Infinity SB2C Helldiver (26 Nov: Finis)

[easixpedro]

Love the discussion! As for the wind deflectors, I was looking at my references to prove Marco wrong (we’ll get to that) and realized I’ve saved some really good pics over the years and thought I’d share.

Here’s a -3 or later. Earlier birds don’t have that aerodynamic fairing at the bottom of the canopy. Check out the piano hinge and how young the gunner looks.

 

And here’s a pic from the National Museum of WW2 Aviation’s FB page. You can see how the mechanism actually works. Again, soooo many details to absorb.

Now as for Marco’s comment on the fuel tank. I think we’re both right. I based my second tank off this pic from the CAF’s -5. It’s a standard self sealing fuel tank. It’s the only (for now) flying Helldiver. Did the CAF just put a similar sized tank in there for weight and balance reasons to keep her flying? Who knows.

 

Here’s another shot of a -1C. Can’t really see much behind the cockpit, which to me, confirmed what I thought. Also check out the piano hinge atop the pilots canopy. Both canopies had it, a cool feature to allow the crew to shimmy out if the canopy was jammed shut.

 

And here’s a close up of a pic I posted earlier. You can see the tank doesn’t extend past the fuselage lines into the turtle back. But it does appear to be curved like the kit’s offering. Hmmm…

Then I had an “AHA” moment (such as they are). Circa 2010, a -4 Helldiver was pulled from a reservoir in SoCal. There’s some great pics on Flickr from the day they pulled it out of the water. Here’s some examples (pics by Peter Csanadi, and shared under fair use for illustrative purposes)

 

 

I’d say pretty conclusive evidence that Marco is correct. That’s an unrestored airplane the moment it surfaced after 65 years under water. That’s the original tank. So now to go find the other one and see how it fits and where the filler neck and fuel lines I’d made for it disappeared off to…

 

Appreciate the comments and everyone’s inputs.

More soon!

-Peter

Edited June 28, 2023 by easixpedro

[spartacus2000]

M.P.

[easixpedro]

Hola Amigos!

 

Think I’ve finally got the fuselage fuel tank sorted. With Marco’s prodding I built a 3rd. Essentially traced the first (kit) tank. I shortened it a bit, and made lit longer too. Used a bit of Apoxie Sculpt to make the ends bow out. Added a fuel filler neck and some straps to hold it in place too. Took me all week as life has been crazy. Here they are, L-R: modified kit tank, 2nd effort based off the CAF Helldiver and my latest effort.

 

Then I started work on the roll cage bits. Didn’t go too crazy as most will be hidden. It also has to fit inside the fuselage. The real deal meets the bomb bay, so these are a bit off. Don’t think it’ll be visible once the rest of the radios and life raft are in. More importantly, it gives the impression that they’re there.

 

Paints still drying here…had to do a little touch-up.

 

As you can see here, not a lot’s visible. But it’s a good representation.

Up next, I’ll start on some of the fuel lines, as well as all the black boxes for our intrepid gunner.

More soon!

-Peter

Edited July 2, 2023 by easixpedro

[easixpedro]

Got some time at the bench today. Dr. said take it easy, so good excuse to do just that.

 

Set about to make the radar and the various radios and black boxes that populate the rear cockpit.

To refresh you memory, here’s what the real deal looks like.

And here’s a crappy pic of the old Squadron Signal book. Missing the radar scope, but has the radio underneath.

Here’s what Infinity gives you. The rack for the radar is far too long and would extend almost all the way to the pilot. I lopped it in half and it was perfect.

 

Here’s the second shelf. Check out the trapezoidal shapes. Oof.

Infinity gives you some OK pieces that make up the front, but tough if not impossible to get them aligned with the trapezoid. Although the detail is a bit soft, they’re accurate and usable. I just added bits of styrene to make each box. Hopefully this pic gives you the idea (tough to photograph black with your phone)

 

Here’s the shelf with the radar. Need to add a couple more wires, but otherwise good enough.

and everything in place. Not much will be visible with the gunner in place, so the wiring looms were probably a bit much. Didn’t even bother doing the bottom row of boxes as they’re really covered even without a figure in place. I did add fuel lines from the fuel tank - really a rough approximation as not a lot is visible.

 

Up next I’ll finish up painting the cockpit sidewalls so I can start thinking about gluing the fuselage together. More soon!

-Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Lovely progress, Peter!

 

Kev

[easixpedro]

Spent the morning going down a rabbit hole here at the ol’ homestead.

 

Let me explain. I was sick of detail painting in the cockpits and started investigating the modifications I’ll need to make to the cowling. Was studying the intake at the top and realized it needs some work. As I was counting the grills (Infinity has 9, the real deal 7), I stumbled across this picture in ye olde personal archives.

 

It’s a Helldiver on the USS Bunker Hill launching for the first missions of the Tokyo Raids on February 16, 1945. Check out the yellow nose on the Helldiver and Avenger. The deck crew are bundled up against the elements. It was cold. And snowing. The fleet sailed up to within 50NM of the Japanese coast and launched a 2-day series of raids over Tokyo. Part of a diversionary effort before landing on Iwo Jima. Crazy to think about, and arguably you’ve lost the war if a a fleet can park itself off your coast and proceed to strike at will. If you listen to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcasts, he’s got a great series about the rise and fall of Imperial Japan. Well worth a listen.

 

Here’s a really good write-up about the strikes: https://mighty90.com/Operation_JAMBOREE.html

Also a fascinating bit about electronic warfare and jamming by Avengers to cover the inbound strikes here (will have to read some more on that, as I sure as heck didn’t know about EW gear in TBMs!) http://www.cv6.org/1945/tokyo/

 

I recently read James Scott’s “Black Snow” about LeMay and the firebombing of Tokyo. He argues (and I agree with him) that the reason Gen Hansell was fired and replaced by Curt LeMay was due to the USN outperforming the vaunted new B-29s. Tough to argue for an independent Air Force if a strategic bombing can’t match tac-air. LeMay was sent in to prove a point… don’t want to rehash the whole inter-service rivalry bit, but that whole last year of the war in the Pacific is fascinating to me (hence the rabbit hole).

 

Also finding it very hard not to change plans and make GSB -4 with a yellow nose…! 
Anyway, thought I’d share. Pics of the build once I’m done being distracted with old-timey photos…

-Peter

 

[easixpedro]

OK, so spent the last few days working on the sidewalls of both cockpits. Added the hydraulic reservoir and wobble pump to the port side of the gunner's cockpit.  Early variants were supposedly a hydraulic nightmare, with a series of pumps and knobs in each cockpit.  Was finally solved by the -4, but no Helldiver would be complete without these details.

Here's the blob of the hyd reservoir from the kit next to the one I made from a bit of sprue with a Meng nut on the top.

 

And here it is under paint with the wobble pump and some shiny hydraulic lines.

 

On the other side, I added some ICS boxes and the Oxygen regulator. Here's the real deal (pic grabbed from a militaria forum) 

 

I didn't bother taking a picture of the kit part, it was a blob. Here's my part...will likely be buried by the gun mount and gunner.

 

Now a bit about the cowling. I mentioned in the post above that I was looking for references on the air intake. Here's the real deal. There's 7 vertical lines, the kit has 9. It also doesn't really go into any sort of ducting, which is quite obvious in this scale.

 

Here's my effort in the midst of shaping.  Tried all sorts of bits for the verticals - brass and aluminum, but it's such a small part I couldn't get enough glue to hold it all together. Ended up using styrene and liquid cement to melt it all together.

 

Here it is under a coat of primer. Still have some work to do, but feel like I'm on the right track.

 

Up next I glued the fuselage together. With a limited run kit like this, there's nothing to help you align the halves, so going slow is paramount. The fit was better than I expected though. Once everything was glued, I needed to build out the stand and how I want it displayed.  Here's the brass insert to hold the rod.

 

 

And here's a rough look at what I have planned.  Still loads more to do, but we're moving right along!

 

Will have to decide what to tackle next. Either start with the wings, or start on the bomb bay.  More once I figure it all out.

-Peter

[LSP_Kevin]

Excellent work, Peter! That cowl ring looks like another great opportunity for 3D-printed replacement.

 

Kev

[JayW]

Hey Peter - great work on the Helldiver.  And, that link you provided on the Tokyo raids.  It is just stunning to me the air power our carriers had in 1945.  Those decks were just packed with aircraft - impressive and powerful modern aircraft!  Compare to 1942.  As for the B-29's - apples and oranges.  How can a fleet of B-29's which take off 1000 miles away, and drop bombs from tens of thousands of feet high sometimes in cloud cover compete with a sh_t ton of Helldivers, Avengers, Corsairs, Hellcats, 50 miles off the coast, all carrying bombs and lotsa .50 rounds all of which can closely home in on targets?  Pretty effective I'd say.  But I would also say we needed both.  Would Iwo have been easier to take if there had been more air support....

[easixpedro]

10 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Excellent work, Peter! That cowl ring looks like another great opportunity for 3D-printed replacement.

 

Kev

Probably. I honestly don’t know where you’d stop though. You could print the whole kit. Honestly reminds me of a 1970s era Monogram kit. Makes me feel right at home though!

 

 

9 hours ago, JayW said:

Hey Peter - great work on the Helldiver.  And, that link you provided on the Tokyo raids.  It is just stunning to me the air power our carriers had in 1945.  Those decks were just packed with aircraft - impressive and powerful modern aircraft!  Compare to 1942.  As for the B-29's - apples and oranges.  How can a fleet of B-29's which take off 1000 miles away, and drop bombs from tens of thousands of feet high sometimes in cloud cover compete with a sh_t ton of Helldivers, Avengers, Corsairs, Hellcats, 50 miles off the coast, all carrying bombs and lotsa .50 rounds all of which can closely home in on targets?  Pretty effective I'd say.  But I would also say we needed both.  Would Iwo have been easier to take if there had been more air support....

Thanks Jay. As for apples to oranges, that’s certainly not what the head of the Air Force Hap Arnold thought. The 3 most expensive things the US did in the warm: the B-29, the Manhattan Project and the Norden bomb sight. B-29 was the most expensive by far. At one point LeMay was reminded that they cost more than ships and he couldn’t just lose them daily and expect to be successful (and become an independent service). It’s a weird dynamic as if they were trying to win the war, but knew there’d be a big budget fight as well as a fight for a new Air Force, so anything that could be used to sell the perspective argument was valid. We look back now and assume that we were all on the same side, sometimes I wonder!

 

As for Iwo, all the Jeep carriers were there and the fast carriers arrived the day of the invasion. I don’t think anything would have changed the outcome…it was going to be a slog regardless. Highly recommend Dan Carlin’s podcast. Especially as you sit and work on the Corsair!

[easixpedro]

Well these guys showed up in the mail tonight. Second time I've ordered from Dragon Hobby off Ebay, and the shipping is as fast as Spruebrothers.

 

They should do nicely when the time comes!

[easixpedro]

Jumping Josephat! It's been almost a month since I posted anything?!  Haven't had much time to build...prepping to be empty nesters here in a couple of weeks, so fitting a life-time of activities whilst we can.

 

So here's an update--managed to work on her the last 2-nights.

 

First up, the tail feathers.  Nothing special.  Just removed the rudder and elevators. Sanded the edges a bit and cut out the spaces for the attachments.  Makes it look a bit more realistic to have some gaps where gaps ought to be. There's resin bits to do just this, but a bit of old school modeling will get you the same results without denting the wallet. I also think the kit parts look pretty good, hence my decision not to go the resin route...

 

 

Here you can see my custom bulkhead behind the turtle-back.  Joy of a limited run kit - the kit part was about 3 mm short on all sides. but no muss, no fuss. You can also see the gaps I filled on the horizontals.  A bit more finagling, I might have got them closer. A little milliput solved my lack of patience...

 

Up next was the oil cooler.  Finally managed to find pics of the real deal.  Key point is I'm closing the cowl flaps and opening the oil cooler. That seems to be the in-flight standard.  Kit's oil cooler is molded close, so I'd removed them prior to closing up the fuselage.  Still have access to the area behind the firewall, so it was time to give a little representation.  Here's the cooler itself--a single radiator on the bottom.

 

Here's a pic of the intake ducting on the cowling, taken from the National WW2 Air museum FB page.

 

 

And one from the guy that found the cowling that they used on it.

 

Here's my effort. Didn't spend a lot of time on it as it'll be hidden, AND have the brass tubing that I used to mount it going through the middle.  It's literally a pice of styrene tubing that I attached some mesh from a coffee filter.  Close enough!

 

And here you can see it at 2.5x magnification.  Once I put the flaps on there, even less will likely be visible.  Close enough for gub'ment work  You can also see my efforts at closing the cowl flaps. That's attempt number eleven-teen. Still not quite right, but more on that later. You can also see me fiddling around with the wing spar.  Will actually use the kit part with some modifications. Should work out well - I think.  More on that in my next big update (hopefully)!

 

More soon!

-Peter

[MikeMaben]

[Oldbaldguy]

“Jumpin’ Jehosiphat?”  You somehow related to Grandpaw Pettibone?

[Borsos]

You do an amazing job on this kit! Will you also do a spinning prop?

Andreas