Floats and Boats GB 2022, extended to end of 2023

Some very interesting subjects underway.  That Takom Ekranoplane just came out last year.  Looks like nice surface detail.  I find it interesting that such an ecclectic subject would be snapfit.

Unfortunately with all that sanding and filling means rinse and repeat several times to get it where you want it. Kits like this look great when done but man to they test my resolve while working on them.

BK

Here's the fuselage after sanding all that putty .

It's not too bad , I'll need to rescribe a few panel lines across the top 

Underside 

I wanted to spray a few coats of flat white as a base coat on the beaching gear parts , I've run out of white , so I used some light gray . However lots of seams are still visible , so I'll move these back to the bench for more sanding and a bit more putty on a couple of pieces .

Next I'll glue the tail fin and tail planes on and the canopy . The wings after that .

crown r n7

I'm in with a minicraft 1/72 pbm-5a mariner.

 

BK

Helo H-34

just a quick update . I glued some of the beaching gear components and cleaned up the smaller pieces , attaching them to small clips ready for painting later on .

I'LL sand the putty tomorrow around the larger beaching gear pieces and all the wheels have been puttied around the centre seam along with all those small pod shaped pieces

Hopfully by this time  tomorrow  I'll have the fuselage puttied and sanded as well .

Good progress I think .

 

BK

I'm in with a minicraft 1/72 pbm-5a mariner.

just a quick update . I glued some of the beaching gear components and cleaned up the smaller pieces , attaching them to small clips ready for painting later on .

I'LL sand the putty tomorrow around the larger beaching gear pieces and all the wheels have been puttied around the centre seam along with all those small pod shaped pieces

Hopfully by this time  tomorrow  I'll have the fuselage puttied and sanded as well .

Good progress I think .

Before glueing the fuselage halves together I deciced to add some weight to the front section . The instructions didn't mention that any was required but I decided to put some in anyway .

I then glued the two fuselage halves together . I used mostly 3M blue masking tape , the hobby glamps weren't that affective . The top of the fuselage is not flush in some places but I'm happy to sand , putty and re sand for that to finish flush . I then turned my attention to the beaching gear .

I started with two cups of coffee to get my head around what parts go with each other and crefully cut pieces from the sprue and started to pair up components .

Lots of flash to clean up on each piece , hopefully by tonight I'll have most the components glued together . 

The fuselage joins seems to be okay , here's a test dry fit with just some tamiya masking tape holding the two halves together

The nose section still has a slight gap , the cockpit floor may be causing that if it's a bit too wide and just behind the top of the cockpit one side is a little higher than the other but I can sand a bit of that plastic strip to get the fuselage to sit flush . Overall it's not too bad . 

Underside is okay , again only the nose shows issue's 

I'll file a bit of the cockpit floor and see how it looks , then glue and glamp .

John

John,

Did your Seamaster's left fuselage have a wonky upper mating edge?

Your painted cockpit actually looks okay!

Real G

Okay here we go!

The kit is designed for snap fit.

I have found the snap fit pins to be too tight, so the sockets have been bored out a bit to allow test fitting and fettling.

Here it is press-fit together.

The cockpit is simple, but will do.

 

BK

Helo H-34

 

 

Real G

John, you have crossed the Rubicon.  Good luck, and stock up on heavy grit sandpaper!

Watch the wing cross section from the front, as the kit wings have a weird taper in thickness on the outboard sections.  The bottom surface of the wings should form a more or less straight line.  Also beware the left fin bullet fairing, as the horizontal stab root is a little short.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the tips on the build Real G , any assistance is always appreciated .

A little more progress with the engine pods now glued .

Once the glue dries , I'll putty those seams .

I have started puttying the seams on the wings , fin , tail planes and float pods . I did need some 120 grit paper initially and then worked down to 400 grit .

I have also added some evergreen plastic strip to the top of the fuselage as there are no locating pins for the fuselage halves , I thought this will help when I glued both halves together later on , probably will add a bit of strength as well

The cockpit fitted okay 

I'm happy with my progress so far , there's no mention of any nose weight required , I guess the beaching gear should hold the aircraft stable ?

 

BK

Okay here we go!

The kit is designed for snap fit.

I have found the snap fit pins to be too tight, so the sockets have been bored out a bit to allow test fitting and fettling.

Here it is press-fit together.

The cockpit is simple, but will do.

Real G

John, you have crossed the Rubicon.  Good luck, and stock up on heavy grit sandpaper!

Watch the wing cross section from the front, as the kit wings have a weird taper in thickness on the outboard sections.  The bottom surface of the wings should form a more or less straight line.  Also beware the left fin bullet fairing, as the horizontal stab root is a little short.

 

Thanks for the tips on the build Real G , any assistance is always appreciated .

A little more progress with the engine pods now glued .

Once the glue dries , I'll putty those seams .

I have started puttying the seams on the wings , fin , tail planes and float pods . I did need some 120 grit paper initially and then worked down to 400 grit .

I have also added some evergreen plastic strip to the top of the fuselage as there are no locating pins for the fuselage halves , I thought this will help when I glued both halves together later on , probably will add a bit of strength as well

The cockpit fitted okay 

I'm happy with my progress so far , there's no mention of any nose weight required , I guess the beaching gear should hold the aircraft stable ?

John, you have crossed the Rubicon.  Good luck, and stock up on heavy grit sandpaper!

Watch the wing cross section from the front, as the kit wings have a weird taper in thickness on the outboard sections.  The bottom surface of the wings should form a more or less straight line.  Also beware the left fin bullet fairing, as the horizontal stab root is a little short.

The wings and tail planes did glue together quite well , however there has been some fit issues with the engine nacelle parts . I did dry fit pieces together before painting but when gluing the exhaust cone backing piece in place and then dry fitting the top and bottom halves , the raised lip where the backing piece fits against is slightly too far forward , so I've had to sand that lip flat to get all three pieces to fit together . Not a big deal and is consistant with Mach 2 kits .

I'll respray the flat black after I clean up the other engine pod and then I can glue them together .

The engine fronts fitted with okay

goldhammer88

Got a small start on the Cessna today while taking a break from the PE on the Grace (SSGB).  Pics coming in the next week of everything up to posting them.

Very clean molding, only flash I've seen so far is on the float rudders.  If the rest fits as well as the floats, I'll be a happy camper.

 

BK

Helo H-34

some preliminary painting of the engine nacelles and associate parts .

I've also glued and clamped the wings , tail plane and pods .

I went with neutral gray for the cockpit 

 

BK

some preliminary painting of the engine nacelles and associate parts .

I've also glued and clamped the wings , tail plane and pods .

I went with neutral gray for the cockpit 

Got a small start on the Cessna today while taking a break from the PE on the Grace (SSGB).  Pics coming in the next week of everything up to posting them.

Very clean molding, only flash I've seen so far is on the float rudders.  If the rest fits as well as the floats, I'll be a happy camper.

Real G , I really like the added detail especially to the cockpit , you certainly are making the build look a lot more accurate

I'll stick to straight out of the box with mine .

I've started removing the fuselage halves , cockpit , engines and wings from the sprue to clean up . One of my control yokes was broken on the sprue , I'll try and fix it with a piece of wire .

I was wondering what the interior cockpit color should be ?

Helo H-34

Hi , I would like to join in with the Mach 2 , 1/72 Martin P6M Seamaster

I've built a few Mach 2 kits in the past , so I'm aware of the fit challengers that come with the kit . I bought the kit online back in 2012 , 10 years sitting on the shelf is long enough .

John .

 

John you are a man of great courage and fortitude!  This is how far I got on mine:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/albums/72157663034297135

I just got tired of working that soft, soapy plastic.  Still, it's a magnificent beast.

Mach1

I'm in, I'm just not sure what with yet.

 

BK

I'm in, I'm just not sure what with yet.

waikong

 Starting 2022 off with an 1/48 Airfix Walrus.

 

BK

 Starting 2022 off with an 1/48 Airfix Walrus.

Helo H-34

Hi , I would like to join in with the Mach 2 , 1/72 Martin P6M Seamaster

I've built a few Mach 2 kits in the past , so I'm aware of the fit challengers that come with the kit . I bought the kit online back in 2012 , 10 years sitting on the shelf is long enough .

John .

 

BK

Helo H-34

Hi , I would like to join in with the Mach 2 , 1/72 Martin P6M Seamaster

I've built a few Mach 2 kits in the past , so I'm aware of the fit challengers that come with the kit . I bought the kit online back in 2012 , 10 years sitting on the shelf is long enough .

John .

 

That is one weird looking plane. I saw one about 30 years ago in New Jersey.

Hi , I would like to join in with the Mach 2 , 1/72 Martin P6M Seamaster

I've built a few Mach 2 kits in the past , so I'm aware of the fit challengers that come with the kit . I bought the kit online back in 2012 , 10 years sitting on the shelf is long enough .

John .

Dodgy

Ok BK, I'll have a crack at this with the Eduard Sopwith Baby float plane. Don't know how it will go as aircraft are not my best subjects, plus it's a biplane and its got lots of pesky PE. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

BK