Building the Catalina

Finally: Time to get this thing going after waiting on the Wolfpack kit. As I wanted to build a catalina as shown on the glorious Kodachrome photographs of Catalinas and their personell at Corpus Christi TX from 1942, I needed a PBY-5 (not a 5a).  

Glued the Wing parts together just to have this out of the way.  

Work on the cockpit and the interior started as well. 

Some finagling was involved here – building the guns and the cockpit floor; using a mixture of the Eduard aftermarket gold, some spare plastic sheets and the kit parts. 

Some slight upgrades on the cockpit; as there won't be much visible – why bother? 

Not much interior work – so the fuselage halves have been closed. I'll probably keep the fuselage and the main wing separate for painting. 

First Basecoat is on! 

Added som shading and the deicing boots on the wing tips – I forgot some of them the first time around and had to add the ones on the tail and the one in the middle of the wing  

Some details painted. I really liked the red beaching gear on the kodachrome photos by Hollem; also opted to got for the older paint scheme on the propellers as some of the photos showed the Catalinas having them in 1942.  

Decals on, all details painted/basecoated 

Here's how things look after adding some washes and weathering effects. Plus I rusted/chipped some of the details. Looking forward to giving this a final flat coat after leaving it to dry - and then I'll do the final assembly. Still a bit anxious about the wing columns - hope they'll fit #fingerscrossed 

Well – it's a wrap. Quite happy how with how she turned out, I have to say. It's just such a beautiful plane... 

Fin.  

...I think I'll be keeping her close for now.