Scratchbuilt 1/48 Scale Consolidated P2Y-3
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Introduction
The first steps taken, to give the US Navy a monoplane flying boat with
a single step hull, occurred in the late 1920s. Although Consolidated
had lost the competition to produce the first of these new generation
flying boats, the XPY-1, to Martin it did receive an order from the Navy
to build a subsequent prototype based on that same XPY-1 design. This
second NAF variation was designated the XP2Y-1, and differed mainly in
that it retained a small lower wing which not only provided support for
the stabilizing pontoons but also gave it a bit more lift as well as space
for additional fuel tanks. Initially the P2Y-1 engines were mounted below
the wing, but with the development of the XP2Y-2 prototype it was found
that drag was significantly reduced when the engines were moved to the
leading edge of the wing. The production version incorporating these and
other changes became P2Y-3. However 21 of the original P2Y-1s were retrofitted
with these same modification and then re-designated P2Y-2s. As it turned
out the Consolidated offering became more successful then its Martin counterpart.
Of course both companies went on to produce more advanced flying boats
for the Navy including the Consolidated PBY Catalina, and the Martin Mariner.
Background:
The reason for scratch building a particular subject I am sure varies
with each modeler. As for me I have always been a big fan of floatplanes
and flying boats. It probably has something to do with the fact that I
was born on and spent my early formative years in an island community
that had only watercraft and seaplanes as its source of transportation
to the outside world. But roots aside, flying boats and floatplanes still
make for interesting scratch building subject matter mainly because they
have been somewhat ignored by kit manufactures, especially in the larger
scales. So if you want to add something other than the Monogram PBY or
a variety of poorly done or very challenging vac-u-forms to your collection
of 1/48th scale US Navy aircraft you are left to your own devises.
Construction:
First off, my goal is to assemble an extensive collection of US military
aircraft, sort of my own miniature museum. To accomplish this, my approach
to scratch building is to make it as easy and as quick as possible. Now
I know some model builders believe that the more extensive the details,
seen or unseen, the better the model. Perhaps this is true and maybe I
am committing modeling blasphemy, but I feel that if you can’t see
it why bother with it.
With that said my first task in constructing my P2Y-3 was the acquisition
of a good set of plans. Fortunately a friend of mine has both volumes
of Paul R. Matt’s beautifully done model drawings which included
the P2Y-3. Once I had these drawings enlarged to 1/48th scale I was ready
to go. I have scratch built a number of different models over the years
and have used several construction methods depending on visible interior
requirements. In this case interior visibility included the cockpit area
under the main canopy and the somewhat limited visibility into the gunners
positions as seen through a small hatch windows.
At this point I could go into how I built the fuselage, wings, vertical
and horizontal surfaces, and other details, but seeing as how I did not
photo document any of these steps it would be pretty hard to describe
my building process with words alone. I will however say this much, the
model is almost completely solid and is made out of a combination of sheet
styrene and an industrial type of pre-cast high density polymer foam material.
This material is very stable and can be cut and shaped with standard saws,
woodworking rasps & files and various grade of sandpaper. Depending
on the density used some of this stuff can have a finished surface that
is almost glass smooth. But be advised this material is a bit expensive.
Evergreen and Plastruct styrene strips products were also used for various
surface details.
As for things like the engines, props, cowlings, cockpit interior etc.
I borrow from other kits as much as possible. In this case the Monogram
B-17 provided the correct engines as well as the rudimentary shapes for
both the cowlings and props. The cockpit interior was built using parts
from the “True Details” PBY Cockpit Detail Set (TD48457).
The nose gunner’s 30-cal. mg is from the Accurate Miniatures SBD
–2 kit. Markings are combination of “Yellow Wings Decals”
and where necessary homemade on my own computer and ink jet printer. The
entire models is painted using Tamiya Model Lacquers that I decanted,
thinned and then re-sprayed with my air brush.
Conclusion:
I built this model primarily for my own collection, enjoyment and the
fact that there probably is not much chance of any manufacture doing a
kit of this aircraft soon, especially in this scale. Although I didn’t
track the time I estimate that I put somewhere between 150 to 200 hours
into the model over a 16-month period. The techniques I used were not
particularly exotic or complicated.
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