Vought OS2U Kingfisher - Monogram 1/48

Started by George R Blair Jr · 246 ≡ · ↻ 1 year ago · 1/48, Jim Sullivan Group, Monogram, Vought OS2U Kingfisher
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    John Healy said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    This is shaping up nice, George.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Thanks, John (@j-healy). Getting closer to the end.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    I feel like I made some real headway today. I got all of the canopy sections glued on the fuselage, and then I used some acrylic filler to blend the front windscreen into the fuselage.

    While the glass was drying, I took a look at the engine with its extra large pushrods. I decided I wasn't happy with the push rods, but removing the plastic rod left the resin engine in poor shape. I went to Ebay and ordered a replacement Pratt and Whitney R-985, but it won't be here for a while. About this time, I took another look at the kit engine. The cylinder detail and pushrods actually don't look bad on the kit engine, but the center case of the engine is much flatter than it should be. Probably the worst problem with this engine is that the front of the cowling is molded to the outside of the cylinders. I wonder if I might be able to MacGyver a replacement engine using the parts that I had. Hmmmm...

    I started by grinding the cowling off the cylinders using my Dremel tool, followed by the flat center of the engine. I then cut all of the cylinders off the resin engine, leaving just the center of the engine. I shaped the hole in the center of the kit engine so that the resin center would fit tightly, then superglued them together. I added a collector ring to the pushrods using some thin lead wire. This new engine fits into the resin replacement cowling perfectly. Tomorrow I will give it a shot of primer and see how it looks. If it doesn't work, I can wait for the replacement engine.

    I finished by cranking up the airbrush and painting the canopy frame using the green interior color, and then sprayed the wing roots where the walkways will be located. More paint tomorrow, and a decision on the engine. Yeah!

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Canopy fits perfectly, George @gblair
    To me the rebuild engine does look very nice this way.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Great approach on the engine, my friend @gblair! Great painting too!

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    gary sausmikat said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    All looing good, George. Glad the canopies and power plant worked out for you.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Thanks, John (@johnb), Spiros (@fiveten), and Gary (@gwskat). I want to spray primer on the engine and see what it looks like. I think I will spray some white primer on the plane, then do some pre-shading. I am using the Atlantic paint scheme of white and dark gray on this plane, so pre-shading should work well. I have granddaughter duty this morning, but there should be some hobby time this afternoon. Cheers, everyone.

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
    The canopy looks very nice with the Green sprayed on it. I'll try to remember the trick with the marker for my next build too. I'm learning a lot of stuff here from your journal. Thank you for taking the time to post up the little details like this. It really helps a lot, myself included.

    Good call on replacing the engine push rods. If you didn't fix it now, each time when you looked at the completed model later on, you would be wishing that you had fixed it when it was much easier to do.

    I like your novel approach too. Well done in all regards. Keep it going my friend. Things should really start happening now.

    Speaking of engines, pushrods, and P&W R-985's... They used these engines in a lot of various aircraft.






    Several years ago I built a 1/6 scale Williams Brother's R-985 model. It was supposed to eventually go into an electric powered flying R/C model like a Stinson Gullwing SR-10. I added things to the model like the spark plug wires, and the ignition ring. I used copper wire stripped of the insulation for the plug wires. This makes it look like a braided / shielded ignition cable like the real thing has. Then I used aluminum tubing for the ignition ring. I drilled some holes in it and shoved the copper wires into it. Eventually this will be used to hide the electric motor that will power the flying model.

    Since you are working on your engine now, I thought you might like these photos.


    I used a real R-985 engine to get all the details. It was mounted in a VERY nice big red Stinson at the time...and I took a ton of pictures of it too 😉

    A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do !

    If I ever hit the lottery... one can always dream...

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Thanks for the photos,Louis (@lgardner). I have the Williams Bros. engine floating around somewhere in the storage room. I think my "MacGyver" engine looks pretty good, but the shroud that is leftover from the cowling is a tiny bit too small for the cowling. I am still working with it, but I think I may wait for the replacement engine. I really like the Reliant and have built a couple of models of it using the old AMT kit.

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
    You are welcome my friend. I'm sure that whatever you come up with will look fantastic. I have gotten away from super detailing stuff in 1/48 scale lately. My eyes are not what they once were. This is also why I have been building more stuff in 1/32 scale.

    These Williams Brother's kits are a good place to start with. Mine had a ton of flash on it, because these molds have been used forever and a day. They could be older than dirt itself...

    The Reliant is probably my favorite civilian plane from this era... but it's a toss up between this one and some of the Waco's. I was born about 60-80 years too late I think sometimes. I remember building one of the AMT Stinson kits when I was a kid. Mine was painted with White, trimmed in Gold. I tried to build it up like the box art had displayed on the cover.

    My Dad told me they were painted in all kinds of colors ranging from Red, to Black, Blue, Orange, Yellow, or Green and so on... and of course, with me being a teenager then, I knew better. So mine just had to be White with Gold.

    Once again my dear old dad was right !

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    I hoped to get the engine installed in the cowling today, but I discovered it is slightly too small for the cowling. I like the way my "MacGyver" engine came out, so I am still trying to see if it will fit. If not, I can wait for the replacement engine that is coming in the mail. I installed the front antenna pylon, as well as three steps that attach to the fuselage. I was sitting back, admiring how well the steps attached to the fuselage, when I noticed that one of the axles for the main landing gear had disappeared. I fabricated and attached a new one. Finally, I sprayed a quick layer of white primer just to see how everything is going. I plan to use white primer and then pre-shade using black, so I am moving ever so slowly toward the final finish. Yeah!

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Eric Berg said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    I think you will be happier with that incoming replacement engine George @gblair. The new replacement engine detail and kit cowl will all look proportionally in sync, although you may have to do some surgery to make everything fit correctly I would think.

    Looking forward to that canopy when you demask it.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Hi Eric (@eb801):

    I think you are right. I may play around with the MacGyver engine some more, but I don't think it will work. I should be able to press ahead on the paint and decals, and then add the engine and cowling last. I am pretty sure that a full size engine will almost always need to be cut down a little to get it into a model cowling since the walls of the plastic cowling are proportionately much thicker than the sheet metal on a real cowling. After all the pain in masking the canopy, I am also interested to see the glass after everything is done.

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    George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Hi Louis (@lgardner): I rarely superdetail stuff unless it is a plane that I am really interested in. If I get really interested in a model, the rabbit hole is deep and wide. The AMT Stinsons I have done included a scratchbuilt interior, especially since there wasn't much of an interior in the kit to start with. As you get older, you will find it isn't only the eyes that go, but you will eventually get the shakes. So far, the doctor has given me medication that mostly controls it, so I hope it continues.

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    John Healy said 1 year, 3 months ago:

    Great progress, George.

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