1/48   Monogram  Vought  OS2U  Kingfisher

When I joined  my present Model Clubs just a few years ago, the Kingfisher was
languishing in a cardboard carton along with a pile of other models which had all been built by my son in his younger days . This carton has  been a major source of supply of  model projects for me , and includes some models which are now quite rare . In those days, there was only tube glue , which after some years allows models to be cracked apart reasonably easily without too much damage  to be  built up all over again ,hopefully to a better standard . The Kingfisher came apart relatively well ,and all the traces of tube glue were able to be removed  prior to stripping the paint  by soaking in oven cleaner . 

Now that I was a member of a Club , ,just re-assembling it was no longer  an option . At least it needed the canopy open with the cockpit given some detailing , seat belts , detailing of the rear cockpit etc,etc ,  attention paid to the assembly and finishing ,trying to put into practice some of the techniques I had learned of from other Club members.
Fuselage 
Prior to joining the fuselage halves, some detail of frames and stringers was added to the insides of the front and rear cockpits ,and a floor added in the rear 
as well .
There are some fairly  prominent bracing wires running from the float to the fuselage,which were added using  fine wire loops  which were knotted and superglued in place to keep them taut.Small tie down / handling loops on the rear fuselage and rear ends of the wing floats were cut off and replaced using  small gauge fishing line inserted into two holes and pushed in until it formed a loop of the right size ,then superglued in place.The rear gun was detailed with handles and sights ,and a D/F loop made from wire .

The retractable boarding steps in the kit were rather thick and clunky ,so were
replaced with scratchbuilt ones made from card and slightly thicker fishing line and, being flexible, they are less susceptible to being broken off during handling. The moulded in seat belts were fitted with scratchbuilt buckles made from fine wire ,and the telescopic sight drilled out .
 (Some handles were added on the bulkhead behind the pilot's seat. These were added from memory  .  Late in WW11, as just a kid,  I had come across a wrecked  OS2U fuselage in a nearby RAAF dump ,and was able to get into the cockpit with the aid of handles so placed . I've not been able to confirm whether they were fitted in all OS2U aircraft ,but they sure were in that one ,so I added them  anyway .)
A new instrument panel was made as well as a throttle quadrant , a new control column and rudder pedals ,and the whole interior painted.,after which the two fuselage / float halves were joined ,all seams filled and smoothed .
The engine is moulded integrally with the cowl front , but new pushrods from wire ,and ignition leads were added and have improved the appearance somewhat with careful painting . New exhaust pipes were added using softened Aluminium
tubing .
The antenna lead and lead-in and whip aerials were added referring to photos.
A mooring cleat added to the nose of the main float referring to photos .
Wings
The lower surface had been moulded in one piece , but to ease assembly , it was cut in half so that the halves could be assembled  and join lines smoothed before 
joining to the completed fuselage . Wire dowels were  fitted to aid the locating of the inboard ends which met on  the centre line of the fuselage .
Each wing float with supporting struts  was assembled and set aside for fitting at a later stage following painting and decalling ,and the beaching trolley also assembled .
Tailplane
The elevators were cut away and re joined slightly drooped ,and set aside for fitting later.This task was quite difficult owing to the extremely brittle nature of the plastic .
Canopies
The framing was painted by hand ,and any excess paint outside the frames cleaned off using a matchstick sharpened to a chisel point .
 (This method makes framing easy and quick on injection moulded canopies ,when Acrylic paint is used . It's not as useful on vac formed / home moulded canopies  ,as the frames are not as clearly embossed ,so masking and spraying is usually the way to go.)
Small details were added to the canopies as seen in photos . 
Finishing
When first built by my son, just generic stars and bars had been used over a blue
above / white unders . Wonder of wonders,I  located the original kit box which showed the box art . Inside were the parts for the landplane version still on the runners AND the original decal sheet  looking decidedly shabby and faded .
Following airbrushing of the blue / white overall scheme and a coat of gloss to assist decal adhesion ,it was time to see if they could be used . After all, they couldn't be much over 25 years old !  However,test soaking  one of the markings which wasn't to be used ,in warm water brought no sign of release from the backing , even after several hours .
Further testing revealed that after about 10 mins soaking in water which was  just about 70 Deg  C , the subjects could be carefully peeled off the sheet .They were then placed on a piece of clear decal sheet which had been soaked and the film removed ,in order to give a coat of adhesive to the back of each subject .
In this way, it was just possible to finish the model in the kit markings.  
I knew nought about weathering ,but  tried to simulate some wear and fading of the finish . Some details were accentuated by a very dilute solution  using  Artist's black watercolour . When satisfied,a coat of Flat varnish was applied overall,to seal the decals and the weathering efforts .
Conclusion
Whilst the finished article may not exactly be perfect ,it certainly let me try out some of the hints and tips I had learned at the Club. 
Others may judge how successful or otherwise  the efforts were, but there's no doubt in my mind that it turned out a whole lot better the second time around .