This Summer's Grail Get

[samdiego]

End of day two

[Rob McKee]

Very cool!

[Eshaver]

Uh how large is that Hydroplane anyway ? Ed Shaver

[samdiego]

about this big

or for those who have left their inboard runabout in their other suit, it's 14 in.

I remember seeing these boats on the Detroit River in the early 70s, they are kinda huge.

Edited July 12, 2011 by samdiego

[samdiego]

Day Four: The interior is done. the gauge engraving is a bit light. I foiled the whole instrument panel, shot it with Tamiya Semi-Gloss black and took the paint off of the high spots. Needles were done with an old bottle of Testor's Fluorescent orange. Old and thick, I use a toothpick and let a string of the paint out over the indicator. It adds dimension to the needle. Then Future Floor stuff on top. After bouncing around in this box since '77 or so, a little bodywork was needed at the rear. One of the small tailfins was missing a 1/4 in and the other was a little mushed. The body was cracked at the base of the boattail also. Racing White will be changed to Pure White as soon as I get to the LHS. Then the decals. I've scanned them and am hoping that an overcoat of fixative will let me make the transfer. They aren't in the best of condition to start with. The tops of the hulls are to be covered with silkscreened stickers, just like the STP stickers used to be. Mine are a little curled and have some scuff marks but I think they will work. I'm still thinning the washes on the motor, too

Edited July 14, 2011 by samdiego

[Chuck Most]

I NEED one of these! Or at least that engine!!!!

[samdiego]

Many days later . . .

The stickers for the hull tops took special care but wound up going down as well as could be hoped for, considering that they are 33 years old at least. After practicing on excess material I layed them in the sun to soften and warm the glue. I still stretched one getting the liner off and it shows in a slight color change. Since these were blemished a bit when I got it, it didn't bother me much. My paint problems stemmed from not having bought enough Tamiya Matte White when I could have and now I can't, but I muddled through. Of course this guaranteed that painting the red scallop and stripes would go badly, but, again I muddled through. I also had some problems getting a good join between the hull uppers and lowers. Removing the locator pins was required and there were some shape differences. Now for the ancient decals . . .

Edited July 31, 2011 by samdiego

[diymirage]

I NEED one of these! Or at least that engine!!!!

there are a few resin casters out there who make them...i think replicas and miniatures of maryland has both these here merlins AND the allisons

[Danno]

Awesome!

(Emoticon conveying 'awesome' here.)

[Scalper]

Cool.. ..

[samdiego]

Not Bad. I coated these with Testor's Decal Bonder a few days ago and applied them today. They are a just a little yellowed and all but three fragged on the way to their new homes, but I was able to save them. They are nicely printed, especially the AH eagles. I'll let everything dry out for a few days and then clear coat and install the prop and rudder. I've tested scrap to make sure of compatibility with the clear and what I guess is silk screen ink from the 70s. I was able to touch up the red and clean the white parts of the hull stickers but I haven't arrived at a good match or the gold.

Edited August 3, 2011 by samdiego

[samdiego]

The stickers were much less of an issue than they could have been. They were still fairly pliable but I'm sure heating was key. The place that i stretched is visible in the last photo, from the hyphen in U-1 almost to the tip closest in the pic. This is the only example of this kit that I've ever seen so I can't make a comparison. The red ink seems more rub resistant than the gold. I scanned the decals so I could make more if needed. Fit was a bigger issue. The hull is made up of two really big pieces and the endplate. Years of storage left the biggies a little warped. All in all I'm a happy modeler and so glad that I was able to score this piece for a price that would make you guys hate me. My profession lends itself to barter very well.

You could always go with my plan B. if the sticker thing went south I was ready to plank the tops with veneer and make up a different livery. I like the Bud look that is as I saw this boat in Detroit in the 70s but it would still be really cool without it. Besides, bad stickers could be used to dicker down the price.

Edited August 3, 2011 by samdiego

[ra7c7er]

Awesome looking.

I got the same kit in a lot of stuff from a guy off craigslist. Probably paid less for it than you did, lol. My bartering skills suck but I tend to find people that don't know what they have. Of course it also helps that I don't know what stuff is worth either, lol.

I don't build it for the same decal issues you experienced and Mark commented on. I really want to though.