whatsnew

10th August 2008
	Today, it feels like "South America Day" here..!! Firstly, Ivan Pilopas, our Brazilian correspondent, has sent in walk round's of this lovely Grumman Albatross ........ .......and the Catalina, both currently on display at the Brazilian Aviation Museum, Rio De Janeiro. Many thanks, Ivan. Finally, Alfredo Jurado from IPMS Guayaquil, Ecuador has sent in this superb Catalina walk-round. Thanks, Alfredo. These are three unusual schemes from a long-way-away to brighten up anyone's model collection. And now for something completely different........... A superb 99 image walk-round of the new Shinmaywa US-2 from our Japanese correspondent, Masataka Kumamoto. Another 'master-class' in how it should be done! And, finally for today, a lovely walk-round, albeit at ceiling level(!), of the Dornier Libelle by Knut Erik Hagan, our correspondent from Norway. Many thanks, Knut. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
9th August 2008
	When somebody else builds a kit I already have, and does it this well, I want to read how they did it....... Simon Lind has very kindly sent in his article that first appeared some time ago in Scale Aircraft Modeling, on his build of the Contrail vac-form kit of the Latecoere 631 - this one of the most sort after, out-of-production, vac-forms ever! I have one in the loft; I just hope I can build it this well! Thanks, Simon. (Simon, if you read this, e-mail me please - mislaid your e-mail address) Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
4th August 2008
	Tonight, SEAWINGS is pleased to add another first-class, superb addition to the Walk-Round Galleries, this one coming from our prolific correspondent Michael Fletcher showing the Grumman G.21 Goose on display in New York, USA. This is a 'Master-Class' in how to do a WR properly once granted access to the exhibit. Mike, thank you so much for donating this; I just wish I had been there as well! Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
3rd August 2008
	Our long-time Canadian correspondent, and SEAWINGS's staunch supporter Alex Norton has taken the trouble to scan the whole of the Felixstowe (NAF) F.5L Erection and Maintenance Manual which I have then turned into a pdf download for you. It makes fascinating reading and the images contained within it show oft missed details that will add to any scale model. Grateful thanks goes, as ever, to Alex. Also, today, I have added two more superb walk-rounds of the world's only flying example of the Sikorsky S-43 'Baby Clipper', Howard Hughes's own personal craft. Each walk-round shows more and more detail of this superb craft. I just wish I was able to be there and do the same (like a lot of you, I guess..!!) but thanks to the generosity of the photographers we are able to share their pleasure with them. Thanks Guys! Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
2nd August 2008
	Mike Fletcher has very kindly donated a cracking 54 image walk-round of this Savoia Marchetti SM-56 on display in Long Island, USA. Many thanks, Mike. A message to all visitors: Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. If you feel that this site is worth something to you for me to keep going, please consider a donation to help with the costs. Many thanks.
29th July 2008
A message to all visitors: Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. If you feel that this site is worth something to you, for me to keep going, please consider a donation to help with the costs. Many thanks.	Mike Fletcher has up-dated and completed his series of superb Empire 'boat profiles that are featured as marking options in the new CMR kit and tonight we are privileged to present all of them in the Empire Reference Archive. Now, if I figure that each kit is costing me £125.00 and there are over a dozen possible colour schemes, just which one am I going to choose....?? Build 'em all, I say!! Mike, thank you for making these available for us all - make a great set on the wall in the office...! More Empire references to come over the week-end.......!! Best Regards, Bryan
29th July 2008
	Here it is....!! Wow, just look at this, the CMR 1/72nd scale Shorts S.23 C Class Empire flying boat resin model, fully finished....superb!! Tonight, I have added pictures of the first finished example together with pdf's of the kit instruction sheet, window mask sheet and the colour schemes included on the decal sheet - all this can be found in the CMR Empire Kit Gallery within the Empire Reference Archive. For those of you that live in the USA and Canada, don't forget you can order your CMR Empire kit from:
28th July 2008
A message to all visitors: Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. It has become very expensive for me to keep this site running. Over the past two weeks, I have asked for donations and you have kindly agreed and sent in funds that have enabled me to meet the immediate site hosting bills. Thank you very much to those that have so far contributed. However, SEAWINGS is not 'out of the woods' yet and if you feel that this site is worth something to you, for me to keep going, please consider a donation to help with the costs. Many thanks.	I have added another article on the Empire flying boat to the Empire Flying Boat Reference Archive, this time from 28th February 1936, showing superb works photographs of the original construction which really convey the feel of 'being there', together with some very interesting text. Again grateful thanks go to Andy Doran for saving this for me to purchase. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
22nd July 2008
A message to all visitors: Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. It has become very expensive for me to keep this site running. Over the past two weeks, I have asked for donations and you have kindly agreed and sent in funds that have enabled me to meet the immediate site hosting bills. Thank you very much to those that have so far contributed. However, SEAWINGS is not 'out of the woods' yet and if you feel that this site is worth something to you, for me to keep going, please consider a donation to help with the costs. Many thanks.	Today, I have added to the Empire Flying Boat Reference Archive another of the fascinating original re-printed articles on the Empire flying boat purchased from Andy Doran of Falconwood Books, this one from the Flight magazine of 29th October 1936 and featuring some cracking pictures and fantastically detailed sketches that will enable any modeler to add just a bit more detail to the new CMR kit. More to come over the week-end..! Shortly, I will be building the new CMR resin Empire kit and providing you all with an extended review. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
21st July 2008
A message to all visitors: Please take time to read the Donation Request for SEAWINGS on the front page. It has become very expensive for me to keep this site running. Over the past two weeks, I have asked for donations and you have kindly agreed and sent in funds that have enabled me to meet the immediate site hosting bills. Thank you very much to those that have so far contributed. However, SEAWINGS is not 'out of the woods' yet and if you feel that this site is worth something to you, for me to keep going, please consider a donation to help with the costs. Many thanks.	Tonight, I have added more information to the Empire Flying Boat Reference Archive: This time, it is more historical - a full original article from The Aeroplane magazine dated 28th October 1936 - this has great pictures taken at the time and articles written by the very men who built the Shorts Empire. It makes fascinating reading, both for historians and modelers (there are some very highly detailed pictures within) and I think you will enjoy it too. I have to thank our (very) special correspondent Andy Doran of Falconwood Books in Welling, South East London, for saving this article re-print for me to purchase. There are more to come (again courtesy of Andy) and as I finally sort out how to make a decent pdf file, I will up-load them. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
21st June 2008
	Today, SEAWINGS is pleased to present a walk-round of the very latest Iren Dornier project - the S-Ray 007 - which would make a cracking flying model. Iren is now in the final flight test stages towards gaining full acceptance by the authorities prior to series production. Boy, would I like one of these! If anyone can locate a set of accurate plans, let me know. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
1st June 2008
	Here it is at long last.....! This is another fantastic entry into the ever-growing flying boat Manual Gallery; the Cant Z 501 one of my personal all-time wants, and thanks to correspondent Andrew Frampton, here it is. 107 images, all of them in-fact pulled from the manual and tweaked to get the most detail from them. That's taken far longer than I planned due to work commitments, sorry about that to those of you that have been 'chomping at the bit'!! Enjoy. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
28th March 2008
	Well, today I bring you something very special; just take a look at this 1/72 scale Matchbox Stranraer in this article by Japanese master modeler, Toichiro Yokoyama. It is simply stunning! Toichiro, know as 'Toy' on his web-blog, has kindly allowed SEAWINGS to use his in-build pictures to give an idea of the work involved in the construction and finish - the written words are all mine. I just wish I was THAT good........... I will be featuring some more work of his soon that I think is even better! Impossible......think I'll take up fishing....
27th March 2008
	Today's up-date is a really detailed walk-round of a McKinnon Conversion Grumman Widgeon courtesy of Bill 'Mr. Grumman' Bailey originally featured on our Flying Boat Forum. If you haven't already registered yet, go ahead, it's completely free of charge and there are some fantastic articles, pictures and other operational material that compliments the main SEAWINGS site here. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
24th March 2008
	Tonight's up-date is a cracking walk-round from our latest US correspondent, Scott Barrus, and features the fabulous Douglas RD-4 Dolphin on display at the USN Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Grateful thanks, Scott. Incidentally, Czech Master Resin (CMR) have released news on their web site that this is about to be kitted in 1/72 scale- wow! Watch here for more details as I get them. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
20th February 2008
	Getting ever closer....!! Here's a SEAWINGS exclusive look at the official CMR 1/72 kit box art for the Empire - nice. Click the image on the left for a closer look. Also added a link in the Empire Reference Archive to Geoff Riechelt's fabulous collection of Empire images - a photo of every one that was produced with interesting caption details. Have a look around the rest of his site and marvel at the 1/20 scale model Empire - no I'm not kidding! Now, that's what I call a model.
19th February 2008
	Continuing the Empire references, Ed Pagel has put together Part 2 of the Empire flying boat newsreel video which I have added to page 13 of the Video Gallery. Superb footage!! Thanks, Ed.
18th February 2008
Short Empire Manual pdf fixed	Fixed the problem with the Short Empire Manual in pdf format - have just replaced it with one that a colleague at work did for me (thanks, Jason!!). It now downloads almost instantly. Just goes to show, it isn't what you know but......
16th February 2008
	One of the last items to join the Empire Reference Archive is the Short Empire Flight and Maintenance Manual which I have up-loaded in two different versions tonight. Firstly, I have produced a normal image gallery but up-loaded every page, not just the plans and drawings, but all the text as well. second, I have created a pdf version for you to download and print (or read from). Only problem I have encountered with that is the it works out at 169Mb in file size....! It takes around ten minutes to download but after that works well. I'm getting one of my 'tecchie' friends to have a look at my workings this week to reduce this. Hope you find this useful.
16th February 2008
	Exclusive to SEAWINGS....!! Here it is at last! The first images of the brand new 1/72 scale Short Empire flying boat resin kit from Czech Master Resin (CMR) in production now and soon to be released via Hannants. What a beauty!! Certainly, when I started model making many years ago and became interested in flying boats as my 'niche', this was my 'dream kit' - now 40 years years later I'm so glad that Petr at CMR has taken the trouble and financial risk to kit her. I predict it will be a sell-out! Form an orderly queue behind me here....!!!
15th February 2008
	Tonight, I have added some very special Short Empire references to this site. First, I have created a pdf file of the old Profile Publications monograph on the Empire 'boats as this is so hard to find today and I guess there will never be enough copies second-hand for you all to buy. But the biggie is the pdf of the fantastic book 'Flying Empires' by Brian Cassidy. This book is the single most important technical reference ~ ever ~ on the design and development of these superb craft and is a monumental work, a fascinating read. Pour a large coffee, put your feet up and roll back the years to the mid '30's and the Short Bros machine shops. One cannot ever thank Brian enough for his dedication to produce a work so detailed, yet readable. To help make sense of all of this reference material, I have created a special gallery which I have called the Empire Reference Archive where you can go to see all the headings in one place to save time hunting for them. Also within this reference gallery I have added links to Empire plans, engine pictures as well as the walk-round, profiles and photo gallery; Oh, and a video - all on this site! Coming in the next few days is the complete flight and maintenance manual, pictures of the 1/72 resin CMR kit test shots and more!! Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
11th February 2008
	It's the turn of the Profiles Gallery tonight to receive the 'Empire treatment' and what a better way to start than with Michael D. Fletchers superb creations, soon to feature in the new CMR kit! Many thanks, Mike. More Empire references to come!!
9th February 2008
	Continuing the Short S.23 'C' Class Empire theme, I have been sent some of the finest Empire pictures I have ever seen by our Canadian correspondent Alex Norton. They all have to do with the visits of the Empire Boats to Canada when the attempt was made to create a trans-Atlantic mail route to Canada. Some of the pictures were taken in Toronto, when the boat lost a float and arrangements had to be made to have one sent from the UK, others in Montreal and in Ottawa (at Rockcliffe (now the home of the National Aviation Museum). These have been added to the Gallery. Alex, a great big 'thank you' goes to you for these. More Empire material on the way!
6th February 2008
	In case you haven't heard, CMR are releasing a 1/72 resin state-of-the-art kit of the Short S.23 'C' Class Empire flying boat in the next couple of months. That, as an opening sentence, was one that I honestly thought I would never write in my lifetime.......the Empire for me, is the essence of the 'Golden Age' of flying boat operations and my all-time favourite craft! Oh Boy, am I excited by this news - even more so now that I have been privileged to see the kit masters - it looks absolutely fantastic!! It may well cost the best part of £100 but frankly, I don't care - this may well be the only chance to build one (or three) as I cannot see any mainstream manufacturer doing it. So, I am going all out with as much reference material as I can up-load - starting tonight! Firstly, I have added a number of images to the Photo Gallery section on the Empire. Over the coming days, I will be up-loading plans, profiles, a complete new walk-round gallery , cut-away's and everything that I have in my archive. If YOU have anything that you think will assist those modelers attempting this kit, or that you just want to share and add to my efforts, please e-mail it to me. I would be very grateful to receive ANYTHING that you send. When the kit is released, I will carry as many kit reviews as I can get to give you the best opportunity to consider the purchase of this kit. As for me, it's a 'no brainer' - place your order now as it is an absolute 'stonker'!! Congrats go to CMR and the flying boat enthusiasts and modelers who have made this kit possible by supplying the raw reference material. I cannot thank you enough. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
20th January 2008
	We're getting into double figures now with the 10th (!) walk-round of a Grumman Albatross - this cracking example is an HU-16E in US Coast Guard colours sent by Vladimir Yakubov of the Silicon Valley Scale Modelers (I.P.M.S.) club, that he caught at an airshow. I think this is one of the best flying boat paint schemes ever! Thanks, Vladimir. Click on this link to go to the SVSM home page and have a look at the fantastic collection of models on display along with a host of modeling material. Also today, here is a superb scale plan of the CAMS 37 French flying boat donated by our correspondent, Fabrizio D'Isanto. Thanks, Fabrizio. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans
19th January 2008
Companies - Place an advert on SEAWINGS and reach a world-wide audience!	Tonight, we feature a cracking walk-round from John Snyder (of the UK model company White Ensign Models) who was lucky enough to get 'up-close-and personal' to one of the nicest amphibians you will ever see - the Sikorsky S-43 'Baby Clipper' that once belonged to Howard Hughes! My grateful thanks go to John, for sharing these images with us. Thanks, John. You will notice that I've up-dated and changed the front (first) page - just hit the 'F5' button on your keyboard to dump your cache and re-load the new page if you do not see it straight away. It's just me tinkering again!
1st January 2008
	Happy New Year...!!! Viva Le France...!!! Today is 'French Day' on SEAWINGS with the up-loading of Latecoere photo references in the Photo Gallery section. The types covered are the Late 21, 32, 300, 302, 521, 522, 523 and the 631. These in total are all the images I hold in the SEAWINGS archive. I would really like to add to these, so if you have any you can send, I would be very grateful. Please e-mail me through the Contact SEAWINGS link. As an addition to the above, courtesy of our U.K. correspondent, John Smith, here are a selection of Latecoere flying boat scale plans and drawings added to the Plans Gallery. They are the Late 38, 300, 301 and the 523. Again, these are all I have. If you have any others, please e-mail them to SEAWINGS for inclusion in this gallery. Also, I have added another video to the ever-growing Video Gallery in the Reference section, this one being superb newsreel footage of the fantastic Blackburn Perth. Just listen to those engines!! Thanks go to Ed Pagel for supplying this one. Thanks, Ed. Best Wishes to you all, Bryan Ribbans.
31st December 2007
	Tonight's up-date is a lovely little walk-round of a lovely little flying boat - the Eastman Flying Yacht brought to us by our correspondent Alex Norton from Toronto. Thanks, Alex. All that remains is for me to wish all of you, whoever you are, wherever you may be, a very Happy New Year!! Best Wishes to you all, Bryan Ribbans.
29th December 2007
	Tonight, I have added a series of scale plans to the Plans Gallery, within the Reference section, for the Short Sunderland Mk.1, II and V. I hope you find these useful. Till next time, best regards, Bryan Ribbans.
28th December 2007
	Today, we have another superb model build described by our French correspondent and 'ace' model builder, Eric Gallaud. This time it's the Macchi M.9 that gets 'the treatment' from Eric. Well worth reading, and his model won a competition as well! Till next time, best regards, Bryan.
25th December 2007
	*Eat Duck on Christmas day!!!!* Carrying on the Grumman Duck theme here is a Walk-Round series of all the marks, commencing with the Grumman J2F-1 Duck, the Grumman J2F-2 Duck, the Grumman J2F-3 Duck the Grumman J2F-4 Duck and the Grumman J2F-5 Duck. These images are from Grumman's original records and are, once again courtesy of Doug Wilde. Thanks again, Doug - Great work!! As it is Christmas Day today, I hope you are all enjoying the day with whoever you are with, wherever you may be! Have a great day!! Best Wishes, Bryan Ribbans
24th December 2007
	Ok, ok, I give in....!! By (very) popular demand I have added a Photo Gallery section for the Grumman J2F Duck and wow, do you want to see these. Courtesy of Doug Wilde, he has trawled the records contained within the U.S. National Archives and has sent SEAWINGS one of the most comprehensive set of images ever! Just you wait for the Walk-Rounds!!! Our grateful thanks goes to Doug for all his time and trouble. Thanks, Doug. Don't forget to visit the new Flying Boat Forum located on the link on the front page of this site if you have not been before. Registration is easy and there is a host of original reference material on there already - and I only started it in November!!. As it's now Christmas Eve here in England, may I take this opportunity to thanks all the SEAWINGS correspondents for their superb efforts over the past year, and wish everybody a really Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
4th November 2007
	I have added two more videos to the Video Gallery in the Reference Section, on page 13. These feature the Saro Cutty Sark and the Vickers Viking. I hope you find them useful. Till next time, best regards, Bryan.
26th October 2007
	Today's up-date is a cracking Walk-Round of the Curtiss 'America' replica as featured in the Photo Gallery and the Video Gallery elsewhere on this site. It has been very kindly supplied by our Canadian correspondent Alex Norton, who can always be relied upon to come up with something special but this time he has excelled himself! What a cracking set of 78 images, enough to satisfy just about any modeling query you might have - ever!! Grateful thanks as always to Alex. Till next time, best regards, Bryan.
24th October 2007
	Terry Patrick remains our only correspondent that builds in 1/144th scale and, whilst this site is configured for 1/72nd scale, I make a willing exception as his work is so, well, stunning! When you consider that he specialises in scratchbuilding in wood, an art that has all but died out in these years, his growing collection is something to admire. Today, we feature Terry's second article describing how he built his Short Calcutta. Makes for very interesting reading. Thanks for sharing it with us, Terry. Also tonight, I have added additional images to the Dornier Do-26 Photo Gallery. These have been supplied by our correspondent Louis Emond and are close-ups of a particular Do-26 in WWII camouflage and show superb details for the modeler. Thanks, Louis. Having had more time on my hands than I care to think of (still job hunting!) I have added a superb set of scale plans of the Do-26 kindly donated to SEAWINGS by Brian Gibbins and a superb gallery of a 1/72nd model of the Do-26 by Bernie Hengst. Well done to both of you!! Till next time, best regards, Bryan.