1/18th Merit SBD-2 "2106" at Midway

[REJ]

 

Started experimenting with color and distressing the rudder bars. This is Mr. Paint blue grey and comes pretty darn close. I will probably darken the rudder a touch more, but I believe this is close. I also went back and researched VMSB 241 more and it appears they loaded out for the Midway attack on the Japanese fleet with a single 500 lb bomb only. Since the Marines had almost no time in SBDs, they decided to make gliding attacks such as they trained extensively in the Vindicators. 2106's pilot Iverson, missed on his run and received over 200 holes in 2106 wounding his gunner badly. So no wing bomb racks...they would have been left off as not needed on this mission.

Edited August 3, 2020 by REJ

[REJ]

 

The cockpit tub is now one whole unit. I finally joined the myriad of individual components together. Here I have inserted the tub into the fuselage and I'm checking that everything is still lining up properly. The worst section is the firewall to fuselage halves junction. They're just enough off to be a headache,  but nothing that can't be conquered with a little planning and patience. 

[Lothar]

Excellent work so far, your cockpit is simply beautiful 

Lothar

[REJ]

Thank you Lothar...I am working hard to make the rest of this kit as well. 

[REJ]

 

Got the compass and power line mounted inside the forward canopy.

[RadBaron]

that all looks Brilliant!

[REJ]

Thank you sir...always a welcome comment from such talented people such as yourself and others on this forum. 

[REJ]

 

It's been awhile but here's the latest update. The fuselage halves have finally been joined together.  I have started to work on seams and small details before I prime her. I have three different makes of intermediate blue for the upper camo and light grey for the underside camo. Any suggestions for a good insignia blue for the circles and stars? Looking to get something I can "sun bleach" a little.

[REJ]

 

Got some color on 2106 finally. Most all the seams are done, so I decided to spend the afternoon preping her for her first real color coat. I used AK intermediate blue and it worked out great. After a little thinning, it shot smooth and evenly. The color I believe is also near perfect.

[REJ]

 

With the help of my beautiful wife (my arms aren't long enough), here's a couple of pics of the near complete top and bottom paint. Beginning to shape up good. Only some minor touch ups left and then gloss clear coats for decals, weathering, and staining. Moving right along...

[Brett M]

Looking great.....and BIG! Can’t wait for more progress.

[REJ]

 

Well...minor setback. Upon careful examination, I had neglected to fill a hole under each wing for the surface radar antenna posts not used on the SBD-2s. Also, a hole in the lower fuselage for a small stub antenna didn't look good enough to me, so it gets more attention too. When all is done, it should be ready for clear coat....unless there's something else I find.

[REJ]

Finally getting down to the clear coats. I javelin two marks in the paint that require attention and all is ready.

All the holes are filled and gone. The bomb cradle was added as well as the tie-down cleats. A little paint was applied and the lower half is ready for clear coating.

[George]

I read the USMC may have painted over the fabric rudder with existing stocks of insignia blue because of M-485 was not available and the time frame for the directive to paint over the horizontal rudder stripes and insignia red balls was less than one month (after Coral Sea and before Midway).

[REJ]

 

This is a Navy picture taken of the damage to the tail of 2106 after she returned from the Midway attack on the Japanese fleet. As you can see, the stripes on the tail are still visible because of the hasty job done earlier. If the Marines had done a second coat using insignia blue, those stripes would have been pretty well covered. The Marines had less than three weeks to prepare this Navy retired SBD for combat.

Edited August 28, 2020 by REJ