Was lucky enough to get a pic of this published at FSM’s Reader Gallery last September. Thought Id post the WIP pics.
Its Airfix’s Grumman Widgeon. Picked it up on a business trip to London. I try my best to pick up kits from wherever country Im in, preferrably kit brands made there. So UK = Airfix, right. So imagine my surprise when I saw this after I got back home:
Anyway, no biggie. Heres a couple of pics of the finished plane:
WIP pics next.
I knew Airfix’s Widgeon was an old kit. What I didnt know then was to what extent I needed — or wanted — to update the kit. I just decided Id update as much as I can.
I started sanding all the raised details off. And then rescribing the whole thing. As you can imagine the windows were all ill-fitting. So I superglued them on, sanded them flush, and polished them clear later on.
Then I added up details to the interior.
Heres a layout of the main parts:
Very nicely done! Your NMF looks good, and I like the droop in your elevators.
Best wishes,
Gary
I decided Ill try to open up an engine nacelle. So did my research and went about building the engine block from laminated styrene sheets.
The tail had the wrong shape, so I did some corrections:
This was later shaved and sanded to shape.
Just to give you an idea of how poorly the parts fit:
Made hubs to get the toy feel out of the wheels:
Made new props and spinners from sheet styrene and dental resin:
Wasnt able to take pics of the work in progress, but the main landing gear and tail gear were also scratchbuilt.
On the paint shop:
Hope you like it.
Awesome job, I’m digging those seats. I’ve been wanting to do a Grumman Albatross in my dream “Retirement” scheme and want to build a custom interior, think amphibious RV. I think I’ll pick this kit up.
That’s a beautiful job there! I love the yellow wings, such a pain to paint but they look so good when you can pull it off!
And thanks for the WIP photos, even more impressive to see what a dog of a kit you turned into a gem!
Really nice! I have one in my stash, and your post is an inspiration to get mine on the bench!
Nice work. You really made that kit come to life.
BK
Very nice job.
I still have my built model of this kit I did back in the late 70s. It sure has changed from when I built it. The original didn’t have engines, interior, access openings, and the wheel struts were just two thin strips of plastic. Of coarse this was when it was .99 cent model bought at Woolworths. Looks like they still never fixed the gap around the windscreen and where the fueslage halves join. That was a big buggar on the old kit.
Great work!
Widgeons were not natural metal; they would have corroded to dust! They were, I believe, aluminum lacquer
First, Congratulations for your aircraft magazine issue. Second that’s an amazing amount of detail, and third, the color that you utilized on this build are some of the most difficult colors to work with. That in itself is a huge undertaking and tries your patience at times. LOL!
Toshi
Thank you everyone for the kind words. Very much appreciated.
Gary and Mike,
Yes, this is pretty much aluminum finish. I added some light gray into the Gunze silver to dull out the finish and (hopefully) come up with a convincing aluminum finish.
Toshi,
Yes, yellow and silver/aluminum can be difficult to paint, but Gunze laquers make it rather easier. Its got great covering power. Plus you kinda feel “happier” after spraying. LOL.
Well done here. =] Nice save on an old kit as well!
Thats a really nice build on a really old kit. I know Grumman did the Widgeon, the Goose, the Gander, and the Albatros in this series of sea planes. Anybody know if there were more in the series. Are there kits of the others, other than the old Monogram and new Trumpeter HU-16. I think I remember a model of the Goose a long, long, time ago, or is my memory off. (There was a TV series involving a Goose and the old kit I remember was re-released at the time of the series. Again this is a very old memory.)
A very impresive build. I love the detailing you did on the engines. Are the seats from the kit or did you scratch build them yourself?
Thanks again everyone for the compliments.
BlackSheep,
The seats and the rest of the cockpit/cabin were scratchbuilt. The seats were made from stryene sheets scribed with a dental spatula (to create the wide grooves) and wire.