Building Guillow's 1:28 PBY 5/5A kit.

J

johnpipe108

Guest
Got more done, last of the Port-side hull formers in place:



Overall view with all port-side formers placed:



I added the wheel-well internals for extra robustness, though they are not needed for the PBY-5.



Bend in side-keel going aft:



Starboard Hull formers F1 - F3 clamped in place, with Port side-keel and chines installed.



Another view of the same:



A12 chine attached at lower aft end of keel; I needed to make a triangular block to provide glue surface, as I did not find any directions for properly attaching A12 at the end.



Scotty: "Cap'n Kirk! There's a huge, alien growth on the hull!"



Should be starting on the Starboard side keel and chines tomorrow.

Regards, John
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
Got the A11/A12 chines in place, and got the stringers finished for the upper area above the keel.

First stringers going in.



A little more stringering.



Close-up on notch added instead of butt-joint per plan, as it's easier to maintain correct position.



Notch-pad made-up and added to help with sharp-angle attachment.



1:18 character compares with 1:28 hull.



Should be getting to the hull bottoms over the weekend, but need to find out the "tricks" of making the sheet-balsa conform to the slight curvatures on the hull.

Regards, John
 

HAWKERHUNTER

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Steve
Hi John. Looking great so far mate well done. A couple of things you can try to get your balsa to bend is completely soak the balsa for several hours until it is wet through. When wet it should bend like cardboard. Pin it on the model so that it follows the shape of the model. Let it dry out completely and then trim and attach. If the curve is a little smaller you can just wet the balsa on one side only. This will cause it to swell on one side and cause the sheet to bend like a bannana. Good luck.

Steve
 
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T

tecdes

Guest
Yes John the old PBY is really taking shape. Nice Job. You have been busy. Lovely subject as well.

Filmed a PBY, all brilliant white, in Jersey (GB) about 5 years ago both on the ground & in the air. But filming, otherwise I could have taken advantage of a free short trip.

Love to see one on the water. I think she is one of the most attractive aircraft ever built. Put her with the Fleet Royal Navy Harrier (not all the later editions through out the UK & USA they spoilt the lines).

Laurie
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
\ said:
Yes John the old PBY is really taking shape. Nice Job. You have been busy. Lovely subject as well.Filmed a PBY, all brilliant white, in Jersey (GB) about 5 years ago both on the ground & in the air. But filming, otherwise I could have taken advantage of a free short trip.

Love to see one on the water. I think she is one of the most attractive aircraft ever built. Put her with the Fleet Royal Navy Harrier (not all the later editions through out the UK & USA they spoilt the lines).

Laurie
I've just received my DVD copy of Destination Tokyo; there's a nice sequence (scene-menu "Rendezvous") of a PBY-5 making a water landing, "discharging the passenger" and taxiing for a takeoff.

I wonder if any PBY-5A and up are still flying. Personally, I like the pure seaplane version, and I have been tempted at times by the earlier 4 version, but this one just has to match up with Destination Tokyo! Too bad there are no original PBY-5's surviving.

Regards, John
 
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Theres a PBY with undercarriage based at Duxford in the uk.I think its one of the later marks as it has the larger fin.Theres another one in the uk somewhere that used to belong to TV personality Hughie Green.It used to come into Southend airport where i work.Havent seen it for a few years though.It was painted in a strange yellow and green colour scheme.
 
T

tecdes

Guest
Jersey International Air Display Photo Gallery

This is the Catalina over Jersey. Nice pictures beautiful aircraft.

Laurie

Edit. This was about 4 to 5 years ago. Unfortunate weather fog & wind spoilt the air display & it was cancelled last year.
 
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J

johnpipe108

Guest
Got the hull planked in; here's 3/4's:



A little closer in:



And all four hull-panels done:



More to come ... very soon!

Regards, John
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
I just could not go along with opaque windows made of printed card-stock; so I innocently made up the first window, but when I couldn't find my narrow chisel to inlet it into the engineer's place, I absent-mindedly stuck it into the "radio-room" position (it should be half-high for this position). I will have to fix that up.



The "glass" is common plastic goods-packaging, affixed to the 1/16in balsa frame with Crafter's Pick water-based adhesive (" ... adheres to Metals, Plastics, Glass & More! ... Dries clear ... ").

The other major "windows" come next ...

Regards, John
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
I Swear, this Yank is Crazy!

I just didn't like having nice, big waist-bubble's and not being able to see through from one side to the other; the card-stock background pasted onto the hull just will not satisfy my compulsive desire for detail!

Of course, this means cutting into the fuselage, and therefore it must be re-inforced; the first step was to make a tear-drop frame from 3/32in balsa:



To have enough strength for this operation, the fuse between F6 and F8 must be planked:



Once the above-the-side-keel planks were in, I worked the starboard-side frame first, the hard way, without first wet-forming the frame, and had plenty trouble including grain-splits in the broad front edge:



I did the next one right (only broke it once while handling), and sprayed the frame with water to get it flexible, then used an elastic velcro catheter-bandage as a clamp for wet-forming (and forgot to put wax-paper over the hull):



Once dry, it was easy to glue to the hull; the same technique was used to clamp the glued frame, with wax-paper over the glued object:



Once sufficient areas have been strengthened, the hull could be cut open and part of former F7 could be cut away:



Cutting away the rest of the former and shaping it in some appropriate manner will wait for the last planks under the side-keel.

Having been bit by the "planking-fever" out of necessity, I don't know if the entire fuselage will be planked, or only major mod areas; I believe I will definitely tissue-cover the wings, and maybe parts of the fuse, maybe not!

Regards, John (p.s. more insanity to come!)
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
The next bit of insanity was experimenting with two-part resin for casting the tail-fin base. First, the kit plastic base covers were duck-taped together, then over their area of the fuse:



Next, the two-part mix was prepared and poured into the mold.



Mold poured through the stringers:



Did the patient survive the operation? Looks like she will be able to play the violin again! ("That's great Doc; I never could before!"):



And looking from the side:



I am toying with the idea of taking a mold from the nose-piece, and casting that in solid resin, so I can customize the nose-turret!

Now it will be a little while until I have more to post on the PBY.

Regards, John
 
K

Keith9657

Guest
Thats looking great, John. It will be a great looking bird. I like your velcro clamp too. Marvellous idea!

Keith
 
T

tecdes

Guest
Very naughty John.I think you are leading me into areas that I really should not go. This really looks interesting work especially your desire & imagination to improve the lot.

I would really like to have a go at this but wonder if my impatience & therefore frustration will stand it all.

You are right Keith that velcro idea could make things so much easier. I have been thwarted recently trying to use clamps & having to hold things for 10 minutes with my fingers for want of a clamping method.Nice idea John.

By the way I have started on my PBY Catalina. You will say shame all in plastic. You are right in all ways.

Laurie
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
Which Catalina Kit? I made many a plastic kit, many decades ago, and it was a lot of fun!

John
 
T

tecdes

Guest
A Revell 1/48. Although John who knows who put the thing together & who manufactured it is any body's guess. But not to be pessimistic about it so far things are going well.

Me thinks I will be complete before your model as there is a lot of work in your wooden model.

You must have lots of patience.

Laurie
 
J

johnpipe108

Guest
\ said:
A Revell 1/48. Although John who knows who put the thing together & who manufactured it is any body's guess. But not to be pessimistic about it so far things are going well.Me thinks I will be complete before your model as there is a lot of work in your wooden model.

You must have lots of patience.

Laurie
I seem to have the patience; I don't seem to be able to avoid it, these things just happen and take mucho time! BTW, for sheer patience, have a look at this Monogram Pro-Modeller PBY by someone who has probably more patience (and a lot more skill) than I have; mucho customizing (which did not exist for the plastic models set 50 years or more ago):

PBY-5A Catalina- Revell-Monogram -1/48

That guy's work will be very useful for me, to get at some of the detail I'm going to have to deal with.

Regards, John
 
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