richdlc

In place: Finally here’s the pilot’s seat with added detail. Once again I was careful not to overdo it and add detail that will never be seen (well mostly LOL). The reference photos for this came from the Detail & Scale book, so you’ll just have to take my word that it looks (something) like this.. Now for the front cockpit. There’s lots to add, but it’s very satisfactory doing so. As with many aircraft of this era, the area is quite spartan (compared to modern aircraft). It’s important to try and get period details correct, so I’ve referred to as many images as possible. As with other builds, I’ve built up something of a composite of many different machines, but I’m hoping that it will be accurate once finished. For no apparent reason, I decided to skin everything I could with sheet pewter. The following images show various parts at various stages of construction. The I.P. is nearly done - a few more details to add. The kit would have you fit decals over a flat surface - very 1980s. I drilled out the holes for each instrument, and added some round tube to the rear of each, leaving a small recess. The idea is to drop in some Waldron or Airscale instruments faces, then either punch out some clear acetate ‘glass’ or cover the surface of each with Klear. Some of the detail isn’t bad (and is actually quite accurate) so I left it…the rest was sanded off skinned with pewter. The switches on the fuse panel are scale threaded nuts glued into recesses in the panel’s surface. A lot of stuff in the kit is basically accurate, but warrants further modification, especially in the large scale…like this hand hydraulic pump: these photos should give you an overall impression of how busy the cockpit is becoming. There is a whole lot more to add! the completed ammo bins - these go behind the gunner’s position right at the rear of the gunner’s cockpit. Plastic core, skinned with pewter. The hinges for the lids are brass, from Aber. Here’s how they will look when installed: The next thing I tackled was the throttle in the front cockpit. The real thing first: I made mine from layers of pewter and plastic. The throttle levers themselves are plastic rod, flattened at appropriate places and then slipped into the gaps between the different layers. The round knobs are miniscule dressmaker’s beads, rounded off with blobs of superglue. I took my inspiration from Peter’s (Airscale) fantastic 1/24 Tigercat scratchbuild. Although my throttle isn’t as delicate as his, I think it does the job. Unfortunately I think I may have mounted it a bit too close to the fuselage wall and I may have to address that issue later… Here’s the throttle being constructed: Next up - oxygen regulators. There are one each in the front and rear cockpits. I made the front one first. Here’s the real thing: Note that it is nice and tight up against the fuselage wall. I made mine too big, therefor had to chop a section out of the fuse wall to make sure the regulator was tucked in tight. Please note that close up photos make it look like there are gigantic holes, nicks and scratches everywhere - this is not the case! I then started making the ribs and stringers for the rear cockpit. Here’s what I need to replicate: work in progress: The inside sills of the rear cockpit sides have a distinctive shape, which I have started to build up with plastic card. And some final shots of the front cockpit, which is getting very nice and busy: *update 05/04/15* My work in the last few weeks has focussed on the avionics equipment. I'm having problems deciphering exactly what equipment might have been used on a French Dauntless circa 1947. I found this excerpt from the pilot's manual on the net. As RADAR was introduced on later models only (dash 4, dash 5, dash 6 models) I think this description is applicable to my model: ‘The radio equipment consists of an AN/ARC-5 multiple-channel communication radio, a navigation receiver, an ARB receiver, a tactical radio (RADAR), an identification radio and an inter phone system’ I also managed to find the official US Navy Radio Characteristics chart for VSB class aircraft (ie Scout Bombers) like the Dauntless, and it states that the equipment was as follows (presumably for earlier Dauntless models as it references the DU-1 Direction Finder) GP-7 Transmitter RU-19 Receiver LM-7 Frequency Meter DU-1 Direction Finder (ie the loop antenna and associated equipment found forward of the gunner's position on the Dauntless) I also needed to depict a beacon homing receiver, such as the ZB-3 Homing device. To cut a long story short, here’s what I decided to show in my aircraft: GP-7 Transmitter RU-19 Receiver LM-7 Frequency Meter **ASB Radar of some kind** **Homing Device of some kind** I contacted a couple of radio enthusiasts at Duxford, and they generously gave me their advice as well. I’m not saying that the final result is 100% accurate, but I’m happy with it. Here are some images to illustrate: This is the avionics shelf out of the box - from top left to bottom right: RADAR display RU-19 Receiver Unidentified GP-7 Transmitter And here’s the avionics shelf after my modifications - from top left to bottom right: LM-7 Frequency Meter RU-19 Receiver with Dual-band tuning unit RADAR Display GP-7 Transmitter Here are some photos of the real instruments: RU-19 Receiver with tuning units A GP-7 Transmitter: an LM-7 Frequency Meter: I don’t have any photos of the RADAR display (I actually went with a photo in the ‘Walk Around’ book) but it looks just like my effort and vice versa (I hope). There are also a couple of items like the modulator and the dynamotor that I didn't add - not enough room on the avionics shelf, and besides I can just pretend they are hidden behind all the radios etc. That just leaves the homing device. My reference pics show it on the ‘parcel shelf’ just behind the rollover post behind the pilot. Here’s the DU-1 direction finder which was installed in earlier Dauntless models up to the dash-three: This would have been removed on the later models and replaced with a homing device, like this ZB model: Here it is installed on the ‘parcel shelf’, and on the left a spare dual-band tuning unit: Once the fuselage halves are buttoned up, unfortunately a lot of this detail kind of disappears! But the point is, it’s there: Meanwhile, I have also been slowly but surely adding details to the cockpit sides, both front and rear. Photos of many different Dauntlesses were studied, so the model is a kind of composite. Again, unless you are a real expert, the odd minor error will go un-noticed, plus I am happy with it. Right side front cockpit wall: Right side rear cockpit wall: Overview of cockpit so far: There’s plenty more to do, even more so now I have decided to build a complete airplane! But that’s half the fun isn’t it? Thanks for looking and any comments or questions most welcomed! Rich

bulkhead behind the pilot - here it is skinned front and back. Plenty more to do, but it’s getting there. The rear can’t really be seen (plus I don’t have definitive photos of what it looks like) so there is a little speculation involved. No matter! It will be hidden behind banks of radios. This is the ‘shelf’ behind the pilot and underneath the rollover cage. It provides a kind of ‘shroud’ to protect all the radio equipment underneath, which is accessed from the gunner’s cockpit. The kit part looks like this: whereas the real thing looks a bit like this: In any case I re-worked it and this is the result - more details to be added later of course: The rollover cage in the kit is a bit weedy, and missing lots of bolt heads. I beefed it up and added several dozen resin bolt heads - plenty more to add! This is the ‘trough’ for stowing the gunner’s twin 0.30 cals. The kit part is too simplistic, so here’s what I came up with. I needed to square off the opening, then I skinned with pewter as usual. I also added the large armour plate sheet. Here are (left to right) the centre, front and rear cockpit bulkheads, skinned up - again there is much more to add, but I had to get the basic pieces done ready to install. It will be much easier if I glue in major components now and worry about detail later. This rather pitiful looking piece is what Merit / Trumpeter would have you believe is the ammo box rack in the gunner’s cockpit. It sits against the rear cockpit bulkhead. It should look like this: I made a basic shape and then skinned it with metal as usual. I still need to add the ammo bin lids, but have made a start on the first one in this photo: Here’s a test fit of the parts I’ve made so far. The cockpit interior is beginning to look nice and busy! Here’s the kit provided control column assembly. The Dauntless could be flown from the rear cockpit - the gunner simply unclipped his removable control stick and stuck it into the mount. Beneath that is my replacement. It is not 100% complete because some of it will be hidden beneath the pilot’s seat, so it would be unnecessary to fully detail that particular bit - but the parts on display were done to the best of my ability. There is still (always!) more to add, but you get the idea. Here’s the real thing: The pilot’s end: And the rear cockpit end:

Hi guys. I started this build thread over on LSP in December last year, so I thought I would migrate it across to Britmodeller so you can see what I've been up to. Sorry for the massive thread, but condensing 5 month's worth! I'm building the Merit (Trumpeter) 1/18 SBD-3, converted to a French Aeronavale SBD-5 flying from the carrier Arromanches during the first Indochina War, circa 1947. As is customary, I began with the cockpit. Here are the kit parts laid out - floor and sidewalls. The detail is for the most part moulded on, and is fairly accurate, but for a model of this size it just isn’t good enough. I therefore removed the sidewall details, filled in any holes and covered the resulting bare surfaces with thin plastic sheet ready for detailing. This photo of a Dauntless undergoing restoration shows the front cockpit in bare metal, devoid of fittings - perfect for me because it shows the rivet patters. I decided from the start that I would cover everything with pewter sheet again, as nothing replicates metal better than metal. I am concentrating on the left hand corner first - here’s another couple of pics: Panel with trim control, parachute flare release handles, fire extinguisher pull handle: another view looking downwards - the levers on the floor are (top to bottom) the wobble pump lever, and the arrester hook release: making a start on the control panel: arrester hook lever detailing, floor panelling begins: you can see here the (for now) blank sheet plastic sidewalls. I might cover these in pewter as well later… This is the bulkhead behind the pilot, plus the armour plating. At this point I realised that the armour plate isn’t quite the right shape… The armour has notches cut into it, and you can see what looks like a white bungee cord disappearing behind the seat: This is the seat operating shock cord - you can see it better in this illustration from the maintenance manual (labelled ‘3’). The attachments for the cord double up as supports for the seat frame: I needed to remove the sections highlighted with pencil: Duly done, then the whole thing altered slightly with plastic card, and skinned with pewter: test fit - looking better!

great work fozzy

hi - many thanks for the kind comments

cheers guys, glad you like it :-)

thanks guys! You'll notice that a wing has been removed. I've scratched a simple cradle / wheeled trolley for it. Once my custom made base and case arrive later this week, I'll make a simple concrete surface to replicate a hangar floor. I'll then display the removed wing, along with a figure to illustrate scale. I have to be careful what I add because I've already entered this in a certain class for Telford - any more additions and it will turn into a diorama. As much as I like doing dios, I think this one is better off in the class it's entered for. I'll update this thread once the base and ther bits are complete, which should hopefully be very soon

I didn't go mad on the underside weathering as it will mostly be hidden… but leaking oil is a must. If anything, this is TOO clean The landing gear struts have red painted locking mechanisms to prevent the gear from accidentally being retracted whilst the aircraft is parked. These were simple to make from pieces of pewter sheet. Remember to put RBF tags on stuff like this! Mine are from HGW The canopy had a huge mould seam right down the middle. I removed this and after a few dozen polishing sessions this is how it turned out. There are one or two minor flaws visible in the right light. However, I decided against covering the transparencies in future at this late stage as I didn't want it to go wrong. With me, future always seems to either pool (causing blemishes) or go wrong in some other way. I just don't trust myself / it enough to risk ruining the only canopy I have. In any case, it looks OK to me. Oh yes - the yellow grab handles are another feature missing in the kit - I made mine from stretched sprue held in the right position whilst it cooled. I attached them VERY carefully with simple plastic cement. And some more images of the model… Here's that 'washed out' rudder - a FUBAR with the dullcote. I think it looks kind of cool! hand painted commander's stripes - they look better to me than decals, but 3 mil too far forward compared to the other side - uh-oh! Nice red dive brake interior. Dragon's head decal a little too far forward. Zotz decal originally had a small red square just ahead of the dragon's tongue. I finally figured out that Zotz must have thought it was part of the marking - it isn't. In fact, the little red mark is the red reflective strip found on either fuselage side.. behind the dive brake you can just see the 'towel rail' antenna, which I made from flattened sprue (note - the real thing isn't round but 'flattened') I added Verlinden dry transfer data stencils to each weapons pylon for extra realism. You can just see the red trim tab in this photo - I saw that 'Miss Eileen' had this feature in a photo of the real aircraft found in the Wayne Mutza book. Dirt, dust and oil… the red wing jury strut was made from plastic rod and brass wire. Strangely, Trumpeter don't seem to include these in the kit, but for folded wings they are essential. The engine was built and assembled in stages. Mount first, then engine, then exhausts, then attach that lot, add cowling and finally prop. The prop is from AMS resins and is a big improvement on the kit parts. The folded wing was one of the last things to be attached. Various levers and wires had to be added at this stage: comments welcomed as always - thanks for following my build!

thanks mate - I updated the wrong thread with pics - I've moved all the others to the ready for inspection forum thanks very much for the kind words!

Hi - after many months work, the big Spad is done! You can check out the build thread in the works in progress section - thanks for looking! Here's one of the scratched wingtip drop-down lights found on USAF machines - made from pewter sheet and clear thermoform: The rudder locking mechanism - note that the rudder is angled left, hence some slack for the wire on that side

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*update 21/10/14* Hi again. This will be my final update on the big Spad as it is now FINISHED! I'll talk you through the final stages of construction, painting, decaling and weathering… My last update had the main parts assembled and primed for painting. After that it was a simple case of slapping some colour on the model (or so I thought). I'm still relatively new to airbrushing, but I was quite pleased with how the 3-tone SEA cam came out. At first I was stressing about some touch ups I brush-painted in various places. However, two things helped calm me down - firstly, the extreme fatigue that a tropical climate has on paint schemes (requiring constant touch ups and cleaning) and secondly the fact that a few coats of future helped to even things out considerably. Unfortunately I forgot to check the separate errata sheet that Zotz includes with its decal sheet (my model depicts 'Miss Eileen' of the 1st SOS) - the designers had noticed that some of the tan markings were wrong on the initial instructions. I only realised this much later (doh!) - so some of the tan paint you see on the left rear of the fuselage isn't the correct pattern… I also made a mistake with the commanders stripes on either side of the fuselage. I found the Zotz decals to be pretty thick, requiring lots of setting agent (no disrespect intended to the designers). I also found that the shade of tan didn't quite match the one I used. I decided that it would be easier and look nicer if I painted these markings on, which I duly did. Unfortunately, after masking off stripes on the right hand side, I then removed the wrong masked ones to paint the markings! So the stripes on the right hand side are 3mm further back than those on the left. Oh well! I made yet another mistake when I used the wrong tail codes - Zotz provides replacement codes for erroneous ones on the main decal sheet, again mentioning this on the errata sheet. I simply missed this bit of info! After accidentally screwing up the erroneous codes too (don't ask) I decided to hand-paint the tail codes using home made masks. I think the end result is that they look more realistic (well, to my eye anyway). They are slightly haphazard, and look 'painted on' - which was my intention. They just lack the tan surround that they are supposed to have, and which is correctly shown in Zotz's replacement decals. Again, I decided it wasn't that bad. And if I hadn't mentioned it, you wouldn't know, right? :-0 One final error occurred when I gave the tailplane a coat of dullcote. The left side was fine. The right side frosted horribly. I decided to sand it down with very fine sandpaper, and now it just looks like 'washed out' and faded paint (er, I think) - in fact it's quite a pleasing effect, and if I had more time to experiment I might have tried it elsewhere…. but it's a risky tactic!! Once painting and decaling was complete, I turned to weathering. The Skyraider has distinctive exhaust stains, in some cases this is very extreme and gives the aircraft it's own 'weathering' along the fuselage sides. Add rain streaks and oil spillage (the engine was notorious for leaking oil) and you have a recipe for a very dirty plane. If you recall, I added 'oil canning' to the aircraft. I also riveted the entire airframe where applicable. I therefore had ready made 'troughs and peaks' over which to apply the exhaust / oil stains. On the Skyraider, the stains stayed on the 'peaks' and skipped over the 'troughs' in the fuselage skin. In extreme cases, the whole fuselage side was a mass of black stains. Here's a picture to illustrate what I mean: I started by masking off the 'troughs' and then airbrushing a dirty black / brown mixture on the fuselage sides. Whilst it was still drying, I started to create the streaked effect. Because the masks I used had straight edges, I had to blur them. The whole process involved removing / thinning the exhaust stains until I was happy. At a later stage, pastels were used to feather certain edges. A brush loaded with slightly diluted Raw Umber oil paint was held in from of my airbrush nozzle with the airflow set to about 25 psi. This spattered oil paint all over the place, and it was then blended in as appropriate. The end result is one filthy mess. At first I was concerned I'd overdone it (it's very difficult to get right) and I know it won't be to everyone's taste. However, I know that crew chiefs either kept the aircraft very clean….or they really let it go. Most Skyraiders show exhaust / oil stains somewhere in between the two extremes. It's important to note that the engine wasn't considered to be functioning properly unless it was leaking oil. Coming from an armour background, I couldn't resist making this one dirty, leaky engine. After all, the small vignette I have planned will be called 'An Overdue Overhaul' (I've already ordered the name plaque to be made! ) I found out from my source at the Tennessee Aviation Museum that he often has the Skyraider's dive brakes open whilst performing maintenance. So I can categorically say that Skyraider models with open dive brakes are NOT unrealistic (provided they are shown in context I guess). Unfortunately, I gleaned this information at a very late date, by which time I had already glued the ones on the fuselage sides shut…so all that nice Eduard etched detail is forever entombed inside my Spad… I did manage to leave the lower fuse dive brake off until I'd finished everything else (as the recess makes an excellent place to grip the model) so I depicted it as open. As Skyraiders were originally USN machines, I figured the inside must be red. Even if I'm wrong, it adds a nice touch of colour. Anyway, I'm waffling. Here are some photos of the finished model. The removed wing will be displayed on a small trolley I'm scratching at the moment. There will be one figure on the base to show scale, as well as removed engine panels. I'll update the thread once the vignette is finished. you can see more pics in the ready for inspection forum cheers!

aye caramba! Staggering as always. I really need to invest in some of these micro parts myself.

many thanks guys

*update 15/8/14* Hi guys - a quick update. Whilst waiting for some detail photos of the engine bay to arrive from my contact, I decided to tackle the canopy control system and the rocket motor for the Yankee ejector seat. Here's a couple of pics so you can see what needed to be done: Here you can see the rocket motor on the right hand side - the cables run along a cable guide and disappear into the back of the seat. I'll add the cables at a later date. I made all the necessary parts from plastic sheet, strip and rod, pewter sheet and some fuse wire of various sizes. As usual, everything is made by eye so there may be some parts that are either slightly over or under scale. and a quick check to make sure the canopy still fits over it all! It should be noted that there is usually a canvas boot covering the left side of the entire assembly. I found a photo in Squadron Signal's Walk Around book showing it removed from an A1-H. Although it would probably be unusual to remove it, I couldn't resist showing off the detail. More to come soon - I'm currently experimenting with casting the engine cylinders from resin, all very mysterious but rewarding.. Rich

tried to get info from the seller, he never replied. Google search reveal the seller is someone (on another board) called 'Wilson' not willing to take any kind of risk if the vendor won't even answer a simple query about the kit

£36k for a tornado? now that's cheap!

thanks guys funnily enough I have considered loaning it to a museum...perhaps IWM Duxford?

Hi - pleased to say that Air Modeller are running a two part article on my B-17 build! The first part will be in the Aug/Sep issue, which should be hitting the shops in a few days

hey thanks, I'm glad you like it. As is often the case, a lot of this will be hidden, but I felt it needed to be added

*update 10th July 2014* Hi again - time for an update.. I've spent the past few weeks working on the rear of the engine. It's been a frustrating time, as I have tried to get images of this area showing how all the wires and tubes hook up. Most of my photos are like this: Lots of exterior details, but no views of the heart of the accessory compartment. I can see glimpses of certain wires, but have no idea where they begin or terminate - very frustrating. I have enlisted the help of a couple of people who own Skyraiders & requested photos - however they are busy people, and until they get back to me I can only build what I can see. I have used a little guesswork here and there (for example with the carburettor) but there is still a lot of work to do. Here's where I am up to as of last night: Hopefully by the next update I will have been sent the images I requested & finished the rear of the engine. I can then concentrate on the front end! Comments and questions welcomed as always cheers, Rich

sweet! Please enter this in the comp at Telford..

also got the carburetor done, photos to follow..

not checked this one for a long time - looks magnificent!

In order to proceed, I then had to apply some paint to that lot )weathering to be added later) I could now attach the hydraulic fluid reservoir, and concentrate on detailing the engine mount and the engine itself… There's a lot to consider so constant dry-fitting is crucial: Here's the rear of the engine: In a similar manner to the bulkhead, I added what I could see, and will consider the wiring and plumbing later. These photos show the engine mount and engine rear as of last night - there is still a long way to go!! There's a complex system of wires, pulleys and cables that control the cowl flaps: all six were made individually and then wired up, which was…fun And that's where I am up to! I am currently making the carburettor (or an approximation of it). If anyone can help me with regards to where all the wires go to / from the bulkhead into the back of the engine, I'd be very grateful. I've sounded out a couple of warbird pilots / skyraider owners who have agreed to help, but they haven't got back to me yet. As usual, comments / critiques etc welcome. Thanks for looking at my build Rich