Markh-75 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) Taaadaaaahhh! The model i have spent a long time on (put in many, many hours on this!), wondering how it would turn out! She turned out more than alright! Made from two faulty kits, lots of radical cutting away and splicing, filing, smoothing, painting and Finally....... OK Boys; Roll 'er out! Ladies and Gentlemen, i give you the Curtiss SB2C-3 Helldiver! My little metal ring around the engine looks great! I spent AGES trying to get the front edge of the tail decals to meet each other and then decided it looks great like this! I carefully touched in the rudder trailing edge to whiten it out and blotted it to blend it in. The situation was that the decals were for the Airfix kit; but i have the Airfix wings on a Matchbox fuselage! but it still worked out! Rockets, bombs, aerials and pitot tube all fitted and painted! I decided for such a roll out that i'd make the pictures nice and large just for 'Dogsbody'! Edited February 10, 2020 by Markh-75 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 That's solid work there, mate, she looks awesome. Glad you persevered with this one, well worth the wait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) Thank you; VERY pleased with her; the last touches on a model are always fiddly, little touches here, there, where-ever needed, i still have to put some Mattcote around the wing hard points for the rockets as one side has punctures in the decal but it'll be fine, once that's on and dry she can join the Navy cabinet in my room! I never fit 'extremities' such as weapons, antennas pitot tubes before painting and checking for decals in the areas first; a decal can be pierced carefully if things are fitted after its application, i did it on the Helldiver; the other problem is that these tiny parts can get broken off. My big clumsy and at times shaky hands dictate the need to wait till the very end before fitting them; yes there's that 'little lad' feeling of wanting it done pronto, but i am able to resist that; it takes me a while to do a kit but it always comes out looking great in the end, it teaches me patience! Cheers for your comments. I tried something new on this, such as making stamp type presses for captions on the body and wings, out of short lengths of dowelling, i need to master it a bit more but they worked out great, i just dulled them down a little. Too much paint on the end of the stamp just creates a blob, but careful loading by a paintbrush can make the difference. It works particularly well on a matt background. Quite an achievement for me! Edited February 15, 2020 by Markh-75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 A good looking outcome taking into account the journey to get there. Something to be proud of (as I deduce from your posts you are.) Well done you. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) Thank you Steve. She looked good in gloss but looks much more formidable in matt! Edited February 11, 2020 by Markh-75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 For my next trick... lol My next kit will be the Revell Douglas A-20 Havoc in North African colours; its an older kit but looks just fine although being an old kit the decals have gone a bit tatty so i ordered a set with a full colour plan from Hannants. I was thinking about a Grumman Duck or the Vought Kingfisher next but i prefer to vary things a bit and a 12th airforce model feels good. The Revell A-20 Havoc. Its a basic kit really, an older Revell but all the bits are there, only thing it hasn't got is more interior details, i'll see if i can create some. The Helldiver is looking splendid in my US Navy cabinet next to the TBM Avenger and the Dauntless! I'm trying to find what US aircraft of the 2nd world war that i can, build them and display them in the cabinets. It wont be a massive collection but by the time i'm done it will be around 50 models! I'll keep my eye open for kits and for die cast models to boost the collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Glad you kept on with this one. Mating two somewhat deficient kits was bound to cause some angst! Keep calm and model on, eh? 🙂 I think you'll enjoy the Revell A-20, I've been faffing about with upgrading one for a couple of years now. My usual paint test mule is the P-70 version I built as a kid and the basic shape looks so good I couldn't help but wonder how she'd scrub up if I put some effort in. PM me if you'd like some more thoughts re. upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Although the A-20 kit is pretty basic regards interior detail, its a nice crisp clean model to do. I’ll build up the bomb aimers position, filling the big space with lead solder on either side of the seat to look like the ammunition for the guns and their workings and to weight the nose and have the model sitting on its wheels. I’ve glued the lead in, so I’ll paint the area interior green. i might need to add two or three short lengths of lead above the nosewheel leg if its not heavy enough to tip the balance yet. The fuselage is painted inside, both halves are together. The wings are made, landing gear painted and assembled and the engines on, propellers are painted and about ready, i just want some 'touches on the main wheels before they go on and the tail is on! Waiting for decals from Hannants for it, I’m painting it in N. Africa colours (operation Torch) and there is a choice of four sets of decals along with painting plans, nice easy kit to make! Edited February 12, 2020 by Markh-75 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wince Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 You finished her mate! Glad you didn’t chuck it in the bin! Nice model! And a hellofajourney helldiver! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 You certainly tamed the kit (kits) very well. A beautiful result indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Thank you, it was an adventure indeed! I’m happy I didn’t end up throwing the two kits away, but instead, merged them into a cracking model! It has boosted my confidence and I now feel better able to put in more time and detail on a kit. I will be looking for another A-36 Apache dive bomber (to add to my P-51 collection) and having another attempt at it. I’m better able to cope with kits now. Only thing that is a dampener is that many of the colours are discontinued by some manufacturers but fortunately there are companies that make these, thanks to Sovereign and Hannants!👍 Edited February 14, 2020 by Markh-75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonkaGuy Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Quite a journey I see. But a great end result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Yes it was a journey, i had a fair bit of cutting out from the Matchbox fuselage but it did it in stages so i knew i wasnt going to cut too much away and weaken the fuselage. Paint was the next problem but i got that sorted too. Thanks for your kind words folks! Edited February 14, 2020 by Markh-75 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wince Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 After my airbrush broke and my last two builds are less than satisfactory I feel your pain! Not how you start but how you finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 Its why i go to lengths to get the right paint; i brush paint all of mine, always have and i'm used to enamel paints. Get the right colour, have it look right and do a nice paint job on it! If its not quite the right colour i am less than happy, i'd much rather know the colours are correct before i go to the bovver of painting a kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Nice job on the "Frankenstein" Helldiver! Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markh-75 Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 15 minutes ago, Mark Joyce said: Nice job on the "Frankenstein" Helldiver! Cheers, Mark Thank you! Indeed, the only thing it lacks is the nut and bolt holding the wings on and lead wheels 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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