Battle of the Coral Sea Group Build 4 May, 2017 - 8 May, 2018

Thanks very much Scott, appreciate the comment.

Cheers

Tony

Tony,

Your SBD turned out fabulous.

Good choice, Tony.  Front page updated.  Thanks again for participating and finishing! 

Thanks CMK. I think the 2nd photo is probably the best.

Cheers

Tony

Very sharp-looking SBD, Tony.  Nice work!  I particularly like what you accomplished with the dive brakes.  

Do you have a preference for the front page?

And thank you for sticking with things and getting the project done!  It's always good to see your work.

Once again CMK, a big thank you for keeping this open to me. Here it is, Hasegawa 1/72 SBD-3 Dauntless, with Aeromaster decals, Aires resin wheels, an Eduard zoom P/E set for cockpit, as well as some scratchbuilt airframe details,  and Airwaves PE dive brakes. Paints are enamel for the upper surface and acrylic for the lower surfaces. 

The decals are from Aeromaster sheet 72-101, of VS-2 'Scouting 2' off the USS Lexington, which sank on May 8th, 1942.

Cheers

Tony

Good to hear, Tony!

I got the flat coat down yesterday CMK, I'm on the home straight now.

Cheers

Tony

Something I've never achieved, even once!  

I like Starfighter decals. I've built a couple of aircraft from their Pearl Harbour Defenders sheet, a P-40B and F4F. I'm stil ltrying to get a couple of P-36s and a Catalina so that I can build the whole sheet. That's something I've only ever achieved once !

Cheers

Tony

The decals held together for such an elderly thing.

I have a sheet from Starfighter decals for Midway, and it includes the same markings.

Thanks CMK. The decals are from an old Aeromaster sheet 72-101 produced back in 1995. At least they hold together OK.

Cheers

Tony

Excellent, Tony.  That looks great.

Are you using the kit decals?

Thanks again guys. Here's the next photo, this time a bit glossy but with decals applied. 

Cheers

Tony

Take your time, Tony.  Your work is looking really good.  The weathering is very subtle and convincing.  Very nice!

That SBD is looking sharp!

Cheers CMK, it's good stuff. I use it in the way that you described too.

I decalled it last night, along with another model. I don't think I've ever decalled two models in one evening before.

However, the photos pre-date the decalling, I'll post some of it it later.

Here it is with preshading.

and with the upper surface Blue Grey, this is MM enamel, just thinned and sprayed.

I must say, thanks very much for your patience CMK, I'll try to get this thing done ASAP.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks, Tony.  I bought some Mr. Surfacer to use as a brush-on-wipe-off filler, but haven't even opened it yet. 

Looking forward to seeing your photo tomorrow.  

Sometimes Tamiya Fine White Primer, sometimes Mr Surfacer. Both do a pretty good job. This one was Tamiya, for no particular reason. The good news is I got the uppersurface colour down last night. Since it's enamel, I've giving it a bit of extra drying time until tomorrow before I proceed with the acrylic undersurface colour. I don't have time to do a photo today, but I should be able to tomorrow.

Cheers

Tony

That's looking good, Tony.  I like the lines on this aircraft; pretty sleek.

What do you use for primer?

I've got the flaws fixed and primed again. I'd rather have a slightly patchy priming coat than lay down too much paint and obscure the detail. It's still better than raw plastic.

As you can see I've started masking the canopy. So far the Eduard set has fitted pretty well, not always the case.

For paint, it's going to be MM Enamel for the upper surfaces and Gunze acrylic for the lower surfaces. I'll do the enamel first, but tread carefully. The reason is simply that I have these paints in stock already.

Cheers

Tony

Looking forward to seeing it!

Thanks CMK. It's been primed, came out pretty good, just a couple of minor things to perfect. I forgot to take a photo though :)

Cheers

Tony

Looking good, Tony.  It's good Hasegawa included the spinner for the prop; Airfix didn't with its SBD.

Thanks CMK.

With a little bit of masking, we'll be all ready for a priming coat....at last.

Cheers

Tony

Shaken, not stirred, Tony.

Glad you got it out.  Makes you wonder why it's so easy to have things fall in, in the first place.  

Anyway--the SDB is shaping up nicely.  

I typed that after about 15 minutes of trying everything, of course, one minute later, it's out ! 

I have an interesting dilemma with this kit.  Whilst I was dry fitting the clear parts, the windscreen fell inside the cockpit and has disappeared inside the fuselage somewhere. I can hear it rattle if I shake it, but I can't see it. I've tried turning it upside down and shaking, but I still can't shake it into view. There are no other access points.

I guess you've gotta laugh....

Here's some progress. The engine is painted and in, and the cowling has been mounted to the fuselage. The prop is done apart from the centre being painted natural metal, the spinner is only placed there for the photo. Tyres are black too. I'm just finishing off the rear cockpit before I attach the canopy parts. I'm hoping to get a coat of primer on it today. I'm pretty worried about the dive brakes, but we'll see how we go.

Cheers

Tony