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XN923 · Bronze Star Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 1176

Roger 410's build will be reported here.

Welcome aboard!

Roger 410 · Posted: Sat 27 Dec 2008 17:22 pm Post subject:

I finally got started to my first Group Built on the evening of Christmas Day.
It is the latest boxing (Indian) and came with two decal sheets.

Having seen Mark`s Photo etch I did a rather crude effort out of Evergreen plastic strips on the wheel bays and the inside of part of the fuselage.

The interior was painted in HU56 which was then matt varnished. It looks a funny colour in the photos.

The cockpit was tarted up and various black boxes and side consols added.
The floor of the second cockpit was cut away (to allow access to the bomb aimer`s position). The instrument panel was drilled out and the "dials" filled with PVA. The seats and flooring were installed and the rear of the torpedo bay was boxed in with plastic card. The fuselage was difficult to line up ( only two pin and hole locations). In the end to get the nose to line I had to put the cowling in place to get it to stay in shape.

The wings were glued together but the inner section of the stbd wing was slightly warped and that has led to problems in fitting both the outer wing and the whole thing to the fuselage. The joints are not as good as I had hoped for but I will just have to live with the results.
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Roger.

Spike · Posted: Sat 27 Dec 2008 18:13 pm Post subject:

Gosh! that looks like a really exciting build, and lots of extras to take care of too

Look forward to seeing how you progress but I have a sneeky feeling I'll be on the look out for the kit myself.

All the best

Roger 410 · Posted: Sun 28 Dec 2008 00:43 am Post subject:

Have assembled the fuselage with the wings and tailplane, filled the seams and then undercoated it with HU64. The starboard wing is not as bad as I had feared after a bit of work with a triangular file.

The fuselage and underwing surfaces were given two coats of Lifecolour LC24 and then the upper wings were given an undercoat of HU24. This was also wrapped around the leading edge and will be masked off before the final coat is painted.

Now comes the big decision, what Unit and what section?
I think I will now go and sleep on it.
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Roger.

Richard M · Posted: Sun 28 Dec 2008 07:11 am Post subject:

Coming along nicely, that extra detail in the wheel bay makes a big difference.
Best
Rich
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Best
Rich
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Heepdrutt · Posted: Sun 28 Dec 2008 08:29 am Post subject:

Looking good

Have you tried the canopy yet I have problems with mine fitting

Roger 410 · Posted: Sun 28 Dec 2008 11:19 am Post subject:

I havn`t but thanks for the warning.
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Roger.

XN923 · Bronze Star Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 1176

Great stuff, keep up the good work!

Roger 410 · Posted: Tue 30 Dec 2008 17:53 pm Post subject:

Have progressed a bit further with the painting. The tailplane has been finished with Xtracrylix White (XA1141) and the wings need a final coat of Xtracolor Insignia Yellow (X106) which I will do tonight and allow to dry overnight. ( Pity they don`t do this colour in acrylic).

I will complete the Black walkways and touch up the Natural Metal tomorrow.

As I have decided on VT-3 from the USS Saratoga it is now down to which section to choose from.

More in a day or two.

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Roger.

Roger 410 · Posted: Fri 02 Jan 2009 00:16 am Post subject:

The main part of the painting has now been finished with the black wing walkways and the section band on the cowling. The propeller has been competed and also the cockpit framing. The weaponry was finished as well, the bomb will find a home on something else.

Section wing bands will be next.
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Roger.

TimJ · Posted: Fri 02 Jan 2009 12:52 pm Post subject:

Coming along well, Roger.
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So many kits, so little time

Spike · Posted: Fri 02 Jan 2009 17:48 pm Post subject:

Wow! great looking build.. impressed with the depth to that yellow too. Hoep canopy goes on ok for you too.

Ratch · Posted: Fri 02 Jan 2009 17:51 pm Post subject:

Great stuff Roger

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XN923 · Bronze Star Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 1176

Excellent work. I've just finished watching the 1941 Errol Flynn film 'Dive Bomber' which features many TBD-1s in similar markings, many with the green forward cowling or half-cowling as you show. Maybe there were aircraft from the same unit featured, or even the aircraft itself! The film is worth looking out just for the aircraft. The changeover from yellow wings to neutrality grey was obviously taking place at the time of the filming.

feanor · Posted: Sat 03 Jan 2009 22:13 pm Post subject:

Ayup 923...

I love the bit when the bomb won't drop...

And the fight scenes, too. none of yer 'Eastenders' codswallop....
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Roger 410 · Posted: Sat 03 Jan 2009 23:48 pm Post subject:

Have now progressed a bit further. The Green wing chevrons have been painted on despite some seepage on the corrugations which I was expecting.

These are not full chord as most of them seem to be but are as shown in the Tecmod decal instructions. I have a suspicion that they started off like this and were changed later. All sorts of anomalies with chevrons have been recorded.

The arrester hook has been painted white and decaled with black stripes as per the photos of the real aircraft.

The canopy has been fitted except for the gunners position, without any difficulty and the prop has been fitted to the shaft. This was far too long and had to carefully reduced in stages.

The undercarriage and cowling will be left off until decaling is completed. I will get some more done tomorrow but am unlikely to get anything else done until next weekend as I start back to work on Monday and have three evening meetings as well this coming week.

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Roger.

TimJ · Posted: Tue 06 Jan 2009 13:02 pm Post subject:

Looking good so far Roger.
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So many kits, so little time

XN923 · Bronze Star Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 1176

Lovely work there Roger. I wasn't much of a 'yellow wings' fan before this build but am definitely starting to revise my thinking.

Feanor, for unrealistic fight scenes in a war film, look no further than Ealing Studios' appalling 'Ships with Wings'. Some great footage of Skuas and Swordfish, but only if you can get past the ludicrous plot and awful acting. It gets my award for 'hilarious punch-up in a supporting role'.

'Dive Bomber' is funny in its way (not least the proto-pressure suit! - imagine fighting in one of those!) but Vindicators, Devastators, Helldivers, F3Fs, Buffalos and even the odd Northrop BT-1 (unfortunately all on the ground in the case of the latter) in glorious technicolour is worth a tenner of anyone's money. 'Enterprise' was the carrier featured, but as most of the flying seemed to take place from land mostly, I couldn't be sure which units were involved without looking again. The difference between a Vindicator and a Devastator taking off from a carrier is quite marked - the latter really does stagger into the air...

Roger 410 · Posted: Mon 12 Jan 2009 23:17 pm Post subject:

Have finally progressed a bit further. I made the mistake of using the kit decals for the stars. I got the first one off the backing paper without too much difficulty but it wanted to stick as soon as it was on the wing. With the use of copious amounts of water I managed to get the first one in position and I then put a lot of water down where the next one was to go. This was very successful and I did the same with the other two.

The excess water was soaked up with a tissue and when starting to gently press them down they started to crack and disintegrate. They were then left to dry out and gloss varnished the next day, but parts of some of them decided that they would lift. After a minor panic most of the bits were got back into position and after the varnish had dried I touched them up with the appropriate colours.

After trying to use the US Navy titles which came apart, I gave up on the rest of the kit decals and used the Techmod ones instead without any problems.

This is the state of play as of tonight.

A bit more touching up and then final fitting out.
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Roger.

daniel7891 · Posted: Tue 13 Jan 2009 09:02 am Post subject:

Looks Excellent Roger. Shame about those awful airfix decals
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Cheers

Daniel