Woody V Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 The Dauntless has always been one of my favorite Naval aircraft and I’ve built a couple of the old Monogram 1/48 scale kits, so I picked up one of the Trumpeter SBD-3 kits some time ago and finally decided to give it a go. This is really a nice kit! A huge improvement over their Wildcat which taught me a very important lesson - follow the instructions! COCKPIT Lots going on here, more like a cockpit with an airplane around it. I’m trying to keep this build simple with minimum aftermarket parts which I’ve limited to Eduard PE which, although labeled for the -5, seems to work without any obvious issues on the -3. Besides I’m only picking and choosing a few items including the printed parts and “easy” other PE pieces. The only other aftermarket is Master Details .30 and .50 cal gun barrels. My search for a paint that doesn’t hate me brought me to Mr. Color lacquers. I had originally started using MRP but at that time there was only one source in the US and backorders were taking a month to be filled. Since I’m fortunate to have a relationship with Stevens International I can get Mr. Color at wholesale, but I have to buy box lots of 6 jars at a time. Regardless, now I actually enjoy painting again. PAINTING CAVEAT: I build for fun and to pass the time and therefore I’m not color-match-crazy. If it says RLM 02 (or whatever) on the bottle I’m good. That’s not to criticize builders who anguish over the correct colors, it’s just not on my priority list. Individual parts first painted with AK Xtreme Metal Aluminum, then hairspray, then black pre-shading followed with varying densities of Interior Green. Gloss coat, oil wash feathered with a brush and finished off with a custom mix of 50/50 Mr. Color satin and flat. Chipping is very easy using lacquers. I use Dove Extra Hold which comes in a pump spray bottle, applied straight with airbrush. One wet coat is all that’s needed. In hindsight, the chipping could be more extensive but it is what it is. Moving along to the Instrument Panel. Using the Eduard printed PE parts I sandwiched a piece of clear acetate that I cut out with my Cameo 2 between the instruments and the panel front to add clear lenses. Extreme closeup of the acetate parts. Flat acetate lenses actually look like lenses. Ignore the glare. For some reason the Eduard set omits whatever instrument is supposed to be in the top center so I decided to get clever and add one that fits from a sheet of Waldon US fighter instruments. Of course, of all the options on the sheet I blithely chose the worse possibly one, a duplicate. Undeterred by Blunder #1 I pressed on to the seat harness. The kit comes with PE belts, something I’m loathe to deal with. If anyone makes fabric belts for this model I sure couldn’t find any so I decided to attempt to make my own out of paper. I use Adobe Illustrator for just about everything so I scanned the kit PE fret for size, imported the scan into AI, traced over it and fiddled around with a color that, to my eye, looks like khaki. I had to make the ends separate pieces because the belt folds around the hardware. These were glued in place with a tiny dot of super glue. Photo of the finished paper belts printed on a color laser printer. Inkjet printers won’t do because the inks are water soluble. There two sets here, one for the pilot and one for the rear seat. Using the kit PE hardware (lacking detail as it is) I assembled the belts, brushed on some water and they drooped down pretty convincingly. Better look at the belts and IP. Because the bulkheads need to line up with the locating points on the inside of the fuselage I dry fitted the cockpit sub-assembly. In the process I discovered that the fuselage halves had a nasty gap at the top and I had to remove a serious amount of material from this part to close the gap. Material removed from this part to get fuselage halves to touch. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode where I assemble the engine and try to avoid Blunder #2. Comments and critique welcome. Hartmann52, Anthony in NZ, Starfighter and 31 others 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark64 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 this is looking stunning. Love the Yellow green paint job and wash. dead on. Waldron, Are they still in business? Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody V Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 1 hour ago, shark64 said: this is looking stunning. Love the Yellow green paint job and wash. dead on. Waldron, Are they still in business? TY for the compliment. I'm not sure if Waldron products are still currently in production. When I have an interest in something I do a saved search on Ebay for it. Eventually something will come up. Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leitch Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 I believe the rear control stick has a place to be stowed on the left side wall. The stick was used in emergencies. Andy Woody V and scvrobeson 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett M Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Ha, that looks familiar (working on my -5)! Nice start on your -3, liking the colors you’ve gone with. Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody V Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 1 minute ago, Brett M said: Ha, that looks familiar (working on my -5)! Nice start on your -3, liking the colors you’ve gone with. Excellent! Love the SBD and your decision to go with the NZ livery will set it apart. Whitey and Brett M 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody V Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 3 hours ago, leitch said: I believe the rear control stick has a place to be stowed on the left side wall. The stick was used in emergencies. Andy So much for following the instructions. I'll look into moving it. Thanks for pointing this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett M Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Just now, Archer Fine Transfers said: So much for following the instructions. I'll look into moving it. Thanks for pointing this out. As will I..... Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lothar Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Excellent progress, another stunning SBD build to follow!!!! Lothar Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Great start, there's nothing not to love here! Can't wait to see more progress! Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Great start, one of the first 1/32 scale kits that I built was the old Matchbox kit which was also one of the first kits that I used my airbrush on, so it will be interesting for me to watch this progress, keep up the good work Cheers Dennis. Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Exceptional start! I love your matter of fact approach, and your build tips are great. I too have a -3 waiting, so I’m taking notes. Cheers, Tom Ayovan and Woody V 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncarina Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 I posted this on Brett’s build as well, but this is a great reference, especially for the price: http://www.detailandscale.com/sbd_dauntless_digital_book.html Cheers, Tom Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Very cool, will have to follow along! Woody V 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody V Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 20 hours ago, leitch said: I believe the rear control stick has a place to be stowed on the left side wall. The stick was used in emergencies. Andy 17 hours ago, Brett M said: As will I..... Looking at Douglas archive photos it appears that the kit comes with two control sticks, one in the flying position and one stowed. Kit part C27 is in the stowed position. Simple fix. Part C28 is the "wobble pump handle" whatever that is. Lothar and Uncarina 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now