US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100

[Rata]

Originally Posted by CMDRTED

These little yellow buggers are just too cool. are you using the paint brush bristle method for rigging or other?

Can't afford the royalties to MS so I use thin 'resistance heating' or 'heat element' wire. Comes in a range of thicknesses from 22 down to 32 AWG. Other brands have thinner and thicker sizes. Cheap as chips on Ebay- just under 2 bucks for a 30 ft reel INCLUDING shipping from China.
For the smaller planes like this one I use 32 AWG. Not as soft as solder but still fairly easy to bend but of course the downside is it comes off the reel curved and needs straightening. I spend more time straightening than applying to the model. One up side is PVA glue holds them in place tenaciously- couple of times I've tried to remove a mistake and the surrounding paper has torn long before the glue gives them up.

[MichaelS]

There is this:

https://smile.amazon.com/WYTCH304-06...ords=.005+wire

I used to use it on 1/48th plast

It is about the smallest you can go and still maintain its straightness. This pack of 5 would last even Mr. Rata a lifetime.

[Vinalssergio155]

Very well done Garry, your collection of yellow wings will be spectacular. And in addition to your impeccable constructions, the information that Don Boose provides makes this thread very interesting.

[gomidefilho]

Amazing my friends Gary and Don make a superteam with builds and research!!!

[MichaelS]

Yes!! Perfect balance. All the Rata I can stand and just barely enough DB!!!

[PacificWind]

Another fantastic pre-war airplane(SBU-1), Garry. I've never seen this plane before.

Nice pictures of your models and Don's write-ups are a perfect combination!

[Rata]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

Yes!! Perfect balance. All the Rata I can stand and just barely enough DB!!!

Offhand compliment but a compliment nonetheless. Careful there fella- you're almost sounding like a nice person.

[Rata]

....and I think I can safely speak for Don as well as myself: thanks for the encouragement and support folks.

Working with Don in putting the final touches on a repaint (and enlargement to 1/100) of one of Bruno's 1/300 freebies which be the next subject for this thread. I'll keep it a surprise for now because when ready it will be posted in the downloads section for anyone else who wants to build it.

[Rata]

Took a bit of time this one, but time well spent me thinks! This is a recolour, resizing and modification of Bruno's 1/300 Consolidated PBY Catalina freely downloadable from his OMPWD thread.

Resizing models to 3 times their original scale always has problems; things that aren't an issue in 1/300 all of a sudden are in 1/100. Even more so on larger aircraft like the PBY. Did some modifications around the nose with a redrawn turret, re-angling the extreme nose piece and re-doing the cockpit canopy. The tailplane was also reshaped. Propellers came from another Bruno model. As usual Don Boose was an invaluable help with this project; pointing out needed improvements and providing information and images that made this model as accurate as possible.

Finding the BuNo of this particular Cat gave us some trouble; in the end Don contacted a Wayne Tevlin of Yellow Wings Decals who was able to finally clarify. So a HUGE thanks Mr. Tevlin to you.

I've asked Bruno for permission to put this model in the downloads for others to build but be warned: anyone who has built a flying boat knows because of their shapes can be be a real handful to put together. This bugger is no exception. I've rectified all the problems I encountered during the build in the final draft that (when Bruno gives the nod) will be submitted to downloads.

[Don Boose]

Garry's model is of U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY-5, Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) 2291, 14-P-11, as it appeared between December 1940 and April 1941, when it was assigned to Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14) at Naval Air Station (NAS) San Diego, California. The aircraft may also have continued to carry these colors and markings later in 1941, when VP-14 was located at NAS Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, and later at NAS Kaneohe, Hawai’i.

The PBY was the third patrol flying boat designed for the Navy by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation and so was initially designated P3Y: third patrol (“P”) aircraft designed for the Navy by Consolidated (designator “Y”). Ordered in 1933 by the Navy, the XP3Y-1 made its first flight in March 1935 at the Consolidated plant in Buffalo, New York. In June, the Navy ordered 60 aircraft with the new designation PBY-1 (PB = patrol bomber) and production began at the new Consolidated factory in San Diego. For its time, the PBY was a modern aircraft, with an internally braced, streamlined pylon replacing the maze of struts that previously held up the parasol wing (which kept the propellers well above the water), retractable wing-tip floats, two 825-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830-58 radial engines, and the capability to carry up to 2,000 pounds of bombs, depth charges, or torpedoes.

By 1939, the latest PBY was the PBY-4, which introduced the distinctive blisters replacing the sliding hatches over the beam gunners’ positions. By this time, PBYs equipped 14 patrol bomber squadrons. The Navy planned to end PBY production that year, but the outbreak of World War II in Europe and increasing tensions in East Asia led to two events that would prolong the PBY’s service life. The British Government ordered 106 Consolidated Model 28-5s, the latest version of the export model of the PBY, under the designation Catalina I. On 4 September 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established a Neutrality Patrol, and the Navy, urgently needing a large number of patrol aircraft for this duty, ordered 200 PBY-5s (similar to the Model 28-5). Subsequently, additional Catalina Is were ordered by Australia (18), Canada (36 with the designation “Canso”), France (30, later taken over by the British), and the Netherlands East Indies (36). On 1 October 1941, the U.S. Navy adopted the British name, “Catalina,” for the PBY.

Patrol Squadron 14 was originally established as Patrol Squadron 21 (VP-21), based with Patrol Wing Four at Sitka, Alaska, where it adopted a tall green Sitka spruce tree in a black circle as its squadron emblem. On 1 July 1939, with the reorganization of patrol squadrons, VP-21 became VP-14, based at NAS Pearl Harbor. On 1 December 1940, VP-14 was sent to the seaplane base at NAS San Diego to take delivery of and to train on new PBY-5s, including BuNo 2291, represented by Garry’s model.

VP-14 remained at San Diego until April 1941, when the squadron was ordered to Pearl Harbor and placed under operational control of Patrol Wing (PatWing) One at Kaneohe. Between then and the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there was considerable re-organization and cross leveling of aircraft between PatWing One (Pearl Harbor) and Two (Kaneohe). On 7 December, BuNo 2291 was assigned to Patrol Squadron 22, PatWing Two, at Pearl Harbor and had been re-designated “22-P-7.” By that time, it had also been repainted in the blue-gray and light gray scheme that had been mandated for patrol aircraft in early 1941.

Every aircraft of VP-22 was damaged or destroyed during the Pearl Harbor attack. BuNo 2291 (now 22-P-7) was damaged, but was repaired, and along with other VP-22 Catalinas, was deployed to reinforce PatWing Ten in the southern Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies. On 15 January 1942, 22-P-7 and 22-P-8 were strafed by Japanese Zero fighters while landing at MVK (Marine Vliegtuig Kamp, or Naval Air Station) Halong on the island of Ambon in the Banda Sea between Celebes (Kalimantan) and western New Guinea. These early PBY-5s did not have self-sealing fuel tanks and both caught fire. While 22-P-8 was destroyed, the pilot of 22-P-7 managed to land the aircraft and taxi to shore while the crew put out the fire that had damaged the starboard wing. The aircraft was moved into the one remaining undamaged hangar at Halong, where it survived another Japanese attack on 16 January. However, during a third attack on 25 January, the hangar, 22-P-7, and two other PatWing 10 flying boats (22-P-5 and 22-P-10) were all destroyed. On 31 December 1942, BuNo 2291 was stricken off charge.

Thanks to Wayne Tevlin of Yellow Wings Decals (https://www.yellow-wingsdecals.com/) for his assistance in identifying the Bureau Number of this aircraft and for his great support to all those interested in the history of interwar U.S. naval and military aircraft.

Images:

1. Consolidated PBY-5 BuNo 2291, 14-P-11, taxiing in San Diego Bay sometime between December 1940 and April 1941. Note the Neutrality Star on the forward fuselage and the Sitka spruce VP-14 emblem visible on the fuselage just aft of the starboard float support. Photo source: U.S. Navy photograph reproduced in Roberts, p. 586

2. 14-P-11 at NAS Corpus Christi sometime in 1941. Source: VP-102 Association, available at https://www.vpnavy.com/pby/vp14pby_01_10jun2009.jpg

3. VP-14 Sitka Spruce squadron insignia.

4. VP-14 PBY-5s in November 1941 in blue-gray and light gray camouflage. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command still image. Caption: “Consolidated PBY-5 patrol bombers [f]ly in formation in the Hawaiian area, circa November 1941. These planes, from Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14), arrived on Oahu on 23 November 1941. The plane closest to the camera is 14-P-1, which on 7 December 1941 was flown during the attack by USS Ward (DD-139) on a Japanese midget submarine [MichaelS built a diorama of this action: http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/655442-post76.html]. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-279382.” Note that BuNo 2291 is not in this image. These are later-model PBY-5s with self-sealing fuel tanks that VP-14 had flown in from San Diego in November 1941.

Sources:

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, Second Series (0001 to 5029),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/secondseries1.html

Douglas E. Campbell, BuNos! Disposition of World War II USN, USMC and USCG Aircraft, Washington, DC: Syneca Research Group, 2012.

---, VPNavy! USN, USMC, USCG and NATS Patrol Aircraft Lost or Damaged During World War II, Washington, DC: Syneca Research Group, 2018.

Everett Cassagneres, The Consolidated PBY Catalina, Profile No. 83, Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1967.

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

Louis B. Dorny, US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Pacific War, Osprey Combat Aircraft 62, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2007.

John M. Elliott, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 1, 1911-1939, Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1987.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961. Image of 1134 on page 280.

Eric Mitchell, WWW.PBY.COM, available at http://www.pby.com/ A site for “PBY enthusiasts and researchers.”

Navy Patrol Bombing Squadrons 102/14 Association, Squadrons History, Available at http://members.tripod.com/vpb_102/information/squadron_history.html

Michael D. Roberts, “First VP-22” and “VPB-197,” Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons, Volume 2, The History of VP, VPB, VP(HL) and VP(AM) Squadrons, Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 2000, pp. 129-132 and 583-586, available at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/naval-aviation-history/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2.html

W. E. Scarborough, PBY Catalina in Action, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

Charles Stafrace, Consolidated PBY Catalina, Warpaint Series No. 79, Dunstable, UK: Guideline Publications, 2009.

Gordon Swanborough and Peter M Bowers, “Consolidated PBY Catalina/PBN Nomad,” United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968, pp. 76-80.

U.S. Navy Patrol Squadrons, VP-14 Home Page, available at https://www.vpnavy.com/vp14.html

U.S. Navy, Commander Patrol Wing One, Pacific Fleet, Aircraft, Scouting Force, Report of Japanese Air Attack on Kaneohe Bay, T.H., - December 7, 1941, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/archives/digitized-collections/action-reports/wwii-pearl-harbor-attack/patrol-wing-pby-one-action-report.html

U.S. Navy, Commander Patrol Wing Two, Pacific Fleet, Aircraft, Scouting Force, Patrol Wing TWO Report for Pearl Harbor Attack, available at https://www.history.navy.mil/research/archives/digitized-collections/action-reports/wwii-pearl-harbor-attack/patrol-wing-pby-two-action-report.html

Tom Womack, The Dutch Naval Air Force against Japan; The Defense of the Netherlands East Indies, 1941–1941, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2006, pp. 90-92.