That had to be quite a chore to get the rest knocked out in ine sitting.

Ben, wow, that kit plane is s#!t, they didn't even try. The Trumpy planes are pretty nice. I guess you could paint green under the other colors. Not sure if the lack of light shining through the upper layer color would keep it from being seen. Can't hurt to try.

The Kingfisher was a tough capable spotter plane that did far more that originally designed. It didn't really have the power to carry much more than the 2 man crew and was somewhat unstable in the water, but it worked and and were sold to aother nations. It saved countless downed airmen and sailors and served longer than expected because there wasn't a huge need to devote design and manufacturing resources to a spotter plane that worked. They were slowly being replaced in 44 by the Seahawk.

Scott: She looks awesome to me! 

John: Nice work there. Seems like getting all those tiny planes up and ready was as much work as building the carrier. 

Drums: Wow, that's a BIG improvement! Those kit Kingfishers look, well, like some sort of weird mutant airplane. 

Ben: Really good decision to use the trumpeter kit. It is a night and day difference between the kit plane and the after market one.

Steve: I assembled them over a span of 12 hours or so. I had to take breaks pretty frequently otherwise I get headaches and my brain just doesn't function properly and I make stupid mistakes. I like to refer to it as "modeling fatigue". 

Scott: The Kansas is a beauty. Good luck re-rigging, hopefully your masts don't break.

Gamera: I think you are right, pretty sure I have spent more time on the planes than the ship itself.

 I need some help with the size and spacing of deck tie downs for making a mask for painting them. Even if you give me the spacing on a carrier model you have, it will be fine because I can just do the math to see what the dimensions would be in 1/800 scale.

Scottrc that ship is a beaut! I just love it.

Sorry Scott, I missed this post. Looks like you're about there. I use Uschi rigging line anymore. It's to scale and very stretchy and won't break or bend the masts. If you're planing to replace the rigging you might want to give that a try.

Thanks everyone.

Steve, I have been trying to get Uschi line, but its been backordered for several months from several suppliers. The stuff I got from Amazon was a poor knock-off.  Its seems the story of my life with this hobby as of late. Everthing I am interested in is either discontinued or out of stock.  I guess I should have built up a stash.

Some great work being done by you guys.

Kind of gave up on the big Gato, and just ordered a new set of the scope shears to give it another try.  PE is NOT my friend, so will see what happens the second time around.

Scott, I sent you a PM.

GH, I hope that works. I'd like to see that thing.

[quote user="modelcrazy"

GH, I hope that works. I'd like to see that thing.

[/quote]

You may see a commission PE job headed into your mailbox

goldhammer

You may see a commission PE job headed into your mailbox

Bring it on, it may take a little while though. I got a little bit of PE to do myself. 

Things are really starting to look good! Got the deck getting close to being finished and the kitty hawk is starting to look like a real ship now.

For the weathering, I used the Tamiya weathering masters set b. the snow and grime really work well for skid marks and scuffs from the planes.

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I was hoping that I would be able to fit all the planes on deck and I did but t is quite crowded. Probably going to have to leave off a few to make space for planes that will be landing and taking off as part of the scene. " alt="" width="500" height="350" />

Tell me what you think of the tie downs. They were doused with grime to tone them down and it made a significant difference as shown in the pic below.

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The ones on the starboard (island) side are weathered, to port they are not?

I think the ones on the island side look fine.

GMorrison

The ones on the starboard (island) side are weathered, to port they are not?

I think the ones on the island side look fine.

 

Keyserj that's sick man!! Flight deck looks perfect. Dang I hope mine comes out that nice. 
im falling in right behind you. Finished up the hangar bay today. I used canopy glue to hold them down. Update time! All painted and flat coated. A/C in hangar bay have black canopies, yellow warning arrows on A-7’s, satin clear (since lighting will be low) and just black basing for weathering. 

Keyserj and Mongoose,

Your carriers are amazing.

Scottrc,

The Kansas is beautiful, good luck with your rerigging.

Steve,

Saying you've got a little photoetch work to do is a bit of an understatement.

I really need to get my 109 out of the stash and get it done.

lewbud

Keyserj and Mongoose, Your carriers are amazing.

You're looking good guys. I with with Bill on the tiedowns.

Scott: Your Kansas is gorgeous. Hopefully if you attempt a rerig it al goes smoothly and it comes out more to your liking. 

Ben: Man, that kit Kingfisher is all askew. Your choice to get the Trumpeter replacement was definitely in order. I'm sure your painting efforts will prove effective.

John: Your airwings and flight deck are looking really good. Keep up the effort as it is producing excellent effects and appearance. Well done.

Mongoose: The hangar is looking all outstanding and such. Fantastic progress.

GH: Hang in there with the Gato. Have confidence my friend because you got this.

Update on the Oakland. As I reported earlier, the new kit came pre-painted with a primer coat. This is all good and such but, it makes gluing the parts together a major hassle. All the gluing surfaces have to be sanded or scraped. Even though I'm only using the hull and forward bridge structure from the new kit, quite a bit needed to be scraped for gluing. Once I got to scraping along I realized what a time comsuming effort it was. As such, it was time to just break out the trusty Polly S Easy Lift Off paint remover and just strip it all down. If you have never used thid stuff, it is an amazingly handy product to have to strip paint. You can do spot areas or large areas. I works wonders. Although no longer available, it appers that Testor's reproduced and it can be found on ebay. I'll post some pics of the process when postimage decides to cooperate.

Wouldn't you know it. Postimage started cooperating. so here is some pics of the primer stripping. Just brush it on, let it sit for a while and then wipe or brush off. This stuff has saved a couple of paint jobs for me by just fixing problem areas.

The paint has been removed from the stern with a toothbrush and small rag.

Joe-  won't give up on the PE just yet.  Adds too much over the kit pieces.

Have never see the stripper before, before my time getting back into building.  That stuff looks like it works wonders

I think Polly S is mostly ammonia so go from there.

Whatever's in it, sure looks like it truly is a paint stripper. Almost looks like new bare plastic out in the flat areas.

Bill, Buddy, Steve: thanks for your thoughts, I really do appreciate them.

Joe: Quite wierd to see a model that came pre-primed. Good choice to strip it so that you won't make a mess glueing parts. Nice to see that post image is working for you, I am still having issues with it.

GH: Don't give up on the PE, I think you will really enjoy the extra detail the gato will have once it is finished.

Almost forgot about you Goose.  There is just something oddly attractive about a black carrier deck. What color will you paint it?

Can't wait to see the lights on with your planes in the hanger bay. Should look pretty sick.

MC hosted a sub GB a couple years ago.  IIRC, PJ did one in 1/144, and the PE was awesome.

That's why I'm hanging on, as she is to represent USS Wahoo as it left Pearl on the last patrol.