italeri 1/72 sunderland mk1

[Hawkins6685]

UPDATE 1: PART 1
hi guys
i know im abit late joining this sig but will hopefully get it done. this is the kit i have



heres whats in the box when you open it



this kit comes with a reference book which (i think) is a fantastic bit of effort on the manufacturers side unfortunately though (although very detailed diagrams) most of the photos are not the mk1 version. so further reference will be necessary.



The deacal sheet looks proper nice and are from cartograp, which i understand are the best in the world for decals. so for in the box decals im very impressed.



the instruction booklet is a4 sized. the paper feels very good quality and has a brief history of aircraft on front cover. page 1 has the kit contents on it and colour guide. page 2 has the smaller sprues and the PE and part 1 of the build.





the instructions are a really nicely detailed



the PE that comes in the box which includes seatbelts. i persoanally have never used PE before so this will be a first for me and cant wait to try it.



also a small rope that is ment for the anchor,



4 bags of sprues one for main fuselage pieces and 1 for wing sections plus one for smaller items and not forgetting one for the clear



looking at the spues the is very very little flash and no burring at all. the detail on fuselage is great and the wings look fantastic.









the clear parts look clean and clear (obviously) no scuffs, forgot to check for distortion so will do that for next update.







i think as an oob build this would be great and im really looking forward to building it, update 1: part 2 though we will be seeing aftermarket stuff plus a few extras that im just waiting on hopefully will be here today or tomorrow sometime. for the price of this kit i dont think anyone could moan at really especially concidering the quality and PE you get with. i dont know if im aloud to say where i got it from but the price including delivery was £37.08. i really hope i can do this kit and the aircraft justice.

with next update i will include a brief history of the aircraft.

sorry to bore you all and will see you next time
cheers for looking

[UKguyInUSA]

That looks a nice kit with all those rivet details molded in around the recessed panel lines. I've never built an Italeri kit, yet.

Have fun with this build....look forward to seeing your updates!

Cheers

Martin

[Joesdad]

Great choice and looks a great kit. I hope you're getting a mask set for her...

[Hawkins6685]

Update 1: part 2

Hi guys
Here's what I got today for this build. And yes first thing I put in basket was a mask set lol. Also I got the maintanence platforms as would like to display this as docked.



I also got some figures which I'm freaking out about painting. Here we have czech master kit 2 mechanics and a pilot. These are very good looking minitures and the detail looks pretty good as well so will hopefully look good.



Next we have some figures I should probably never bought but will make good testers for painting. These truly are dreadful with flash every where including down the centre of some of the faces. This really puts me of airfix especially cause of there ridiculously soft plastic. The sprue where actually folded to get in box. Sorry for upside down photo but they don't deserve to be trip loaded.



And then we have these I saw these figures and thought they looked great so got them unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to use them in this build as there in high altitude suits and as sunderland where used to drop depth charges against u-boats I doubt there was a need for them but hopefully one of you lovely people might help me there please.



Next update I will give a bit of history on the sunderland mk1.

[mick]

will be watching your build

[Hawkins6685]

will be watching your build

Cheers mick will hopefully be able to get started Monday as away this weekend in London just waiting for Disney on ice to start lol.

[Hawkins6685]

Ummm hope the missus doesn't a bath lol

[m0gb0y74]

Lovely looking kit. I'll be watching this build with interest.

[schweinhund227]

What a beast of a kit !

Lenny did an outstanding job on his....
Good luck with yours and all the extra goodies....

[Hawkins6685]

cheers guys welcome aboard i hope i dont disappoint lol


UPDATE 2 = A brief history

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Britain had an empire which spanned the globe. Its success depended on long lines of commerce and communication, traditionally supported by maritime transport. With the development of aviation, the long-range transportation by air of both passengers and freight became a possibility. Airlines such as Imperial Airways came into being, and with them came a new generation of aircraft which were larger, faster and able to travel further than their predecessors. Flying boats were particularly favoured for the long-range routes to Africa, Asia and Australia as they could take off and land from any suitably large body of water without the need for the expensive infrastructure associated with airfields.

By the 1930s, the Air Ministry had issued a requirement for a large flying boat capable of carrying passengers and mail over long distances to far-flung parts of the empire. Short Brothers responded with the impressively large four-engined S.23 Empire. In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, Shorts also used the design as the basis for a military version designed to meet Air Ministry specification R.2/33, which called for a similar aircraft for use in the maritime reconnaissance role. Named the Sunderland, the new aircraft took to the air for the first time in October 1937 and entered squadron service in June the following year.

Powered by four Bristol Pegasus XXII engines, the Sunderland had a longer range than any of its predecessors. Designed to take full advantage of this range, the aircraft were equipped with six bunks for the crew, as well as a toilet and galley. The Mk.I could carry up to 2000lb of bombs or mines, although in practice the load carried was usually lower in order to maximise range. A total of 89 Mk.Is were manufactured before production switched to the Mk.II. Sunderlands served throughout the Second World War and beyond, and became a vital weapon in countering the U-Boat menace during the Battle of the Atlantic. The Sunderland had a reputation as a tough, survivable aircraft and there are numerous documented cases of Sunderlands fending off or destroying enemy fighters even when severely outnumbered. The Sunderland soldiered on long after hostilities ended, playing a vital part in the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War. The last Sunderlands passed out of RAF service in 1959, but some remained in service with the RNZAF until 1967, some thirty years after the first flight of the prototype.

The sunderland i've choosen to build is L5798



Here i have a small story surrounding this aircraft.
L5798, part of a three aircraft detachment at invergordan. On april 12th they were ordered to check on german troopships in Hardanger fjord and the squadron history records state:
'the aircraft encountered heavy snowstorms and bad visibility off the norwegian coast. It also met heavy anti aircraft fire over Haugesund and the starboard middle petrol tank and hull were pierced. The search continued and over Garvin more anti aircraft fire pierced the port and middle tank and the tailplane. the troopships were not found and the aircraft returned to base, 400 gallons of petrol being found in the bilges after alighting'
Guy van der Krist recalled that three troopships were located "There were no self-sealing tanks then. the smallest member of our crew 19 year old wireless operater Derel Buley, crawled into the wing and plugged as any holes as he could with chewing gum. the rest of us chewed madly to keep him supplied.
"On our return several bits of spent ammunition were found in the parachute on which i had been sitting. someone asked the MO, Doc Maycock, what treatment i should have been given if the bullets had gone in my backside. 'oh dose him with caster oil and let him blow smoke bubbles!' was the reply"
Derek Buleys heroic action led to the award of the Distinguised flying medal.

unfortunatly L5798 was damaged beyond repair in 1943 in gibralter due to a gale and was subsequentally scrapped.

Update 3 will follow very shortly

[Hawkins6685]

UPDATE 4

ok then finally started building this beast. on done a little bit tonight but first thing i done was prepare for the PE cockpit dials. this involved sanding of the cockpit details.
From this


To this



next was the pilots floor where i stuck down the foot pedals and the steering controls. the pilots seats where removed from sprue, cleaned up and put on cocktail sticks ready for painting tomorrow as was the cockpit.
next up i got out my new tools to do my first ever piece of PE.


i was really nervous about it for some reason but i think the chair supports(i think thats what they are) came out ok i think.


these were then glued in place to the cockpit floor ready for painting tomorrow.



i will prob go through next few stages of instructions and prep pieces that need painting separatly ready for tomorrow aswell.

its a short update this time but at least i finally started lol

cheers guys

[shortCummins]

having just done my first bit of PE can I say what you've done is really first class, add to that its 1:72

looking good
rgds
John(shortCummins)

[mick]

great start

[Hawkins6685]

Update 4

Today I primed decks, seats and cockpit. I also sprayed anything black that had to be black then concentrated on the instrument panel.
I stared by painting the back and the PE part flat black I then applied a coat of clear to the back piece.
I then started to add some chipping effect to the PE part using a needle and flat aluminium. Then using a 3/0 brush I then tried to paint some yellows, reds and whites fir extra detail.
I left panel alone and decided to add the decal to the back piece. Went on really smooth and am happy with it. Allowed that to go of properly and superglue PE to the part. It is at this point I realise I took no photos of the process doh. So here it is now all that's left to do is add some clear to the dials to give a glass effect. Sorry about lack of photos will try harder in future.


Cheers

[Hawkins6685]

Update 4 part 2

OK so this is a small update again here I tried glazing the dials.
Before


I then added some glue and glaze in each dial. At this point I was just hoping it dries clear.



And here's the result.



I'm not happy with it as can't really tell it's there. Might add another coat to see if that helps. Any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers

[Nige201980]

Great work so far mate only thing I can think of is micro sol crystal clear for the glazing.

[Hawkins6685]

Great work so far mate only thing I can think of is micro sol crystal clear for the glazing.

Cheers nige will give it a go tonight

Have been a bit naughty and ordered an interior and exterior PE set so waiting for them before I go any further but will hopefully get them to tomorrow.

[Bissyboat]

Great kit. I'll be watching this build.

[Hawkins6685]

Update 5

Hi guys it's been a while since I updated this thread so.....
What's happened since I last updated? Well first of a scrapped the instrument panel and the seat supports. Reason is I got better ones lol. But basically all I've been doing is sorting out the internal structure and cockpit is now finished





Anchor deck is now done aswell.

And this is front section complete before anchor was added


Next I constructed the rear interior pieces and done the PE for side gunners

This has suseqencly been painted but forgot to take pic sorry.

The instructions then called for the 2 browning 303 side guns to be done. So o did but then decided I can't install
Them till the end anyway to make painting easier later.
Now I had some PE to add to these and 1 piece of the PE parts had to curved into a half moon shape for each gun. I hope this is OK but I feel the next photos could help someone. I found out about this method on here I think somewhere so I'm not going to take credit for it and thank who ever posted it.
But basically I had a piece of PE about .5mm x 5mm and 2/3 of it had to be curved into a half moon and joined. Here's the piece on a Ultimate sander which is also vital for this method.


I then searched through my pin vice drill bits to find the right size bit which turned out to be a 1.5mm bit. Then with piece on sanding sponge I then proceeded to roll drill bit across the part that need curving

I continued to do this till i got the curve i needed giving me this

Then using some tweezers I bent straight edge up till they met and superglue together. Photo on buffer as showed up better.

And here it is attached to gun with other 2 pieces

And painted


Anyway I hope that helps someone out someday lol.
Sorry for the long post but hope you enjoyed it or had a good laugh lol. I leave you with pic of how it looks now.
Cheers

[schweinhund227]

That's a lot of work that is going in there...

Excellent !

[Nige201980]

Brilliant work mate.

[Goose]

Looks like a really nice kit!

I have seen a build in a magazine and your job is as good as this one

Goose