Pearl Harbor 2015...Thank You All

Many thanks.

Joe

Looking good 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

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 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

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

Thank you for the kind words.  

There has been some very cool work in this thread.  

Joe

 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.

I feel like I'm standing on my head.

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

Looking good, Joe.

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

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

This should be a nice change from the Roden kit!

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

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

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,

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

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

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.

Thanks, Buddy!

Nice work as always John!

Thanks, Modelcrazy.  1/48.  It is a decal that rests on a raised detail part, the decal responds to Microsol very well so as long as you get it aligned well it works pretty good.

OK, it's done.  This completes my Pearl Harbor attacker binge for now.  I hope to also do a Nichimo Jake but I will wait until an aftermarket interior is available.  A few bits to note.  When you install the part that supports the compass, which rests behind the pilot cockpit aft bulkhead and must be installed after the fuselage sides are joined, be sure it rests level with the top of the canopy sill or when you fit the canopies they will not set as low as they should.  If you do the closed canopy this is not critical.  The method for holding the wheels in the spats is not very positive, the pins are too small.  The propeller shaft is a bit too long, and a shade too large in diameter for the little plastic keeper, better to get a good fit on that before assembling the engine.  Other than that and a little frustration installing the gunner's trapeze and seat, it's pretty much a walk in the park.

Wow John, I don't know if that's a 1/23 or 1/48, but the IP look fantastic sir.

I am well along on this one.  Once again nobody seems to agree on what color these airplanes were, I did some research and finally concluded that I might as well just go with the mixture in the instructions, most of which is Khaki.  The proper Japanese name is hai-ryoku-shoku.  Apparently it was glossy at first but weathered rapidly to more of a lighter grey.  And that's all I have to say on that.  Another great Hasegawa kit.  Another 4 hours masking and painting canopy segments.

Here's a picture of the finished interior.  A few parts are not installed as they can be installed later after final assembly and most painting.

I feel your pain, Joe.  I go there sometimes too.  Luckily at the moment I am in the other direction and the Val is almost ready for decals.  Where is the smoke coming from?

As for me folks I have hit a period of very very low energy.  Not only hobby related but in general.  Not sure the cause but it is taking a toll across the board on me.  Hopefully with cooler nights and clearer (less smoke) days I can get back to making progress.  For now it is just not much at all.

Joe

John another beauty.  Crisp and clean work.  

Joe

Like I said, these things just fall together..It's done.  The last couple photos are with the A6M1 prototype Zero, also a Hasegawa kit.  I normally use Tamiya and Model Master enamel paints, but I stocked up on some new stuff for my Japanese subjects.  The exterior color is White Ensign Mitsubishi Zero Grey-Green.  The interior colors are Gunze Mr. Color enamels, Mitsubishi Cockpit Color, Cowling Color, and Metallic Blue Green for the wheel wells.  The prop is Floquil Old Silver with SNJ aluminum powder rubbed in.  I clear coated before decals with Alclad Clear Gloss and after decals I put on a matt coat of Future/Tamiya Flat Base mix.

I've been working on a Hasegawa A6M2b for a few days.  These things just fly together, so here is a progress report.  It will be in the box art markings.  One note, I have found a paint that looks nice to me on tires, I've been mixing batches for that color for some time but Vallejo makes a black grey that is just right to my eye and works real nice as long as you thin it severely.  I completely goofed up a small decal with three instruments on it on the left cockpit sidewall, they went every way wrong a decal can go and finally died from over handling.  Luckily the instrument panel went together fine.  Eduard seat belts, pre-painted style.  I cut loose the elevators and posed them in the down position to give it a little life.