Building a 1/48 USAAF OA-10A using the Monogram PBY-5A By Mike Lepek

Introduction

I purchased the Monogram 1:48 PBY-5A Catalina quite a few years ago, and of course it spent the intervening years sitting in my closet collecting dust. I decided I needed to build something big, and for a 1:48 scale twin-engine plane this is about as big as they come. The wingspan is 26 inches while the fuselage is 24 inches long.

I was looking for a different paint scheme and found a picture of this aircraft, an OA-10A, in the book ''The Mighty Eighth in Color' by Roger Freeman. This is the USAAF version of the PBY-5A flown by the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron out of Halesworth, England. This particular OA-10A was a Canadian-built example constructed by Vickers.

I used the 1:48 Monogram Pro Modeler kit and also the True Details wheels and cockpit. Other than that the model is pretty much out of box. I did have to do a little modification to fill in the gap in the gunner's compartment. I glued a 5/32 by 1/16 strip of plastic to the curved edges on either side of the floor so the 1/16 edge was flush with the top of the floor and the rest hangs down below the floor. I did this along the gun platform and the small aft end where it steps down, and this cured that gap.

I had to add a considerable amount of weight to the forward fuselage, and since there is not much room in the nose most of the weight is behind the cockpit bulkhead and in the engine nacelles. I did add a set of long-range tanks on the wings which I took from the P-61 kit.

The aircraft was first preshaded with flat black along all panel lines and control surfaces, and then painted with the topcoat of flat white. After letting this dry for a few days I then applied a coat of clear gloss.

I found a picture similar to the nose art on the internet and then I converted it to a decal. I also used the Squadron/Signal publication PBY Catalina in Action and some photos from different websites to detail the interior and exterior. There also was a gentlemen who sent me some photos of other OA-10As that I used in detailing and painting this plane, but of course I lost the e-mail he sent me although I still have the pictures. The internet is an amazing thing.

The decals were applied and then sealed with a coat of clear flat. Since this is such a large plane, the fuselage and wings were painted separately and then assembled after everything was dry.

The weathering was accomplished with a mixture of Heavenly Hues brown and black.

This kit took about six months to assemble during my convalescent leave from the USMC.