1/48 Revell Lockheed PV-1 Ventura

[BarryW]

Yes, it’s a Revell, but this one looks rather better than most of theirs.

The box

The aftermarket. Masks and seatbelts.

While Revell decals are rather nice, it’s the best thing about Revell, I found these rather nice markings and I do love a bit of nose art, specially with ‘lady bits’.

I am not decided which yet.
I spent the morning cleaning up the workbench, checking supplies, cleaning tools etc.

When going through the box it reminded me one of the downsides of Revell kits, the parts are spread randomly around the sprues, no logical order and the sprues are not labelled. This means that you could search every single sprue just to find a piece. Not a problem with a small kit but a real pain in the backside for larger kits. This is not particularly large but, nevertheless, being unable to go direct to a part will be a pain. But, if it fits, it can be forgiven.

The bench all set and ready.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Revell do sell a mixed bag of kits but many are decent and do represent good value for money. With your experience I'm sure you'll overcome any annoying issues - except perhaps the sprue organisation
Jim

 

[BarryW]

Well I have made a good start on the interior subassemblies that are now ready to paint.

It has been an ‘issue free’ session. Because I am using etch seatbelts I had to remove moulded in seatbelts from the seats. Easy enough, I scraped them away then finished off with a sanding pencil



It helped that the seat cushion does not need to be left even and smooth and it also will be covered.

If you recall a while back, I had a lot of issues with grease on the 1/24 Trumpeter Hurricane, when I removed the sprues they were really greasy so, unusually for me, I washed them in soapy water and then, before painting, I wiped the parts down with i.p.a. It did help but, even so I had issues in a few odd places. I spotted this when buying a supply of the MRP IJN paints and bought a bottle.

It is only a small bottle, 50 mils and won’t last long, so when browsing on Scale Model Shop, I found a large 200 ml bottle from another brand I ordered it. So on this kit I am going to try, for the first time, spraying all parts before painting with degreaser. That is all you need to do according to the instructions…. We will see….

Anyway - here are the subs awaiting a coat of paint.

 

[BarryW]

Just to add to the above. The plastic is the usual cheap relatively brittle type Revell use but, in this case, the parts are nice and crisply moulded with no flash. Something I have found unusual for Revell. The only problem are some shallow sink holes in various places, it is a pity about this but is pretty much usual for Revell.

 

[Dave Ward]

Barry,
I have the Revell 1/48 Ventura Mk. II in the stash - one thing noticed straight away, it's in a top opening box! I did have to check on the origin of this model, it doesn't look like a standard Revell production. I thought at first it was from ICM, but Scalemates confirms it's Revell ..................
Dave

 

[BarryW]

Barry,
I have the Revell 1/48 Ventura Mk. II in the stash - one thing noticed straight away, it's in a top opening box! I did have to check on the origin of this model, it doesn't look like a standard Revell production. I thought at first it was from ICM, but Scalemates confirms it's Revell ..................
Dave

That’s right Dave. There are a few odd differences to other Revell as well but also a lot in common. It’s odd but definitely not an ICM tooling, it’s good but not that good!

 

[papa 695]

Nice start,just pulled up my chair Barry.

 

[Jakko]

Isn’t this a Revell USA kit? It certainly gives that impression, because the box looks nothing like what Revell Germany normally uses.

 

[BarryW]

Isn’t this a Revell USA kit? It certainly gives that impression, because the box looks nothing like what Revell Germany normally uses.

I just had a look at the box. The packaging was done in the USA and the plastic moulded in China. So, yes, it is a Revell USA kit.

 

[Geoffers]

I built this one a while back Barry.

It went together reasonably well, I don’t remember any particular problems.

I will be following your progress with interest, good luck with the build

Geoff.

 

[BarryW]

This model is very traditional in its engineering, nothing really of note. All is fitting OK so I have progressed quickly with the internal painting and weathering, basic wash and dry brushing.

The tail wheel assembly has to be fitted before fixing fuselage sides

Bomb bay fitted, I will have a little tidying up here.


Cockpit

The ip is three decals, went on easily and I used Micro Kristal Klear for glazing. The etch seatbelts go in nicely.


fuselage fits well.

 

[BarryW]

I should have bought a SAC undercarriage set before I started given the very vulnerable tail wheel fitted so early.

So, while sanding seams and they need a lot of sanding and filling, while not a bad fit the seams still need an awful lot of treatment.


I have ordered an SAC set and will use that. It is not worth trying to piece together all these broken parts only to end up with a weak fitting. Playing around I think I should be able to fit the metal leg OK. The main u/c needs fitting early too so it would be sensible to use the metal legs for that too.

The panel lines are trenches as well, much to big for this scale.

Also I found this

I thought that this is a relatively new kit because this silliness went out with the ark, or so I thought, yet they were still doing this in 2011!. I really should have checked Scalemates. Not that it’s a problem as it was easy enough to sand off but it did take me by surprise. I did say that this kit is traditionally engineered!

Anyway I have a lot of seams to fill and sand, I did say traditional….

 

[BarryW]

Progress report
I have been working on seams and I expect more work will be found to be needed once a primer layer is applied.

While doing this I have also been pulling together a lot of sub-assemblies. The metal undercarriage has also arrived which needed a little clean up and construction. These are ready for painting now.


I will be pulling subs together to reduce their number for painting over several stages. All the subs are pictured.


The obvious first sub to do is the main airframe with the addition of wings, tail and the fuselage around where the turret will go

All in all it is coming along nicely but slowly. I expect to speed up a little now.

 

[BarryW]

I have had a spraying session with aluminium, interior green and black.

More masking now then some more spraying….

 

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Coming along well. The metal undercarriage looks nice.
Jim

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on nicely Barry, sorry for missing the start of this.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Tworrs]

Great progress Barry

 

[Mickc1440]

And another one I missed, looking really nice Barry

 

[BarryW]

I have said before how much I love the Uschi Metal Powders. On the engine I first of all used a medium Tamiya cotton bud to rub it into the black painted centre hub, for this I used the steel type that has a nice bluish grey result.


I then dry brushed the chrome type metal powder over the rest of the engines. Although described as chrome the effect is just a bit brighter than the iron or steel types and is good for general dry brushing.

There are all sorts of ways to use these powders. As I did above plus on a cocktail stick for chipping effects. What I love is how, when dry brushed, they really make painted plastic look like painted metal, do it ‘heavily’ and you get a worn painted metal effect. Almost all my dry brushing is now done with these.

Here is the bomb bay and wheel wells that I wanted to look grubby, worn and chipped.

 

[papa 695]

Coming along very nicely.