Back in August I began the 1/72 Academy PBY-2 kit. I’ve got quite a few of Academy’s Catalina’s in my stash and after I received Red Roo’s corrected engines/cowls I decided it was time to actually build one. I haven’t done a Yellow Wings subject for some time so that’s why I selected the PBY-2.
After removing the kit nacelles I added the Red Roof upgrade. Why? The kit nacelles are about 1mm too small in diameter and it’s noticeable. They look “undernourished”. The classic resin is a bit rough, not smooth like some aftermarket makers. Frankly this could be better served with a 3D printed resin given engines are already on the market and the nacelles are somewhat simple shapes.
They do just drop-fit in. Alignment is critical, though. The instructions provide a guide for making your own alignment tool from wood. Since it’s a simple block with holes, I mocked one up in CAD then sliced and printed it. I used slow curing cyanoacrylate for the initial glue on the upper half of the wing. It’s available over on Printables.com.
Once that set I then cemented both wing halves together and clamped them to ensure they would remain together while the cement fully cured.
Once that was done I cleaned up the seams and filled around the nacelles. I used cyanoacrylate for the initial fill, then used Mr Surfacer 500 for the final, cleaning that up with Mr Leveling Thinner so I wouldn’t lose anymore detail.
Thanks for reading…
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