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1/32 Trumpeter SBD-5 Dauntless


Bladerunner

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Hello everyone.

 

I picked this kit up at some 60% off at the LHS. Its my first trumpy kit and at less than half off, its an excellent deal and it is a great kit. Requisite box top shot:

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I have been working on it for a few weeks now so I can give a little bit of a review. The detail is outstanding and the fit has generally been fine. The parts do have a lot more mould lines/flash etc than what would come out of a Tamiya kit but nothing that a sanding stick and such can't take care of. The fit issues have come with some of the round parts (bombs, oil tank, etc.) where the mating parts overlap - again, nothing that can't be taken care of with some surfacer and some sanding. So far I have tackled the cockpit (many parts) and there were some issues with the radio stack where the fronts did not quite match the backs and the strange way the lap belts attach to the chair.

 

Here are some shots:

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For those that noticed - I cut off the control stick in the back because the kit comes with a stick that you place at the side of the back deck. I have read that the control stick was kept here most of the time. Rarely was it attached to the control column

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I drilled out the instrument faces on the instrument panel. Then I pained the insides a medium gray. Its not perfect but there was no way for me to paint around the faces without doing that.

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The walls of the cockpit were painted using MM Acryl interior green that was mixed with some MM medium gray. I do not like this paint at all and it gave me fits. I went over all the ribs with a thin black mix and I faded the interiors of each 'grid'. I then hand painted a very light MM interior green over the ribs.

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Where I saw 'round' faces in places like radio stacks, etc, I cut out 1/72 instrument panel decals and fit them in. I realize this is not very accurate but it makes the faces more interesting.

 

So there you have most of the interior - There is a lot that goes into it and I am almost done. I have started the engine so I will show that next.

 

Thanks for looking!

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Thanks guys!!

 

Harv - the fit is generally good where it counts but I have had to do some filling, sanding on the bombs, and other 'round' components. I have yet to detach the fuse from the sprues so I will let you know. The engine has come together very nicely - no issues with the fit there. I have seen the Trump F4U-1A engine and the SBD engine looks much nicer... hopefully I will have some photos up in the next few days to show you.

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You did an excellent job on the pit! Can't wait on your next pics with progress...just a quick question,what about the rivet lines on this kit? Are you going to make any "improvements" or just leave it as it is? I saw a few assembled SBD's from Trumpeter and the rivets seems too deep and large to me...they looks much better when gently sanded down to approx. half of their size.I did the same on my wildcat and the result was much better than original....but anyway,keep going! Looking forward for more pictures of this beatiful plane :)

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Great job on that cockpit. You are right about that control stick as there would be two in the back if you put it in. I had a blast building the -3 model and it had been the best engineered Trumpy kit I have started. The cockpit does require three hands to get in place to close the fuselage.

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You did an excellent job on the pit! Can't wait on your next pics with progress...just a quick question,what about the rivet lines on this kit? Are you going to make any "improvements" or just leave it as it is? I saw a few assembled SBD's from Trumpeter and the rivets seems too deep and large to me...they looks much better when gently sanded down to approx. half of their size.I did the same on my wildcat and the result was much better than original....but anyway,keep going! Looking forward for more pictures of this beatiful plane :)

 

I agree - on the unpainted plastic, the rivets do seem deep. However, I will likely keep them for 2 reasons. One being that its easier to do a wash with the deeper holes - especially after a primer coat, basecoat and post shading paint.... decals too. My Tamiya Zero had some issues where the rivet holes where 'just' not deep enough to hold a wash. The second reason is that I like the rugged look of the SBD with all those rivets. It just looks tough.

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Guest Nigelr32

Great work so far, think I'l pull up a chair on this one!!

 

It's a model I will build one day, in fact I was going to buy one at Hinckley yesterday, for £35. Wish I had now :)

 

I'm guessing this is a pretty big model yeah??

 

How does it compare to the Avenger??

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