This was a extremely good day for me, physically very little pain, mental clarity, and demeaner very pleasant. It was also a dinner date with Mrs. Toshi that made my day. With the urge from Mrs. Toshi, she insisted that I consider my next model build. Our first stop was at Hobby Lobby, once there Mrs. Toshi wanted to know if I want to build either the RM B-17 or the RM B-24 Liberator. I told her that if I build those two planes, where was I going to present it in our condo?
What caught my eye was a Minicraft kit of the PBM-5A Mariner, it was the cost that made me cringe at first until Mrs. Toshi pulled out of her purse, a coupon for Hobby Lobby. This coupon was good for 40% off of almost anything. That suited me just fine as the Mariner was $87.00. I quickly picked up the Minicraft product, took Mrs. Toshi to Applebees and went home. Upon our arrival at home, we both unpacked the PBM-5A and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the PBM. She wanted me to pick another model kit, I had to decline as I had my heart set on a Tamiya 1/32nd P-51 Mustang. I told her that this mustang reached past the $100.00 mark. She then gave me the ok. Yeah!
As with the other two model kits (F4U Corsair and a P-61 Black Widow), I will go through a step by step process of the PBM-5A build. Thank you for your time and patience.
I’ll definitely take your advice and apply it. Why rush through, this made sense to me. I have seen this kit at Hobby Lobby for almost two months now. It seemed like nobody was building seaplanes nor did not like seaplanes. It also could have been the cost related to the subject at hand. Who wants to pay $87.00 for a PBM.
I was sticker shocked until Mrs. Toshi pulled the digital version of the Hobby Lobby coupon from her iPhone 6plus. With 40% off, I was most excited. The kit has little to almost non-existence of flash. The spruce tree is as sturdy as the plane itself hence nothing was loose. Just the parts alone felt like some strange version of carbon fiber. It was absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to get this kit started. I’ll be looking into PE for this particular build.
My Hobby Lobby here in Florida has the same kit and by the looks of yours it is a very good kit. As I love seaplanes I wanted to buy this one but alas, had no coupon. I shall be watching your build with great interest ,and hope by the time I find a coupon, they will still have the kit so I can build one also.
See if you can pull the coupon information via the Internet, that’s how Mrs. Toshi got her 40% coupons. You can’t print out the coupon, you must show that the coupon is on a smart phone and or tablet. Then the cashier will punch in the four digit code. Good luck and thank you for the read and reply.
I saw your post am I am really glad you did not get the Mach 2 kit, which was the only game in town for ever. Wouldn’t be at HL anyways, but it’s a piece of junk. I’ll be interested to watch you build this.
Since you welcome advice, here’s a couple of thoughts.
Mike Brindos made a seemingly simple comment that actually has a lot of experience behind it.
Take your time. Especially on your Hawk, I was amazed that you got three colors of enamel and clear down in as many days. I’d have probably taken as many weeks. Paint is funny stuff, sometimes it seems like it’s never going to cure. there’s nothing wrong with being enthusiastic and working fast and it seems like it’s doing you good moodwise, so don’t let me be a bummer. Just be careful about finish flaws as they can be a time waster to fix.
Also, consider starting a collection of reference materials. I know that Squadron has a pretty good edition of “in action” on the Mariner. Can be had for little money, and a good start on the basics.
Yes, I’m guilty of pushing forward too much. I’ve been like that since a child, I now must utilize my mind to calm down. I’m always going at break neck speed as if the world was going to end tomorrow. I purchased another kit from HL. Apperntly, the digital coupon of 40% off can be used everyday, once a day, and like myself on a kit product. Thank you for the critique and support. I’ll be building a RM P-38 Lighting at 1:48 scale. You can view it on another thread.
This is a fine kit. I got it a couple Christmas’s ago and put it together last year - until disaster befell me. I warn you to pay attention to the wheel wells. They are attached to the interior of each fuselage half. I apparently did not get enough glue (I use Tamiya’s liquid solvent) on these parts. I had the entire kit assembled and painted in a nice rendition of the tori-color scheme. I was attaching there are struts, which had to be pushed into those wells, and both popped off. They were then loose inside the model with no way of re-attaching outside of fuselage disassembly. I did not have it in me to trash it but I also did not have the desire to open up that fuselage. Maybe one day I will get back to it. Be sure to ensure those wells are secure, and consider bracing them internally as well.
