1:48 Supermarine Walrus

[Kiteman]

Guten Tag an alle! Greetings from Germany

So I have this old SMER (70`s) kit of the Supermarine Walrus and thought it about time to chuck it together. It is made of that horrible gray soft plastic that doesn`t like being painted and the kit fits where it touches. Nonetheless I reckon that a model can be made from this. Detail is sadly lacking and parts are too few so I will have to scratch build some bits to make it a bit more authentic.
Here is the story so far:

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[zak]

Glad to see you got on the site ok.
Looking good so far.
Cheers
Dave

[Kiteman]

So, back of me òls now and I have had a few days to play with the Walrus project. The Engine nacelle and top wing centre section were a bugger to get to sit right and I am not conviced that it is correct but when I have built the top wing halves I can dry fit and see. A couple of not in the box and not bought from after market bits Ltd mods. The engine has been busied up a bit from the supplied engine and I have added the anchor points and tackelage on and under the nose. I must get round to putting anchor Points on the wing floats as they are also missing on this model. The cockpit canopy was, in true SMER style, shabby, but with lots of sanding and treating with "Emsal" (the german equivalent to clear) it looks ok. Generally it is coming together, hard work, and I have wanted to throw it out of the window a few times, but beginning to look summat like a Walrus.

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[Kiteman]

some more...

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[Bigkev]

Hi Kiteman,

I like your build. It is good to see a model coming along nicely. Can't wait to see the top wing in situ, and then rigged.

I also really like the canopy description and how you got around it, good man!

Bigkev 

[Wizzel]

Nice tackle!  It's looking good now - hope you have resolved the wing issue we spoke about the other day?  It would be good for you to explain your paint burnishing technique for the rest of us on here.

[Kiteman]

So, the problem with old kits, and cheap ones at that, is that as feared the bits don`t fit together properly. On dry fitting the upper wing halves one notes that the struts do not run vertically. This is annoying and so the original holes have been filled and new holes drilled in the correct position to achieve vertical struts. The paint job will be tidied up before mounting the wing permanently. As if that isn`t enough, with the leading edges of upper and lower wings parallel, the wings do not join the centre section correctly when viewed from above. Not quite sure what to do about this but somehow I will get the wings to sit spot on and join without any gaps. I will keep you posted on my continuing battle with this beast.

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[zak]

Nice work, yes older kits are a real problem.
More modern kits are often too good a fit and you have to sand with care.
Keep at it, great stuff.
Dave

[Kiteman]

just when you think it cant get worse, a little bit too much pressure when trying to get the upper wing halves to fit and, as we have all no doubt experienced, crack! The tip of your forefinger is now touching the tip of your thumb when there should be an aircraft between them. The complete motor assembly gets smashed from its supporting struts taking half of the struts with it and snapping the rest. Never mind, I said that it would be a challenge.
So after some rebuilding the upper wing halves are on and more or less straight and parallell, and the rigging can begin. Lets see what happens next !!!

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[zak]

Always a problem, I get suspicious when nothing goes wrong.

[Kiteman]

In between ships, cars and submarines I have not forgotten the Walrus. Almost there, just a few details to sort out then it`s done. I am note sure wether or not to put this on some sort of little diorama base, or just leave it on its wheels.

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[zak]

 
looks good, you are as bad as me, how many models do you have on the go at one time?

[Kiteman]

At the moment I have three and a half in progress, two are very nearly finished so I may start another one tonight. We shall see. After all you have to have something else to do whilst waiting for the paint / glue to dry.

[zak]

I agree, but many of our members seem to do one at once, I like to have a long session modelling, otherwise you spend too much time doing nothing. I think that is why I like building from scratch, it takes longer, all that filing and smoothing.

[Kiteman]

and I can imagine that building from scratch is much more satisfying. After all you`ve got no-one to blame if the parts don`t fit correctly!