Infinity SB2C Helldiver (26 Nov: Finis)

[easixpedro]

Hello. My name is Peter and I'm a huge Helldiver junky. 

Seriously.

 

It goes back to my childhood where the local crop-duster had flown them in the war. My earliest memories are sitting on a fence at the ranch as he and my father chatted. It's what set me on the path to NavAir.

 

I've wanted a LSP Helldiver for a while, but Infinity's offering gave me pause. I even built this scene in the interim: 1/48 SB2C Helldiver--Attack on Yokosuka and IJN Battleship Nagato, 18 July 1945 (finished) - Non-LSP Works - Large Scale Planes But the addiction got the best of me. About a month ago I pulled the trigger on this kit and a Trumpeter P-47. Benefit is that the P-47 comes with multiple Curtiss Electric Props. It'll allow me to do an SB2C-3 if I want.

 

Goal is to make an in-flight display similar to this SBD. (seeing a theme?)

 

Don't get me wrong, I love the geometric markings on the GSB aircraft, but I won't be doing a -4 with the perforated dive flaps. Me and PE don't really get along. At this point I'm torn between a SB2C-3 or a SB2C-1C.  If I do the -3, it'll be from USS Hancock with the cool Omega/Horseshoe symbol on the tail. Hancock's 44-45 cruise was pretty epic involving Leyte Gulf, strikes on Hong Kong and Taiwan/Formosa. Here's a great image of one of her Beasts.

 

If I do a -1C, I'll do Hal Buell's plane from the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  If you haven't read "Dauntless Helldivers" I HIGHLY recommend it. Dude essentially survived every major carrier battle of the pacific, from Coral Sea to Leyte. Survived Guadalcanal too. Managed to hit Zuikaku during the Mariannas Turkey Shoot and still made it back during the famous mission into darkness on 20 June 1944.

Hal's plane is #5 in the color profiles from the Osprey book (used for illustrative purposes)

 

Already started cutting plastic. The kit's as advertised. Frankly after building a bazillion Monogram F-4s in my youth, I'm right at home.  Soft plastic, check. Soft details, check. I'm right at home in my sweet spot 

 

Here you can see the cut's I've already started. Have opened up the bomb-bay, turtle-back and the rudder.  Also notched out the area for clear windows behind the pilot. All pretty simple work.

 

Here's the area under the turtle-back. Fit is about as good as when you try to close the gear doors on a monogram kit.  But with dry-fitting and fiddling it eventually 'falls' into place...

 

Just made an order for the Resin2detail cockpit set (plus exhausts and a sweet looking .30 cal). Once those show up, we'll get this show on the road.  Will have to scratch a lot in the gunners cockpit. Still on the lookout for a bomb-bay set cause I really don't want to have to scratch build that.

 

More soon!

-Peter

 

[KUROK]

I'm riding along with you on this one!

[Stevepd]

The box art is just great.

[Woody V]

I hope this WIP makes it over the finish line. I was following another Helldiver build but it appears to have fallen off the map.
Good luck!

[easixpedro]

1 hour ago, Woody V said:

I hope this WIP makes it over the finish line. I was following another Helldiver build but it appears to have fallen off the map.
Good luck!

I’ve noticed they seem to do that! 
 

Hoping that mine doesn’t run into various roadblocks too.

[JayW]

Following.  And thanks for the book reco - it sounds great!  Whatcha going to do about the engine?

[easixpedro]

1 hour ago, JayW said:

Following.  And thanks for the book reco - it sounds great!  Whatcha going to do about the engine?

I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. The cowl will get some major rework to close the cowl flaps and fix the cooling grill up top. We'll see about the engine as it'll be barely visible in the dive angle I have planned. Goal is to have the cockpits all nice as they're visible as is the bomb bay. 

 

Thing I'm struggling with is what the area in the tunnel looks like. That window behind the cockpit will allow the fuel tank and bits to be seen...

[mkd1966]

Good afternoon Peter,

I too will be following along with your build as well... I have this kit but I haven't started mine yet... I don't know if you follow the warbird movement at all - but currently there are three different Helldivers being restored to flying condition... It seems that forever the only flying Helldiver is the -5 owned by the C.A.F. - but now Fagen Fighters in Minnesota is restoring a -5 while the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado is restoring a -1A and last but not least Yanks Air Museum in Chino California is restoring a -3... You can follow most of these on their facebook pages or online... It will be cool to one day see 4 of these beast flying together... Thanks, Mike

[Sturmbock]

Hi Peter!

I will follow your build with much interest!

 

Lutz

[denders]

[easixpedro]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:51 AM, mkd1966 said:

Good afternoon Peter,

I too will be following along with your build as well... I have this kit but I haven't started mine yet... I don't know if you follow the warbird movement at all - but currently there are three different Helldivers being restored to flying condition... It seems that forever the only flying Helldiver is the -5 owned by the C.A.F. - but now Fagen Fighters in Minnesota is restoring a -5 while the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado is restoring a -1A and last but not least Yanks Air Museum in Chino California is restoring a -3... You can follow most of these on their facebook pages or online... It will be cool to one day see 4 of these beast flying together... Thanks, Mike

Yes! I've been following them for some time. Am keen to see them all flying together-how cool will that be?!

 

And for everyone else, like Mike says you can follow the restorations on FB, and they share a ton of great pics full of great details. 

 

Just home from college orientation with our youngest. Sitting on the front porch was a small box. Color me impressed!  3 days from ordering on Ebay to delivery! We're cooking with gas now!!

 

Took a moment to look over the parts. Holy smokes, they're amazing! Will have to take my time so I don't damage anything whilst removing the supports.

 

Look at the detail on the bulkhead for the front cockpit.  Its got all the details for the roll-cage. I think the -5 just had a massive armor plate. But those details will be visible with the open windows behind the cockpit. 

 

 

You can see that I already snapped some resin while cutting the supports. Have the piece and it shouldn't really be visible buried below the pilot and fuselage fuel tank.

 

Check out the details on the IP. No way will I do this justice, but I'll sure try!

 

 

When I ordered the cockpit,  it was on sale for 25% off and then the exhausts and the .30 cal popped up as "you may be interested." I was! Look at the detail! The aerodynamic fairings for the exhausts are kind of wonky. You could sand 'em and correct it, but with so much to fight on this kit, I figured it was worth the $8.

 

And here's the .30s (already dreading removing these supports...) 

 

 

Hopefully I'll get some time at the bench to get these bits cleaned up and start painting.

Also, I know it sounds like I'm bad mouthing the kit. Its been pretty straight forward thus far. Fuselage details are nice, but the interior details are a bit soft. Dry fitting is a must. I'm just tickled to have a LSP Helldiver!

-Peter

[scvrobeson]

Wow, those detail parts are incredible to behold. They really do blow the kit parts away.  I think some Airscale decals and placards could really set that instrument panel off.

 

 

Matt 

[MikeMaben]

Yep , 

[dennismcc]

The detail parts look great, and looking at your Dauntless which is superb this should work out really well.

 

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[easixpedro]

Wanted to share some pics as I work through how to make the bomb bay and the tunnel area. The wings actually make the floor of the tunnel/roof of the bomb bay. Infinity doesn’t give you that unless you buy the resin and even then from what I can tell it doesn’t represent the interior of the aft cockpit. Here’s some pics to hopefully illustrate.

First up is a pick from the NASM’s -5 that recently went on display. Look at how the wings meet and form the roof of the bomb bay.

 

Here’s a pic from Fagen Fighters -5 restoration. Note how there’s a gap between the spar the the floor. I love how the resin bits look just like the beefy metal work.

 

And here’s a pic from the National Museum of WW2 Aviation in Colorado Springs. They’re restoring an A-25 as a -1C. The A-25 was built for the Army Air Forces, but was such a Beast they didn’t pursue it (see what I did there…) But check out the roll-cage behind the head rest. The resin bits are spot on. You can also see the self sealing fuel tank that sat right behind the pilot. Infinity actually gives you this, but it’s a bit on the large side. 

 

So today I set about to see how it all fits together. Here’s a rough hack at the bomb bay/wing section. Looks a lot like the bit from the Revell 1/48th kit - they actually got it right.

Here’s where I’m at…pardon the tape, it’s tough to keep everything aligned and in place.

 

Already working on the fuselage fuel tank and will post more later in the week. Things are gonna get really complicated as I build things and figure out how the puzzle goes together in my noggin.

-Peter

Edited June 19, 2023 by easixpedro