Monogram #7575 1/48 Devastator TBD-1 -- FINISHED!

[dnl42]

As this year is the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, I'm going to do a VT-8 aircraft, T-16, flown by Lt. Cdr. J. C. Waldron.

Techmod 48808 Douglas TBD-1 Devastator will provide markings and masks. I also have Squadron's vac canopy.

 

I'll post pictures presently.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Great kit, another plane Id love to find again someday soon. 

[Toryu]

Wow, I did it in 1977. and still have one more in my stash. The diorama proposed in the instructions then was very intriguing. Big fun to see it here!

[TonyW]

A Monogram Classic. I'll be following along.

 

The Barrier and the Javelin by H.P. Willmott covers the Midway Battle in extensive detail, on a minute by minute basis, from both sides, during the critical period. If you have not read it, I can't recommend it highly enough. 

[stevej60]

3 hours ago, TonyW said:

A Monogram Classic. I'll be following along.

Couldn't have put it better myself Tony one of my favourite Monogram kits.

[dnl42]

Alright, alright, alright!

 

This is a 1994 boxing of the 1974 molds. Scalemates doesn't show one in the timeline.

Decals look good, but won't be used.

 

Instructions (C) 1974.

Hey, isn't "Morton Grove, Ill" @Corsairfoxfouruncle's neck of the woods?

 

Cockpit details

 

 

External detail

 

A nicely done crew, which won't be used

 

Techmod's masks, which are for this kit. The masks on the right are mostly for the pre-war schemes.

 

Squadron's vac canopy. I got this in the latter days of Squadron's previous life. They weren't shown when you used Squadron's menus or search, but Google knew how to find them and Squadron would sell them.

I hope Techmod's canopy masks fit this canopy.

 

I'm ready for the starting pistol!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

53 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Hey, isn't "Morton Grove, Ill" @Corsairfoxfouruncle's neck of the woods?

Yep grew up only about 25 miles away. Drove past the factory multiple times and still do when Im up near my in-laws. One of the main reasons I built so many Monogram kits and do to this day. 

[dnl42]

I just replaced the bulbs in my photo setup with daylight LEDs.

Hm, yeah, I've been doing it wrong...

[dnl42]

OK, starting in earnest...well along with a 1/48 Fordson tractor and a 1/48 Atlantis (née Aurora) White Fruehauf gar tanker underway.

 

I've inventoried the parts for issues. There are just a few sink holes--trivial compared to that tanker--but they're in interesting places. First the wing roots. While I do have AFT's Raised Panel Lines, I'll try to preserve the current detail with masking tape and careful filing. I'm certain I'll need those panel line details to repair the leading edge when I detach the sprue gates.

 

The Mk.13 torpedo is very basic, just these 2 parts with nothing at the tail but these (scale) 3-in thick fins. I do have Brengun's spiffy replacement, but let's see if I can tart this one up sufficiently.

 

While the putty is drying, I'll start on the interior with Interior Green.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[Snafu35]

Hello dnl,

 

I also intend to build this model soon, as I'm participating in a group build on a French forum whose topic is Midway. After the F4F4, the SB2U-3 and the F2F-3, this Monogram kit would be great in my collection. I will follow your construction with interest.

Beware, you are being spied on!   

 

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

[dnl42]

Working on the fuselage. I couldn't close the fuselage at the nose due to a too-short notch in the cockpit floor. You can also see a gap further aft due to the notch.

 

Extending the notch further aft enabled the fuselage to close nicely.

 

I also glued the bomb aiming doors closed. I'll need to clean up those oversized hinge arms. My first thought was they were incorrect, but a photo show them accurate, at least once I square them up.

 

And there are quite a lot of nubbins needing removal.

And a copyright date. IIRC Monogram's T-6 has a similarly errant marking on the horizontal stabilizer.

 

Staying with the wing bottom, the kit leaves the fuselage bottom open to clear the torpedo fins. 

 

Finally with all the fuselage dry fitting done, I painted the interior bits interior green only to find Lynn Ritger's site with a Modeler's Notes page stating the interior stayed aluminum (aluminized lacquer?) per pre-war photos. I'll strip it all with Mr.Color Thinner and start again. The Service Photos page has also been quite valuable! 

 

I also fitted the bulkhead behind the pilot. I was confused about the bulkhead's orientation. The bottom of the part suggested a slight aft tilt. I assembled the fuselage, fuselage floor and cockpit upper deck to set the correct position, which is nearly vertical. This orientation also puts the pilot's seat at a reasonable angle.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Looking good so far, I built one of these in the Mid-80’s and really need to revisit the type. 

[Snafu35]

Hello dnl  ,

 

About the cockpit colour, I found this information on a French website:

 

"Cockpit colour: there were 129 Devastators produced + 1 proto. The serial numbers range from 268 to 381 for the main control and from 1505 to 1519 for the 15 "spares" ordered later to fill the holes related to the losses (all pre-war). We know that the first ones have a natural metal interior and that at one point, we see interior green appearing. Looking at the photos, I think I see natural metal on sn 318 (colour photo in Life) and Interior Green on 327 (same source). So Interior Green would appear around the 55th production row. This would make a majority of TBD-1s with Interior Green cockpits."

in http://fighters.forumactif.com/t98278p50-concours-la-guerre-du-pacifique-1941-1945-douglas-tbd-1-devastator-monogram-1-48

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

[dnl42]

7 hours ago, Snafu35 said:

"Cockpit colour: there were 129 Devastators produced + 1 proto. The serial numbers range from 268 to 381 for the main control and from 1505 to 1519 for the 15 "spares" ordered later to fill the holes related to the losses (all pre-war). We know that the first ones have a natural metal interior and that at one point, we see interior green appearing. Looking at the photos, I think I see natural metal on sn 318 (colour photo in Life) and Interior Green on 327 (same source). So Interior Green would appear around the 55th production row. This would make a majority of TBD-1s with Interior Green cockpits."

in http://fighters.forumactif.com/t98278p50-concours-la-guerre-du-pacifique-1941-1945-douglas-tbd-1-devastator-monogram-1-48

Thanks for the link! The key is that some TBDs were produced with green cockpits or should have been repainted in a trip through a repair depot . Looking at those Life photos, color and B&W, it's clear that some were metallic and others green. Given that 0327 is green, Waldron's 1519 should be green. Which green? Interior Green, Bronze Green, or Dull Dark Green? 

 

I also found a link for a more recent but less complete version of Lynn Ritger's TBD info (older site, more recent page).

 

Oh, and I saw that the tailhook should have stripes.

[nickhenfrey]

Not an expert but I think your green is pretty accurate - I'm assuming that is bronze green?

 

My rendering of Jimmy Thach's White 23 is similar but less yellow (and I'm not saying it's right - I think I used 2 parts Tamiya yellow to one part green) - there seems to be a wide variance of colours if you google the subject and look at the colours used by various modellers

 

 

I have that Monogram kit (unbuilt) it looks very detailed, really looking forward to your build!

[Toryu]

19 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Interior Green, Bronze Green, or Dull Dark Green?

 

Bronze Green! It's a rich green with a semi-gloss hue. I'm using Revell 363

[stevej60]

Nice to see this one underway great start.

[dnl42]

WEM Colourcoats Bronze Green has been applied. I thinned with MLT. With Mr.Color, I'd be right onto detail painting, but I'll have to wait a bit to continue on as this is an enamel.

 

Linn Ritger's site has this info on 1506:

Quote

 

1506 Aircraft lost with VT-8 as T-16, LCDR John Charles Waldron (CO) and CRMP Horace Franklin Dobbs KIA 6/4/42. Aircraft retrofitted with twin .30 mount from CV-6 SBD spares stocks prior to Midway. (SSIA) Photo of aircraft with VT-8

 

With that, I ordered Eduard's 648712 SBD-5 Twin Machine Gun. It looks like it should be easy to mount. I also decided to go with RESIN2detail's 48702 FAST FIX R-1830 Radial Engine Front w/ Wires, which looks like it should also fit relatively well given Monogram's original engine treatment.

 

BTW, Linn Ritger has multiple references to http://www.centuryinter.net/midway/Carrier_Squadrons/Torpedo_Eight/, which doesn't appear to exist anymore. I found it here on the Wayback Machine.

 

"LCDR John C. Waldron, Torpedo Eight's CO, and Horace F. Dobbs, CRMP on the flight deck of Hornet in the Coral Sea.

Photo courtesy Mark Horan"

 

"The last of Torpedo Eight's TBDs, T-16 (BuNo 1506), flown by LCDR John C. Waldron with Horace Franklin Dobbs, CRMP, in the rear seat, taking off Hornet on 4 June 1942. Notice the unstowed twin .30 cal. Photo courtesy Mark Horan"

 

 

[nickhenfrey]

My bad

 

Your original colour seems to be zinc chromate

 

I think mine is more interior green (and probably wrong for a Grumman!)

 

But bronze green is much darker (you see it on brass and copper antiques) and seemed to be favoured by Grumman and Douglas (and generally by USN) - as your latest coat...

[dnl42]

Thanks for the likes and especially the comments!

 

Question for the cognoscenti. The only photos I've seen of the bomb aiming doors interior show them clear-coated. When I repainted the cockpit areas Bronze Green, I included all possibly visible interior areas. I wonder if below the cockpit should be clear-coated or primed zinc chrome green?

[dnl42]

The cockpit is mostly done. I just painted the cockpit top deck Bronze Green this morning.

Building tip--do not place the bombardier seat all the way aft lest it interfere with the top deck! 😱

 

I only painted the top deck this morning because I couldn't reconcile some Life images. First there's this color photo that shows green.

Compare that with this monochrome image that suggests the top deck is the exterior color. I believe I had read this was the case once the aircraft were painted in camo colors, but might be over-remembering this comment.

Notice, I flipped the image left-for-right to correct Life's odd printing error. 

 

I finally decided to stick with green as that's clearly shown in the pre-war color image as well as the LEXINGTON wreck video. I can explain that better than interpreting colors in monochromatic images that may well be orthochromatic.

 

Thanks for looking

[dnl42]

The Eduard SBD Twin 30cal mount arrived from BNA Modelworld.

 

I was thinking of trying to trim the kit part to remove the excess plastic, but found I had 0.5 inch Evergreen tube. With a suitably-sized spacer and 2 blades in my JLC saw, I was able to cut a thin ring from the tube end.

 

Here are the old and new parts

Once I paint this, I can close up the fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

8 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

The Eduard SBD Twin 30cal mount arrived from BNA Modelworld.

 

I was thinking of trying to trim the kit part to remove the excess plastic, but found I had 0.5 inch Evergreen tube. With a suitably-sized spacer and 2 blades in my JLC saw, I was able to cut a thin ring from the tube end.

 

Here are the old and new parts

Once I paint this, I can close up the fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking. 

Well that will help with the detail work on this. 

[SoftScience]

On 7/17/2022 at 8:57 PM, dnl42 said:

 

 

 

I was thinking of trying to trim the kit part to remove the excess plastic, but found I had 0.5 inch Evergreen tube. With a suitably-sized spacer and 2 blades in my JLC saw, I was able to cut a thin ring from the tube end.

 

 

Here are the old and new parts

 

Once I paint this, I can close up the fuselage.

 

Thanks for looking. 

Brilliant idea using the double saws. I've been trying to develop a method to get good parallel cuts on rod and tube, and you just solved it for me. Thanks! 

[dnl42]

1 hour ago, SoftScience said:

Brilliant idea using the double saws. I've been trying to develop a method to get good parallel cuts on rod and tube, and you just solved it for me. Thanks! 

Glad I could help! 

 

Here are the parts.

 

 

The much larger holes in the blades permits them to be offset so they are at different depths. This provides a built-in edge guide.

 

I usually rely on a mitre box for smaller stock.