Rescue! Black Cat Catalina PBY5A

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October 10, 2021
Flaps cut out to bring some more life into this bird.
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October 10, 2021
Quickboost engines further improved with push rods from steel
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October 10, 2021
Here the engine is painted, washed and with its ignition cables added
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October 10, 2021
I want to depict one blister bubble open. Time for my saw.
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October 10, 2021
As quite a bit of the interior of this compartment will be seen, some further detailling was needed.
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October 10, 2021
No 1:72 scale project without maschine guns from Miniworld.
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October 10, 2021
The rough layout of the intented scene.
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October 10, 2021
And a close up
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October 10, 2021
Back to the details. Forward bulk wall of the maschine gun compartment with ammo feeds for the guns and jump seats for the gunners
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October 10, 2021
fire extinguisher and toilet.
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October 10, 2021
Finally some color on
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October 10, 2021
Machine gun compartment
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October 10, 2021
Cockpit section
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October 10, 2021
landing lights. The housing was cut out, the side and rear walls built up with sheet and the lights fashioned.
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October 10, 2021
The result
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October 10, 2021
The engines found their way into the cowlings. With both parts from Quickboost fit was disappointing and assembly required a bit of work.
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October 10, 2021
Test fit. The two halfes go together quite easy.
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October 10, 2021
For a rescue scene you need pilots. I chose P.J. Productions Navy Pilots of WWII
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October 15, 2021
The interior color appeared rather yellowish when compared with reference material. I heard that zinc chromate was mixed with black to create interior green. So that's what I did too. I like the shade of the color now much better. The wheel wells were kept in zinc chromate. The bulkhead is sprayed interior green.
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October 15, 2021
The photo etched seats lack cushions. Those are needed so that the pilots will be able to look out of the window and reach the pedals. I will fashion them from sheet and Milliput.
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October 18, 2021
I discarded the kits MGs (the grey part). Using Miniworlds barrels and some photo etch I constructed the machine guns and build a support for them. That should be the last detailing step for the interior.
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October 18, 2021
Having used zinc chromate as interior color I figured too late that the upper part of the cockpit and thus the inside of the glass part was black. So I scraped the paint off again to redo it.
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October 22, 2021
Now done as I think should be correct
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October 18, 2021
Some detail painting started
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October 23, 2021
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October 23, 2021
Things are coming together. Testfit of the rear compartments interior
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October 23, 2021
Pilots are almost done. I used the pic in the background to choose colors
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October 23, 2021
As the wing tip pontons will be shown in lowered position, the wing tip will be exposed. So I detailed it a bit
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October 23, 2021
The rails at the bow of the kit are simplified. I cut them out and fitted the missing anchoring points
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October 25, 2021
I hoped to close the fuselage by yesterday, but that was not to be. But pilots are in place with seatbelts fastened
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October 25, 2021
Some detail painting, decals, weathering, dry fitting.
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November 1, 2021
Finally. The fuselage is closed. Fit was pretty good.
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November 1, 2021
The blister canopy compartment after weathering and dusting with everything except the machine guns in place.
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November 1, 2021
Starboard side
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November 1, 2021
Rear bulkhead.
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November 1, 2021
Does not really make sense to show the ailerons deflected and to leave the rudder straight, does it? Only should have done that before glueing the fuselage halves together. This way it was quite a pain. And one which is not over yet.
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November 4, 2021
Prepwork. Some filling and sanding. The rear contact areas of the canopy need to be lifted slightly to achieve good alignment.
The wing sits too deep on the central strut. I elevated it by about 0.7mm. Hope I do not have to pay for this when attaching the small support struts.
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November 7, 2021
Progress was rather slow. The tail required quite a bit of modifications to position the rudder deflected.
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November 7, 2021
The rudder itself needed some attention too. Trimming was added.
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November 7, 2021
The wings have been declared ready, were cleaned, primed, sanded and received a coat of Dull and regular Aluminum from Alclad. Next will be varnish, chipping fluid and zinc chromate.
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November 7, 2021
The fuselage needs some more sanding. After a million times of dry fitting I hope that the canopy will align smoothly. I am eager to start with the paint job.
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November 9, 2021
I needed some coarser work for a change. So I shaped the base for the - not so little - vignette.
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November 9, 2021
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November 9, 2021
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November 13, 2021
The tail really gave me a hard time.
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November 13, 2021
Now I consider it done. Let's see how it looks with the primer on.
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November 13, 2021
Fit of the canopy is now ok as well.
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November 13, 2021
After some fillingsandingfillingsandind she should be ready for primer now.
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November 13, 2021
The areas where I want to depict wear received a coat of zinc chromate. Next will be chipping fluid and medium sea grey then.
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November 14, 2021
Well, and light grey for the lower parts. Here after a bit of chipping. The light grey I mixed from flat white and H317 grey from Mr. HobbyColor. In the pic it appears lighter than in reality.
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November 14, 2021
Primer finally. Unfortunately some more touch ups are needed.
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November 15, 2021
According to my research the black cat Catalinas received their black paint on top of the standard Navy scheme. So I spent a couple of hours to delf into that with the help of the vast internet, books and friends who know a bit about this stuff. Fortified with all this knowledge I was finally able to tackle that issue methodologically. Now: Look and Listen! An appropriate amount of grey (Mr. HobbyColor No. 308) was lighted with some white untill it felt right. Then some cobalt blue went into this mixture until I liked it. And on with it onto the top surfaces of the wing. Highlighting some panels, lowlighting some others and splattering the whole surface with the help of an AK splatter mask. This section gives an idea of where I got with that.
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November 15, 2021
I had a hard time with chipping with water and a stiff brush only. It took ages to achieve a bit of paint wear.
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November 15, 2021
Then I remembered Windex and my tooth brush. Now things sped up.
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November 15, 2021
But it is a thin line between intended wear and ruin. I am happy that everything will be covered with black again and that I will be able to have a second chance on some areas.
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November 15, 2021
Still, I am quite happy with the overall result and look forward to apply my new expertise on the fuselage.
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November 22, 2021
Final result
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November 22, 2021
The fuselage needed some more touch ups. But now the metal coat is on.
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November 22, 2021
Don't know why, but here I have some orange peel that has to be adressed
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November 22, 2021
Another step with the dio. Wrapped the foamboard in cardboard. Next step will be filling the gaps, trimming, sanding, varnish and priming.
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December 12, 2021
After chipping fluid zinc chromate followed, then heavy chipping.
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December 12, 2021
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December 12, 2021
Here wear on the floats and their supports after a light grey coat (ANA602)
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December 12, 2021
The underbelly. Sealed with a coat of varnish after chipping.
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December 12, 2021
Similar procedure on the fuselage as on the wings.
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December 12, 2021
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December 12, 2021
And that is where I am now
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January 16, 2022
Now all figures are build. As the Catalina crews were Navy personnel too, I assume that they were similar uniforms as their comrades on ships. So I felt free to decommission two privates from an USS Gato class boat to my Catalina where they help the ditched pilot on board.

Komentarzy

63 10 October 2021, 18:37

Spanjaard
Looking very promising

10 October 2021, 18:40

Juergen Klinglhuber
Following,...
Made a rescue dio with a Catalina myself some years ago - so I'm curious how you set it up... The start was already great 👍

10 October 2021, 19:13

Oliver Zwiener
Wow klasse Ding - top scratch built and add ons !!!

10 October 2021, 19:16

Łukasz Gliński
Interesting one

10 October 2021, 20:50

Ben M
Watching & learning. I will build this kit someday but not to this level.

10 October 2021, 21:22

Michael Kohl
Danke Leute. Thanx guys for your interest and your comments. Right now progress is quite good. Lets hope it stays that way.

10 October 2021, 22:32

Michael Kohl
@Juergen: I would like to see a pic or two of your rescue scene.

11 October 2021, 11:14

Juergen Klinglhuber
Hi panorama - thx for your interessed....check out modellversium.de/gal..-pby-5-catalina.html

11 October 2021, 17:24

Cuajete
Interesting project and good start 👍

11 October 2021, 18:45

Oliver Zwiener
@ juergen - klasse Diorama !!!

12 October 2021, 08:56

Michael Kohl
@Oliver @Juergen
I agree on that. That is about the feel of the scene I would like to convey too.

12 October 2021, 09:00

Lochsa River
If its a floatplane...count me in....looking forward to this...

24 October 2021, 01:39

Juergen Klinglhuber
Nice progress

24 October 2021, 10:12

Michael Kohl
Hi Lochsa. You are wellcome
Danke Jürgen.

26 October 2021, 06:06

Gary Victory
Really nice project Michael. Looking good Sir.

4 November 2021, 07:38

Cuajete
Good progress 👍

4 November 2021, 19:02

Bruce Huxtable
Really liking you details and scratch work, and the painting is looking very good too. The views into the interior really add lots, and are worth the extra care you took 👍🙂 I'm looking forward to seeing the next stages 🙂

4 November 2021, 19:15

Michael Kohl
Thanx Gary, Cuajete and Bruce for the nice feedback. A rainy weekend made some progress possible.

7 November 2021, 23:38

Bruce Huxtable
Praying for more bad weather, as the diorama seascape looks tremendous already 👍🙂

9 November 2021, 19:52

Oliver Zwiener
Sieht jetzt schon super aus ! Die Spannung steigt ....

10 November 2021, 05:45

Harry Eder
I´ve missed that! Your Catalina looks pretty cool! 👍

10 November 2021, 06:13

Moritz Fentzahn
Count me in. Looking good so far and looking forward to see your water surface

13 November 2021, 06:31

Michael Kohl
Hi and thanks Harry and Moritz. Nice to have you on board.

14 November 2021, 13:33

James C
Looking awesome. Will almost be a shame to bury that nice looking blue under the black. 👍

22 November 2021, 16:49

Pierre Pierre
that is super impressive !! I will try to get inspired from your amazing work of the interior and chipping. Btw what chipping material and varnish you used ?

12 December 2021, 13:01

Juergen Klinglhuber
Your worn out Cat looks good! Nice paint job, looking forward to your next steps,....

13 December 2021, 11:41

Michael Kohl
@James: you are right. Sometimes I have second thoughts about the black. But my mind is set: it will turn black 🙂.
@Pierre. Thanks for your kind words. Concering my technique: I learned the hard way to seal my basic paint with a good coat of varnish (Humbrol or Tamiya clear varnish) to protect it from the following steps. In the past I used decanted hair spray as chipping fluid but switched to MIGs chipping medium for this build. I am disappointed by it. Basic consistency is more honey like and does not go through my gun. Thinning it with water does noch leave a nice even coat is I had with hair spray. Probably the mistake is all mine, but I have not figured out, what and where I did them. Another important lessen was to spray only thin coats of paint and not not wait too long before you start the washing process. Adhearance to these concepts made weathering of the hull easier than on the wing. On the wing I used Windex to soften the paint. As I did not have good success with a stiff brush I start my weathering with an old tooth brush. Its stiffness, yet flexibility prooved to be a good setup to wear down the paint initially. As soon, as wear shows I switch to a stiff brush to modulate the effect. When your done add another coar of varnish.
Puh, a lot of text. Hope it is clear enough and helps you avoid a few of my difficulties.
@Jürgen: Thanx, stay tuned.

13 December 2021, 15:38

Simon Nagorsnik
nice chipping!
good surface for a well worn look
and I really like your pilots 😁
the whole thing looks like a very good dio to me...

22 January 2022, 22:46

Michael Kohl
Hi Simon, thanks for your encouraging words. Now that the project sat at the side for a while it is time to tackle the next hurdles. Namely finishing the machine guns at the aft compartment so that I can finally mount the bubble canopies and go on then with painting.

25 January 2022, 10:19

Thomas Bischoff
great project and well researched 👍

13 February 2022, 15:11

Michael Kohl
Oh Boy. It is really that long ago that I didn't commence. Shar, your like for the project refreshes my motivation to continue this one soon. And a late thanks to Thomas for the positive feedback.

20 May 2023, 10:59

Rolf Rolf
Following 👀

20 May 2023, 11:23

Michael Kohl
Thank you guys for all the interest you show in this build.

21 May 2023, 05:28

Michael Kohl
Thanks again guys for your likes.

22 May 2023, 15:44

Andy Ball
Better check this one out, it's on the future list- I built it years ago and seem to remember it went well-yours too?

13 June 2023, 22:09

Michael Kohl
Hi Andy. The build didn't pose any problems whatsoever. Fit was really nice. Exterior detail is quite good. Interior detail is pretty basic - particularly around the blisters. I suggested an upgrade kit to CMK. Let's see whether they pick up the idea.

14 June 2023, 07:47

Andy Ball
By the time I come 'round to building mine, they may have commissioned an aftermarket?!

14 June 2023, 07:58

Michael Kohl
Well, let's cross fingers. The Catalina is quite a popular plane after all and the kit is rereleased once in a while. So there should be a market for it.

14 June 2023, 09:14

Michael Kohl
Thanks Nikita and all the others for stopping by and leaving a like.

25 June 2023, 05:20