Vought OS2U-1 Kingfisher USS ARIZONA, Pearl Harbor December 1941 in 1/72 from Airfix
Vought OS2U-1 Kingfisher USS ARIZONA in 1/72 "an Airfix oldie from the 1960s"
Hello, this is my third rollout of an Airfix model from US NAVY. This time I wanted to try out the presentation of pacific water. The kit itself is an very old one from the 1960s by Airfix. It was reissued a few years ago in new packaging and with new decals. The kit itself is therefore low budget and I also didn't buy any aftermarket parts. All comes from the left-over box (except for the barrel of the M2 Browning machine gun, which comes from CMK). I scratch build the area of the canopy over the pilot's seat, since the original part is not intended to be arranged in the open position.
The fit of the kits parts are not to bad and I have no problems during the build. I recommend to shorten the inner struts for the outer flots, because the are a little bit to long. The decals are very good and the color profile is correct as far as I could say.
AK products used (I am not sponsored by AK)
RC256 Blue Grey
RC220 Light Gull Grey
RC262 US int. Yellow Green
AK10043 wheathering pencils "grey & blue"
AK8004 AK Water Gel "pacific blue"
The water base is made from 6 mm foam (I recommend to use 10mm or more) covered with paper and then painted with acrylics and a big layer of water gel. I have added a few white spots with acrylic paint to simulate foam.
Next time I will add more water effects on the plane itself. Cause this is the first time I simulate water, I didn't dare.
I borrowed my wife's hair dryer to generate the wind for the rotating propeller ; )
I know that one can get more excact representations of the Kingfisher esp. in larger scales, but let me know what you think about this little bird. I hope you can enjoy the pictures
STAY SAVE
Andy
ps. The water gel works great even in smaler scales, look at the last pictures of the formation of trumper Devastators in 1/700.
Very fine result with this old kit. Like your water-effect. It looks very realistic and not exaggerated.
I would not make the frame higher than the water-surface, but you gave it a good "camouflage". (Often you see woodden frames that make the dio look like a swimming-pool).
Hey Hans, thank you for your kind reply. You are right with the frame, the "swimming pool effect" is exactly the one that I observed in my presentation. I will do this better next time.
You did an excellent job with this old kit, Andreas, and brought it to life in a most impressive manner.
Water effect is gorgeous, too.
Congratulations!
Thank you Spiros!
Hi Andreas, great work on the ancient Airfix kit and very nice scratch building of the interior. I also like your water effect, I may have to try AK's water gel next time I build a seaplane diorama.
Peter
I'm a great fan of flying boats and sea planes. You did an amazing work with this oldie. Congrats...
Nice work. I like the water as well. Did the figures come with the kit?
Thank you Jack. The figures are Luftwaffe Airman from Revell.
Excellent from an ancient kit. The water looks very realistic.
Outstanding work with this old kit Andreas, and the water looks very realistic as well. Excellent photography too.
Another winner, Andy. The water and your paintwork are both top notch. The figures are really well done too. That Airfix Kingfisher was one of the first kits my dad brought home for me, over 50 years ago.
Many thanks to all of you! I am very happy about your feedback!
Echoing the above comments...you turned an old kit into a very presentable one. More than all the scratch work and fine tuning of the kit parts there are 2 factors than IMO contributed to the excellent result: the painting and weathering, plus the overall mis-en-scene, with the water effect and that realistically posed and painted tiny crew. 5 * as usual Andreas!
Wow very impressive work. I had to read the ‘story’ to realize how you got that propellor effect. Nicely done. Not even sure where to start with the positive comments - impressive effort on that ancient kit - could easily pass for 1/48 from those photos. And the water effect is very well done - I have that product, but have yet to use it so I like to see your method. Great stuff!
I didn't realize it was 1/72 scale until the photo with the box!
Excellent work! Great presentation, and beautiful job on the figures, I cant get my 1/48 or 1/35th figures to look that good! I admire your water, I think it looks great, and very impressive especially for your first time. Like you mentioned a bit more splash over the bow would add dramatic effect.
An amazing build!
cool
Everything about this is just superb. The work on the ancient model, the way you posed the figures, the water effect. The entire thing is marvelous. I really like this Andreas.
Very nice! This level of detail is quite a feat in this scale! Congrats!
Thank you very much to all of you!
Andreas, This is really nice, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed it was 1/72 scale. Some of the best modeling comes from taking a not so detailed (or older) kit and making something special out of it, like this. Well done !
Beautiful build, great water diorama and outsanding photography!
Thank you @ all!
I've built this same kit (older boxing) and you did a fantastic job! The entire project looks excellent - well done.