At our RMMC model contest, I received favorable comments about my Canso. Many of you asked about how I converted the kit, so here is a model review to help those planning to do a similar conversion.

There has been great debate among local modelers and those on the Internet about Monograms overly thick section at the rudder. My research has found an explanation that may help settle this question for those that wish to make a 100% accurate conversion. Consolidated designed the PBY with a constantly narrowing hull. Monogram copied this in their kit due to the heavy use in WW2 of this design by the U.S.A. Vickers built the PBY under license and slightly altered the tail. By scalloping the hull at the rudder, takeoff performance was improved because the tail could cut into the water and raise the nose. Later in the war, these aircraft saw service with British, Canadian and some American units. If you are planning to model a specific aircraft, it may be difficult to identify the version, but check for the scalloping. Perhaps the easiest way to identify the Vickers and later Canadair built aircraft was the nose. Vickers aircraft retained the turret, but commonly had extra fixed machine gun mounts. The washboard like screen on the front of the nose is an operable window for the bombardier. Up to four guns were positioned out of the window to assist in strafing runs. Canadair's post-war modification deleted the turret and sloped the nose. Two such conversions were done. The most common among surviving PBY's is the type I decided to model. This was simply a flat section that runs from just in front of the windscreen down to the nose tip. Many water bombers and airliner / cargo planes had this type of nose. I have reproduced this conversion in resin and offer it for sale. The second type had a slightly more rounded profile and cross section. The RCAF used both versions in post war service and further modified some with an observation dome.

This kit is a very large model and will take a lot of building space. The cockpit section can be tricky to fit together, so plan out the part fit before adding glue. The nose gear well / floor piece may leave a large gap where it joins the fuse half and bulkhead. I had to fill with putty after wards. The cockpit detail may seem to be scarce, but once the window is put in place it darkens the inside and looks sufficient. Of course, some of you may want to add True Details interior set. The rear compartment was a little bare for my liking, so I added some parachute packs and ropes. The first modification that you will need to make for a post-war version is removing the gun mounts. Although I have not seen any photo's, it was assumed that the circular gun mounts were covered with a plywood floor. Sheet styrene discs were cut and notched to follow the contour of the fuse wall. The landing gear on this kit is sturdy and can handle the weight. Even with my resin nose, four 2 oz fish weights in the fuse, and 2 oz strip lead in the wings leading edge, she still sits nose high with Belcher Bits resin tail. I would suggest adding more weight behind the cockpit bulkhead and painting it to match the interior to conceal its presence. The instructions suggest you put the gear on before joining the fuselage halves. I only put in the gear wells to prevent breakage. It was a little difficult to glue them in later, but this saved masking around them in later steps. Glue the fuselage together. If you add the resin conversion parts, plan the cuts carefully. Belchers tail will need some sanding to get a flush surface. Monograms fillet between the fuse and tail is much wider than the resin and will need to be sanded down and shaped with putty. Have fun poking all the rivets to blend with the kit. I gave up counting at 600. Using my nose conversion, cut along the scribed line ahead of the windscreen. Cut around the gear door panels on both the kit and the resin part. Glue the part in place and fill any gaps with SuperGlue. The rest of the kit builds up straight forward and with no gaps or miss-fitting parts. Use some caution when gluing the wings together as the outer panels can shift up and down if you squeeze to hard while letting glue dry. The wingtip floats can withstand the occasional bump and drop. Thank goodness I used SuperGlue to join them to the wing, or they may have broken off. Depending on the paint scheme that you have chosen it may be best to leave the wing and fuselage separate until the end. Use epoxy to get a strong bond. The Canso also has a lot of antennas. In addition to the wing - tail - wing line, there are two from the tail up to posts on either side of the ADF loop and down to behind the cockpit. Refer to photographs as individual aircraft had additional wires under the wing and along the fuse.

I enjoyed every hour that I spent on converting this kit, and at 85 hours over three months that was an important factor. It could easily have been tossed on to the lost interest pile if build-up was not so beautiful. As many of you will agree, the final model looks great and is a contest winner. So far it's won "Best Canadian Aircraft Subject" at our contest, "Best Canadian Subject" and "Peoples Choice" from Edmonton and "Best Aircraft" and "Peoples Choice" at Lethbridge. This project would not have been so successful without Bob Dayman, Dave Koss, Jay Ackerman, Bruce Kennedy and Rick Chin offering research material and their support. Thanks guys!