AIRCRAFT - USMC Group Build (ends 7/30/04)

Hey Heath congrats. That is what life is all about.

Hey Keeg, was that little one scratchbuilt? It looks like you used some aftermarket bits, like that Black Box bassinet.

Regards,

Heath,
The red bordered insignia was only used for a short period of time (danged if I can remember what period it was, though), so I wouldn't use it unless you just wanted to. And, BOY, do I know what you mean about spending too much money on a kit.......... You don't even realize it until you add it all up.

keeg,
Is that your newest BUILD in the picture?? (A little play on words there!! hehhehheh) I'm assuming it's a boy, based on the blue all over him. He looks very cute. Can we assume that those are his sisters there? Why don't we see them sitting there showing him how to build a model (a snap-tite kit - gotta start slow, ya know).

Hey all, Glad to see everyone is moving right along. Wish I could say the same, I guess I just have to many things going on and a very short attention span. Maybe its ADD Or maybe I'm just to tired, These cuties will do it to you:

Anyway, hope you are feeling better Heath and your progress looks great. I don't even want to tell you were I'm at on mine. I have been reading my history books though.
Talk to everyone soon.

Yeah Gary, some photos of the VMF-532 birds look dark in the wheel well areas....some people are really great at using Black and white photographs, but I am one who can't really tell, or imagine what colors they should be. According to the text though, some had the early national insignia encircled by a red border, instead of blue (which is what the kit came with).....I'm thinking I'm gonna have to let that one go.....I think that if I look at the money I've spent on this build with resources, AM parts, etc...I'd probably flip. Best not to push the budget too far, just to get decals. Besides, according to my eyes, in the photo it looks blue!!!! Hey, you can't believe everything you read!!!!

Gary I see you and I are closing in on 500 posts do we get a new star? Lets see who gets there first. But of course lets be friendly about it. Hey does anyone know where a list of ranks can be found? I causually went looking for it on Saturday and couldn't find it. Thanks.

Heath,
You can paint your wheel wells zinc chromate green or interior green, as they were sometimes painted that color in the field after repairs were done. Most of the time, they came from the factory painted white, with the struts either white, light gray, steel, or the same color as the aircraft's bottom. Just depended on what day of the week it was, I guess. This only applies up to the F4U-2, based on my references. Also, painting the cockpit the same as a -1A is correct.

jimz66

Yes-- they do have some nice interior shots of the cockpit front and side panels as well as the rear gunner well and panels..... they don't have any for the -1 per se-- but they do for the -3 and mention that the -1 and -2 were nearly identical......in fact- the rear cover of the book is a large color pic of the cockpit panel- complete with gun charging handles and ammo counters, the scope used for aiming the guns and bombs, etc....and they also have some -5 pics with the reflector-type gunsight.

Being a Dauntless lover, I bought the book anyways-- but I guarantee from a modeler standpoint, it is an excellent investment. I have the Avenger book from the series as well....

kik36...

Sorry that I misrepresented the kit-- it's 1:48 scale.... and as far as pricing go-- the reintroduced kits average around $35....some places still sell the older kits (in some cases in plastic bags) for cheaper.....but if you do a search on ebay for Accurate Miniatures in 1:48, you should find some deals....as that's where I got my SBD-1 and P-51C from....

As far as resources go-- and I don't work for the company but there is a Detail & Scale out for the Corsair I believe.....even if you have your area B&N order it for you-- you can usually scan through it before purchasing it to see if it's what you need...

Mike, that's cool that they are such detailed kits, especially for 1/72!!! Are the kits moderately priced, as compared to Tamiya?? I may have to pick up an AM kit in the future, and see what they are made of!! I'm glad someone's doing better with their resources than me....I've been having a very tough time coming up with photos for the F4U-2, and the references usually have one or two short pages referring to the model. I did realize last night that since they were actually converted from 32 Birdcage F4U-1's, I could probably get away with using the photos of F4U-1's as reference for the cockpit details. The hardest thing is coming up with the color of the wheel wells....as far as I can tell, some were painted zinc chromate, and some white....any one know if there was a method to that madness?? Right now, I have 'em painted zinc, but was worried, it may look silly with a white bottom and zinc wheel wells.

Mike what about the cockpit? Are there drawings in there, or do you know were to find some. I need to build that cockpit from srcatch. Thanks.

Yeah-- I have seen it at Barnes & Noble recently...it's the Detail and Scale book series-- they have great shots of all Dauntless variants in there...as well as close ups of dive flaps, landing gear, etc....Bert's the bomb

Jeeves that book by Kinzey is it still available, and are their cockpit drawings in there?
I came across a website a while back and I can't seam to relocate it. The fellow did a model in 1/32 the one I mentioned on the previous page, and he said he srcatchbuilt the interior. Now I have the Haseagawa one and I have it partly assembled and painted so ripping it appart isn't feasable. Not only that what do you think the difficulty would be in that, as I have no scratchbuilding experience?

QUOTE: Originally posted by kik36 BTW, all of those pieces you have in the fuselage halves, are those scratchbuilt, or part of the kit?? They look good!!

Sorry Heath... didn't see this until just now.... the details come with the kit.... AM does an awesome job including all the details-- even the flare pistol...in fact-- I guess that can be a gripe-- sometimes there is so much interior detail that it's hard to get it all to fit when assembling ...but I have always loved AM for this.....

Hey jimz66....

It was only the Dash 1's with the aluminum interior as they were the only ones that were pre-war....I saw this in Kinzey's Dauntless book, as well as on the online build of the SBD-1 at the AM website....

Hi all,

I did more work on the plane last night. I gathered all the different parts of the landing gear from all the different sprues and stuck them to a piece of heavy cardboard with masking tape rolled onto itself.

It was driving me nuts that the pieces I need are on three different sprues.

Then I used my trusty spray can of Testors light gray enamel to prime the parts on one side. I'll flip them over and do the other side tonight. I've found it essential to prime with an enamel when I'm going to paint parts with white acrylic.

I also cleaned up the figure who already was standing. He looks really good, so I hope I can paint him well.

Regards,

Heath & Mike,

Thanks for the info. Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong - assuming that I had the correct URL. I never thought about right-clicking and getting the properties. I will try that technique probably tonight. Thanks for the info!!

MIke even I didn't know that the SBD's had NMF inside. That is interesting. I always thought it was Zinc Chromate from start to finish. As I said in a much earlier post I didn't even know the USMC flew the SBD's. That is what makes this forum so great. Thanks for the info.

To add to that-- I had entered the URL from Ron's site thinking it would show up....so when it didn't, I went to where the pics were, right-clicked on them and brought up "Properties"-- I saw they were named something different and was going to cut/paste them in between the img and /img tags, but Heath beat me to it

As far as the natural metal finish inside-- I am building the pre-war version, and they commonly were left as unpainted aluminum...it wasn't until after 12/7/41 that the zinc chromate was painted on....so I painted them using Testor's Aluminum enamel....and the outside will be Alclad II aluminum......

Sorry Gary, to take so long to reply (was doing homework) to post an image I right click on the image, click on properties, and copy the URL....I then paste it in between the image tags [ img ] [ /img ] (insert the URL you copied in between the img's, and make sure there are no spaces. Another way to see how I did it, is to quote my post with the pics on it. Hope that helps!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lufbery The plane looks fine, but you ought to see the guy I cut up trying to convert him from a sitting figure to a standing one. That didn't go too well.

Drew,
That's the reason I don't use the figures. I can NEVER get them right. I have a hard-enough time making the aircraft look like they should!!

DO I hear the Grim Reaper now? I sure hope not. Gee Gary you got me worried. LOL. Take care I am signing off for the night.

Jim,
Well, just make sure that you build yours before it's too late. I plan on building all of the kits that I have.....

QUOTE: Originally posted by garydmason Nah, he's not in trouble with me. I liked his comment. I can take a joke as well as anybody. He'd better have the best-looking Phantom II ever built on July 30th, though........... heeheeheehee!!

The plane looks fine, but you ought to see the guy I cut up trying to convert him from a sitting figure to a standing one. That didn't go too well.

Regards,

Well I have to be honest it is a really poor kit. I think it is from the 1970's. There are all raised lines. The cockpit is a joke. I think that RG has recently released or currently selling it. They are out there. I got mine off ebay. My grandfather had this kit and my stepmother and I attempted to finish it after he passed and then it never got done. Then I don't know what happened too it after that. I wish I did my guess is it was tossed out. Thats what happens in that house.

Jim,
I've got close to 120 kits to build, not including the three I have in the works right now. I would love to see that 1/32 SBD!! I didn't know anyone produced one in that scale.

Yeah Gary I thought they were Interior Green Zinc Chromate myself. I have a Hasegawa SBD 3 in 1/48 and my longterm project of an old Matchbox 1/32 SBD 5, which I hope to backdate to a 3, scratch the interior and rescribe the lines. But that is a long way off so I won't even think about it now. Am I the only one with ten million models to build? DOH!!!!

Heath,
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE explain how you modified Mike's URL's to make them appear here. I, too, have tried the examples posted elsewhere in another forum, and can never get them to work.

Mike,
Great job on the Dauntless. I didn't know that they had silver interiors. Interesting. Looking forward to seeing the completed project.

Looking awesome!!! I just bought some new pointed brushes this last weekend, and plan on attacking my Corsair cockpit soon!! Unfortunately, I have school all through the week, so I only get a few moments a week. BTW, all of those pieces you have in the fuselage halves, are those scratchbuilt, or part of the kit?? They look good!!

Ah...thanks Heath

there ya go Mike