1:72 Valom Northrop BT-1 Dive Bomber

[woody37]

This is coming on a treat Bill, sorry I'm late to the party, but I've come at a good time I think!

[StephenCJ]

For a bloke with a smashed finger and an overdose of the wog this is turning out to be a nice build and I do love the colour scheme.

 

Stephen, whose modelling tools are in a container in the driveway.

[81-er]

She's very much the antidote to all those "any colour you like as long as it's grey" modern jets. The red looks fantastic, I can't wait to see the blue go on as well

 

James

[Navy Bird]

On 01/10/2022 at 12:53, giemme said:

Tricky masking indeed, but well worth it! Neat job!

 

It's so much fun cutting those little curves with a #11 blade. But at least I didn't ram it under my nail!      😬

 

On 01/10/2022 at 14:16, woody37 said:

This is coming on a treat Bill, sorry I'm late to the party, but I've come at a good time I think!

 

Welcome aboard! There is always another deck chair here on the Titanic - er, I mean, at Navy Birdland.     😀

 

On 02/10/2022 at 04:09, StephenCJ said:

...whose modelling tools are in a container in the driveway.

 

Sidewalk chalk for the kiddies? That's what I use for weathering!     

 

On 02/10/2022 at 06:46, 81-er said:

She's very much the antidote to all those "any colour you like as long as it's grey" modern jets.

 

Wow, ain't that the truth! For the last year or two I've been seeking out anniversary and display schemes specifically for that reason. I wish I could find something for my F-22 kit, as I have a veritable hobby shop full of resin and photoetch to go with it. But grey on grey (oops, forgot I was a Yank for a moment - gray on gray) just doesn't do anything for me. Granted, if I was a pilot and getting shot at I most likely would love low-viz. Just not as a modeller.

 

*****

 

OK, now for some blue.

 

 

I only ran into one minor issue - the Ginter volume says that the fuselage stripe was 18 inches wide, or 6.35mm in 1:72 scale. I had to make the stripe slightly wider than that so the letter "B" as supplied on the decal sheet would fit properly. I think I ended up making the stripe 8mm. Since I know about this issue (and now you do too!) it always looks too wide. Perhaps once the stickers are on it won't jump out at me as much.

 

The inside of the dive flaps will be red of course, and the structural part of the wing that you can see will stay aluminium. At least that is how it looks in my Dauntless photos. However, I'm not sure whether the fuselage under the centre dive flap should be red as well - the instructions don't mention it and I can't find a photo anywhere, even in B&W. Anyone have an idea?

 

I made a new cover for the forward machine gun. You may recall that the bit supplied with the kit is, well, not so good. Instead of using card stock to cob up something up, I went through boxes and boxes of leftover parts until I found something that I could use. And find something I did! I wasn't expecting that a leftover part from my Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire Mk. IX could masquerade as a 1:72 machine gun cover (with a bit of hacking, slashing, and sanding), but hey - that's modelling for you!    

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Wifey and I finally found our way back to the Old Toad, our local "authentic" English pub. It was closed during the pandemic as the English exchange students were not available for staffing. The menu the other day was significantly reduced - even the beer selection was a shadow of its former shelf. But at least the pub has re-opened and hopefully will someday resume its former glory. Fingers crossed.

[Navy Bird]

I think I answered my question - although this is a photo of a restored Dauntless, it clearly shows the fuselage under the centre dive flap as aluminium:

 

 

The photo was taken at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans by scattered1 over at Flickr. Without any information to the contrary, this is how I'll try to depict the BT-1.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Robin-42]

This one is all aluminum! Wikipedia, google Northrop BT. I had the link, but I think that is not allowed.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Robin-42

[StephenCJ]

8 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

with a bit of hacking, slashing, and sanding), but hey - that's modelling for you!   

and no blood, I hope.

 

Beautiful as always Bill.

[giemme]

9 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

OK, now for some blue.

Purty!   

 

Ciao

 

[Fritag]

Striking and Bill-neat, Bill.

[81-er]

The blue looks excellent, Bill. I'm pretty sure that once the decals are on, the stripe won't look odd as it'll then be in proportion to the lettering

 

James

[Terry1954]

As others have said, those colours look striking together, one of the attractions modelling US Navy aircraft of that era. 

 

Nice job.

 

Terry

[Brandy]

Very pretty!

If the B is too wide, couldn't you cut the vertical side off and trim the arms slightly to reduce the width?

 

Ian

[Navy Bird]

19 hours ago, Robin-42 said:

This one is all aluminum! Wikipedia, google Northrop BT. I had the link, but I think that is not allowed.

 

I found this interesting post by @Dana Bell from 2014 over on Tapatalk (Hyperscale):

 

"The red dive brakes were "invented" by one of the BT-1 squadrons (VB-5?) as a means to signal the formation to begin the dive together - too many aircraft were missing the signal when the dive brakes were just aluminum lacquer. The squadron added the paint, THEN asked permission from BuAer. BuAer argued for a bit ("But wouldn't yellow be better?") finally approving the red color in time for SBD production.

The earlier posts about safety were also correct - deck crews eventually recognized that the red was a place to NOT rest their hands - but records show that the original purpose was a signal."

 

Sounds like asking for forgiveness being easier than asking for permission. I'm doing a VB-5 scheme, so I think I'll stick with the red. Take that, BuAer!   

 

That said, the inside of the centre dive flap appears to be the lower fuselage colour.

 

19 hours ago, StephenCJ said:

and no blood, I hope.

 

Ha! No blood this time. I must be getting better at this.    

 

15 hours ago, 81-er said:

The blue looks excellent, Bill. I'm pretty sure that once the decals are on, the stripe won't look odd as it'll then be in proportion to the lettering

 

I think you're right. The fuselage stripe was wider than the chevron, or it certainly looks that way in photos. (I scaled the photos to set the width of the chevron stripe.) Once the letters are on the fuselage side, things should look OK.

 

9 hours ago, Brandy said:

If the B is too wide, couldn't you cut the vertical side off and trim the arms slightly to reduce the width?

 

I was off a bit in my original estimate - I just measured the width of the fuselage stripe and it's 7mm. The letter "B" is 6mm wide, so there will be about 0.5mm of the stripe extending beyond the outside edges of the letter. Shouldn't be a problem. Measure first, post second!     

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Robin-42]

Sad thing is, last time I checked, flying SBD’s and Helldivers were not allowed to use the dive flap function, the feds ruin all the fun!

[Navy Bird]

So if you take a bit leftover from the Tamiya 1:32 Spitfire:

 

 

Remove most of it and shoot some Alclad on it, you end up with this:

 

 

Which is what exactly? Remember the cover that goes over the forward machine gun?

 

 

 

Well, here is my part alongside the Valom part:

 

 

Doesn't look like they share any DNA. Here my part in place (not glued yet):

 

 

It can't be permanently attached yet as the masking needs to removed from the canopy first since it covers part of the windscreen. Anyway, I think it will work.

 

Stickers are going on now - the insignia on the underside of the wings first. I do not like how they are reacting to the decal solvent. There's always something.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[81-er]

Nicely done on that fairing, Bill

 

James

[Navy Bird]

More decalcomania nonsense - the VB-5 Satan Head from the kit sheet is too small. But, believe it or not, I have an old (actually very old) Superscale sheet that has US Navy unit insignia from 1930-1941 and it has the correct size Satan head.

 

I am now also searching for other decals to replace those from the kit as I don't like that they are not settling down well. I'll try all my different solvents and see if I can get a reaction.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. The fuselage numbers disintegrated in water. Ugh. I quit.   

[giemme]

New fairing definitely in a different league  

 

Hope you can sort the number, somehow

 

Ciao

 

 

[Terry1954]

That front top fairing solution is pure innovation Bill, it looks as though it was meant to be!

 

Re the decals, sounds like a real pain. If there are any specifics you can't source yourself, just shout. Unlikely given your own resourcefulness but I've a pretty extensive decal bank and may be able to help.

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

Thanks guys. I went on a journey to the Island of Misfit Stickers and managed to find the letters needed. They are a wee bit smaller, but I think that will be OK. But - they are from old Microscale sheets (circa 70s or 80s I suppose) so I will need to shoot some clear lacquer over them first. Stay tuned.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Stickers are on along with a few coats of MRP semigloss (which didn't change much to be honest - she's still pretty shiny).

 

 

 

The only decals from the kit that were used are the underside wing insignia (the centre red circle is WAY too bright) and the small markings on the tail. Everything else came from the spares box.

 

The dive flaps are in the process of being painted, as are the remaining bits - prop, antenna, gear doors, etc. Shouldn't be too long now - then I can move on to something with more mojo.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Brandy]

She looks great in her full plumage. Lovely work!

 

Ian

[Dave Slowbuild]

Looking fabulous from where I’m sitting!
 

Dave

[Martian]

2 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Stickers are on along with a few coats of MRP semigloss (which didn't change much to be honest - she's still pretty shiny).

 

 

 

The only decals from the kit that were used are the underside wing insignia (the centre red circle is WAY too bright) and the small markings on the tail. Everything else came from the spares box.

 

The dive flaps are in the process of being painted, as are the remaining bits - prop, antenna, gear doors, etc. Shouldn't be too long now - then I can move on to something with more mojo.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis! Nice!

 

Poetic of Mars 👽

[81-er]

It's looking pretty fantastic from here, Bill!

 

James