Posted by Alan Chamberlain (via Matty) on February 15, 2010, 10:29:05
"...after my wife's recent death I got back into modeling the kits that were big when I was an Eisenhower kid...I picked up Revell's old USS Pine Island a while ago:
...and (I) decided I wanted 2 PBMs on deck - not just the kit's single Mariner. I bought Revell's USS Currituck recently online and got my second PBM, but then there is this sad looking extra ship kit just sitting there...and styrene is a terrible thing to waste. Fortunately, I noticed even online references occasionally confused pix for the (earlier) Currituck and Curtiss class tenders, did a little digging, and found it would not be too big a challenge to change the gender of one, so to speak - but I'd need to add different aircraft.
So, I started Googling conversion parts for Revell's 1:424 (true) scale...You're probably already aware 1:400 scale accessories are (rather) limited...I had yet to learn this. My options appeared to be either going BIGGER to the readily available 1:350 scale or SMALLER if there were any true 1:500 parts out there...Going to the smaller scale seemed more inviting because either jump is virtually identical but '500' gives more fudge space... [Point taken Alan, but for a scale of 1:424, some 1:371 (that is, 14.3% oversized) KingFishers and SeaGulls are actually going to be 1% closer than 1:500 (15.2% undersized) - but in any case, I'll bet the difference will be practically unnoticeable on your Curtiss-class' huge fantail, anyway! -Ed.]
...(ironically,) I found you(r 1/371 KingFishers when) looking for '1:500 ship parts', I found a Model Ship Gallery item crediting your accessories on a '1:500' DD conversion. I Googled your name and 'Kingfisher': Voila! I then found (the Matty's Models main page...Since I have to 'go big' ('...or go home') to convert my 2nd ship, a covey of 1:371 OS2U looks like a good deal indeed!...At this point, one pack of 4 would be fine -- I'll need to figure out if more will be needed later according to how they actually fit the deck...(and) about the (SOC SeaGull) conversion option, I'd love to try building some SeaGulls at that scale (though who can say) when I might get one done...(but) I'd be happy to give it a try...
...About posting my info on (the ModelFleet) site, please feel free: I (too) get a boost from what others are doing...
...I may never get all my model dreams built, but they're lovely dreams and I find that coming up with an idea, and figuring out how to implement it, is every bit as much fun as actually assembling the model, when problem solving takes a back seat to 'technical' skills. Having gone through the 'build in haste, regret at leisure' stage of modeling, I find the real dessert for me now is to conceive a plan: the topping is assembly and the cherry is bragging on the finished model. I read somewhere that even Faulkner and Tolstoy, asked about their greatest novels, apologized that they were just poor stabs at what they really had in mind before putting a single word down on paper. I guess that can go for model builders as well..."
Outstanding, Alan - and quite the philosophy, at that! Speaking of "dreams", check out the following, hands-down winner (IMHO) for best box-art ever put on the Revell Pine Island kit:
Like many of the second generation of Revell ship box-art, this one contains an awesome little vignette, above - a whole story-within-a-story - tucked into the scene.
In the shadow of the huge, world-cruising ship which transported him there, a barefoot 20-something sailor squares away his PBM, off the beach of some unimagineably exotic - and unmistakably Oriental - land. You can feel the heat, and the tropical water on your toes - and can there be any doubt that this is the very first time he's ever seen such a place - or for that matter even been off the farm in Oklahoma?
This is pure gold, the like of which cannot be seen on any model packaging, AFAIK, being produced today. (If anyone does know of any, let me know!)
And yes, you sure as hell do need more than just one plane to go on it! ( - Note there are four PBMs in this pic, alone.)
Do keep us posted on your progress - with both AVs - Alan, and Welcome Aboard ModelFleet, buddy!
Welcome to the board! You're going to find this unlike any other modeling site out there, and the regulars are a remarkable bunch - looking forward to seeing your Pine Island and all your other projects!