I noted on another post that trainsandplanes in the UK had pre-pro photos of the upcoming Catalinas posted. I dug out the only book reference I own- The American Flying Boat by Captain Richard C. Knott- and fired up Google to check out the mould.
First I looked at the one I'd want- B11E735 PBY 5A Catalina - Patron 52 in pre-war colors. Big problem- if this aircraft is a PBY 5
A then it should be an amphibian and have the retractable gear. It does not so can only be a PBY 5. After some extensive searching I found a photo of the actual aircraft in question and it is clearly a PBY 5 not an A model:
With a photo of the real thing on hand I did some checking against the model. Unfortunately the photo is undated because the plane is wearing a different paint scheme in this photo. I also found an artist rendering of this particular plane:
Based on these images and the drawings in The American Flying Boat:
- Panel lines are over done (as they seem to be on most models these days)
- The waist blisters seem to be oddly shaped
- Wingtip float support structure is not correct but might not but fully assembled in the photos
- Waterline boot line markings are missing on the model
- The nose looks too fat- might just be the photos- and should have a more prominent lip on it at the waterline
- Front turret should have some slope to it- it is too straight
- Antenna below the cockpit probably shouldn't be there- can't be sure as I don't have a photo of that side
- I'd like to see the underside of the model as I suspect the hull shape is wrong
All of this was pretty unpromising. I turned to the late peace/ early war model. Again this is labeled as a PBY 5A but is really a PBY 5. Again it appears that the model is correct but the designation is wrong. Most of the comments about the pre-war plane apply to this one.
I really want a pre-war PBY but I guess I need to go check the Corgi's before I give up on these. If Corgi's mould is a PBY 5A perhaps they can not correctly do a pre-war PBY in all its glorious technicolor.