Academy 1/72 USN PBM-5A Mariner - Work in progress1

Hi guys,

As my Tami’s big Mossie saga has ended after just more than a year, for the next project I have decided to scale it down and do a relatively simple project by building Academy’s 1/72 Mariner.

As my modeller friend has said - The uglier the aircraft, the more interesting the model.

I find the Mariner to be a very interesting bird, and the fact that it is not very attractive in terms of “standard aircraft beauty”, it’s exactly what makes it unique and an interesting subject to build.

They called it “The flying barracks”, as it had a kitchen and bunk beds for the crew!

If anyone is interested, here is the link to a very nice text about the Mariner:

As for the AM, I will be using only Eduard cockpit accessories (pics below).

I will start after a short break and vacation, as I really need it after the Mossie. :grin:

Best,
Nikola




And some reference photos:











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That’s a huge airplane! Looking forward to your build.

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Sweet! We don’t see many of these built. The aircraft has a lot of character.

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With the gull wing and that crazy dihedral in the tail she sure has a unique look. I’ve taken recent interest in patrol aircraft after watching Greyhound.

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That’s going to be a big model. Love the seaplanes!

A little progress with the Mariner…

Lack of interior detail is mitigated to a certain extent with some minor scratch building and the aforementioned AM goodies, most of which will barely be seen (if at all) in the end…

I did some basic, rough weathering just to add some more interest to it, nothing special.

Best,
Nikola













4 Likes

That interior looks great. Too bad most can’t be seen, but you know it’s there.

Wow, Nikola, that interior looks fantastic! Very nice detailing work.

I dry fitted the wing assembly and it looks like it will require some serious persuasion. It will be the first assembly hiccup, but a decent one.

Btw, the instructions and parts layout and numbering on the sprues in this kit are the worst that I have encountered so far. Simply horrible.




Looking great so far, love the interior!

This would make a great candidate for a diorama of it landing on water.

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