Swordfish Floatplane

[Bob S]

I'd be glad to Ronnie, but I tell ya, there's got to be an easier way to make water. I was hoping one of you fellas would shoe me how ya'll do it....

[Ronnie Murray]

Really good stuff Bob and who doesn't love a good diorama.  Maybe you can do a tutorial on how to make those water effects.

[Bob S]

Ha Ha Hee Hee Ryan..... Thanks for the tip on my "bi-directional" prop -- I should have worked that one out on my own. I told ya I'm not really an aircraft modeler...

[Ryan K]

I need professional help.

You were in the Navy, that goes without saying. 

I do like the build and a good job on the water and dock. One thing I did notice is you had chipping on both sides of the blade. I don't think that is possible but I am not an airplane guy and could be wrong.

[Bob S]

Thank you for the comments fellas!  I would like to have some of you guys have a look at it, because there's something fundamentally wrong with
the right wing, and it has snapped out of locked position as if it's ready to fold, and I feel like I'm gonna break something getting it back into position.
I've obviously done something wrong, and I need professional help. (with the model, I mean).

[Bill L.]

Very impressive. Not sure how 'Travel strong' this dio may be, but would love to see it in Nov.!

Bill L.

[Ronv]

Nice String Bag!! All over very nice job!
RonV

[Bob S]

Thanks Bill - building the water was one of the funnest parts of this project.

[Bill L2]

Very nice job. The water effects look great!

[Bob S]

I saw this scenario somewhere online, and it impressed me so much that I tried my best to repeat it:
The model is Tamiya's Fairey Swordfish Floatplane in 1/48 scale, and I chose the water camo appearance because I really wanted to try my hand at water effects in a diorama scene. The model itself was fairly complicated (to me),  and it came with a full set of P/E, so I put most to use and did my best to give the aircraft an appearance of long hours of service, by using both rust and exhaust stain pigments in a powder form. The kit also came with a set of aircrew figures, which was my first attempt at figure painting.

The base for the water is ½" attic insulation, with the areas for the pontoons cut out with a utility knife. I then painted the insulation with satin black latex house paint, and allowed it to dry. For the deep-water colors I used Liquitex Acrylic paints from Askew-Taylor in Raleigh. The mix was 80% Ultramarine/ 15% Aqua Green/ 5% Black.  I mixed all the colors right on the base to avoid a uniform appearance. Before the paint dried I used a butter knife and sculpted some very calm motion with the acrylics, making sure to cover the entire base.  Once dry, I used Crystal Clear Plumber's Caulk and a caulking gun to distribute generous amounts of the goo over the entire base and up onto the pontoons, again using the butter knife for some sculpting action.

The dock is made from balsa hobby wood and square dowels for the pylons. The wood was primed with Tamiya Gray primer, then painted with Tamiya Red-Brown, then sanded in places. All wood was then given a wash of light gray acrylic, for a parched appearance. Some deck boards were chipped and trimmed on the edges for a worn out look. Some were wet-bent outside in the sun for a couple of hours to appear warped.
The figures on the dock are all from Verlinden. The worker and mechanic were painted Tamiya Metallic Blue, then washed with flat light gray to mimic the color of denim. The aircrew were painted with various mixes of acrylics for leather and khaki looks. Oil drums, ammo boxes & table from Italeri.