Well, with the Scooter now in the books, it's time to start another build. This time, I'm finally going to attempt my long planned for build of the Revell 1/48 scale PV-1 Ventura. I've always had for some strange reason a interest in this aircraft. Maybe the looks of it, or the fact that it was never in the limelight, but got the job done where ever it served.

I've had the kit for some time, and have slowly, ok very slowly been collecting various AM bits and pieces that I wanted to incorporate into the build:

Eduard:
Basic Interior set with IP
Mask for all the glass
Ultracast:
Diamond tread wheels and tires
Quickboost:
Cowlings
Engines
exhausts
gun barrels

When Jessica did her review on the Aviaeology Canadian decals, I posted that I really wanted to use them for my build, rather then the kit decals which also contained Canadian markings. Jessica offered me a set of decals, and let me pick which ones I wanted. I did, and that set the build in place right after the Scooter was finished.

I'm planning to detail and correct major kit errors as I go through the build. My detailing efforts will be more to enhance to add interest, then to add as much as possible.

I started my PV-1 build with the interior of the fuselage. From what research information I've been able to gather the cockpit bulkhead opening into the radio/navigator compartment is too narrow. So I enlarged the opening.





Once I made that modification, it became apparent that the one could see into the radio/navigation compartment. The kit has zero detail for it. So I decided to add some. Out of .020 sheet I made the bulkhead that led to the area over the Bomb bay. I then added stiffening beams with scale 1x3s, and a floor from .010 sheet



Once I test fitted it in a closed fuselage, I realized that I needed to deal with the fuselage side walls as the wing indentations were visible on both sides. I also need to add two selves for some radio equipment, and the folding table.







I'm not planning on doing anything with the compartment behind that bulkhead as I don't think that you will be able to see any of it.

I'll be working on the cockpit at the same time as the radio/navigator compartment.

Joel

Wow- a great new build on a great subject! Off to a good start, Joel- cheers!
chuk

Hi Joel,

nice project .. and a really good start!!

I want to start mine since I got the kit but I have bought plenty of stuff to correct and detail it so this got to be a majo (BIG!!) project for me. Just to give you a hint:

Lockheed PV-1 Ventura 1/48 (Revell)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Cockpit set 1/48 (True Details)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Rumpfkorrektur und geschlossener Bombenschacht 1/48 (DMold)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Propeller und Getriebegehäuse 1/48 (Vector)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Motorhauben mit geöffneten Kühlerklappen 1/48 (Vector)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Waffenläufe 1/48 (Quickboost)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Räder (diamond tread) 1/48 (Ultracast)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Auspuffstutzen 1/48 (Ultracast)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura interior 1/48 (Eduard)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura exterior 1/48 (Eduard)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Fahrwerk 1/48 (Eduard)
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Mask 1/48 (Eduard)

And that is just the stuff I wrote reviews for ... I'll be using Bombshell Decals

Soooo, are you going to correct the nose profile?

God speed with your project!

all the best

Steffen

Strffen,
Wow!! Now that's just about everything out there that I know of plus a few pcs.

I thought about the DMold bomb bay doors and nose correction, but I'm going to try and do a little detailing in the bomb bay and keep it open.

I totally forgot about the props, so I'm going to have to order a set. Both Vector and I think Quickboost makes them.

Looking forward to you joining me in a Buddy build. Should be a lot of fun.

Joel

Chuck,
Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I'm off to a good start, but this is going to be one very bumpy road with some of the things I'd like to accomplish on this build.

Joel

Looks like a good start, Joel. Got this one also in my stash, the only aftermarket stuff i had so far, are True Details propellers, to replace the thinner kit props.
Will follow this with interest.

Hey Joel,
Looking forward to following you on this one. Nice start!

Gary

Bernd & Gary,
Welcome to the party.
Joel

I was wondering what you were up to next! With all you have planned this will be a really interesting build to watch.

Speaking of the Prop issue, it's been pretty well established that the props supplied in the kit are wrong. The question is why would Revell take the easy way out when they did a 1st rate job researching and designing the PV-1? So I did several Google searches, and came up with just one post that could be a valid explanation.

The original British PV-1s were shipped with those skinnier props. The USN aircraft had the wider blades. Some of the British PV-1s were diverted to Canada, so those aircraft would have had the skinnier prop blades. The rest of the Canadian PV-1s were ex-USN aircraft, so I'm going to assume they had the wider prop blades.

The Canadian aircraft that I'm considering are all ex-USN aircraft, so they should have the wider blades.

As I've said, that information comes from just one post. Does anyone have any other information one way or the other on the proper props for all the Canadian PV-1s?

Joel

Mike,
Interesting yes. How well I can pull this off is another entirely different matter.

Joel

Another to watch, Joel I'll be following along with your build.

I also have this in the stash but at the moment it's right down the list and I have none of the AM stuff for it yet.

Luciano,
Glad you're coming along for the ride. Hope it meets your expectations.
Joel

I'll be following along on this journey Joel, great work so far on the additions and modifications.

Cheers, D

Damian,
Thanks so much for stopping by, and liking my efforts to date. Glad you'll be following my journey as it should prove to be quite interesting. To say that I'm completely out of my comfort zone, is as accurate as a statement can get.

Joel

Spent the last few work sessions trying to come up with a decent fix to the inside of the fuselage halves for the Radio/Nav compartment. I just decided to cut and shape .020 sheet with added stringers. Nothing to fancy as I have to keep on reminding myself that most of this won't bee seen, or seen very clearly, as you'll be looking through the cockpit glass and then through the bulkhead opening. That's the only source of light besides the two small windows on either side of the compartment.

So I came up with this fix:



The joint seam between the sheet and the wing insert is just about flush. My thinking is that with primer and paint, it will be good enough to fool ones eye.

Joel

I've got this same kit so I'm following with great interest and taking notes.

One thing I heard/read about the inaccuracies to the kit is because they used a museum display aircraft (Canadian, I think) that had some post war mods done to it (engines, cowls, props, wheels) that changed its war-time look.

Michael,
Welcome aboard my build blog.

Finding accurate information on PV-1s has proved to be more of a challenge then I ever thought it would be. I've always assumed that most models are scaled from restorations in museums or privately owned, as well as original plans and documentation when available.

Since I'm modeling a late war Canadian PV-1, hopefully, some of those inaccuracies will be in my favor.

The engine crankcases are to small, the props blades for at least the USN version are the wrong time, the cowls, and cowl flaps are wrong as well. But the main thing is that it still looks like a PV-1.

With today's business model, I'm sure that the bean counters at Revell held the project team to a financially driven budget, and that corners in Research and the scope of the project had to be cut wherever deemed possible.

Joel

Joel

Some stuff here that you may find useful.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1372107566

Mike,
Thanks so much for those links. I've got some of those pictures, but there is a lot of useful ones I've never seen, especially the landing gear struts.

Joel

My work week starts tonight, so no more work on the PV-1 till the weekend. Here's a follow up to the Radio/Nav. compartment to bring you up to date.

The table and two bulkheads shelves are installed.



I need to keep on reminding myself just how little of this compartment will be seen once the fuselage is glued up and the cockpit and glass is installed.





Joel

Glad to see this one underway, but this is the first I heard of that cockpit bulkhead inaccuracy. I wonder how many OTHER surprises the kit has.

You can drive yourself crazy when identifying issues with specific kits. If your one for preciseness on your kits, fortunately there are many vendors for this Revell kit.

Here's one for adjusting the forward fuselage belly:

http://www.dmold-modelworks.com/contents/en-us/p36.html

Michael,
I've been looking at those parts on the DMold site for a few months, I'm most likely going to get the nose section but not the bomb bay doors as I want to keep the bay open

Joel

Hey Brian,
Thanks for stopping by. Your B-17F build just got my modeling mojo flowing to see if I could actually do some scratch building, and some serious kit enhancing. So this build is dedicated to you my friend No way will it ever approach the level you're building at. It's not intended to be in that class. But since the PV-1 is another one of those aircraft that have grabbed my attention, I thought I'd go a little further with this build then I usually do.

As far as the cockpit bulkhead goes, it's a real crap shoot. Some builds have them opened up, and some don't. Shamefully, I opted for the opening it up so that I could add the basics of the Radio/Navigator compartment.

The Radio/Navigator compartment is just there for added interest, and will have just enough detail to fools ones eye. I can't see going further then that as no one will ever see those added details. Past that rear bulkhead is just a void of emptiness.

There are all sorts of issues with this kit. The wrong shaped nose as Michael has pointed out. The engine
crankcases are too short, the cowls are to short and shaped incorrectly because of that, the props blades are wrong, and a few other things. Everything can and is going to be corrected with AM parts. Rather then just crankcases, I went with two new engines that will be detailed

Joel