colours for a pre war dauntless

[tommog]

hi everybody,

as soon as temperatures fall a little bit and i can go on building ( my des is under the roof) i will start the trump dauntless. i allready got the very good decals from yellow wings and i will build the pre war bird.

so my questions are about the colours.

 

1.) the fuselage is really alu? (they say you should use tam ts 17 alu)

2.) ok, the upside of the wings is yellow or more of a orangeyellow (what i think is right)?

3.) most important, the cockpit. what is the right colour for pre war interieur?

 

thanks a lot for help. maybe you also know what colour codes fits best to these three colours?

i just use acryllics and mostly tamiya or gunze.

 

thanks a lot for help.

i will show you the result.

tom

[smithery]

Tom, if you're doing your bird up as a SBD-1, be prepared to use a lot of aluminum paint. The fuselage was painted aluminum lacquer, and the interior was all aluminum. This was addressed in the SBD-2 where the interior got sea-sick and turned green , and the greys appeared on the exterior.

 

As for the yellow, Chrome Yellow or Insignia Yellow is probably your best bet (Gunze 329, no Tamiya match), but in a pinch, RLM04 (Gunze 413) will do as well. Obvisouly not an historically accurate color, but a pretty good color match nonetheless.

 

HTH

[tommog]

thanks a lot. that helps.

but with the interieur i got a problem. the decals from yellowwings are for a sbd 2, but this bird still had the pre war scheme in the beginning, alu and yellow wings. the decalsheet is about one special sbd 2 and the four colour schemes it was wearing before they sunk it in michigan lake. ups

so i think it also had he green interieur? but there you have this dark green and a chromate green (or someting like that)

i am a little bit confused

tom

[Scotsman]

There's a a step by step build of the SBD-1 in 48th on the Accurate minatures website , Here that covers the whole question of Pre-war USN colours ,, look under SBD series kits - very useful build - despite being in small scale!

[tommog]

good tip, thanks. i love am kits.

but same problem. sbd 1 with alu interieur and the sbd 2 in war had green int.

but this special bird was a pre war sbd 2 in alu exterieur. so i think it was also alu inside. but on the other hand i can´t believe that they changed the interieur colour from alu to green later.

but maybe from sbd 2 on they made the interieur green. also on pre war examples.

hm

tom

[Yellow-Wings Decals]

The Pre-War SBD-1 and SBD-2 both had aluminum painted interiors, it was not until the change over period of overall gray exterior and blue-gray over light gray camo that the interiors began being painted apple/chromate green or bronze green.

 

One other note: The inside of the dive flaps on the Pre-War SBD-1 were painted aluminum, while the inside of the dive flaps on the Pre-War SBD-2 were painted red.

 

HTH

 

Wayne Tevlin

[LSP_Ray]

Hey, Wayne, welcome to LSP!

 

I got another question, as I was thinking of doing my SBD in the same scheme:

 

In your decal instructions, it has a color profile of the SBD-2 in pre-war colors, which includes the white "E" with black drop shadow which I believe is an 'Excellence' award for the unit. However, in your decal placement instructions it does not include the "E." I assume we are supposed to include it as it is on the decal sheet, which brings up another issue. The decal has the drop shadow to the LEFT of the E, while the color art shows the drop shadow to the RIGHT. I believe the artwork is correct as I believe every other artwork or photo I have seen shows the drop to the RIGHT. However, I can't remember ever seeing a shot of the opposite side of the aircraft, so possibly it is reversed on the Starboard side?

 

So anyway, 1.) are the decals correct? 2.) did the drop shadow change from one side to the other?

 

Thanks. Great decal set BTW!

[Yellow-Wings Decals]

Hey Ray,

 

Good eye!! Actually the decals are correct, but so is the artwork.

 

I've seen examples of the drop shadow both to the left and to the right, however I should have made them both the same (my bad)

 

The "E" for excellence was the same for both sides of the fuselage.

 

I checked and your right I did forget to put it on the placement diagrams, but it is on the color artwork.

 

One more note: I remembered reading an article about one of the first pilots to fly BU #2106, LT. (jg) Mark T. Whittier, he was being interviewed I believe for a book to be written about BU #2106 and during the conversation he remembered the "E" for excellence and a "Small Black B" (for bombing) just below the "E" on the sides of the fuselage.

 

These details are on the decal sheet, but the "E" and "B" should be placed further forward than the artwork shows, they should be located just below the canopy on the fuselage sides, flanking the pilot to the left and right.

 

On the artwork these details are located just under the rear gunners position to show how the details should be arranged otherwise they would have been obscured by the wing.

 

HTH

 

Wayne Tevlin

[LSP_Ray]

Thanks for the info Wayne!

 

I will note it on my instruction sheet!

[DrDave]

Hi Wayne!

I have this set on order from you. Cant wait to get started.

I noticed the kit has rear pilot armour that should come out for a pre war SBD 1 or 2. I think its part 20 that needs lopping off at the top and some framework made.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Brandon Wood]

Exterior is aluminium laquer

Upper wings are yellow-orange

 

There is some question as to the interior color of the SBD-1s. It has kinda gone from green to aluminium and now back to interior green. I have included some links to Lynn Ritger's DetailSite which has two pics of SBD-1s in color. Both seem to indicate that even the SBD-1s had an interior green interior.

 

http://sbd_dauntless.tripod.com/closeup/16...lor_closeup.jpg

 

http://sbd_dauntless.tripod.com/closeup/16...mb-13.color.jpg

 

I plan on using interior green on mine and feel pretty confident that it will be accurate enough for me.

 

Hope this helps and have fun with the SBD.

 

BW

[LDSmodeller]

Hi Folks (especially Tom) Re SBD I Interior colors.

 

I would suggest you check out this site below, it has some awesome information.

 

Personally I would go for Aluminum Lacquer for a SBD I having said that, if!!! the aircraft had undergone

a mojor overhaul closer to 1940 the Cockpit interior may well be "Bronze Green" with the fuselage interior(possiblly gunner station also) one of the Chromate colors. Note Bronze Green Humbrol 75

 

If you checkout this site it actually shows a Douglas A 20 wing interior which has only the stringers painted

and the rest plain old duraluminum

 

 

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004...rs_us_part2.htm

(Check out parts I, II also)

 

At the end of the day it's really how exact you want to be. I am in the midst of finishing an old Frog A 20/Boston (in Aussie colors), with the "office" Bronze green , the rest of the interior Chromate green and,

the wheel wells straight duraluminum with chromate green stringers. Is it totally correct? Answer most likely

we can never be totally sure, painting schemes differed from the actual manufacturer, to whether the overhaul facility was up todate with it's compliance to official orders and paint supply.

Hope this is'nt to confusing

 

regards

 

Alan

[tommog]

ok,ok,ok,

I AM CONFUSED!!!

now we are dealing with alu or int. green..................................................

i think i will go for alu.

or green....?

 

tztztztztztztz

 

tom

[smithery]

ok,ok,ok,

I AM CONFUSED!!!

now we are dealing with alu or int. green..................................................

i think i will go for alu.

or green....?

 

tztztztztztztz

 

tom

 

 

No need to be confused Tom, as the source of your decals has come outright and said:

 

The Pre-War SBD-1 and SBD-2 both had aluminum painted interiors, it was not until the change over period of overall gray exterior and blue-gray over light gray camo that the interiors began being painted apple/chromate green or bronze green.

[tommog]

ok, hi, it´s me again.

temperatures are falling and i hope that i can start building my sbd in the next days.

i decided to make the int. all alu as said by yellowings and other nice people here.

my only question is:

 

is it really all alu? i mean also the seats, dashboard (no i think black) everything?

i haven´t seen color pics of such a plane. are there any pics around of a alu int. sbd?

 

would be very ice if anyone knows.

 

thanks

tom