A SOC-3 Seagull embarked on USS Mississippi (BB-41): FINAL

The Hasegawa SOC-3 Seagull

 

In a departure from my usual post WWII aircraft interest, I decided to build a SOC-3 Seagull: one of the last bi-planes to serve in the US Navy and Marine Corps. I've had a passing interest in the SOC Seagull since my friend Bill Blackmore asked me to build two 1/96 scale resin Seagulls for his USS Nevada model way back in 2001.  You can read about the that here:  Curtiss SOC-3 Seagull.

 I decided to build the SOC Seagull in the yellow-wing scheme prevalent between the wars. I chose the USS Mississippi embarked aircraft because the Mississippi was my fathers first ship when he enlisted in 1950. By that time, however, it was re-designated as AG-128 and used as a test platform for new weapons and sensors. Yeah, it's a tenuous link.

Along with the Hasegawa kit, I bought the Yellow-Wings decal sheet 72-013, the Starfighter-Decals cockpit resin set 72-15 and the E-Z Rigging set PE-08, as well as the Radial Wheels & Engines resin P&W-1340 Wasp engine 72-001. These detail sets will correct the glaring short comings this vintage 1969 kit.

Here's parts laid out with a pilfered 30 cal. machine gun (the green styrene) for the back of the cockpit.  

 Here's the cockpit side-walls installed after grinding out the molded instrument face and thinning the fuselage walls for the pilot's console.

The pilot and observer consoles were assembled and painted. I attached the front panel stack to a flat piece scrap of styrene to act as a handle while I worked with it. The instruments  and placard decals are from the Mike Grant "Cockpit Details" decal sheet CKP-072. They really make the panels pop! After the decals dried a drop of Future simulates the gage glass.

Cockpit assembly continues.....

RJ

Completed the cockpit. I'm happy with the results. The Starfighter resin details really enhance the model!

The Starfighter set came with a photo-etched fret from Tom's Works # 72-306. I used the seatbelt buckles with painted Tamiya masking tape for the seatbelts. I mounted the 30 cal gun on a straight pin then glued it to the rear deck behind the resin ammo box. When I assembled the photo-etched gun-ring, I butted the ring right-up against the pin. Looking from the top, it appears the gun-ring is supporting the gun.





The cockpit directions are quite clear: you test fit, file and sand the plastic side walls and test fit some more. After I got all the plastic thinned down, I joined the fuselage pieces together.

Next up is the replacement engine.

RJ 

SITREP 2: 20-OCT-18

The engine is finished. I painted the engine medium gray then applied Alclad aluminum to the piston houses with a fine brush. The Alclad behaved as a wash and filled in and highlighted the detail. I wrapped silver floral wire around a plastic tube the same diameter as the crankcase and glued it place with a drop of super-glue to replicate the ignition harness ring. The sparkplug wires are fine gage copper wire. The sparkplug wire should be black, but I left then unpainted for a little contrast to draw the eye to the details. (Artistic license!)
Better than the kit part, huh?!

 Without being unduly modest here.....NAILED IT!

As I looked a the wings, I was concerned that the strut parts would cause a gap in the wing that would be nigh-on impossible to fill ad sand. So, I removed the top and bottom of each strut piece and glue them in the wing slots leaving holes to attach the struts to the wing.

I masked the cockpit to protect the details as I handled the fuselage. I placed masking tape around the seams to protect the wing and fuselage rib detail as I filled and sanded.

Here's the top wing. The slots are filled and sanded smooth. When I test fit the fuselage struts (center slots), the fit was so tight and flush that I didn't bother cut them out because there won't be any gaps.

The fuselage seams filled with Tamiya white putty then covered with Mr. Surfacer #500.  The seams along the top and bottom of the fuselage didn't need filler: just a light sanding.

Time to paint me thinks!

RJ

SITREP 3: 4NOV18


Still haven't got to the painting. I assembled the pontoons, and I was going to repeat the method of cutting off the struts then working the gaps. When I placed the strut parts in the slots on the main pontoon, the fit was so tight I couldn't get the parts out! As I pulled on the struts, the part just wouldn't budge. I was afraid I was going to break off struts. So, a little ten-x and gap filling the hard way. I worked the seams around the uprights with sandpaper held by lockable tweezers. It was slow going, but effective in getting in the hard to reach spots.

On the wing floats, I had the opposite problem: strut parts fell into the hole. I had to used them as a handle to hold them in place then glue the parts flush with float top. Once again, I worked the gaps with sandpaper held with tweezers to get in and around the struts. Yeah, that was tedious and took awhile.

 
Next I worked the tail planes. Here they are In all their '60s molding glory!

The Star-Fighter photo-etch set has replacement hinges for the elevators. For small parts, I back the fret with tape. Then I cut out the parts. Since they're stuck to the tape, there is little (never say no) chance of launching the minuscule part into low-earth orbit and re-entry into the carpet never to be seen again.

Generally, when cutting out photo-etch parts, you want to off the tabs as close to the part as possible. For the hinges, I cut them off as close to the frame as possible leaving a nub on each end. With a pair of dividers, I open the points to the distance between nubs and push a hole into the plastic parts yielding 2 holes with the same distance as space between the nubs. Then I opened the hole with a drill bit in a pen vice. The nubs on the hinges acted as locating pins in the holes. Using super-glue I glued the hinges in place. The nub/hole combination yielded a strong joint without a blob of glue.

All this took awhile and brought me close to eye-strain, but the results were worth the time.

NOW! PAINT..... ah, maybe.

RJ  

SITREP 4: 12DEC18

Since the last update, I've been waiting and painting. I had to wait on my local hobby shop to restock Tamyia aluminum for the dope fabric color and I had to order a mask set for the canopy.

First, the primed white parts for the color panels:


                                       

The gloss black enamel priming for the metal finish parts:



                                       


The color wing and tail:

                                         

The finished painting; note the metal and fabric contrast:

                                       

                                      

                                       

The kit canopy is way too thick to fit over the resin pilot console, so I used a Falcon vac replacement. Here it is cut out:

                                      

I tried to mask the canopy pieces with drafting tape, but I just could get a straight cut. I was short a hand. So, I ordered a mask set; made the job much easier.

                                               

Here's the pained canopy pieces:

                                 

The wing floats each had a grab handle. I fashioned the handles out of floral wire and drilled placement holes on the front lip. I found a 1/48th scale SOC drawing on the internet. I printed it at 67% to produce the drawing in 1/72nd scale. I used that to provide the handle dimensions and placement.

                             

Decaling then final assembly next.

RJ 

SITREP 5: 22DEC18

Finished the decaling. 

The Yellow-Wing decals worked well. I had no issues with application. A small quibble, however, all the serial number decals are printed in black. According to all the photos I've found on the internet, the planes with blue and black tails had white numbers. So, I used small white digits from my decal stash. 

I coated the dope fabric wings and fuselage with Future (or what-ever goes by this week) using a flat brush before I applied the decals. After the decals dried, I applied a top coat. I was careful to keep the Future off the Alclad finish to keep the right bare-metal look.  The walk way on the pontoon is decal stripping from a Micro Scale sheet  of stripes. 

Time for final assembly! I might not get to another update until later this week, so...

MERRY CHRISTMAS! and Happy New Year!  

RJ 

SITREP 6: 27DEC18
Finished the assembly and rigging for the aircraft bottom. The E-Z Rigging really makes the detail pop! Notice the bomb racks; they're gems. 

Here's the engine behind the propeller: 

Closing in on finish line, so time to start working the display base.  Here's 4 x 4 inch wood base from the local craft store. I sealed it with wood sealer and drilled a hole in the center for the mounting screw.  

On the bottom, I drilled a counter sink hole for the screw head, so the base will stay flat. Then I painted it gloss black from a spray can.  

Closing in on the end! 

RJ

SITREP 7: 3JAN19

Making progress (more or less) towards the finish. First up, there was a loop antenna on the radio stack between the pilot seat and the observer's cockpit. I wrapped floral wire around a paintbrush handle to make a uniform loop and twisted the ends to make a stem.

I cut a piece of styrene tubing to make the pedestal, painted it black, and glued the loop through the center. Cut off the excess wire then glued it to the top of the radio. 

 Next came the rigging; what a nightmare! My inexperience with bi-planes came to haunt me. I smeared super-glue all over the wings!...… sigh. I managed to knock the main pontoon off in the process. After a series of nautical terms and quaint colloquial phases that sent the dog scurrying to the other room , I got the wing rigging done. 

Note the loop antenna. 

In between rigging secessions I masked and painted the gold on the base and name plate using a lacquer paint over the black enamel. 

Here's the finished base: 

 2 Steps forward; 1 back! 

RJ 

FINISHED! 

Finished the photoetch rigging. The wire aerial is fishing line colored  black. I took a length of line and trapped it between a flat piece of plastic and the tip of a large Sharpie marker. Then I pulled the length across the tip. Repeat several times; and it's black. 

If read you through the blog, you'll see the kit supplied placard was painted with enamel black, then painted with lacquer brass, now a final coat of black enamel. The lacquer is impervious to enamel thinner. So, I took a piece of paper towel and folded it over a rigid straight edge, applied a little enamel thinner so it was just damp; then dragged it across  the raised letters and edge. Worked pretty good, huh?! 

Here's the base put together: 

Calling it DONE! 

RJ