1/32 Trumpeter SBD-5 Dauntless

[doogsatx/]

Got the lower dive brakes installed last night. If I build another one of these, I'll be scratchbuilding the brake actuators for sure. The Trumpeter parts are decent, but you're kinda stuck with the angle they give you. I have some thoughts on how to approach a better, workable approach that would lead to a cleaner install, but, well, 20/20 hindsight.

Also got moving on the exhaust staining. Want to come back to it with fresh eyes, but I may come back with some lighter tan/gray tones. The crazy variation in Dauntless exhaust staining seen in references leaves it pretty open.

[saltydog-email no longer valid]

Doogs, you have an outstanding piece of work going there. I enjoyed browsing through your website as well. You have a killer collection of excellent work friend. Thank you for writing down all of the experiences. I will be visiting again.

[John Everett]

Love the dive brakes!

[doogsatx/]

Upper dive brakes installed at last.

I've been agonizing over how to install them - extended isn't really a thing that happened on the ground, and the Trumpeter actuators left the Eduard brakes sitting only slightly canted up (maybe 15 degrees, tops). Well - a bench mishap that led to the knocking off of a lower dive brake sealed the deal. Cut those damn actuators down and do the uppers realistically, i.e. closed.

Side benefit is that this provides a larger contact patch, so they aren't anywhere near as precariously glued as the lower brakes.

​

[mnrun.]

I think it looks better like that, with the top brakes closed. Beautiful job.

[panzerjager2]

I can almost see the Akagi in her sights..........

SBD   Slow but Deadly

[doogsatx/]

Fun with sheen variance and further weathering/punishment tonight. After a flat coat I attacked the surface with various grades of sandpaper, from 1000 grit up to 6000 micromesh. Long and tedious process but I'm happy with where it's heading.

[Rick]

On final approach now Doogs. Beautiful work as always.

Rick

[dupes]

Interesting. What effect do you get with sanding on top of the flat coat? Are you trying to get through it?

[doogsatx/]

Getting close now - apart from a few additional weathering touches, I'm just about done. Still have to rig up the radio aerials and install the recognition lights (waiting on some MV lenses to do that job, since the kit parts are woeful).





As much as I love this kit, it has some severe letdowns in a few places. The aforementioned recognition lights are awful, and there are straight-up HOLES in the fuselage where they install. The gear door support struts are also laughably bad - just vague rods of plastic. I replaced them with some thick wire. The gunner's twin .30s are weak on detail, but with Master barrels plus all the surrounding shielding they're livable. The vinyl tires are vinyl tires and can die in a fire. Unfortunately the only replacements I'm aware of are from Mastercasters - and the last time I bought a set of their wheels they were pizza cutter thin and weren't even round.

The main point of aggravation, though, is without doubt the canopies. They are simply too thick to stack, even with the aggressive thinning I did at the start of the build. If I were building another one of these, I'd really try to source or make some vacform replacements for at least some of the sliding portions that end up in the middle of the sandwich. The pressure needed to keep everything in place necessitated using CA, which led to some very minimal - but unreachable - fogging.

[doogsatx/]

Sept 27, 2016 17:22:18 GMT -5 dupes said:

Interesting. What effect do you get with sanding on top of the flat coat? Are you trying to get through it?

Variance - in some places it's now got a bit more shine than others, rather more like the real thing (Dauntlesses didn't seem to be as prone to the extreme fading and flattening that is characteristic of Corsairs, for example).

[wing_nut]

Why wait for MV lenses. A dot of silver, followed by a dot of clear color then a little blob of Bondic. Add the UV and Bob's your uncle... nav lights.

Looking very sweet BTW.

[doogsatx/]

Oct 12, 2016 6:44:55 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

Why wait for MV lenses. A dot of silver, followed by a dot of clear color then a little blob of Bondic. Add the UV and Bob's your uncle... nav lights.

Looking very sweet BTW.

There are literally holes in the fuselage - like a little ring inset in the light housing, and then just a gaping hole. My thinking is that it should be perfect to drop an MV into, with their curved backs.

[doogsatx/]

DONE.

221 days on the bench - with probably at least 60 of them eaten up with vacation and travel, work taking priority, video review production and a silly 1/72 Sea King.

Full article coming in a future issue of Weathering Aircraft.

[Leon]

Another great finish Doogs!

[mnrun.]

Lovely work!

[saltydog-email no longer valid]

Been keeping up with this one on FB. Looks solid Doogs!

[deafpanzer]

Beautiful finish!

[george]

Great build!

[adt70hk]

Excellent job! The weathering under the fuselage and wings looks great!

[Deleted]

Some great work so far!

I am just getting ready to build this kit, having sat in my stash for about 10 years. Basically this is a really excellent kit but, for me at least, I can always find stuff to improve upon with scratchbuilding especially in the cockpit. I have a 1/32 Waldron cockpit placard set so I will wipe a lot of the cockpit slick and use them instead. I have a bunch of Anyz switches and knobs which will add a greater touch of realism to the instrument and electrical distribution panels. The dive brakes/flaps will probably get tossed too and scratch built. The kit detail is so so. As always I plan on leaving some panels open, from the firewall forward mostly. There is a lot of good detail in the kit engine but lots of room left for super detailing. 

The one thing that confuses me about this kit is why Trumpeter chose to recess the rivets on this kit. The Dauntless was constricted with lap jointed panels secured with raised rivets. When cutting molds, this is far easier to do than recessed ones. 

I just noticed something, I don't know why I did not catch this before. Trumpeter put TWO control sticks in the rear cockpit. The kit has one stick on the control stick linkage and another one stowed on the port side of the cockpit. This is clearly wrong. I also have yet to find any reference photos showing the canvas boot over the linkage in either the forward or rear cockpit. I will remove the canvas boot in both cockpits and get rid of the stick on the linkage in the rear. It is highly unlikely it would ever be mounted in the linkage with the aircraft on the ground. 

Looking forward to getting started tomorrow!