Helldiver! Matchbox's 1/72 Curtiss SBC-4

[modelling minion]

Following the sad demise of my B-57 due to an over excited Labrador (I wonder if I should put a B-57 silhouette on her collar as a kill marking?) I had to have a look for something to take it's place as I can't really co-host and not have something in the gallery can I. Rummaging through the (ever expanding) stash I actually struggled to find much that fits the criteria and then I came across a box with those well known red, orange and yellow stripes on the black background and my decision was made.

 

I have very fond memories of this kit as it was the first biplane that I was able to finish successfully, there had been earlier attempts of course but they always ended in a gluey mess, but not my Helldiver. I was extremely proud of my Helldiver and it can't have been too bad as it was allowed to be displayed in our front room for couple of weeks.

 

So without further ado here are the obligatory box and contents shots.

 

Pretty good box art as far as I'm concerned.

 

The rear of the box is slightly damaged, but you can still see the options available. Mine will be US Navy, just as it was when I was a kid.

 

And the multi-coloured plastic so beloved of Matchbox, at least the top of the wing is in the right colour!

 

And the decals. They don;t look too bad and I do have some more as I have another of these in the stash, and a Heller one but that is for another day.

 

As for the build itself I intend to build it pretty much as I did when I first built it all those years ago, not much if anything added to the interior but I will probably use a rattle can for the painted aluminium finish.

 

So lets see if we can have more successful and relatively Labrador free build and actually get one in the gallery! I hope to make a start tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

 

 

[Jinxman]

The Matchbox biplanes always seemed a cut or two above the rest of their stuff - that looks a very nice kit.

[modelling minion]

13 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

The Matchbox biplanes always seemed a cut or two above the rest of their stuff - that looks a very nice kit.

Thanks.

Yes the only Matchbox biplane I had any problems with was the Fury and that was probably my fault for not letting things set properly before trying to move on with the build.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

This is one I'm after in my searches, Golden wings Naval aviation is becoming a favorite of mine. 

[modelling minion]

Just now, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

This is one I'm after in my searches, Golden wings Naval aviation is becoming a favorite of mine. 

Some lovely colourful schemes for them aren't there Dennis.

[Dansk]

Great craig another fantastic scheme for your collection

[Ruskin Air Services]

Looks like a nice kit to build no hidden horrors. Looks like it's one of the first made in China, hope those decals hold up 

[klr]

Having completed the Heller kit recently, I will be very interested to see how this Matchbox kit goes. My recollection was that it goes together well, but that was almost 40 years ago ...

 

It's interesting to see that the upper wing RAF roundels have small cut-outs so to accommodate the aerial mountings. I had issues deciding where to position the roundels on the Heller kit, and eventually put them just outboard of the mountings.

Edited July 31, 2020 by klr

[modelling minion]

3 hours ago, Dansk said:

Great craig another fantastic scheme for your collection

Thanks Paul, all being well yes.

3 hours ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

Looks like a nice kit to build no hidden horrors. Looks like it's one of the first made in China, hope those decals hold up 

Thanks, yes it looks to be okay. I believe that you are right that this was one of the first Chinese made boxings, and very much fingers crossed with the decals!

40 minutes ago, klr said:

Having completed the Heller kit recently, I will be very interested to see how this Matchbox kit goes. My recollection was that it goes together well, but that was almost 40 years ago ...

 

It's interesting to see that the upper wing RAF roundels have small cut-outs so to accommodate the aerial mountings. I had issues deciding where to position the roundels on the Heller kit, and eventually put them just outboard of the mountings.

I recall this going together very well too, but just like you that is almost 40  years ago for me too.

I never built the Heller one as a kid but do have one now so it should make for an interesting comparison.

[John]

Looks like a neat little kit. It's one of the few small Matchbox aircraft I haven't built so I'll be followed with interest. 

John 

[modelling minion]

A start has been made, all be it a very small one.

The cockpit interior consists of a floor and two seats and an instrument panel, no control column or foot pedals or real accuracy come to think of it. But the point of this build is to do it very closely to how I did it as a kid and so I have built up the cockpit (took at least 3 minutes!), joined the two halves of the upper wing and have taken everything outside for a spray with the only silver type rattle can I have which is an old Humbrol metal coat one and this is how it all looks at the minute;

 

 

Just need to wait for the paint to dry, shouldn't take long as its 34 degrees outside! And then I can start the assembly. And I have decided to leave the upper wing top surfaces in their original Matchbox yellow, well it saves trying to paint what is a horrible colour.

 

22 minutes ago, John said:

Looks like a neat little kit. It's one of the few small Matchbox aircraft I haven't built so I'll be followed with interest. 

John 

You are most welcome to tag along John, it is a nice little kit.

[CliffB]

14 hours ago, modelling minion said:

 

 

 

 

 

My subconscious just took over and I briefly wondered why you'd painted some bits of the sprue yellow? 

 

Enjoy your colourful build Craig.

 

Cheers

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, CliffB said:

My subconscious just took over and I briefly wondered why you'd painted some bits of the sprue yellow? 

 

Enjoy your colourful build Craig.

 

Cheers

Ha, yes Cliff with all the colours its difficult to tell what is sprue and what is paint isn't it.

 

I am enjoying this build, bringing back lots of good memories of sitting at the kitchen table (with newspaper down of course) on a Saturday afternoon with a tube of glue and tins of enamel paint.

[Dansk]

On 8/1/2020 at 9:29 AM, modelling minion said:

 

 

I am enjoying this build, bringing back lots of good memories of sitting at the kitchen table (with newspaper down of course) on a Saturday afternoon with a tube of glue and tins of enamel paint.

Super to hear craig, that’s exactly what its all about 👍

[modelling minion]

And the fun continues.

The airframe is now complete apart from the top wing which I am going to fix in place after the painting and decalling is done. Though I have strayed from the OOTB build a little bit and added a control column from stretched sprue, just a little detail and probably not even visible when the canopy is on.

So here are some pics of the current state of play;

 

 

 

 

As you can see there is some filler but not a large amount at all, especially considering the age of the kit. The engine was just given a couple of washes after it's initial spray with the silver, it really sits too far forward but thats not going to be corrected this time around.

Next up is a spray with the silver rattle can (currently warming in the greenhouse) and then leave it to dry overnight. To paint the tail I might have to raid my very old stock of enamel paints as I don't think that acrylic will do well on top of the sprayed silver.

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

[Jinxman]

That looks like a really nice kit - good luck with the rattle cans - I put mine in the sun before using if I can, which might be a little daft!

[modelling minion]

14 minutes ago, Jinxman said:

I put mine in the sun before using if I can, which might be a little daft!

That makes two of us daft buggers then as that is exactly what I do! I leave them for half an hour maximum though as I don't want it to explode. Makes the paint nice and smooth when you do use it though and it went on a treat this afternoon, and she is now drying in one of the sheds. We're only allowed one old smelly thing in the house at a time so the Helldiver stayed outside and I was allowed in.  

[Hewy]

Looks good, a lot better than i remember it craig when i had a bash at this kit, i confess i didn't  line up the wings right on mine,🙄

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Looks good, a lot better than i remember it craig when i had a bash at this kit, i confess i didn't  line up the wings right on mine,🙄

Cheers Glynn, I got the wing angle wrong too to start with and had to "tweak" one of them.

[modelling minion]

I've just been out to the shed to retrieve the Helldiver and am pleased to report that the paint seems to have dried and has a pretty good finish, this is how she looks now;

 

Next step is to get a coat or two of Klear on her which should mean that I'm able to paint the tail with acrylic paint as I haven't found a suitable colour in my old tins of enamel , at least I hope thats how it works! 🤞

[Jinxman]

Strange looking beast from that angle.

 

The silver seems to have gone on very well.

[modelling minion]

2 hours ago, Jinxman said:

Strange looking beast from that angle.

Yes she is isn't she, like someone got hols of her nose and really stretched it.

2 hours ago, Jinxman said:

The silver seems to have gone on very well

Its given a nice smooth coat so happy with that.

[modelling minion]

Slight problem, the front canopy piece just snapped in half right down the middle!

Checked my other kit, no front canopy!!!!! Somebody else must have had the same problem. Checked my Heller kit to see if it's canopy would fit, no chance, not helped by the fact that it is single piece and I have already fixed the other three pieces of Matchbox's (apparently brittle) canopy is place, bugger!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Are there A/M vac forms available ? 

[modelling minion]

53 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Are there A/M vac forms available ? 

There is a set by Falcon which includes a canopy for an SBC-4 but to be honest I would not use the other canopies from the set and at £13 + P&P from the big H it is more than I would want to spend and then there is no guarantee that it will turn up in time for me to finish it before the deadline.

In light of this I have switched to plan B ( actually probably closer to plan J or K to be honest) and am fashioning something that will fill the void from clear plastic sheet, it won't look pretty or accurate but at least it won't be a hole!