Popular Post Roger Holden Posted January 16, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) I first became aware of the Northrop BT-1 after watching the 1941 Warner Bros / Errol Flynn movie ‘Dive Bomber’ in the 1980s (and made a fuzzy VHS recording of it which I played back many times). The film was the last in a series of 1930s Hollywood movies with a naval aviation theme (mostly with a screenplay written by ex-naval aviator Cmdr. Frank ‘Spig’ Wead) and the only one in glorious Technicolor. As ever in aviation movies, the true stars were the aircraft. The BT-1s don’t have a big role in the film, but form a backdrop to some of the final sequences. It was the only type in the film with which I was then unfamiliar and I was struck by the prominent ‘podded’ semi-retractable landing gear a bit like its contemporary the Seversky P-35. Naturally, I was inspired to build a model at some point...... The first in a long line of carrier aircraft to be designed by the legendary Ed Heinemann, the BT-1 was nevertheless a flawed design, but lead directly to the very successful SBD Dauntless, with which it shared the same outer wing panels. The BT-1 had poor low speed stability; not exactly a desirable characteristic in a carrier aircraft and although delivered in 1938, it was 1940-41 before the 54 built were committed to carrier use with squadrons VB-5 & 6 aboard Yorktown and Enterprise, after some of the flaws had been fixed. The prototype had ‘solid’ dive flaps, which caused extreme tail buffeting during the pullout from a dive, which was cured by adding holes to the flaps in various sizes and patterns until an optimum solution was found. Test pilot Vance Breese performed over 100 9g pullouts during this activity and the resulting perforated flap design was a great success. The low speed stability problem was eventually improved by adding slots in the outer wings, carried over to the SBD. The rear, hinged portion of the gunner’s canopy caused turbulence which affected gun aiming, so these were removed some time after delivery and the SBD had a different rear enclosure, which slid forward rather than projecting into the airstream. Carrier service of the BT-1 was short and they were relegated to training in Miami when the first SBDs became available around mid-1941. I recently completed my BT-1 project, based on the 1/72 Esoteric Models vacform kit, which I had 90% completed around 1997. I had difficulties with the paintwork, which relegated it to the ‘Shelf of Doom’ for over 20 years and it was my longest-uncompleted model. The arrival of the Ginter ‘Naval Fighters Series’ volume on the BT-1 rekindled my interest in the type with its remarkable collection of photos and inspired me to rework a few areas. Like most of my vac projects, it’s really ‘Scratchbuilding-Lite’ as only the basic fuselage and wing components get used (heavily modified) and everything else is scratchbuilt. In this case, that includes the P & W R-1535 Twin Wasp Jr engine and Hamilton-Standard 10’ controllable pitch prop, all control surfaces, flaps including flap motor, torque tubes and actuating links, landing gear and fairings, canopies, wheels and all the other external details, including the gun camera and practice bomb dispensers. I challenged myself to see if I could reproduce absolutely everything in the cockpits, which took months, including the 40-piece Douglas gunner’s mount....not sure if I’ll go that far again, but it looks the part. So here is my model of Bu.No. 0614, the 4th section leader's aircraft of VB-5 'Winged Satans', aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5), 1940...... Edited March 15, 2022 by Roger Holden Change of photo hosting 75 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Wow, that is a beautiful model. I have some Esoteric USN types to build, they chose some spectacularly coloured aircraft. The Errol Flynn film is excellent too, great planes, and I know smoking was common back then but even by the standards of the day, boy did they get through some cigarettes in that movie... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That is one beautiful model! Love the clean look and the detail work put into it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldy Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Roger - that is utterly exquisite! Stunning detail, build and finish! 1/72 scale?!! - utterly exquisite! Cheers Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wlad Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Amazing work from a 1/72 vac. Looks great for 1/48! Cheers, Wlad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Beautiful Roger. that is as good as it gets mate. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That is gorgeous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Incredible work, Roger. You should be very proud of that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dric Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Genial colorfull bird ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Stunning work Roger, pity it took twenty years to see it finished. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Marvellous model – and from a 1/72nd vacform! I doff my cap! Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithR Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That's superb Roger, and an inspiration. What sort of optical devices do you use to create such microscopic detail? Is there any chance you could get a few of your models out of their boxes in the loft and photograph them, I would love to see more of your work. Regards, Keith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Duvalier Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Gorgeous model. And from a vac! 🤩 Gives me hope for some of my stalled builds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 That is one stunning build Roger, and a vac as well. Astonishing level of skills displayed at every turn. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Absolute masterpiece! Modelling at it’s best. Thanks for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toniosky Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Very nice build and paint job ! I am not a 1/72 guy but here I am in awe ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planecrazee Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 What a fantastic model Roger - the detail is superb and the excellent photos emphasise every small detail. Always nice to see something more unusual especially when it's been done to such a high standard!! Kris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Spotted a typo in your OP. You said 1/72 but that has to be 1/32 right? Just kidding. That’s a hugely impressive bit of model making there. I hadn’t thought you could get that much into a 1/72 size model. Very well done and inspirational. 👏 bravo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Holden Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 5 hours ago, KeithR said: What sort of optical devices do you use to create such microscopic detail? Actually, just the Mk1 eyeball. I'm very short-sighted, which is an advantage for this kind of work (not too good for some other things....I could never be a pilot). I can see every speck of dust in the paint and spend about 30 mins after each coat removing them all......OCD or what ?! (Is there any chance you could get a few of your models out of their boxes in the loft and photograph them, I would love to see more of your work.) Yes, I plan to do just that, but need to set aside a fair bit of time to devote to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Holden Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 2 hours ago, JohnT said: Spotted a typo in your OP. You said 1/72 but that has to be 1/32 right? Just kidding. That’s a hugely impressive bit of model making there. I hadn’t thought you could get that much into a 1/72 size model. Very well done and inspirational. 👏 bravo Sometimes it feels a bit like watchmaking in that small scale. Makes me want to go and lie in a darkened room....🥴 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Holden Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 12 hours ago, mick b said: Stunning work Roger, pity it took twenty years to see it finished. Mike I always intended to go back to it......but got sidetracked by a few other jobs 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Wow! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cduckworth Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Beautiful work! Am glad you finished it. I had to go back and verify the scale wasn’t 1/48. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Breathtaking! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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