WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

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Seamus
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WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by Seamus »

I'm assuming this is the right place to post this? :question:

Here's my first entry for this GB and hopefully a bit of a re-motivation build- the excellent looking Academy Helldiver. Been wanting to make a start on this one for a good while now, so hopefully it'll be just the thing to get me back in the game :D

On with the Obligatories...

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She'll be finished in the classic three tone WW2 USN scheme, one of my favourite colour schemes.

Might even make a start on her tonight :D

Cheers

Shaun :)
Last edited by Seamus on Sat 01 Aug 2009, 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mattlaker
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by mattlaker »

Go for it mate! sounds like you have got your modelling mojo well and truly back! (fingers crossed!) Looking forward to seeing this one develop!
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Deacon
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Deacon »

Yet another kit I've got (no I haven't been following you around). Look forward to watching this one mate.

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Thanks for the early interest fellas :)

I've begun the build in the usual way by giving the transparencies a dip in Klear. These have since been masked off- lots of small panes makes masking much fun :whistle:

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I've also assembled the interior and removed and cleaned up the larger parts. Couldn't resist a wee dry fit :D

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Although the picture doesn't really show it, the fit of the kit is excellent. I doubt there'll be any need for filler, just a few swipes with a sanding sponge to clean up the seams. That said, the tailplanes may be slightly suspect :question:

Really enjoying this one so far, she's proving just the job to get me back into the swing of things :)

Just a bit cleaning up and prepping to do before I can make a start on spraying the interior.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Shaun :)
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mattlaker
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by mattlaker »

YEAH BABY!!!

you've got your mojo back, and no sign of Heather Graham anywhere :grin:

This one looks like a nice little kit. No PE tho... and i sent you the link to some decent interior detailing stuff... mind you, if i were going to be building a complete bomb bay out of PE, i'd need a) very small hands, b) a magniying glass, and c) sectioning, so we'll let you off! I'm struggling a bit in 1:48!
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Seamus
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Actually, I have Heather Graham tied up in the garage :whistle:

Cheers mate, that PE you showed me was mental, would look great no doubt, but I'd make a right mess of things. Besides, the Helldiver had it's flaps up at rest, so of course I want to make it as accurate as possible :D

Right, a fair bit of progress on the old girl over the last couple of days. I sprayed up all the interior parts in Xtracolor interior green, appropriately enough! I then added a few drops of white to it and did a touch of post shading, just to add a bit of tonal variation. I then picked out the details using a combination of a fine brush and cocktail sticks, before drybrushing some silver around, just to give a worn out look. I also added some scratches to the floor using a silver pencil, and belts were made from the usual tamiya tape and fusewire. This has to be one of, if not the best interior I've seen on a 1/72 kit OOB.

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The IP was sprayed flat black, before the dials were picked out in gloss black, to simulate the glass. This was followed by another quick drybrush of silver.

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here's how it all looks inside the fuselage....

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...and with the fuselage dryfitted. Absolutely no dramas with the fit here :)

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I thought about giving the interior an oil wash, but decided it looked OK as it is. I will be washing the bomb bay and undercarriage, and these parts have had a couple coats of Klear in preparation for it, before I close everything up and make a start on the main construction

That's your lot for now, all comments welcomed as ever

Cheers

Shaun :)
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mattlaker
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by mattlaker »

That is looking really good mate! I see what you mean by the offset tail... never seen that before! :smile:
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Cheers mate, the fin is an odd one for sure, can only put it down to trimming as we discussed ;)

More progress, and after applying an oil wash to the bomb bay, undercarriage and wheel wells, the bulk of the construction has been completed. No dramas at all, just a few swipes of a sanding sponge to sort out the seams, and a touch of filler here and there, just to clean things up a bit. The main canopies have been left off as I'll position them open, so will tack them in place when it comes to spraying.

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Once everything is masked up, I'll get a preshade on her, probably tomorrow

Thanks for looking, comments welcomed

Cheers

Shaun :)
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Deacon »

Shaun that looks great mate. :clap:

Deacon

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Cheers buddy :)

Progress has been slowed these last couple of weeks by Yeovilton, Legends and RIAT, but I have been steadily making progress on the Helldiver, to the point where the paint job is complete. Usual process of preshade followed by the base colour, each one highlighted a touch with a post shade, though my airbrush was giving me some grief so haven't gone overboard with it. No step by step pics as I've had some PC trouble recently, but now it's up and running again, here's where she stands as of this morning.

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I'll give her a quick coat of klear before making a start on the decalling tomorrow

Comments welcomed as always

Cheers

Shaun :)
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Deacon
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Deacon »

Someday mate I'll be able to produce a kit to this standard. Beautiful. (That's the Helldiver by the way :grin: ) :clap: :clap:

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Cheers gents fella, you're too kind, though I would say if you continue at the rate of improvement you are at the moment, you'll be churning out kits far better than I in no time :)

More progress and decalling was done. Having learned from my F-8 build, I used Klear as the setting solution, and the decals largely preformed with no dramas, despite being a touch on the thick side. The fuselage stars and bars needed a bit of persuasion to conform to the curves of the fuselage, but I got there in the end. It's unusual to have so many stencils on a WW2 aircraft...

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The eagle eyed amongst you will notice the lack the aerial on the nose. Being the muppet that I am, I glued it in the wrong place :sad: So I've popped it off (resulting in a 5 minute search to free it from the grasp of the carpet monster :whistle:) and will reattach it in the correct position, as well as cleaning up and respraying the mess it's removal has left behind. Ho hum!

Thanks for looking, comments welcomed as ever

Cheers

Shaun :)
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mattlaker
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by mattlaker »

Alright mate!

She's looking great so far mate! :)
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Ben Montgomery »

Very nice Shaun! :clap:

Are you going to make the paintwork look scratched or leave it as it is?

Ben

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Thanks fellas :)

Ben, I shall indeed be adding some paint chipping in good time, need to complete the rest of the weathering first. I've got the panel wash on this evening, so I'll let that dry overnight before removing tomorrow, that's if I don't gamble on the weather and go to Culdrose.
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Deacon »

This my friend may even surpass the He 111 you did. It's looking stunning.

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Thanks very much chap, I was dead chuffed with the '111 so that's high praise indeed :D

More progress and the weathering is largely complete. I first applied a grey pastel wash over the whole airframe to highlight the panel lines, darkening it a bit to highlight those in the areas if intermediate blue. I also applied a red wash to the flaps as from what I've seen from other models, the red tended to show through a touch. The exhaust stains have been sprayed, as have the gun stains, though I'll touch these up later with oil paints. I started adding paint silver chipping with a silver pen, but overdid it relative to the fairly new looking paint job, so I'll maybe add a little bit around the wing roots once the matt coat is on. I've also attached the aerials and antennae in preparation for said matt coat.

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Should be able to get the matt coat on later today after doing a spot of touching up here and there, so fingers crossed she'll be wrapped up during tomorrow

All comments welcomed

Cheers

Shaun :)
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Deacon
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Deacon »

That Helldiver looks simply awesome mate and I am looking forward to tomorrows update.

I hope to get this kit next week, so your build will help, once again.

Deacon

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Ben Montgomery »

Still looking fantastic. :clap: I dont know how you keep going and going and going and going and......

I hit a wall and jsut have to stop for a bit! Doesnt help when your airbrush dies though :oops:

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver

Post by Seamus »

Thanks very much chaps :)

Deacon, I can't recommend the kit enough, it's a beauty and you'll have a blast building it ;)

Ben, actually, I haven't completed a kit for over a month now! :shock: Had a bit of a block myself after the Crusader, and what with all the airshows I've attended in July, haven;t been able to dedicate as much time to my modelling as I normally would like. That said, the break has done me some good, as I've really got stuck into this one again over the last week or so. You're right about the broken airbrush though, my old one broke during my Wyvern build back along, a reet pain in't arse!

Anyways, having sprayed the matt coat this morning, I've now completed the construction and added some light paint chipping to the wing roots and prop blades- nothing too overboard though as in the end I didn't want her to be too heavily weathered. So, I'm calling her done :D

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I'll pop a few pics in the gallery shortly. As always, the interest and encouragement shown throughout the build is much appreciated :clap:

All comments welcomed

Cheers

Shaun :)
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by mattlaker »

What can i say? You've done it again! Think that says it all!!! A beauty! :drool: :clap: :clap: :clap:
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vespasia
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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by vespasia »

Can't believe my eyes Shaun - last time I looked you'd just done the dry fit of the wings! And now this - beautiful job, the weathering looks spot on :clap: :clap:

Steve :biggrin:

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by davidm »

Stunning :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by flying_medic »

Another outstanding build :clap: :clap:

Your builds give me something to aspire to. If I could build something that turned out half as good as that I would be ecstatic! :drool:

F_M

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Re: WW2 Aliied GB- 1/72 Academy Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver- Done

Post by mattlaker »

What can i say? I taught him everything he knows... :whistle: lol!!!! (more like the other way around...)

Seriously tho, to turn out something like this in 1:72 is superb, shaun... Pride of place on the shelves?!

you'll be putting the harrier on ebay to make room tho at this rate!
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