The Seven Crystal Balls (Short Sunderland)

Robert Podkoński
Following with pleasure, of course!

Greg Baker
I stumbled across this kit today and just couldn't resist giving it a go. 😉

Andy Ball
It still makes for an impressive presence when finished! Having a peek….

Spanjaard
i am in too 🙂

Gluefinger
Are you really going to paint it in that sickly yellow-green colour it has in the book? 😉

Thomas Espe
Following.

Alan Kingston
I see the name of your project is a TinTin book. I presume a Sunderland features in the story? My father flew in Sunderlands, amongst other aircraft, in WW2, so as a 'born again' modeller, I've just started building models of the aircraft he flew in, the Sunderland is on the list. Sorry, I've just seen the illustrations from the book.

Cuajete
Following (one more time)!

Dave Flitton
Following

Gary Kitchen
Defo following this one. One of my favourite planes, two in the stash and one on order. Looking out for the unique Greg treatment. Bright yellow, will be an unusual look for the this seabird.

Greg Baker
Thanks for all the comments! I've been looking for this one for a while, so when it turned up on the shelf of the local hobby shop, I had to grab it. I love flying boats, and yes Gluefinger… this baby is going yellow! It only appears in 3 panels at the end of The Seven Crystal Balls, transporting Tintin and Captain Haddock down to South America. One thing that's going to be a bit of a challenge is taking out the top turret and all the guns. Strangely, I've decided to put aside all my warplanes for the time being and concentrate on civilian models for a while, so this one fits the bill.

Greg Baker
Hah! Thanks Gary! I'm plotting a big yellow Sunderland, with spinning props, search lights and a water base… all in my Tintin « house style » so stay tuned! 😉

Gluefinger
>> and yes Gluefinger… this baby is going yellow!
OK, I shouldn't complain. I have a build of a well-known submarine coming up, all in... pink (shudder)!

Erik De Smet
Spinning props, lights and a yellow plane !!! Following of course..

Alex K
>> "Strangely, I've decided to put aside all my warplanes for the time being and concentrate on civilian models for a while"
Perhaps not so strangely... I have the same feeling...

Torsten
I'll 👀

Greg Baker
Got the wings on this beast. I also drilled out all the holes I'll need for the motors and lights. I've broken so many wires inside a model due to handling during the assembly and painting that I always try to leave as much of the wiring to the end as possible. The side bomb doors give a lot of access for pulling wires through, so I should be good to go.

David Januska
Nice big bird, taking a seat 👍.

Lochsa River
Greg builds a floatplane....sittin in for sure...

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Can't wait to see this bird in pink undercoat for the yellow. 😎

Jv
Interesting build will take a seat to

James C
The Sunderland is such an awesome looking aircraft. Following 👀

Matthew A
Watching

Gluefinger
I detect a familiar shape of rocket in the background of some of these pictures...

Greg Baker
Well, it's taken some work to get this far. I had to use some CA glue gel to secure the pontoons properly because the holes were too big for the supports. I also managed to fill the hole where the top turret would be. I also managed to get a big dribble of cement run down the center of the main canopy, so that took some sanding to buff out. Still a bit cloudy, but good enough for me.

Gary Victory
Fantastic work Greg on this classic Airfix kit. And i have to say lovin' the pink primer... cant help but think of this....🤪
Youtube Video
Great work so far, keep it up. 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Joining y'all. Always wanted to build this very boxing, since I learned to use the styrene glue 🙂

Villiers de Vos
You put a lot of work into this model and it is showing.

Greg Baker
Oh, boy. Am I glad you asked! 😉

I seem to have developed a bit of a reputation around here as the pink paint guru. The plane itself will be mainly yellow (and bare metal to give it a bit of contrast) but I'm evangelical on using pink as an undercoat for painting anything yellow. It gives the yellow a very rich tone, and it also makes the notoriously difficult to paint yellow go on in usually one glorious coat.

This project has been stuck at the sand the seams endlessly point (the fit is very suspect given how old the mould is), but I'm just about to move to the yellow paint phase, so stay tuned!

Greg Baker
I've convinced Robert of the wonders of pink undercoats... you can see a live discussion on the topic here - Colours of freedom | Album by podkon (1:72)

Robert Podkoński
Confirmed! 😉

Gary Kitchen
Not sure I dare ask, but I will 😄 Can any old mix of red/white=pink be used as a viable primer or are you using something special?

Greg Baker
I'm just using Tamiya X-17 Pink, but I don't see why any mix of red/white wouldn't work. In fact, a lighter shade of pink (i.e. less red) might be useful in changing the tone of the yellow overcoat. Likely the less red, the less rich (and a bit orangey) the yellow I'd guess. That actually might bridge the gap between those that like using white as an undercoat for yellow. It would be interesting to see what amount of red in the white is actually the "tipping point" to make the 1 coat yellow viable. Great question!

Cuajete
I have used sand color as a base for the yellow. I'll have to try that magical pink recipe. Thanks for the explanations!

Ben M
I'd think the more red, the more orangey, and the more white the more desaturated/pastel

Erik De Smet
Yes Ben, with pink primer the yellow will go towards orange, with white primer it goes towards lemon.

Greg Baker
As a huge Tintin fan, todays news has left me a bit torn… hopefully Erik and I can still be friends. 😉

Matthew A
?

Erik De Smet
Belgium vs. Canada in the world cup😁

Matthew A
Oh I am the only member of my family who doesn't follow football ⚽

Greg Baker
Haha. Not that Belgium is even going to notice as they drive over Canada. 😉

I'm not sure I can abstain from Waffles, Chocolate, Stella Artois, and Tintin…

Greg Baker
This one is almost done. Given how bad the fit was on most of the seams, I more or less just gave up. Happy that I waited to near the end to string the wiring. Lights. Check. Motors. Check. Now just the base to finish off.

Cuajete
Yellow looks great!

bughunter
The pink primer looked crazy, but the yellow looks so much better for it! 👍

Daniel Klink
Fully agree with Cuajete and Frank 👍

Spanjaard
yellow looks beautiful indeed

Villiers de Vos
I certainly learned a lot from this build.

Nils Steyaert
wow, it really looks great 🙂

Jay Dubya
Hey Greg, I'm not sure if you are calling this one done yet. Is it like that 24 hour Canadian, is it a keeper sunderland?

Robin (WhiteGlint)
Great work, Greg! 👍

Greg Baker
And I finally got around to doing the rigging and taking the final pics on this build. Done!

Hopefully no one will spot the drop of glue that hit the upper wing near the fuselage. I just let it dry and it really only lifted a small spot of paint. A bit of pink primer, a splash of yellow... back in business. 😉

bughunter
Four working fans are very useful in summertime 👍 Nice model!

Nils Steyaert
amazing as always, Greg 👍

Cuajete
Very nice, Greg 👍
Congrats!

Łukasz Gliński
Lots of cool yellow subma.... ekhm flying boats on your wall 😉

Torsten
Turned out very nice, very 😎