Eduard delve into the flying boat realm with the JRS-1 amphibian boxing, called The Boat in 1/72nd.


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Thanks!

Pity they didn't include the Pan Am scheme for those who missed it the first time around.

Did a Pan Am scheme ever come in the kit? I have the original Sword offering in my hands with the resin details, and the only versions in my kit are a Marine JRS-1 from 1938 and two "Ford Island" (Pearl Harbor) S-43's. Did Eduard release it in Pan Am markings?
VR, Russ

I could have sworn that there was a civil option in one or another of the previous boxings, but it turns out that the ones I remember being built were all using self-produced markings.

For those of us who absolutely must do an airliner, Vintage Flyer Decals does a sheet to keep us happy.

Jessie, I too vaguely recall there was a Pan Am offering at some point, but I think it might have been an aftermarket conversion-- I don't think the Pan Am version had an option for the cargo opening in the roof. A collector I know asked me to do a civil airline (Pan Am) commission, and offered to buy the conversion set a few years ago. Of course the real gem would be the 4 engine Pan Am version-- wish someone would release that.
VR, Russ

Like this one perchance?

Yep-- that's the one-- S-42, but Anigrand has such an awful reputation-- and such a high price point--too bad a mainstream manufacturer doesn't release more of these flying boats.
VR, Russ

Well, it's either that one, or Combat Models. Not an inspiring set of choices...

Jessie, No, it's not an inspiring choice, but I'd rather work on "crappy plastic" than "crappy resin", especially when the resin costs four times as much. Not that I haven't done both as you can see in the two articles I've written for Internet modeler on the Rare Planes HP-42 and the CMR S-23 (although that kit is far from a "crappy resin" kit-- and quite nice)

http://www.internetmodeler.com/2008/august/aviation/hp42.php

http://www.internetmodeler.com/scalemodels/aviation/Czechmaster_Resin_1_72_Short_S-23.php

I'm currently working on two more plastic and resin nightmares err...seaplanes/flying boats-- the "crappy (really needs a lot of work) Rare Planes P2Y-1 Ranger and the CMR Osa and Martin Johnson's Spirit of Africa S-39-- which has a lot of warts. I built a CMR NYRBA S-38 several years ago as a commission build, but lost the photos somewhere along the line. It was a real headache. I just wish we could get more mainstream manufacturers to produce some of these interesting flying machines in 1/72. Hasegawa did a bunch of Japanese WWII stuff a while back, Sword, Octopus and Roden (their nice Curtis H16 series) have produced a few, and of course the ancient Airfix offerings, but other than that, few manufacturers have really released any "good stuff". There are some 1/32 and 1/48 float plane offerings from Revell and Airfix (the Walrus is coming!) but frankly the "big boats" are sorely lacking (Minicraft released a pretty good PBM, but sadly in the later version, not the more common early version). Nobody seems to want to release the civilian flying boats that were the precursors of over ocean air routes. I have a freind who is reconditioning a 1/72 company model of the Boeing 314 for the masters of a new 314 to be manufactured, but who knows when it will see the light of day. Oh well, something to look forward to maybe?
VR, Russ

Unfortunately, since they're not MesserSpitStangs, the major manufacturers are unlikely to look at them; the economics of producing them are prohibitive, leaving the field to the limited run producers.

I'd like to see CMR do an S-42 to the same standard as their Empire boat, but since Anigrand have already released one, it's not very likely

Nope-- I agree. Have you been to Bryan Ribans Seawings site?-- it's great for research and general looking. Also, sometime in the future (not sure when), The Seattle based NWSM's are due to put a seaplane display on at the MoF in Seattle. I was asked to build a few "seaplanes" for that display, but it's been preempted by the Boeing Centennial display-- not sure when the seaplane display will go back on. Unfortunately the display case is small, so the really big boats are not possible, but there will likely be some interesting float planes and smaller flying boats.
VR, Russ