US CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD 2013

OK, I rounded up all the ones that I could find on my PB and put them into a single folder. Now mind you I started this project well before I owned a digital camera so the initial steps are unrecorded. I did not start taking pics until around '08 or so when I pulled it off the sidelines for the "No More Excuses" GB here... this is what it looked like at that point and what I was planning to use and had on hand.

at that point much of the cockpit work was done. I had grafted in components from a Monogram TBD- pilots seat, gunners ring, control stick. Scratch built some other items, added the cowl .50s and radio gear salvaged from other trashed old builds... I had cut away the kit molded in engine and thinned down the cowling to fit a resin KMC engine (which turned out to be the wrong type of 1820 for an SBD-3)

I was still having issues with the rear twin .30s, the engine, and other details...

more to follow in awhile... gotta go pick up my son from school now...

Lookin forward to seeing those pics stikpusher. Sounds friggin cool!

Oh and I gotta just put it out there, I got the idea from a couple of builds, one each of the SBD and TBF, that I saw on display in a LHS here. You looked at the fantastic detail and thought are those the new Hasegawa or AM kits? Then I looked closely and saw all those raised rivits and knew the base kits were the  60s vintage Monogram kits. Plus a few other things. And I thought that I want to try that...

I have on a few differnt threads here... LOL! I have been working on mine since around 1995 or so... I will go try to find the old pics and post them here just to show all I have done. It's a fun project with a lot of cutting and replacing, but not an obsessive one, thats one reason I am taking so long on it.

Youre right about the raised rivet detail stikpusher. You just cant beat it for a realism effect. Those interiors sucked but hey its 1960's stuff. They didn't put a whole lot of emphasis on that stuff back then. I was working on the landing gear this morning and that is severely lacking in both detail and accuracy but I keep the fact that of what I'm working with and why I'm doing it this way in focus. My long builds are dedicated to my 190's right now with this one being a relaxing and enjoyable build without hammering myself about the little details. Thats part of whats making this build a breeze is the fact that I have lightened up on the anal retentiveness of it.

Thanks for the comments as well stickpusher. You outta post some WIP pics of yours somewhere or PM some to me. I would be interested in seeing different ideas.

Mustang I have a Monogram SBD that I have done similar things to (but a bit more extensively over a much longer time span... LOL) that I am somewhat career building. Mine is stalled in the painting stage currently. Those Hasegawa interior bits help a LOT.  Beautiful work on yours so far. I know exactly why you are doing yours in this way.

One thing I gotta say about doing this sort of thing, is that, it can give you the most accurate external SBD out there. Why? The surface detail- the real SBD is covered in raised rivits, just like the ancient Monogram kit. I also have an old Monogram Avenger in my stash that I will do the same thing with (using lessons learned on my SBD) for the same reasons. plus it is the only TBF-1 kit (as flew at Midway and Guadalcanal) in 1/48 out there. The Hobbyboss and Accurate TBF kits are -1Cs and -3s that came long later in the war.

I'm sorry but little depressed dots in the plastic do not do it for me to represent early and pre war raised rivits. Yes they are a beast to do seam clean up around, but with things like the Archer rivit decals available nowadays, that is far less of a hurdle to fix. I know I am in the teeny tiny minority here but overlapping skin panels and raised rivits are not accurately represented by recessed panel lines and rivit dimples. If Revell could accurately represent that stuff over 40 years ago on some of their kits, don't tell me that it can not be done today.

OK rant over...

Accurate made the whole line of SBDs in 1/48, from the SBD-1 thru the SBD-5. Those are all the best 1/48 SBD kits available being thouroughly detailed inside and out. Hasegawa on did the SBD-3 and -4 variants (the only external visible difference was the propeller type used), and the A-24 (new tail wheel). Hasegawa skimped a bit on surface detail and on not having the dive flaps with the holes molded open, only indented. Get out your pin vise and drill bit set... Italeri has re issued the SBD-5 in their line I believe, but none of the earlier marks of SBD.

That's a question I cannot answer without doing some research myself. From what I remember they were pretty sharp. I built my Hasegawa SBD in 1997 or 98 and the AM kits were just coming out. I think they had a couple of different variants of it too.

Accurate Miniatures made an SBD as well? Do you know if there are any reboxed kits of that one from different companies? (Italeri has their Avenger and Apache in their product line for example). I love the AM kits!

mustang1989

....... this Monogram kit is a trip down memory lane for me. Is it going to be one of my better builds? No. But I'm having a blast remembering the first time I built this kit and now I get to use some of my present skills to update it.

That's a great reason, Joe!. Interesting explanation.

Looking slick. Surely like your foil seatbelts.

If you want an accurate one then don't choose either one. Go with an Accurate Miniatures if you want a 1/48 scale kit that is highly detailed and accurate. Monogram just aint the way to go for accuracy (and especially detail!!!) and neither is Hasegawa for that matter.  Hasegawa's detail is a lot better and more accurate than Monogram's but you have to remember that the Revell/ Monogram kit is more a toy than a model and Hasegawa is a step above that. For the money that the Hasegawa kit costs you would expect more.

She's looking great, Joe! Do you prefer the Hasegawa kit or the Monogram one? I want to add a Dauntless to my stash, but I'm not sure which one to buy...

Ok guys. Here's the cockpit as completed as I can get it right now. I ended up using ALL THREE original pieces of the cockpit from Monogram. Yes folks, I said three. There aint a whole lot to the Revell/ Monogram interior. The floor, the pilots bulkhead and radio compartment "filler piece"/ rear gunner mounting piece. In place of the kit supplied decal I have a robbed Hasegawa IP that I trimmed to fit and painted. Instrument dials and all that was colored with a white lead pencil. The pilots control stick and seat were also robbed from the Hasegawa kit. I ended up painting the seat silver first then the chromate and chipped away the paint to give the worn appearance Pilots seat belts were made from lead foil with the buckles taken from Toms Modelworks. I also installed the rudder pedals and rails for the rudder pedals from the Hasegawa offering. You can only see the rails and barely the pedals but hey, I tried. In the tailgunners position I cut out the rear of the cockpit tub and installed the Hasegawa ammo box and chutes. The rear gunner ring is definitely Hasegawa and I had to shorten the seat to ring struts so that the seat wouldn't contact the floor. Seat belts are again lead metal foil with the Toms Modelworks buckles. Still have to install the twin .30's that I robbed from the Hasegawa kit as well.

 I realize there may be some that say to themselves, " How come he didn't just build the Hasegawa kit?" An answer: I have built both kits. I built the Monogram when I was just a kid, say maybe 12 or 13 and the Hasegawa kit when I was around 30. The Hasegawa kit was fun but this Monogram kit is a trip down memory lane for me. Is it going to be one of my better builds? No. But I'm having a blast remembering the first time I built this kit and now I get to use some of my present skills to update it.

Anyhow here is a pic of what I've got so far:

Oh man! haha! I'm looking closer at the package now and seeing an image and not the product. It would have been nice. A little touch up and a wash here or there! 7 bucks still aint too bad though.

Well, they weren't prepainted, I didn't get that lucky, they're just plain white resin.  I got these for $7.25 each on ebay.

I didn't know that prepainted figures were available in 48th scale. How much were these jewels Ghostrider?

Yeah, I just noticed that I had the part number wrong, I guess with the PE IP, you wouldn't have been able to see much of it anyway.

That's all fixed now though.

I also got my PJ productions air crew in the mail today.

Ghostrider114

just realized that I'd been using the earlier model TBF IP that came with it, instead of the TBM IP fortunately, it's a relatively simple matter to sand and paint the correct panel and then reinstall the PE panel.

You're way ahead of me. I wouldn't have known the difference. :)

just realized that I'd been using the earlier model TBF IP that came with it, instead of the TBM IP fortunately, it's a relatively simple matter to sand and paint the correct panel and then reinstall the PE panel.

Greg

Never woulda known there was a fit issue, Joe. Nice fitting job. I enjoy seeing these, helps me to learn what can happen and ideas to correct.

Thanks for the tips on the bomb bay, I actually was able to find some color pictures right after I posted that, which is why I edited the question out, obviously you two read it before the edit, thanks for going through the trouble of finding that out for me anyway. 

I have the SquadronSignal Avengers in Action book, but most of the interior pics are black and white, so it hasn't been much help in that regard.

Never woulda known there was a fit issue, Joe. Nice fitting job. I enjoy seeing these, helps me to learn what can happen and ideas to correct.

Ok here's the picture of the affected area that is now corrected. Where the arrow is pointing, the bottom of the Hasegawa IP was angled in towards the front of the plane due to the L/H and R/H consoles contacting the IP. I shaved a little off of the back of the IP and a little off the front of L/H and R/H consoles and it fits like a dream! Now its on to the rear of the cockpit to finish up that ammo box and gunners ring/ seat.

Alright guys. I got up this morning a little late (5:45) and started fine tuning the cockpit for fit. I used the Revell/ Monogram cockpit tub and installed the Hasegawa instrument panel. The IP was contacting the tub at the front so it gave the IP a terribly noticeable "slant". A little sanding and re-fitting and got that straightened out. Will post pics a little later.

You know shivinigh the U.S.S. Lexington has one and I think the Bombay on it is chromate as well. I'm have a membership on it and its just a couple of miles away.

Looking good as always Joe. Good job on the handmade canopy masks!

Ghost, I thought that panel looked familiar! :) Nice work.

Thanks Clemens. Still working on the Hasegawa SBD gunner ring/ gunner seat fit into the back of the cockpit area but other than that the fit is going ok so far.

Ghostrider: That cockpit is looking good so far!

yeah, that's the Eduard TBM instrument panel.

Great work, Joe!