Landlubber Mike

Well since I can't seem to decide on what materials to use to rig my Walrus, I dusted this one off the shelf. I first started with the wings, gluing in the ribs into the landing gear area, filling the extra landing light hole on the right wing, and added the Brengun flaps PE set. All went together fairly well. As I noted in my 1/48 B339-23 build, Brengun had the triangular pieces in the upper part of the wing, while the 1/32 set has them correctly in the flap itself. I thought about removing the ailerons, but given that they are angular where they insert into the wing (the top half and the bottom half are different widths), I thought it safer to just deepen the lines so they look like they are moveable parts of the wing. The kit's wing guns looked too large and out of scale, so I decided to go with Master brass barrels. Because the barrels are slightly smaller in diameter relative to the gun opening in the wings, I used my RP Toolz punch set to create small rings that I could inset into the opening to close the gap around the Master barrels. I also added a Master shark fin pitot tube which is more in scale and I think the proper shape on the B239. I epoxied it into the wing, but left off the delicate shark fin end which I will add at the end of the build since it's easy to break off. Learned that lesson on my 1/48 build and had to buy another pitot set to replace the end which broke off and cracked. Next I worked on the edge of the fuselage halves before the cowl. With the cowl panels open, I need to replicate part PUR9 in the picture below - the part that goes at the end of the fuselage just before the cowling: I thought I could work with the kit fuselage halves, but the just don't go far enough forward (see below). So I'll have to scratch build something like PUR9 or just figure a way to add extra material to the end of the fuselage halves to extend another 2-3mm out and cover up/extend past the exhausts. Still working on a solution for this, but I think I have a game plan. Next I worked on closing up the fuselage. Like other builds I came across online, this was certainly a battle. The fit is poor to say the least, particularly at the front end of the fuselage halves and where the tail is attached. I started by gluing the middle of the halves from the rear of the ventral window towards the back of the plane. Then I worked on the front end, which just wouldn't close. I found the cleanest approach was to first glue the bottom parts together, then when set, add a strip of styrene about 1.25mm across the top in between the two halves. Both sections were glued using two-part epoxy, and three clamps were used for the top to keep the halves not only together, but to push the right side back and in place because it kept having a tendency to slide forward. Was a real pain to say the least! Then when I went to attach the tail, things were a total mess. The two halves of the tail just don't fit properly against the joined fuselage halves. In particular, the flat section at the tops of the tail halves are wider than the fuselage halves by a good 2mm. So I ended up opening up the gap at the top of the fuselage halves where the rudder sits and adding thin sheets of plasticard until I got the proper width to match the tail halves. Then I glued the tail halves on, connecting them at the top and running them along the fuselage halves sides to follow the fuselage lines. That left a 1mm gap at the bottom of the tail halves which was also filled with plasticard. So, a lot of work, but the fuselage looks pretty good now I think. Hope these steps help others that might be building this in 1/32. Thanks for looking in!

Wow, those guns from both Veteran and Pontos are amazing. Beautiful work!

Just caught up with your log Craig. Really pristine work my friend, looking fantastic!

Wow, incredible work! Really nice job!

Wow Gary, looks like the real deal, amazing job! Your paint and decal work is flawless.

Wow Yves, what a cool project! Great job so far!

Wow Dan, incredible build!! Thanks for sharing your tips, etc. along the way. Really appreciate it!

Really great work Jolle! I ended up buying the Trumpeter kit and all the Points upgrades from a member here a couple of years ago - and supplemented it with guns, etc. from Veteran Models. I sure hope it doesn't take me 2.5 years to build!

Looks great Mark! Nice job!

Amazing start and backstory Peter! Looking forward to watching this one come along.

Amazing job Rob!! I've always been a sucker for redheads too 😉

Wow that came out fantastic Glen!!! So creative and cool, great job!

Cool build Yves, I'm enjoying following along!

Nice build there OC!

Looking forward to this one Chris. Love the look of the Italian planes!

Another great build Kevin!

Looks fantastic!! Love the sails!

Nicely done! Not easy to do all that framing in PE, but you make it look easy. Great job!

Nice project Kevin! Do you ever rest?? Your building prowess is really impressive.

This is a really cool project KD - very interesting and you're doing a wonderful job! By the way, did you sneak into my basement and take a picture of my stash?? I recognize a lot of those models

Just catching up with your log Rob - wow, you're really outdoing yourself again, and that is a high bar! Looks spectacular! The rivet decals make for a very nice touch.

Happy belated birthday Denis! Glad to hear you're doing well

Love it OC!! Nice job!

Nice to see you back Mugje. I hear you on losing interest in models and wanting to jump to something else. I've got a lot of models on the shelf. To keep myself building, I'll pick up a new one or go back to one I had started earlier when the mood and motivation hit me. For me, it's always been about the building, not finishing a model. By the way, that kit looks fantastic! The way the framing locks in like that is amazing. A lot different from older kits for sure. Looks like the fit of the parts is very precise.

I'd probably stick with paints made for airbrushing, unless you pre-test and the paints airbrush to your satisfaction. I airbrush with Vallejo, Tamiya, Mr. Color and other airbrush paints all the time, and never have a problem. Specifically, I've never had any of the problems airbrushing water-based acrylics from Vallejo that Bob has mentioned - the paints are specially designed to be airbrushed and are already pre-mixed/thinned so you just put it in your airbrush and go to town (I usually add a drop of Vallejo Thinner and sometimes Flow Improver, but that's it). I will note that while Vallejo says that Vallejo Model Colors (the non-airbrush line) can be used in an airbrush after adding their thinner, they do note that certain colors may not airbrush very well, so I typically stick with their Model Air and Game Air line for airbrush work. Unless Model Expo paint has changed, I found it to be very thick (and frankly, not very good) and wouldn't bother trying to make it work in an airbrush. You can get Vallejo and other brand airbrush paints for a relatively low cost and they offer tons of colors. Regarding cost - not to appear insensitive to expenses, but sure you can get a big jug of craft paint for a relatively low cost, but how much paint do you really need? My guess is that eventually one will throw out most of the bottle after it dries out since you don't need much paint when painting models (as opposed to doing canvas paintings or other larger scale painting projects). The small Vallejo dropper bottles for example cost about $3, and have excellent coverage per drop of paint. I don't think I've finished a bottle yet after a few years of airbrushing. You can't beat the convenience.