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HPH 1/32nd SB2C-4 Helldiver


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Picks jaw up off floor! That it stunning. Congratulations on everything about that - your determination, the build quality, the painting, the beautifully restrained weathering, the presentation and the photography...and those flaps!!!

 

Well done!

 

Steve

Edited by SteveStarPics
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11 hours ago, keithjs said:

 With all the extra detailing you've added I'm assuming you didn't use any of the Dead Design/Infinity models resin sets? 

That's correct, Keith. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, David H said:

Simply fantastic; i saw it over on Hyperscale.

 

How did you go about making the carrier deck? Is it made from scratch, or did you use something like the Nautilus Models wooden deck??

 

-d-

Hi David. The base is from Eureka XXL and is resin. All I had to do was to assemble and paint it.

 

Cheers, Ivan

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19 minutes ago, IvanP said:

Hi David. The base is from Eureka XXL and is resin. All I had to do was to assemble and paint it.

 

Cheers, Ivan

That's what I thought..  I haven't the skills to scratchbuild the detail you've added so I'll probably use most of them on mine if they're any good. Do you think they'll be worth it or have you not actually seen them?

Anyway, I'll certainly be using yours as a reference!!

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9 hours ago, keithjs said:

That's what I thought..  I haven't the skills to scratchbuild the detail you've added so I'll probably use most of them on mine if they're any good. Do you think they'll be worth it or have you not actually seen them?

Anyway, I'll certainly be using yours as a reference!!

Hi Keith,

 

From what I've seen on the web of the Infinity kit, it is an injection plastic version of the HPH resin kit. All parts look very similar, with less details in some areas and little improvements in others. Unfortunately, some of the pitfalls that I've noticed during my build of the HPH kit were apparently not corrected in the Infinity kit, which is a shame.

 

I don't want to be harsh on HPH/Infinity, as they have some nice products on the pipeline and I appreciate their effort in bringing us modellers some interesting subjects., that I will certainly will want to buy and build. But the lack of attention to detail in some areas of the Helldiver kit, like the front and rear cockpíts/gun craddle, wheel wells and decals is noticeable. Maybe it has do with the keeping the cost of the kit at a reasonable level, cutting the time spent on research down, for example, maybe not. But, I have to say that my overall experience in building the Helldiver was not as pleasant as I was expecting, mainly because of the many additions and corrections from scratch that I had to make.

 

So, regarding the Infinity kit, I'm sure that it will build into a nice represention of the real aircraft, if you are not too concerned with details. However, if you want to improve some areas, from what I've seen of the details sets offered, I'll probably suggest the landing flaps and the open gunner position, and perhaps the wingfold and open bombay sets, if you want the model displayed in any of these configurations. For rockets and weapons, I would suggested aftermarket items, such as those from the Eduard Brassin range.

 

Unfortunately, Infinity has not offered yet detailed wheel wells and cockpit details, such as the two panels that I've mentioned in my post, as aftermarket items. Those would be a nice addition, if they ever release them. As for the markings, I would recommend that you make your own masks, except for the stencils which should work great. At least for the version that I've built, the markings that came with the kit were all of the wrong size.

 

I'm attaching some pictures taken during my build, to give you just a taste of the amount of scratchbuild involved.

 

Cheers, Ivan

 

IMG_6951

 

IMG_6949

 

IMG_0815

 

 

IMG_0816

 

IMG_0822

 

IMG_0820

 

 

Edited by IvanP
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Perhaps I have missed it, but is there a “work in progress” on this build? Like the latest construction pictures you posted. Would be great to learn a little more about how you add all this detail, where you found your references, materials used, etc. I’d like to learn more about this excellent build. Amazing 👍

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7 hours ago, kapam said:

It's like I'm looking at a preserved example in a museum!

Agreed. The model itself is a museum standard piece and would look fantastic displayed next to a full size preserved example.:worthy:

Pete

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What a great build that is, pure modelling magic, I have the Infinity kit but I'm sure that it will not look as nice as that when build,

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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On 6/18/2021 at 3:43 AM, Rob K. said:

Perhaps I have missed it, but is there a “work in progress” on this build? Like the latest construction pictures you posted. Would be great to learn a little more about how you add all this detail, where you found your references, materials used, etc. I’d like to learn more about this excellent build. Amazing 👍

Hi Rob,

 

Unfortunately, there’s no WIP of this build. I took these pictures just to record the end result of my scratchbuilding, for my own future reference.

 

As for the techniques and materials that I’ve used, there was nothing really special. I’ve used mostly strip, rod and sheet styrene , as well as aluminium wires (like those used for Bonsai), of diferente gauges, cutting them to size using a couple of small rulers, to keep them steady, and a hobby knife. I’ve also used a “Rosie the Rivetter” tool and a needle to replace the rivets that were lost while sanding. For all of this work, I’ve basically used my eyeball to judge size and shape, as there no scale plans or detailed diagrams available for the SB2C-4, as far as I know.

 

I’ve also used Corel Draw to make the Main Swith and Armament panel, located in the main cockpit, all the canopy masks and the insignias. The panels were printed as decals in a laser printer and detailed by making the switches with aluminium wire. The masks and markings were cut using a Silhouette Portrait.

 

Regarding the references used, these were mainly the Detail & Scale and the Squadron Signal books on the Helldiver. Apart from these two titles, I could not find any other book that shows internal details of the aircraft, in particular the -4 version. I’ve also used many reference pictures found on the internet, specially from the wheel weels and general airframe details. These are mostly for the -5, as there are some planes of this version still around, in museums or flying, but none on the -4, which has a different front cockpit and bomb bay. I’ve also managed to find the pilot’s manual for the Helldiver -4 on the web, which contains some line drawings and diagrams that were very helpful for detailing the cockpit.

 

Although I don’t have many pictures of my build, I’m happy to explain in more detail any work that I’ve done in this model.

 

Cheers, Ivan

Edited by IvanP
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1 hour ago, IvanP said:

Hi Rob,

 

Unfortunately, there’s no WIP of this build. I took these pictures just to record the end result of my scratchbuilding, for my own future reference.

 

As for the techniques and materials that I’ve used, there was nothing really special. I’ve used mostly strip, rod and sheet styrene , as well as aluminium wires (like those used for Bonsai), of diferente gauges, cutting them to size using a couple of small rulers, to keep them steady, and a hobby knife. I’ve also used a “Rosie the Rivetter” tool and a needle to replace the rivets that were lost while sanding. For all of this work, I’ve basically used my eyeball to judge size and shape, as there no scale plans or detailed diagrams available for the SB2C-4, as far as I know.

 

I’ve also used Corel Draw to make the Main Swith and Armament panel, located in the main cockpit, all the canopy masks and the insignias. The panels were printed as decals in a laser printer and detailed by making the switches with aluminium wire. The masks and markings were cut using a Silhouette Portrait.

 

Regarding the references used, these were mainly the Detail & Scale and the Squadron Signal books on the Helldiver. Apart from these two titles, I could not find any other book that shows internal details of the aircraft, in particular the -4 version. I’ve also used many reference pictures found on the internet, specially from the wheel weels and general airframe details. These are mostly for the -5, as there are some planes of this version still around, in museums or flying, but none on the -4, which has a different front cockpit and bomb bay. I’ve also managed to find the pilot’s manual for the Helldiver -4 on the web, which contains some line drawings and diagrams that were very helpful for detailing the cockpit.

 

Although I don’t have many pictures of my build, I’m happy to explain in more detail any work that I’ve done in this model.

 

Cheers, Ivan

Thank you Ivan,

 

Very impressive. Not sure what your next project is, but I am hoping for a “work in progress” report to go along with it. 😉 Love to see all the techniques used step by step. I actually recently started buying some second hand squadron/signal books. They are great. Thanks for your reply

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