by George Grasse

LF MODELS 1:48 SCALE RESIN LF48013 KIT OF THE CONSOLIDATED PB-2A USAAC PURSUIT BOMBER OF THE 27th PURSUIT SQUADRON, 1st PURSUIT GROUP, c. 1935

LF MODELS CONSOLIDATED PB-2A KIT #LF48013 BOX ART

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CONSOLIDATED PB-2A THREE-VIEW DRAWING

This three-view image was taken from the internet site Airwar.ru

THE CONSOLIDATED PB-2A MODEL TO BE BUILT

This image is taken from Wings of Stars, page 51, representing the model to be built - a Consolidated PB-2A, 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, 1935.  The artist's source is a photo appearing in "Air Corps" by J. V. Mizrahi, Sentry Books, 1970. 2

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #1 10 November 2014

INTERIOR AND USELAGE BEGINNINGS:  The fuselage comes in two halves with a rudimentary cockpit section that has to be built up.  There are basic seats, control column, and few minor parts which leaves little for cockpit interior detail.

 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #2 18 November 2014

UNDERSIDE FILL-IN:  When I glued the fuselage halves and wing center section, I left large gaps on the underside.  I thought about soaking the resin parts in hot water to bend them into shape but I was concerned that I would do serious damage.  I've used the hot water treatment on resin parts (rifles, legs, arms) but not on an airplane model with many curves and glued pieces.  So, I have to resort to Green Stuff and putty up the gaps.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #3 21 November 2014

FLYING SURFACES ATTACHED:  I have to say that this LF Models kit has serious issues with fit, though it does not seem that way in this photo.  Nonetheless, all of the flying surfaces were super glued so as to leave the major fill in and putty work to the underside.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #4 29 November 2014

WING REPAIR, SUPERCHARGER, AND TAIL WHEEL:  The model's left wing did not conform to the dihedral of the right wing.  I resorted to the "hot water bath" method to make the correction.  Using a large cooking pot, I filled it with hot water, put it on the stove, and brought the temperature up to near boiling.  I dipped the left wing into the liquid and held it there for about seven seconds.  Sure enough, the wing was pliable and easily bent to the correct dihedral.  The right wing tip droops a bit and will be corrected.  The supercharger consists of six parts.  The exhaust for the left side is shorten than the right side and both were trimmed to fit the recess in the model.  The first step was to glue down the supercharger blower unit first.  Then the exhaust was fitted in place followed by the exhaust for the right side which required a little more trimming to match the left.  The center piece to the blower unit was glued next.  The front and rear scoops were glued last. The tail wheel's upper shaft was cut off and a brass pin was inserted to take the weight of the model.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #5 11 December 2014

LANDING GEAR BUILD, PART 1:  I decided to not use the kit's landing gear and will build a new set using brass rod, brass tube, and lead foil.  The photo shows the fitting of the basic landing gear "struts" made simply from brass rod.  The struts will have a brass tube sleeve and lead foil wrappings.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #6 13 December 2014

LANDING GEAR BUILD, PART 2:  This photo shows the completed re-build of the landing gear struts.  oil wrappings.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #7 13 December 2014

LANDING GEAR BUILD, PART 3 AND FUSELAGE DETAILS:  The landing is painted in Vallejo VC0864 Natural Steel.  The wheels were painted in Vallejo VC0862 Black Grey with its centers painted in Andrea ANCX37 Golden Brown. Details added to the fuselage are, left to right, an air scoop over the supercharger, a Venturi tube behind that, and a hand grip towards the right of the photo.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #8 26 December 2014

A YELLOW AIRPLANE:  All of the fuselage is taped off.  Everything else, upper and under surfaces, is sprayed one overall coat of Tamiya TM85046 Light Sand.  The next coat is Tamiya TM85034 Camel Yellow. . . . but just one coat for now.  I inspect the one coat finish for gaps and dirt which have to be cleaned up before the final coat of Yellow is applied.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #9 3 January 2015

A BLUE AND YELLOW AIRPLANE:  The fuselage is hand-painted using my mix of U. S. Army No. 23 Light Blue made-up using Vallejo 963 Medium Blue, 904 Dark Blue Gray, and 906 Pale Blue.  Unfortunately, I don't have the paint ratios!  The super charger components were painted in Vallejo Natural Steel.  The propeller was also Natural Steel with the backside painted in Burnt Cadmium.  I pre-painted the rudder for decal application later.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #10 14 January 2015

FIRST DECALS:  All of the yellow areas on the model have their finished coat so I thought I'd take a break and apply decals.  I started with the underside (not shown) because I wasn't sure how the kit's decals would hold up.  Well, they were fine so I applied decals to the topside but not the areas of blue which is not yet finished except the area of the super charger.  Since then, I've been working on the cockpit interior for which I have found little guidance.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #11 24 January 2015

FUSELAGE DETAILS, PHOTO 1:  First of all, note the underside decals not previously shown.  Additions to the fuselage are the pilot's gun sight, the two fuselage mounted machine gun blast tubes (a better view to follow), the front canopy (covered for clear satin overspray), and the air intakes.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #12 24 January 2015

FUSELAGE DETAILS, PHOTO 2:  The blast rubes were made from brass tubing.  The gun sight is a brass tube mounted on brass rods.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS #13 and 14 24 January 2015
COCKPIT AND AIR INTAKES:  The cockpit interior was completed and most of the details are not visible including the .30 caliber machine gun for the rear cockpit.  The air intakes are for cooling and fuel mixture.  The screen is a small piece of mesh found in my pile leftover parts.  Almost done.  The landing gear struts and not glued so they can be removed for shipment.  That's why they are a little out of alignment.  Note the "NO STEP" decals in the left photo which I made for this model.  Note also, the blast tubes in the right photo.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTO #15 30 January 2015

JUST ABOUT FINISHED:  The remainder of the canopy was attached except for the pilot's canopy which is in the open position.  The kit's .30 caliber machine gun was built up from a few spare parts and has a PE gun sight ring from the spare parts bin.  The fuselage stripe decals are actually from spare solid color decal sheets.  The red portion was applied first and then the yellow center section over it.  Next, a number of small white decals were added from the kit's decal sheet.

FINISHED PHOTOS

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Doll, Thomas E.  Air Force Colors, Volume 1: 1926-1942.  Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc. 1995.

Archer, Robert D. The Official Monogram US Army Air Service & Air Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Volume 1, 1908-1941. Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publishing, 1995

Freeman, Peter and Mike Starmer.  Wings of Stars - US Army Air Corps 1919-1941, On Target Special. Ardington, North Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications, 2009.

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