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1/48 Stearman PT-17/N2S

R

rob hart

Active member
I'm building this for a Bill Koster Memorial GB on another site. Apparently the concept of 'Group Build' means different things to different folks because when the GB was opened for participation every joiner but me posted photos of models they had built weeks, months, years, and even decades in the past. I think that I am the only participant who is doing a new build for the GB. This is the Revell kit and was allegedly designed by Bill Koster. It is a reasonable kit for the money with decent detail and surprisingly good fit. I added some of the parts from an Eduard Zoom set, Eduard seatbelts, and Yahu IPs. I'm also going to use Iliad Design decals. I ran into the same problems with the masking lifting the paint (since repaired) that I experienced with my Halifax build and I think I now know what caused it I opened a new bottle of Alclad II primer and used it to prime both models. The paint didn't spray very well, left a rough and grainy texture on the surface, and I got a lot of tip dry. I thinned the primer with some generic lacquer thinner and it sprayed much better, but I think the thinner messed wth the adhesion properties of the primer. I've had problems with Alclad products in the past.















 
The best thing to do with their black primer is to toss it. I've had great luck with all the Alclad metal colors.

Stearman looks nice, Rob, I really like the kit. I do relocate the foot troughs for the rudder pedals becuase they are too narrow, but that's only because it offends me because I used to fly a Stearman, one of my favorites. It would make my ankles hurt if I didn't fix that!
 
I tried the black primer once and it wouldn't dry. I also had problems with some of the Alclad II clear finishes not drying. I've had good luck in the past with the grey and white primers and I'm not sure what happened to cause the issues that I experienced with the new bottle of grey primer this time. Like you, I've always had success with the Alclad II metallic colors. However, the silver wing on my Stearman was painted with Alclad II semi-gloss aluminum and I noticed that it stayed tacky for about two weeks.
 
There's one that flies out of one of the regional airports in my neck of the woods. In the summer months, I see it flying over my house towing advertising banners (for beer companies) as it heads toward the beach. It always looks and sounds like it is on the verge of a stall.
 
Have been pondering the new ICM 1/32 scale kit. Your turquoise build is something different and has spiked my interest.
 
I was trying for Blue 23 which is closely matched to FS 15193.


There is also some evidence that the color was changed to be more purple and gray later in it's service life.

The color that I ended up with is a bit too green and needs more gray. Trucolor offers the color in their line:



I mixed mine from a formula for Tamiya paints that I found on the internet.

The image on the left is the only photo of the subject of my model that I could find:



I'm frustrated that the colors aren't closer to spec, but I really enjoyed building the model.
 
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