Robert Podkoński
Taking a seat, of course!

bughunter Автор
Welcome Robert! Which one you want to take, the yellow or a green one? 😉

Please do not miss the project description, for the _VERY_ important reason for this project!

Robert Podkoński
👍 A green one, please 🙂

Marcel Klemmer
Hi Frank, I am in and do not need a seat. 😉

Ludvík Kružík
I'll sit down too. If I'm not mistaken, one green seat is still open. 😉

Spanjaard
I am certainly in

Martin Oostrom
Green two for me

David H
Be rude not to join in. 👍🏻

gorby
I'll join the audience as well. 🙂

bughunter Автор
Hello my friends! A warm welcome to each and every one of you!

Working on the parts of this kit can be considered bodily harm! The bright yellow hurts your eyes and you can't see any details or damaged areas that need work. I would have preferred a more common gray!

Michael Kohl
Moin Frank. Nimmst mich mit?

bughunter Автор
Aber sicher doch, wenn Du eine wilde Fahrt aushälst 😉

Kenneth
Hallo Frank, the set with lap belts only could be intended for the US Navy variant of the Stearman, the N2S. Until US entry in WW2, US Navy aircraft mostly did not have shoulder belts. I read this in a review of a 1/32 Vought Kingfisher while looking for seatbelts and wondering about the same thing for my 1/32 Revell/ICM N2S Stearman kit.

Juergen Klinglhuber
Schau ich mir auch an,...

bughunter Автор
Welcome! Thanks Kenneth! That makes sense, as the kit offers also a yellow Navy plane with red stripes. Luckily my wife want it blue-yellow. All the pictures I found shows also shoulder belts, but that was mostly still flying machines and I guess the shoulder belts was added later.
I had already downloaded the ICM manual as an additional reference and looked at reviews because of an oddity on the upper wing. More on this later.

bughunter Автор
Because I was still in soldering mode after the seats, I immediately turned my attention to the tank on the upper wing. I like the look of the metal fuel tank now.

Robert Podkoński
Perhaps you will find my photos useful for your build:
Hangar 10 | Album by podkon

bughunter Автор
Yes, definitely 👍 Thanks!

bughunter Автор
Found a nice page: stearman-aero.com/

bughunter Автор
The wing is yellow again, but now the look is better!
I used here MRP-142 Orange Yellow. If someone remembers my Piper: the yellow was "Dark Chrome Yellow" also from MRP. Even this one here called "Orange Yellow" it looks more yellow compared to the Piper.

Ben M
👀

Alec K
I was just wondering where the heck is Bughunter, and here he is! Lovely progress and topic, following of course 👍

bughunter Автор
Welcome Ben and Alec!
The lower wing is now also painted yellow. I only not sure about the blue. I want to go with the darker later blue, tried AK Pure Blue, but I will also try others.

Jakub Fiala
Nice work on this interesting type of aircraft so far 👍 Following for sure!

Ben M
Love these old trainers. They used to show up at airshows a lot when I was a kid.

Greg Baker
Sign me up!

Zbynek Honzik
A joy and pleasure to follow such a project! 👍

Christoph Kunz
Ui, da habe ich den Start ja irgendwie verpennt. 🙁
Aber jetzt bin ich dabei.

Kenneth
Noch was, je nach dem, was das Vorbild ist: Part 71 in Point 4 of the instructions is in my opinion not correct for a WW2-era Stearman. Such a box typically houses a radio, intercom, transponder etc. on modern, restored examples

David Taylor
Watching.

bughunter Автор
In the spirit of "Piano man": the regular crowd shuffled in ...
Welcome!
Oh, can someone wake up Kyle? 😉

Juergen Klinglhuber
Kyle! - come on, you will miss a good portion of the show and have to put the stool again in the back... 😉 Just kidding. It is never to late for a bughunter-show

bughunter Автор
Kenneth, thanks for the hint! Interestingly the Eduard manual of the PE set here on SM told me to remove the mount points for this part 71. After that hint I checked some pictures of original machines and found the modern equipment. So thanks for the confirmation! After my PE set arrived I found out the remove of that mount points is missing in my paper version! Luckily I have checked the corrected online version first.

I would like to build a original equipped plane, but this is somehow limited. I have only the kit decals for a US Army plane "136" dated 1941. There is no serial number mentioned. I have not found photos of that plane yet. So I will build it according the information I have, with "educated guesses" on some points. Later more.

bughunter Автор
I made the instrument panels. May be you know the Eduard sandwich method of multiple PE parts? Here we have a special thing!

Kenneth
Fuselage innner side colours are also totally wrong in the instructions (overall aluminium). See flugzeugforum.de/thr...103126/post-3062086 where I posted some thoughts about this.

The „thick" plate on the instrument panel which you chose is correct for the period, it's a padding saving an unfortunate student pilot's face when smashing it against the instrument panel…

bughunter Автор
Kenneth, thank you very much for your great support 👍 Highly appreciated!
Now I understand, why the bolts of the instruments are hidden by this padding.
According to your picture I painted the fuselage halves bright linen and added the read brown tensioning varnish. It will not be very visible after closing the halves.

The inner structure is not in scale: much too thick! As it will be not very visible later I do not go the extra mile to replace the structure by brass wires!
Did someone say Jehovah? 😎

bughunter Автор
The seat belts (what a fiddly job), the seats and the cockpit as a whole are finished. What beautiful interior!

Have I forgotten something, or can the fuselage halves be glued?

Ben M
Pancakes! (IYKYK)

gorby
Lovely work on the cockpit Bugs. 🙂

Kenneth
Looks perfect 👍 I was wondering whether there shouldn't be a fuel cock (the red lever on the lower left side in the front cockpit) in the rear cockpit as well, but found quite a few photos were this indeed not the case (but also some with one).

And while the ICM fuselage structure is indeed very delicate, it stops short of the rear cockpit!

bughunter Автор
Thank you mates!
Beside the thick structure it is a nice kit (and Eduard PE set) with great fit. Sometimes even with the famous Tamiya click 🙂

@Ben Pancakes?! You say if you know you know, but I do not know 🙁
If you mean the upholstery of the seats - I think that this task was taken over by the parachutes.

bughunter Автор
The kit includes a clear lamp to be installed on the back of the fuselage for Navy and Army. I have not found a reference photo.
Is this perhaps an anti-collision light on modern aircraft? Add it or leave it out?

Kenneth
That fuselage lamp (probably a modern strobe light) does not appear in the manual available on the Stearman Aero site (p. 105)… from which I've also just learned that the red lever I mentioned earlier is control lock and not a fuel cock.

bughunter Автор
Thanks for the confirmation of my guess Kenneth! I glued stretched sprue into the socket for later sanding.

René (Lord Bilbo) Bartholemy
Bughunter "not going the extra mile"? 🤔
Usurper!
What have you done to the real Bughunter? 🤣

bughunter Автор
Don't worry, I'm okay. I still go the extra mile, but where it makes sense and is visible.
The fuselage is now closed and other small things done.

Alec K
You are making a lightning progress Frank. I can barely keep up! The added detail is, as usual, superb 👍

babak chalangi
definitely watching this

bughunter Автор
Alec, that is a Revell Level 4 kit with only 58 parts according to the box. Ok, the PE set and the belts doubles the number and there is room for a little scratch work, but the fit is fantastic! That saves a lot of time.
I have the Mr.Paint True Blue on order and hope it will arrive soon.

bughunter Автор
Some more little details are prepared, for example a Venturi pipe. This idea is maybe useful for other types.
But I also decided to go the extra mile to meet all expectations and made it possible to mount the rudder in an angled position for more liveness.

Martin Oostrom
Great work from the master

Ludvík Kružík
Your work is gaining momentum. It's a pleasure to watch the model grow under your hands.

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
How could I miss this build .... very very nice progress so far and kudos for the soldering work!!!! I was thinking of this approach very often, but I´m too scared and always came back to CA removing the excess with debonder. Watching this build with interest 😊

bughunter Автор
Thank you mates for your very kind words!
@Thomas I was lucky enough to have been drilled in the art of soldering at a young age during my training as a telecommunications technician. Even though my studies were more theoretical afterwards, I now have 45 years of soldering experience. It was therefore obvious to use this experience in model making. This is also how I soldered my strip downs (see projects) 🙂

Thomas Haberl - TH SCALE MODELS
Well, that explains it all - you can be glad having this kind of skills man 🤘

bughunter Автор
Today the MrPaint "True Blue" arrived - exactly the beautiful shade I hoped for! Not too dark and not as bright as some of the actual airplanes flying around. With a hint of turquoise as often discussed.
The paint shades of the Mr.Paints are very nice, some examples: the Dark Chrome Yellow on my Piper (I was asked during the last exhibition about it), the PC12 on the Sopwith Triplane (some chocolate brown), the linen color shades .... and this True Blue is no exception 👍

Desert Marlin
Looking great!

Kenneth
Tolles blau 👍 Sieht sehr richtig aus!

Juergen Klinglhuber
Spitze !! 👍

bughunter Автор
Thank you mates!
After some clear gloss coat I started to apply the decals. I also had an idea for a little scratch work - stay tuned!

Martin Oostrom
Marvellous work

bughunter Автор
Thanks Martin!

Alec K
Scratch work?! Can't wait!

bughunter Автор
Alec, you will need a bit of patience as I have to do other things first.
The wings are decorated. When the decals (and softener) are dry I can add more clear coat. The fuselage is not yet completed.

Desert Marlin
Nothing more pleasing than a fine "yellow-wing" from an era long passed!!!

Ricardo Reis
Another beauty? Arriving late, but I guess still on time! 👀

bughunter Автор
Thank you mates!
Ricardo, it will have to be a beauty if my wife wants me to build this machine! There is still a lot on the ToDo list ....

Alec K
Patience I do have 😉. Your progress is superb 👍

Kyle DeHart
I am late, but I am here!! Up to your usual fantastic standards so far, my friend. Beautiful work. My father recently got to take a ride in a restored Stearman and had a blast with it!! So I think this is very cool indeed.

bughunter Автор
Very nice to see you here Kyle and thanks! A ride in a Stearman would be nice indeed.

bughunter Автор
After the wings was painted with satin coat to protect the decals I could realize my idea for which Alec has been waiting! Maybe some others too?

I had read somewhere that the position of the bracing on this model is incorrectly marked. Think again, when I leafed through the original manual I saw small windows to enable the check of control linkages etc instead of rigging points!

If Eduard has already realized the pulleys under windows so nicely on the Camel wings, something should work here too.

Desert Marlin
Looks fantastic. I like when these little treasures get found!

bughunter Автор
Thanks!

There is still work to be done on the fuselage, but I was more tempted by the engine. Its done but ignition wires needs to be added.
I mentioned the thick push rods, here a ref pic for comparison (Source enginehistory.org):
[img1]

Landlubber Mike
Wow, this is incredible work man! The Eduard PE has some nice details, but your scratch details take this model up a few notches for sure. Well done!

Kyle DeHart
Beautiful work. I very much like how that engine looks. Will add nicely to the finished build with so much visible. Your replaced pushrods look perfect. An excellent touch.

Alec K
Great work on the engine. I also like the position light idea! One always learns something from your builds 👍

bughunter Автор
Thank you mates!
Alec, there are typically six different sizes on the Eduard PE frames. Since I used the larger ones, the smaller seem to be usable for you 1:72 guys.

bughunter Автор
Next chapter was the undercarriage - I'm happy with the look!

Juergen Klinglhuber
You can be happy - it is looking alright & very good. 👍 👍

bughunter Автор
Thank you Juergen! I wanted to have the bird ready by the end of the month, but that could be tight.

Martin Oostrom
I know a certain Spanjaard, who bought the exact same kit today, in the hope of emulating your great build

Spanjaard
i was following before, but now I am certainly even more interested!!

Spanjaard
emulating will be great, but it will be far from it,no doubt 😉

bughunter Автор
Thank you for the info Martin! Luckily I know you both 🙂
@Spanjaard That was a great decision! That is a wonderful kit! I was really positively surprised. The yellow plastic is bad, but the details and fit is great. It is not very old and seems to be created by Revell USA. You will have fun with this kit!
BTW I have an unused set of the colored Eduard PE set (the little one FE785) as I found the bigger set later.

I added new pictures as the wooden prop is in shape 🙂

Spanjaard
i just ordered Boeing Stearman PT-17 (HGW Models 148549, 1:48) and PT-17 (Eduard 49785, 1:48) 😄

bughunter Автор
Oh, someone would like to go a long way, or even the whole way?

Lorraine Lin
Wow, the wood airscrew really looks great👍

bughunter Автор
Thank you very much Lorraine!
Real wooden propellers are my trademark on the biplanes. The propellers with different kinds of wood look even nicer (see my other projects), but that would not have been authentic on this type.

Spanjaard
all the way, as far as i can 🙂

Martin Oostrom
Maybe you can order a custom made wooden propellor Spanjaard. I think I know just the guy, from Germany.

Spanjaard
or try to make one myself 😉

bughunter Автор
It looks like I'll have to come up with something here and there to make the task not so easy 😉

Alec K
New prop looks amazing 👍

Spanjaard
ha ha ha, as if the bar was not high enough 😄 god that I do not plan to start any day soon 😛

Kenneth
Der Wahnsinn, der Propeller 😳

bughunter Автор
Danke Kenneth!
But it's not even finished yet. I think it will be even more beautiful!

bughunter Автор
Now I can report a fail: I tried to cover the airscrew with Bare Metal Foil (Matt Aluminium) but was not able to apply it to front and back and on both sides in a symmetrical shape. It is not easy to work with a sharp scalpel on the not completely hard wood.
At the end I gave up and removed the foil.
I repainted the green blade tips already (ruined them while working on top) and after the paint is dry I will mask and paint the leading edge with metal paint.

bughunter Автор
Kenneth (and all the other followers) now it is a beautiful propeller! I'm happy about the result.

Kenneth
So you should be 👍

Kyle DeHart
Frank, your propeller work is always so beautiful and this is no exception. That looks fantastic. Moving right along now

gorby
I agree with Kyle, the prop is a thing of beauty.

bughunter Автор
Thank you Kyle and gorby!
Started working on the rigging ... Stay tuned! Thanks to Bernhards build I will try something never done before.

Desert Marlin
Same here! The prop is perfect!

bughunter Автор
Thank you 🙂
Yeah, it is now a biplane and the wings are rigged, for the first time with metal wires.
My mounting order was may be unusual but the wing struts are now straight. I had a little fear here, because they was very thin and flexible - so bent on the Revell model.

Spanjaard
rigging looks great, and fuel indicator, fantastic.

bughunter Автор
Yeah 🙂
Even though the tail is not finished yet, I couldn't hold back and took a little teaser.

Alec K
That rigging looks excellent. And that fuel indicator!?! Damn nice 👍

Desert Marlin
This looks fabulous! How was the fuel gauge made? It looks like a "float and post" indicator inside of a metal shielded glass tube.

Alexander Grivonev
what do you mean you couldn't paint individual numbers and letters in 1:48 scale? How could you let us down like that 🙁

Robert Podkoński
Looks beautiful already.

Erik Off
A beauty!

tyu
Don't know if these would be small enough for your fuel gauge? Also available in different colors:
tinwizard.de/shop/en..-0-mm-high-115x90-mm
tinwizard.de/shop/en..-mm-pt-2-5-118x90-mm

bughunter Автор
Wow, thank you very much mates! Your comments are highly appreciated 👍

The idea of the metal rigging comes from Bernhards build: Boeing-Stearman PT-17, N33162 (completed) | Album by Yellowwing (1:48)

The fuel gauge is made from stretched sprue. I noticed a little socket on the lower surface of the upper wing. I added a little piece of 0.8mm brass tube. A stretched a clear sprue and glued a piece of 0.6mm diameter into the brass socket, ca 4mm long. Thank you tyu for the link to the decals, but still to big I think (but may be useful for other projects).
Here a reference picture with the numbers:
[img1]

Later I found this picture, so I painted the red rings.
[img1]

bughunter Автор
I wanted to add the tail rigging, but due to the control wires of the rudder I decided to do it first.
@Spanjaard Could you please look into you kit, if the end of the trim tab on the rudder is on your kit damaged too?

Kenneth
Very, very impressive 😳

Christoph Kunz
I Love it.

Kyle DeHart
Astonishingly nice work, my friend. You never cease to amaze. That fuel indicator is beautiful. I also like your elegant solution to the gap issue on the tail. And the rigging work goes without saying. This is looking excellent!!

bughunter Автор
Thank you Kenneth, Christoph and Kyle!
Yeah Christoph, I love it too! It is may be again my best model? I don't know ...

bughunter Автор
Just added new pictures of the rigged tail. It was a lot of work and tricky, but I'm glad the tail is finished now.

This build log is now running for one month, but not yet finished.

Alexander Grivonev
bughunter is not afraid of the marco objective, the macro objective is afraid of bughunter

bughunter Автор
I'm not afraid of my macro lens, I love it 🙂
It is one of the best MFT lenses: panasonic.com/de/con..jektive/h-hs030.html

Desert Marlin
Bravo! Just keeps getting better!!!

Kyle DeHart
That tail is perfect!

Christoph Kunz
Das letzte/neueste ist doch immer das Beste. Deswegen hören wir ja mit dem Bauen erst auf, wenn die Hände oder Augen wirklich gar nicht mehr mitmachen.
Aber bis dahin ist noch laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang 🙂

Desert Marlin
My eyes seem to struggle more each year!

bughunter Автор
Thx mates!
The last parts and details are scratched and added.
After a successful test run of the engine this build is finished!
Thanks for watching and all the support, e.g. all the info from Kenneth 👍
When the weather permits I will do some final shots, but this may need some time in this dark time of the year.

gorby
I'll look forward to that Frank, it looks fabulous!

Kenneth
More realistic than the original! Glückwunsch 👍

Alexander Grivonev
your building reports are a pleasure for the senses 👍

Kyle DeHart
Well this is just a stunning result my friend. Very nice indeed. Beautiful paint and details that you've added and not to mention the rigging. Can't wait to see the outside photos.

Desert Marlin
Gorgeous work bughunter!!!

Ludvík Kružík
Another masterpiece!
It was a great pleasure to watch this build of yours. I look forward to seeing the final photos.

Spanjaard
looking forward final pics. amazing job!

Ben M
It looks really great!

Robert Podkoński
One word: beautiful! I hope your wife is as much impressed as we all are 🙂

Neuling
As expected: a beauty.

babak chalangi
Totally worth the wait

Jakub Fiala
It looks amazing! How far it flew during the test? 😄

bughunter Автор
WOW! Thank you for each of your comments - highly appreciated!
@Robert I have not asked yet as she was stressed the last days but I will do soon.
@Jakub The bird was secured so that the powerful engine could not move it away 😄

Alec K
What? No wheel chocks?!? Wondering how well secured…
Kidding, of course. This is turning out as one of your best builds 👍

bughunter Автор
Yeah Alec, I really like the result of this project too, may be because it is little different to the other biplanes.

With a bit of luck I had for short moments some good light outside so there is a new final album attached to the project:
Final shots of Stearman PT-17 Kaydet | Album by bughunter (1:48)

Kyle DeHart
Now we just have to ask, what's next on the chopping block? 😉😀

bughunter Автор
@Robert Yes, all expectations are met and she likes it, especially the colors. 👍
@Kyle I'm not sure yet, but I think I will try to work on one of the shelf queens. There are also some time constrains.

Robert Podkoński
👍

bughunter Автор
Grrr - I'm getting old!
Spanjaard asked for reference pictures and while I'm preparing an archive I came across a picture of the wheel with showing the brake line. Damn, I was aware of it but simply forgot this late in the build. This is fixed now - both brake lines added!

Robert Podkoński
👍 👍

Spanjaard
👍 👍

Alec K
Don't feel bad. I just found this blue paint on my drawer: what the heck do I have this for? Turns out, I bought it to paint the translucent glazing on the Neptune. Duh…

Juergen Klinglhuber
Another stunner - great job again bughunter !!

bughunter Автор
Thx! Juergen I'm also pleased with the look of this beefy biplane from a later era than usually shown by me.

Ben M
Bughunter it looks exactly like the ones that used to come to fly-in pancake breakfasts when I was a kid. There a lot of them still flying around back then.

Ben M
At this years fly-in at my home town, one still showed up: flic.kr/p/2qgryoy

KyMustang
I've flown one of these a bit off a local grass runway…same colors, wood prop and everything. This brings back memories!

bughunter Автор
It's wonderful to read your comments! Thx!
I have also seen a blue-yellow plane of this type here in Bavaria, may be it was this one:
jetphotos.com/photo/9342388
But is some different details, like engine and prop so no candidate for replication.

Ben, I like the different shades of yellow on the metal and the fabric on your pic 👍

Duncan Black
This is a master class in super detailing, very nicely done.

bughunter Автор
Thank you Duncan! With a good kit as base and a huge amount of references the scratch work is fun.
For the detail photos we have the build log, and for the overall impression the final album 😎