Pearl Harbor 2015...Thank You All

Nice work as always John!

Thanks, Buddy!

Well I am plowing ahead to try to meet the deadline for this GB, Here is where I am at.

I spent a week masking the deck with tiny little 1/16" wide strips of tape to create the illusion of wooden planking since I sanded off all the raised planking detail. I then used about 4 different shades of paint inbetween the masking job to kinda pull it off.

Before

after

Starting the tedious PE that will help bring the ship to life.

Wow.

I had thought I had been keeping up but wow.

John that is a very impressive lineup.

B-1 that is some very tedious work.  You hit the mark I think.  

As for me I have stalled a little with mine.  I jumped the gun and had to undo some things.  I hope to be back at it soon.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Your Pearl Harbour GBs are a magnificent testament to these brave men. Firstly, thank you for running them over the years. I have participated twice before, with these two models.

If it is still OK to enter, I'd like to join with a Hasegawa 1/72 SBD-3 finished using Starfighter decals "Pearl Harbour Defenders' sheet. The aircraft will be finished as an SBD-3 of VS-6, flown by Lt C. Dickinson / RM1 W. Miller who achieved an unconfirmed kill of one Zero.

Regards Tony

Tony here is where I play the bad guy.  The SBD-3 did not enter service until after the attack.  It was a big player in the battle of Midway.  For Dec 1941 SBD-1's were on the Island at the Marine base of Ewa, SBD-2's were on the USS Enterprise and the flight you are talking about.  

Sorry.

Joe

Hi Joe,

No problems, I'll park this entry then. The aviation archaeology website list of USN accident reports for 7th Dec lists it (Bu No 4570) as an SBD-3, as well as Bu No 4572, so I thought it was OK. However, I'm happy to defer to your greater knowledge of all things Pearl Harbour, I am sure you are correct.

I'm not sure what I should do with these decals then...I suppose the right thing to do is wait until I get an SBD-2 kit. It took me quite some time to get the SBD-3 :)

I'm trying to get either a P-36A or P-36C kit as well. No luck at the moment but there may be an opportunity this weekend.

Cheers

Tony

Well, I started my Zero today.  Getting ready to clean and prime the parts and hope to have the cockpit and engine painted up this next week.  I'm a slow builder as of late.  Scott

This should be a nice change from the Roden kit!

Ya, I thought I'd try something relaxing, simple.  I always enjoyed these older Tamiya 1/48 kits.  Zero, Willdcat, and the Corsair.

Wow ... has it really been two months since my last update on this?

I guess so.

Guess I should show what I have done huh?

Not much really, the interior is ready to go and the canopy is now firmly in place.  

She is ready for paint.




Paint is next.  

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Looking good, Joe.

 I like the progress Joe.  I actually did something last night and pre-painted the interoir and engine.  Hope to start building tonight.

I feel like I'm standing on my head.

 Cat view.......

Really, having techical difficulties with Phtobucket, Adobe Flash, and probalby some phase shift in the moon.

After 30 minutes of monkeying around, finally got the image to import.

Thank you for the kind words.  

There has been some very cool work in this thread.  

Joe

Well my friends here I am again.

After a bit of rough sailing with the paint I can update the work in progress.  The painting process was:  Flat Black overall.  Model Master Aluminium Plate on specific panels, Model Master Neutral Gray sprayed in a very random pattern, The same sprayed concentrating on the panels.  The look is very subtle but should be picked out ok with pin washes.  There was an issue with a sandpaper like surface appearing after the initial spraying and the second spraying of the Gray.  It was knocked down with 1000 grit sandpaper.



The engine was sprayed Gloss Black, Alclad Polished Aluminium, and then the crankcase drybrushed with Flat Gray, The "wires" were painted to instructions as Red (Empire Red).



Overall I am pretty happy with the results although the rough texture was a confusing situation.  Still no idea of what it was or why it happened.

Next up is application of decals.  At that point for the most part this build will go dark.  I will post one photo of the finish but I am trying to determine if this will be written up or not.  

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.


Joe

A public retraction is in order.  According to a couple of accounts the SBD-3 did enter service prior to the attack and there were SBD-3's on Ford Island according to these accounts.  With that Tony you are good to go with your plan.  

All information I had seen had only -1 and -2's on the Islands at the time.  That information was incorrect.  

Joe

From Wikipedia

"both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps had placed orders for the new dive bomber, designated the SBD-1 and SBD-2 (the latter had increased fuel capacity and different armament). The SBD-1 went to the Marine Corps in late 1940, and the SBD-2 to the Navy in early 1941

The next version was the SBD-3, which began manufacture in early 1941.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps SBDs saw their first action at Pearl Harbor, when most of the Marine Corps SBDs of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 232 (VMSB-232) were destroyed on the ground at Ewa Mooring Mast Field. Most U.S. Navy SBDs were operating with their carriers, which did not operate in close cooperation with the rest of the fleet. Most Navy SBDs at Pearl Harbor, like their Marine Corps counterparts, were destroyed on the ground.^[5]"

Joe

A quick update.

A couple of things.  The aircraft has been glossed, decaled, and glossed again.  The wheels and hubs have been prepped and painted.




Not looking too bad to be honest.  Now the finishing touches can be added.  Flaps, wheels, weathering, cowl, prop, and antenna wire are left to add.  A final Matte coat to finish it all off.  Not far to go on this one.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Looking good Joe!

Many thanks.

Joe

Looking good so far joe, As for the Penny she is almost complete, I am installing the railings and fixing all the photo etch that I knock off trying to build her. Her is how she sits at the moment.

Coming along great Joe and B One.  I hope to get some updated pics uploaded tonight of my Zero.  I actually got it pretty much together and started pre-shading it.  Then an o-ring blew out on my airbrush and I had to order a new one today.  Hopfully it will get here by the weekend so I can paint it.

Here is where I am at now

Both look very good.  Looking forward to the next updates.

Joe

Painted the Zero last night but found out I used the wrong thinner.  ARRGH!  It ended up running and dried high gloss.  Nothing I cannot correct with a light wet sand and a flat topcoat after I apply the decals.  It did bleed the mask on my canopy, I was going to use the open one,  so I might end up having to used the closed one instead.  I'd post  a pic but I feel a little shamed for not reading my thinner bottle before mixing. 

Hmm seems to happen to us all doesn't it?

Joe

My updated pictures.  How on earth did I make such a simple paint job get so complicated.  Had to fix a crack that developed just front of the cockpit.

It looks good to me Scott.  

Joe

Here is my entry into the build.

Accurate Miniatures 1/48 SBD-1 from the set "Marines at Pearl Harbor".

Just a teaser as this has been submitted to a magazine and has been accepted.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.

Joe