Tokyo Raider Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Hi Brits- I just finished this TBD-1 Kit from Great Wall. I really liked the kit and the build. I had some issues with missing parts and mis-numbered PE, but it was easy enough to get the right part off the pe sheets. This had eduard PE belts, and aftermarket wheels and torpedo sighting doors. It was a fun build and I could build it better now with what I learned building this one. The ribbed wings I needed to do a better job aligning the lower and the upper wings. I should have cut off the locating pins and glued to match the ribs, but I didnt think of that, until I discovered that I have some mismatches. I was shocked how BIG this plane is! It had a 50ft wing and dwarfs the SBD and Wildcat. Its almost the size of an Avenger! The sharp eyed among you will notice I forgot to pull off the masking tape on the fuselage side windows before these pics were taken! I will pull it someday, but this one is already upstairs in the display case! Decals used are Techmod and were excellent! Paint used is good old Testor's Model Master USN Blue Gray and Flat Gull Grey. My favorite movie is the remake of 'Midway' in 2019. I loved that movie and this plane is the one flown by E E Lindsey. He is the guy who crash landed a few days before the battle of Midway, but was determined to take part in the Battle and lead his squadron. When I think of the Greatest Generation, his words in that movie: "I will meet you at the Japanese Fleet" spoken to Dick Best just sum up the dedication and sacrifice that won the war in the Pacific. The TBD's were totally sitting ducks and were wiped out, but in their sacrifice, they eliminated the fighter cover over theJapanesefleet that let the SBD's be so successful. Enjoy the pics and I goofed up a few areas, but all in all it looks good... 67 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 That is very nice! 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Hi from a Brit Abroad! (France) I love that movie too!! In fact I only watched it again a few weeks ago. Beautiful work!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Excellent result Bob Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low flyer Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 If you say you've goofed up I don't believe you great work there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Great build! Love the finish on it. I’ve been trying to get my hands on this kit recently to no avail! I watched midway recently and loved the film, inspired me to build some aircraft. Also trying to get a Midway group build off the ground if you’re interested… 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Harmsworth Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 That's great. Fantastic work on the canopy which really shows off the interior. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 10 minutes ago, bigfoot said: Great build! Love the finish on it. I’ve been trying to get my hands on this kit recently to no avail! I watched midway recently and loved the film, inspired me to build some aircraft. Also trying to get a Midway group build off the ground if you’re interested… 😉 Hey Bigfoot... I dont know what I have to do to be in a GB, but I would love to build something for the anniversary... I play airplane movies and war documentarys on a 10inch DVD player on my workbench as I build... makes building fun. I watched Midway about 10x while i built this model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoot Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Tokyo Raider said: 1 hour ago, bigfoot said: Hey Bigfoot... I dont know what I have to do to be in a GB, but I would love to build something for the anniversary... Put a post in the thread I posted, if enough people show an interest then it might get into the GB schedule for next year. Then all you have to do is pick a kit related to the theme, build it within the 3 month window and post a build log. Simple as that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, bigfoot said: Put a post in the thread I posted, if enough people show an interest then it might get into the GB schedule for next year. Then all you have to do is pick a kit related to the theme, build it within the 3 month window and post a build log. Simple as that! Great! I would like to join Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Low flyer said: If you say you've goofed up I don't believe you great work there Goofs: 1) oil cooler housing should have been filled better. You can still see some joint. 2) needed to sand leading edge of starboard stab. I missed this somehow. 3) i could not sand wing leading edge good because of the ribs 4) i painted on the wing walks and the one on right side is a touch longer than the left one. 5) i used kit landing gear, then found out they were too long. So ordered replacement gear. Im sure theres more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autle Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Really good finish on this model and such a historic aircraft, we can only image what they went through. Super job and glad you posted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 I'd be every kind of proud to display that model in my collection. It would make several of those models jealous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 Thanks alot for the kind words. I like the model, just realize i cant see very good with cateracts and miss some of these goofs! I only see them when i use cameraphone and zoom in on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 That's a fine job, And a fine tribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacificmustang Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 This is awesome. I have this kit in the stash and want to do it in pre war markings. Until I saw your lovely build, my plan was to have the canopies open, but I really like the look of the aircraft with closed canopies. Makes it look a lot sleeker lovely work Bruce ps, Midway was a lot better than I thought it would be. They managed to hit all the major points of the battle, although the Yorktown sinking got barely mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 1 hour ago, pacificmustang said: Until I saw your lovely build, my plan was to have the canopies open Hi Bruce... yes I was debating this myself. I was planning open canopies, but everyone does that... I fell in love with the closed sleek look and Great Wall did a nice job with the one piece canopy, I decided to use it. They segmented tbe canopy so each panel has realistic stepped appearance, even in one piece. Only issue with onepiece canopy is the PE gun armor must be removed from rear gun to fit with closed canopy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Superb build and finish,love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 That's a brilliant finish, really well done 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Nicely done there. I wish I goofed up that little! Of course as you say you have learned the problems with the kit and you could do it better next time. I think you have invented the perfect excuse for the other half for buying two models every time and not just one!!! Also a great tribute to young guys who flew aircraft in early WW2 like this that were at best obsolescent and at worse useless yet still took their war to a relentless enemy and did their best. In this case it turned the tide of battle by engaging the Japanese CAP as you say and allowed their comrades in arms to turn the tide of battle and the naval Pacific war as we now know but they didn’t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 That is a great looking build. I have this kit in my stash which I hope to build as a Yellow Wings pre war scheme so thanks for your tips. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 14 minutes ago, JohnT said: I think you have invented the perfect excuse for the other half for buying two models every time and not just one!!! Hi John... then I tend to buy TWO models just to finish ONE because I loose parts flying off tweesers and stuff like that. On this kit, I managed to snap the arresting hook off and lost the back half with the hook. So I would have to buy a SECOND TBD kit! I got lucky... remembered an old SBD kit in stash. So the back half of this arresting hook is from a hasegawa SBD someone gave me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 9 minutes ago, Duncan B said: That is a great looking build. I have this kit in my stash which I hope to build as a Yellow Wings pre war scheme so thanks for your tips. Duncan B Hi Duncan... I also would offer a tip about the gear. Its starting to bother me. I ordered metal gear replacements and they look like they might not have as much olio showing. The kit gear is designed to be used eaither retracted or extended... so they made it longer for the retracted position. I learned of this after gear were glued in! So I ordered SAC replacement gear, which appear to be in weight on wheels position. Hopefully I can fix this someday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Great looking Devastator there, really nicely finished Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Brantley Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 I agree with all the above comments. That is a great looking scale model plane! I would be proud of that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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