Battle of Midway Aircraft Group Build

Bob -- the 155 has a single needle/nozzle for everything.. one of the nice things about it. Other brushes that do this that are well made are Omni and some other Badger brushes. Iwata does too but on the CS you have to buy the .5mm needle combo because it comes with a .35 which is a tad small...

I love my 155 and it does wonderful all the way from about a 2" spray down to small lines. It is very easy to clean, breakdown time for major cleaning is a scant minute or so... the Badger 360 which is a tad more expensive (10 dollars more or so I believe) also does gravity fed painting, meaning you can get closer in at a lower air pressure to get even finer detail. The gravity fed cup on the 360 is a tad small so the bottle would be the best bet for large area spraying. And best of all it is the sister brush to the 155 so identical in its spraying traits...


Two things I recommend to get when you order it is needle lube (Regdab needle juice by Badger is avaiable through Dixie Art) and an extra needle. You never know when the needle will get bent on a Sunday night when Michaels or other stores are closed, for only $5 or so it is worthwhile to get one now. Oh yeah the needle juice is only about $5 as well and lasts FOREVER... I've had my bottle about a year and it is still only a fraction from the top.

Needle lube helps keep paint from sticking and especially drying to the needle which is a plague of acrylics especially. This changes the flow of air over the needle and therefore the spray pattern. It also helps keep some of the spattering and spluttering you get with acrylics especially from happening. (It also helps with enamels)

Check out www.dixieart.com and think about ordering from them. excellent service, free shipping on orders over $45.00... the 155 combo with the braided hose and bottles and such is around $59.95 I believe.

Have you thought about your air source? If you already have a construction type compressor you can use that.. if not you can get one at Wal Mart for about $60.00. Then a water trap for about 11.00 and an extra 1/4" male to male connector for about $1.00 and you are set for good! Hobby compressors are quiter but also more expensive. If noise is an issue you can get a reconditioned Thayer and Chandler Air Star on www.badger-airbrush.com for about $99.99 in the garage sale section and it is quiet!!! I use a construction type compressor with a 2 gal tank and am happy with it. The wife says she hardly notices it come on (in the daytime haha... dont use it at night with family in the house, they want to move out after waking to that at 3am)

Good luck to ya and ask more questions if ya have them!

Here's a pic of my SBD's engine after much fiddling. Don't know if it was really worth it in the end, but it's done now and didn't really take too long:



Hope you like it.

Looks good DanielNow lets see the rest of it

Tom-thanks for the info. Very helpful.

Daniel-great job on the engine. Can't wait to see the rest of the plane.

Thanks Jules and Bob;

You might see the rest of it in a few days. I'm not far off having it all glued together.

Nice work on the engine Dan, I just got my wings glued on last night bench time has been hard to come by lately.

Thad

How about a AM TBF Avenger, done in MIdway markings?

I got two George Bush models on special at the local Hobby Lobby stores, and I just got a set of MIdway era decals just with that in mind.

Little is generaly said about their use then because of the general loss of the TBD's but it was the TBF's debut.

Tom

Great job Daniel!!

Tom-- I believe that Jules is also doing an Avenger for this build....and despite the terrible debut- they turned out to be pretty effective attack aircraft, didn't they?? Although more so as level bombers than torpedo bombers...

I just found a site hidden away in my favorites with some pics of VT-8 both on the way to Midway and at Midway...

http://www.centuryinter.net/midway/

it's rather incomplete but maybe will have some pics you Avenger guys haven't seen...

oh yeah Tom if you want to build that I will add you to the list for the Avenger...

By that way we'll need to change your name for the build... pehaps something like Bill or something, I don't think we have a Bill yet... can't have too many Tom's hanging around... (haha kidding, I am a Tom as well... from the good side of the Sabine River)

Welcome aboard!!!

Dang Daniel, you really knocked that modified engine out, looks really good. I think the effort you put into it was worth it ! Nice re-wire job.

Tom T. Welcome aboard man, I think you'll find this a good group of guys.

Phil

Well here it is. My first A/C in a couple of decades.







This was a fun build. I would definately do another AM kit and am waiting for the Devastator to be released. It has rekindled my interest in WWII Navy A/C

Hope you like these and you can see additional (and larger) pics by clicking on my link below.

Pete

Nice job Pete

Thad

pmm736 That looks like a great build. The weathering looks very nice. How did you do the old rudder stripes? It looks very effective. Good work, and it's good to see you moving away from the dark side........

Great job Pete.

QUOTE: Originally posted by pingtang pmm736 That looks like a great build. The weathering looks very nice. How did you do the old rudder stripes? It looks very effective. Good work, and it's good to see you moving away from the dark side........

Thanks for the kind words. The stripes are the kit decals, which went on surprisingly well. The decals in general were really very good. They were thin but not delicate and layed down easily with a little bit of micro-sol. BTW, I don't see myself moving completely from the dark side butan A/C kit now and again will be a nice diversion.

great job Pete!!! really good job of weathering.... you should stick to an AC now and then... you seem to have a knack for them!!

---edit---

AM is coming out with some new moldings this year as well... the P-51A is already out... there is a SBD-3a coming out along with a few more craft... I believe they are re-releasing the retooled P-51B as well... so should be a good year for AM!

I definately will keep my hand inthe A/C side. I've had my eye on the AM Vindicator for a while now and I've got the Tamiya Wildcat and a Corsair on my GM wish list. If the dive bomber group build happens later this year, I'm definately in.

Pete - that Wildcat is a nice build... not near as complicated as the SBD... but pleasing all the same. I recommend the Ultracast seats and tires for the Wildcat... about $10.00 for the pair... but I know you will enjoy building that one almost as much as the dauntless!!!

OK more progress ahead although it really should look kind of familiar to many of you regardless.....

hmmm... somehow that aircraft looks familar Mike.. what was it again?

Good progress! Looks like everyone is just plugging away on this GB... I might have to side step the P-47 I am working on and do my Zero. (I am using alclad on the P-47 and it's my first time so taking my time on it... I am letting the primer dry 48 hours between coats etc... it is the Alclad Black Laqcuer primer and somehow it just feels sticky even after 48 hours...)

Looks good Jeeves. Hopefully I'll be near that stage soon too. Thanks for sharing.

Loooks good Mike. Stangely familiar though....

heh heh.... well at least we are all doing different schemes.... course all that means is a different number on the side LOL

Tom, I think you will like alclad, that stuff is amazing. I used the black primer and waited 48 hrs just as you are doing and mine turned out fine. Maybe with you being in Houston you have to deal with the humidity more than I do here in Dallas.

Has anyone had to deal with misprints in your instruction for the SBD AM kits?

Thad

QUOTE: Originally posted by KINGTHAD .....Has anyone had to deal with misprints in your instruction for the SBD AM kits? Thad

As we say in IT, "undocumented features (or functionality)"...seriously, I spotted a few. Also noticed a few when reviewing the instructions for the new F6-A that I have for the NA GB. Fortunatly there are enough folks in this build that have built the AM SBD's that share their learning experiences.

Some mislabeled parts....yes- but as the instructions say-- they only fit one way

yeah I noticed a few things... most of them they had corrections for in the instruction (on my SBD-5) ... I didnt really notice any on the dash-2 though... maybe because I had already assembled 2 by then so the instructions were quick reminders versus in depth for me...


Thad - yeah the black primer is still a little sticky so I am going to give it till Sun... I am tempted to take a hair dryer on low and pass it over it from several feet back just to help it... I am desperately trying to hold off on that... Plus I am thinking once I put the Alclad on it will dry without the tackiness on the outside... I just had to sand the wings a bit because of some tiny hairs on them... I'm going to wet down my desk area before I spray them again... this is a new thing for me and want to work at getting it right the first time...

ok... the only thing I can say is wow.... I sprayed the exterior bits (gear doors etc) with Alclad and this is some good stuff.. I am sold on it... even the first time an amateur like me pulled it off... I think anyone with a little patience could!!!

I need to shoot some more black primer on the aircraft body today so I can alclad tomorrow.. I was right, if I spray the alclad on the black primer it loses it's "tackiness" I don't think it is a problem with it not curing (it's been a week) I think it is just a wierd texture so I didn't trust it...

I can't wait to finish this one to be able to start on my Martlet...

QUOTE: Originally posted by tho9900 ok... the only thing I can say is wow.... I sprayed the exterior bits (gear doors etc) with Alclad and this is some good stuff.. I am sold on it... even the first time an amateur like me pulled it off... I think anyone with a little patience could!!! I need to shoot some more black primer on the aircraft body today so I can alclad tomorrow.. I was right, if I spray the alclad on the black primer it loses it's "tackiness" I don't think it is a problem with it not curing (it's been a week) I think it is just a wierd texture so I didn't trust it... I can't wait to finish this one to be able to start on my Martlet...

Tom I am a big fan of Alclad, but found out the hard way about how deceiving the black primer can be as far as it's cured state goes.

I finished a P-38, and laid on the black primer, left her sitting for a week to cure.
Went back and sprayed the Alclad, and all was well.
2 weeks later I looked at it, and the finish had 'cracked' all over.

That was 2 years ago, and it is still sitting in the cupboard waiting for repair as soon as someone comes up with a miracle way of removing Alclad without totally destroying the model.

Tweets - luckily I read this.. I went to my grandmothers 98th birthday party today (talk about sharp... she can still tell you everything she did the day the Titanic sank) and got home late.. so I will let it cure some more.. I reread the alclad instructions and they said for all but their shiny colors (chrome etc) to use a very fine grey primer so I may try that on the other P-47 I have waiting on me... or actually it might be the one I build and forget about the first one... I still have an extra P-47 seat (gotta love ultracast and thinking of clumsy modelers like me, there's two in every shipment!) and the wheels from ultracast I havent attached yet....

We'll see what happens later in the week if I get time to take my vacation... (long story.. with all thats been going on I didnt realize I had 12 remaining vacation days and only 6 weeks left to take them... I've just been too busy to do so... and if I dont I lose them...)