1:72 Valom Northrop BT-1 Dive Bomber

[81-er]

Ouch Bill! Wishing you a speedy recovery and getting back to mangling plastic rather than yourself soon. I also think that's probably the last time I read one of your threads while eating my breakfast 🤣

 

James

[Martian]

2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

@Hamden No worries, Roger. We don't deliver to Dorset. The insurance won't cover us for Pirates. 

 

I didn't do it! I wasn't there! 🏴‍☠️

 

Innocent of Mars 👽

 

What? You mean my crew and I are the pirates? Cheek!

[Navy Bird]

Thanks mates. I took my doctor's anticipated advice (I didn't really go see him) and stuck a Band-Aid on and I'm going to try and do some work on the engine today. Just have to remember to not use that finger. Gawd, it still hurts. And it looks nasty, so I'm glad I covered it up. (I won't ruin anyone's breakfast or supper by posting a photo!)

 

I can't believe I'm such an idiot. My wife can, but I can't.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Any mathematicians out there? I want to know what the odds are for such a perfect alignment for the chisel strike.

[Corvi]

'Never tell me the odds' 

     Han Solo, Empire Strikes Back

[giemme]

Whatever the odds, I hope you recover soon, Bill.

 

You know that "giving blood for the cause" has become a figure of speech, don't you?

 

 

Ciao 

[Learstang]

2 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. Any mathematicians out there? I want to know what the odds are for such a perfect alignment for the chisel strike.

 

That's easy. In your case Bill the odds were exactly 100 percent!

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

[Martian]

That made me cringe just reading about it! Dr Martian's prescription is to consume quantities of cold beer until either the pain goes away or you pass out. You have neglected the most painful thing however, that is when Mrs Navybird stops worrying and turns to telling you what a plonker you are for hurting yourself in the first place. Been there, got the tee shirt etc..

 

@Pete in Lincs will supply the appropriate libations and don't take any rubbish about his firm not delivering across the pond! 

 

Helpful of Mars 👽

[Pete in Lincs]

Can I just point out that I'm not at work tomorrow?

[Navy Bird]

6 hours ago, giemme said:

You know that "giving blood for the cause" has become a figure of speech, don't you?

 

Sure, but I've never had a cause in my life. Colour me perplexed.   

 

4 hours ago, Learstang said:

That's easy. In your case Bill the odds were exactly 100 percent!

 

Oh boy, now I have to start tutoring you in chaos theory. Random events can never have a 100% probability. Haven't you read any of Ian Malcolm's books?    

 

3 hours ago, Martian said:

That made me cringe just reading about it! Dr Martian's prescription is to consume quantities of cold beer until either the pain goes away or you pass out. You have neglected the most painful thing however, that is when Mrs Navybird stops worrying and turns to telling you what a plonker you are for hurting yourself in the first place.

 

Not sure she's ever called me a plonker. I could list off her favourite names for me but then Mike would ban me for life. I will give the beer idea a try, though. Sounds like it might work. Worth trying anyway.   

 

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Can I just point out that I'm not at work tomorrow?

 

So deliver today. Sheesh, and your sign says 24/7.    

 

*****

 

Well, the nine-fingered numbskull did some work. The resin engine is not the nicest 1:72 radial I've ever seen, but I've heard that the masters were made by a relative of Salvador Dali's who had a bit too much sangria whilst on the clock. The Persistence of Cooling Fins anyone? I'll cut him some slack because I like surrealism. And sangria.

 

Other than some careful clean-up (using single-edged razor blades and scalpels - the boy will never learn!) all I did was shoot some Alclad Dark Aluminum and flood with a black Future wash. The engine is a mere 13mm in diameter, and only the front will show (and a bit of the rear bank if you can manage to direct some highly focused coherent beam of energy in-between the front cylinders. Nah, didn't think you would.)

 

 

I assembled the cowling, doing my best to line up the panel lines but that led to some misalignment at the front and back of the cowling. Instead, I lined up the cowl opening and will sand and re-scribe the lines (they're not very deep). The model has very few panel lines to start with, and the first ones I encounter don't line up! If I didn't already know that each planet is not approximately twice as far from the Sun as the one before, I'd say this doesn't Bode well. Ha! Get it? I crack me up sometimes.

 

I have all of the cockpit parts ready to be aluminized, but I think there needs to be some mods. The kit part for the bulkhead behind the driver is one piece, and extends up into the canopy and includes an integral headrest. I've not seen this in any photos. What I have seen is the bulkhead extending up to the canopy sill, above which there is a roll-over structure which does not incorporate a headrest. We'll need to do some scratching here. Also, Valom have you position the shelf in front of the gunner at a level below the canopy sill. All photos I have show it at the same level as the sill. I received the Steve Ginter book on the BT-1, so I now have a lot of reference material. It's a great book - I am amazed at how many designs and design iterations led to the BT-1.

 

I've cleaned up the main fuselage parts and I suspect this kit was moulded by Sword. It's the same smooth, shiny styrene and it sands in the same way. It wouldn't surprise me if Valom farmed out the moulding.

 

Let's see what other injury I can cause.

 

Cheers,

Bill (Mr. Self-Induced Subungual Hematoma)

[Ed Russell]

35 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Mr. Self-Induced Subungual Hematoma

Goodness - I read that as sub-inguinal and wondered what you had done next!

[alt-92]

56 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Let's see what other injury I can cause.

Let the first one heal a bit before you do that, would be my take... and please have that finger checked soonish. It won't do to catch an infection (speaking from experience).

[dogsbody]

Ooooh! I thought it was bad when I stabbed my left thumb with a No. 11 Xacto blade. It was just to the side of the thumbnail and I think it hit the bone. It did hurt a bit and I swore quite loudly ( not unusual ). But it only bled a wee bit and some peroxide and a small bandaid patched me up quickly. 

 

It was a minor wound compared to yours. Heal quickly!

 

 

 

Chris

[Learstang]

Remember that you need to avoid further injury and do a good job on this, Bill, as this will be the template for my attempt at this kit. Mind you, I doubt I'll do the revisions/refinements you do, but still your build will give me something to aim for, and miss very badly, I suspect. I had the same reaction to the plastic, though - very Sword-like, and even in the same grey-blue plastic. I've found it easy to work with so far and haven't cut off any major (or minor) digits, yet. And no, I didn't read Ian Malcom's books; I was busy reading Dr. Grant's tome on dinosaurs (of course, says the old geologist).

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Edited August 14, 2022 by Learstang
Additional comment added.

[Navy Bird]

Saw the doctor and he says it should heal itself without need for any intervention. Which is good, because the intervention is a form of trepanning. Basically, bore a small hole into your nail, suck out the blood and squirt in some antibiotics. Or something like that. Didn't sound like something I would particularly look forward to.

 

Instead, I am going to do some more work on the cockpit. By the way, the cockpit in the BT was aluminum (paint I suspect, just like the fuselage) so I tried out a bottle of AK Aluminum that I picked up somewhere. Personal opinion - way too much grain for my taste. I immediately shot some Alclad over the top of it and now I'm as happy as a man who tried to remove his own fingernail can be.   

 

Yes, Jason, I will try to do my best for you. But I make no guarantees.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Hamden]

 

Glad to hear the war wound needs no further intervention Bill and hope the full recovery is swift

 

      Stay safe              Roger

[Mr T]

Looks an interesting build and that colour photograph from 'Life' is gorgeous.  I am sorry to hear about the accident.  This modelling lark us more dangerous than it looks! I still have a scar on my thumb from when I managed to run a Swann Morton No11 blade through it.  Mrs T was a District Nurse then and had a load of dressing stuff in her car.  A few Steristrips  and bandaged up, and it healed up OK.  I recall when I was a student nurse  doing my stint in A&E, haematomas under nails was a regular.  I have a memory of a heated paperclip to burn through the nail to release any blood or pus.  Relief was instant,  with the patient thinking the Casualty Sister or Doctor who did itbwas a miracle worker. 

[Navy Bird]

7 minutes ago, Mr T said:

I have a memory of a heated paperclip to burn through the nail to release any blood or pus.  Relief was instant,  with the patient thinking the Casualty Sister or Doctor who did it was a miracle worker. 

 

I read about that as a "home cure" treatment. Suffice to say, I figured if I tried that I would just make it worse. Especially since I've been Mr. Fumble-thumbs lately.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

[dogsbody]

Don't you have a set of small drill for hobby use? You could carefully drill a wee hole through your own fingernail.

 

 

Chris

[Navy Bird]

46 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Don't you have a set of small drill for hobby use? You could carefully drill a wee hole through your own fingernail.

 

Come to think of it, I was drilling a small hole once, through some bit of plastic I was holding, and when the drill bit broke through it managed to find my finger. Luckily, I was using a small Mascot wood drill and I was drilling by hand so the energy being applied wasn't enough to break the skin. Either that, or I'm even more of a thick-skinned old codger than I thought. Wifey says the latter.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

[StephenCJ]

"Saw the doctor and he says it should heal itself without need for any intervention. Which is good, because the intervention is a form of trepanning. Basically, bore a small hole into your nail, suck out the blood and squirt in some antibiotics. Or something like that. Didn't sound like something I would particularly look forward to."

 

I have actually drilled a 1/8" hole in my finger nail.  Twice, the first and the last.  This little medical procedure did relieve the throbbing.  Dogsbody would a good candidate for some experimental fingernail drilling.

 

Bill you should tell our backyard medical practitioners to take a long run off a short pier.  You could get wifey to help, but if she is anything like mine that would be a bad idea.  She has the belief that if it isn't hurting her it can't be hurting me.

[Learstang]

Okay, since this has now become the 'when I was a youngster, I once cut my hand off whilst building a Lancaster' thread, I do recall the time I was using a brand-new, fresh No.11 blade (Very sharp!). It slipped off whatever I was cutting (what a surprise), and like Chris (dogsbody) the only thing that prevented further penetration was it conveniently hit my thumb bone. Otherwise, it would probably still be going. See, this is why I don't like brand-new No.11 blades unless I really need one. Like Bill, I'm a fairly thick-skinned old codger and a moderately worn No.11 just bounces off my skin. All right, back to our regular programme.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Navy Bird]

We'll get back to modelling soon. I can actually type with that finger now, as long as I don't smack the keys. I've done some more work in the cockpit, but Valom has left out a lot of stuff - currently scrounging over at the Island of Misfit Fiddly Bits to see what I can find.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Markh-75]

I didnt know it was a Northrop BT before it became a Dauntless SBD! Learned something with this post! Great model!

[Navy Bird]

It turns out that you can slide the cockpit floor in through the nose opening and have it align on the ledges on the inside of the fuselage:

 

 

This allows you to superglue one side and then remove the tape holding the fuselage together. You can be sure once you're finished with the cockpit fiddling, everything will line back up when you finally glue the fuselage together.

 

I mentioned earlier that the bulkhead behind the driver is bogus, so I made a new one. Once this was in place, and the shelf behind this bulkhead added, I discovered a major boo-boo in the kit. The foot rests and seat pedestal for the gunner are positioned on the cockpit floor so that they are entirely underneath the shelf. This is where the radio gear goes, not the gunner's feet. The gunner's "turret" is farther back, indicated by the curved cut-out at the back of the shelf.

 

 

The blanking plate for the carburettor intake didn't fit at all, so I put in a bit of card stock. That will be painted black and the silver mesh screen (nicely done in PE) will look great against the black background. I'll figure out something for the gunner's seat pedestal - shouldn't be too difficult. I've been using the photos in the Ginter book to help in positioning all this stuff. I still need to make the roll-over structure which will mount on the front the shelf. The seats, seat belts, and the circular gun mount (with a nice PE half-ring for the elevation motion) will appear later, after the fuselage is together and painted.

 

I'm a little disappointed in the resin, as it's somewhat crude. But we'll make it work somehow.

 

Injury update: My grandson Carter was very sympathetic about my finger. So sympathetic in fact, that he went out and broke his thumb. Now we can commiserate together.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I think this is the first Valom kit I've built. Accordingly, I've decided "Valom" should appear in the dictionary as one of the definitions of "short-run."

PPS. The front cockpit should have a small instrument panel coaming, but one is not provided. Hmm.

[Learstang]

Now, now, Bill, you don't want to make this kit sound more difficult than it really is and scare the nice man (me) from building it. I'm sure you'll be able to overcome any issues with your usual aplomb. I'm sorry to hear about you grandson breaking his thumb, though. I waited until law school before breaking any bones (a closed angular fracture of my fifth right metacarpal), when I got in a fight with a garbage can after finding out I made a 'D' grade in Contracts. Lesson for all - never punch an official City of Houston garbage can - although the tops are made of plastic, they are evidently made of a sort of plastic you could use as tank armour, indeed it may be Chobham composite instead of actual plastic.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jason

Edited August 19, 2022 by Learstang
Additional comments added.