Sikorsky S-38 Osa's Ark 1/100 (Fiddler's Green)

I took the days between boxing day and today for an inbetweenie. 
Osa's Ark was a Sikorsky S-38 amphibious plane that belonged to adventurers and documentary filmers Martin and Osa Johnson. They both had pilot's licenses and flew with this aircraft in Africa in the 1930s. They also had an S-39, which looked pretty much the same but with just one engine in the middle. Oh, and it had a giraffe paint job.
Anyway, it's a plane I'd really like to have myself. Very versatile, because you can land it on both water and runways, easy to reach engines, aesthetically very pleasing and good to use for holidays. Pity that there are just a few left. These types should be revived, I think. I know I'd buy one if I had the money.

Here's one photo, some more after the jump.
Oh, and happy New Year!

This pretty little plane was built from four sheets on one A4 page, so that would make it about 1/100. You can find it here, at Fiddler's Green paper models.
I tinkered with it a little (of course..). First, the zebra stripes, however great they looked on the original, they weren't the correct stripings. It was a little too busy. I found a three-view drawing of Osa's Ark and copied the livery to the FG version. I had to do some extra corrections by hand to replace the view obstructed by the floats and wings.  
However, that wasn't enough. I also redid and printed the upper wing in one piece with new lettering and colouring.
During the build I decided to detail the engine a little more. I used pieces of sewing pins to represent the valve rods and accentuated the propellers.

The struts were a tough cookie. I thought it would be easier but there was no good way to support the wing in the first steps. The solution I used was to first glue the four outer struts to the big wing and to make a support inside the central strut on the plane's cabin. I then glued the wing in place and worked from there to glue all the other struts. 
Not entirely as it should go; the back struts are not placed correctly. But well, I don't care. It looks good like it is. I just had fun building this little plane.
And here's some proof the propellers can rotate!

Thanks for watching,
See you soon. Next, we're going back to space. Or rather, to a launch pad.
--PK