DoogsATX Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I've always liked the Dauntless...call it my weak spot for outdated workhorses that keep on proving themselves...and when my planned build for an upcoming issue of Weathering Aircraft (aircraft-specific spinoff of The Weathering Magazine) proved to be a hot mess of a kit, I turned my sights toward the venerable SBD. I haven't settled on markings yet - but I don know that whatever I go with, it will be painted in Pacific tri-color camo. I'm anticipating using a mix of Gunze and Mr. Paint. Anywho...the kit itself is pretty nice. Definitely one of Trumpeter's "good" kits. There's a gap in the wingroots that I think is part a width issue and part a "surface of mating parts" issue. Either way - easy enough to fix with some shimming if it comes to it. Aftermarket will be extremely limited because...aftermarket is extremely limited. I won't be going for any aftermarket in the cockpit because I really don't think it needs it. Some wiring maybe, and some placards and a bit of scratch work, but the kit parts are quite nice. I'd love to add some fabric lap belts - but there aren't any. I may just scratch my own using some border material from an HGW or RB set. On the outside of the plane...I'm probably going to replace the .30 cal barrels with Master brass barrels. And I'll be using Eduard's stunning dive flaps. And...that's about it. Rdrunner, Zero77, BiggTim and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 So last week I was railing about the sheer, abysmal awfulness of Kitty Hawk's Kingfisher and its engine assembly. Ambitious (and unnecessary) in terms of engineering complexity, and utterly unable to back it up in terms of fit. Trumpeter's R-1820 is a breath of fresh air by comparison. Parts fit - and in such a way that for the most part you can paint them separately and assemble everything toward the end, greatly easing the detail work. I need to investigate, but I think it may even be totally possible to get the crankcase cover, ignition ring and pushrods together as their own assembly. Most pics I have of the engine show the ignition wires secured to the pushrods, so this subassembly would make that pre-wiring a lot easier. Anywhoo, plastic! Rdrunner, jgrease, BiggTim and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 It's been rain all week, so last night I did more light construction and prep and test-fitting, making sure things will go together the way they need to when the time comes. After my brief and horrifying experience with Kitty Hawk's awful front end engineering, this Dauntless is a breath of fresh air, for several reasons. - Everything fits, and fits well. No problems with locating pins being too large for their holes or other stupid goofs. - Parts have intelligent sprue attachment points. Particularly smaller, fragile parts. Yay. - The firewall mounts are beefy and fit with authority. I've gone ahead and glued them to the "forward" firewall. The covering panels fit over them and fit very well with no weird gaps that I can see. - The engine fits to the forward firewall with four nice alignment pins. Exhaust manifolds are designed to slot into the mount. Collector rings direct the exhaust toward the outlet holes in the cowl, but stop short of doing so. Instead, you get to add the final exhaust tips toward the end of the build. Thankfully. - The cowl fits well and it seems like it should be totally possible to install it at the tail end of the build. But I'll have to wait and see how it fits after the valve covers are installed on the R-1820. Anyway...a few pics. Only things that have been glued down here are 1) the front and back halves of the engine, 2) front half of the engine mounting part thing and 3) the mounting arms to the engine firewall (they're just press-fitted to the cockpit firewall). Zero77, jgrease, BiggTim and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Further adventures in test-fitting and groundwork last night...getting a bit stuck til this rain moves out. Rdrunner, jgrease, dutik and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 (edited) Looks very nice so far. There are not a lot of flashy markings options for the garden-variety Dauntless, but i always liked the markings of Marine pilot Elmer "Iron Man" Glidden. Ever since i saw pics in "Flying Leathernecks in WWII" and the box top for the Hasegawa SBD-5/6. I think we can coin a new technical term: The Trumpeter "Shot Glass" engine cowling?? -d- Edited March 11, 2016 by David Hansen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 Looks very nice so far. There are not a lot of flashy markings options for the garden-variety Dauntless, but i always liked the markings of Marine pilot Elmer "Iron Man" Glidden. Ever since i saw pics in "Flying Leathernecks in WWII" and the box top for the Hasegawa SBD-5/6. I think we can coin a new technical term: The Trumpeter "Shot Glass" engine cowling?? -d- Not a lot of flashy markings, but there's a lot of interesting weathering to be explored! Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misha71 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 great subject. i am sure you will turn it into great model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Looking forward to this one Matt! Can't wait to see your painting skills applied to this this canvas Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepard Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 big fan of your work!! cheers mate shep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1971Show Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Re: over- or poorly-engineered kits - just curious, have you tried one of the more recent Bronco armour kits? Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Boy oh boy Matt, you're going to have your work cut out for you,on this one. The SBD, as you know, was covered in raised rivets as opposed to Trumpeter's recessed divots. If you're going to correct that, Archer Fine Transfer will be expecting your call after you've enjoyed fillin' all them holes. I'm not sure if that's your intent but judging from your past builds you've been pretty consistent with correcting details on your models. Have fun and I look forward to seein' what you'll do with this one. Cheers, Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Boy oh boy Matt, you're going to have your work cut out for you,on this one. The SBD, as you know, was covered in raised rivets as opposed to Trumpeter's recessed divots. If you're going to correct that, Archer Fine Transfer will be expecting your call after you've enjoyed fillin' all them holes. I'm not sure if that's your intent but judging from your past builds you've been pretty consistent with correcting details on your models. Have fun and I look forward to seein' what you'll do with this one. Cheers, Wolf I have dreams of doing that, but the rivets on the Dauntless are rather small and I have my sanity to consider... Zero77 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misha71 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 What should be size for rivets in this scale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 i say cheat and just suggest at raised rivets with judicious use of a silver pencil. But, i'm lazy..... -d- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Hey Matt Great subject choice! I have often thought about getting the Dauntless kit. You have made a great start. How about an RNZAF scheme?? Watching the master at work again might convince me to get one to go with my Avenger! Cheers Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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