The 1/48 Revellogram Spitfire MK II was the first kit I built when I got back into this hobby. It was painted with a borrowed Badger 250 single action airbrush and a propellant can. The second build was the now defunct Accurate Miniatures SBD-1 which came in a plain cardboard box that I pilfered from my buddy’s kit stash. Not to bash Revell, but I couldn’t believe the difference in mold technology between the two. I believe it was the first cockpit I ever “washed” too, but I couldn’t tell you how I did it. These kits, and a few others, served as stepping stones to the modeling I’m still doing almost 12 years later. I’m by no means Master Class and still consider myself an average modeler at best, but I think I’ve picked up a few tricks along the way.
Anyways, now that I’m done reminiscing, I figured I would have another crack at the Accurate Miniatures Dauntless, this time the SBD-3. I’ve had the “Battle of Midway” Dash 3 which I got off Ebay in my stash for a few years now. The kit was gotten cheap because someone started painting it, but the seller did include a nice Eduard PE interior set which was a nice surprise.
Accurate Miniatures was second to none when it came to researching their subjects. This one is no exception. Its an absolute shame they closed up shop. This particular kit comes with markings for all VB-3 Dauntless bombers from the Carrier Yorktown during the Battle of Midway. I figure I’ll do this plane right here (below), piloted by Paul “Lefty” Holmberg. On June 4th of 1942, Holmberg delivered the first blow on the Japanese fleet by being the first to drop a bomb on the “Soryu”. Its time I pay homage to those brave men who would avenge Pearl Harbor and turn the tide in the Pacific war for good.
I was asked on my last WIP if I would outline exactly how I do my cockpits. I’m going to give it a shot. I’ll go step-by-step with photography when appropriate. I’ll start with my paint palette, XF-1 Flat Black and my bottle of 91% Isoprohyl Alcohol. I keep it this bottle because its easy to dispense. I thin Tamiya Paints with this alcohol. They spray beautifully and dry fast. The old Testors paint brush is my paint mixer. I keep several on hand for this purpose.
The cockpit parts are all removed from the sprues attached to a clothespin by Blu Tac. I then spray everything XF-1 Flat Black. The color will later serve as a shadow for the actual interior color.
I then mix up the interior color. In this case, Gunze Aqueous Interior Green. I think this is the best US Interior Green out there. I thin my Gunze paints with Tamiya X-20.
Then I just start shading in the color. The black undercoat leaves the crevices nice and dark.
Here everything is painted interior green and ready for detail painting. We can also see the difference between the black shading technique as opposed to just painting the bare plastic interior green. The previous owner of the kit painted every interior surface light green which is readily apparent on rear interior fuselage. On a sidenote, the interior detail is outstanding and I see no need for aftermarket here. Did I mention its a shame Accurate Miniatures closed up shop?
Its detail painting time. I put a bit of XF-69 Nato Black in the palette “dimple” then some 91 Iso in another dimple. The paint, cut with a touch of the Alcohol, makes brush painting with Tamiya a breeze. Brush strokes are minimum because capillary action moves the paint along the piece.
We now need some other colors to add interest. I like to paint map pouches and such in XF-64 Red Brown to add interest and draw the eye. The same technique is used. If you mess up, don’t worry, we’ll fix that later with the wash.
We need silver boxes too. Here I randomly use Floquil Bright Sliver which does not need thinned.
I’m going to stop here for now. On the next “installment” (Lol…) I will describe my drybrushing techniques, PE installation, then the wash. Believe it or not, after a few more steps it will be done.
Joe
