That im currently working on is a testors 1:72. I found that “testors” injected a star with a circle around it as a panel line would be right behind the wing. The star is supposed to be near the stablizer in the back. I bought a second kit to see if this one was messed up. The other kit is the same. Im gonna fill the star and circle and place a decal in the back. Any ideas to filled fine panel lines. I was gonna use testors contour putty but someone said to use auto glaze putty or evercoat. What is best for sush small lines. P.S. Im gonna have to scribe the panels line back that are going throught it. Thanks! Its been brought to my attention that the inside of the model is stamp “hawk”, posibly for another aircraft. Thanks CallSignOWL!
I really don’t think that kit is worth puting in the extra effort. I built it years ago, from unwrapping the box, to the shelf in an evening. Fun and relaxing. I’d say, kick back and enjoy a very simple build, as is!
Its been weeks! Thats it…im goin back to Legos. [6]
hey fermis, did you do anything special to the kit? My little sister gave me this for Christmas, and I would like to do it up nice for her. do you have any advice about the cockpit area?
OWL
Legos RULE!!![H]
I did nothing special at all, just built it as it came. It’s good for a bit of practice, that’s about it. It is nice and relaxing after a big project. It’s been at least a dozen years, when I was getting back into building. I also did the corsair and still have the GeeBee and Spirit of St. Louis hiding out somewhere, they’ll probably stay that way!!!
The kit was originally released by the long-gone Hawk model company back the 60’s and has been re-released by Testors over the years. I have some fond memories of first building one in 1963. Bought it at the corner drug store across from the courthouse in Auburn, IN.
The cockpit consists solely of two “benches” and two crew figures. The crew figures are crude and way over scale. I remember that they were about the same size as the 1/48 figures in my Monogram SB2C.
The wing is a single solid piece, with the wheel wells just represented by scribed lines. Most people just paint the wheel well area black or gray.
The kit is very basic compared to current kits, but the general shape is accurate and it can be built into a nice-looking shelf model. If nothing else it presents a great opportunity to practice some scratch-building in the cockpit.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the scribing on the fuselage. In fact, you might just want to sand it all off.
Good luck,
Mark
Owl
That model was one of the first I had done since returning to modeling. At the time I got it I was highly disapointed with it and almost tossed it in the trash. I eneded up putting some elbow grease into it and in the end it was ok i guess. I should have built a cockpit for it but didn’t. I admit I purchased another of the same kit with the hopes of building that cockpit. Here is the build thread if you’re interested. I had posted it here but I can’t seem to find it right now. I hope no one is offended by me linking to another forum?
I didnt mind at all. Thank you, Dirkpitt, that was helpful to see the little SBD built up. What did you use to drill out teh flaps and guns? Also the scratchbuilding of the guns was very nice. Where did you get the PE ammo belts? that was a nice touch!
Sooo…I filled the star and circle. Attached the unimportant stuff like the wing and stablizer, then sanded it to perfection for priming. As I primed the airplane white with one light coat…then the next and let the airplane dry. When I came back approx. 30 min later my airplane was … furry. [:S] I thought hey! its just the first coat! As I applied a second light coat…furry. What the Hey! The i spray a box with the rattle can and it hit the box like white sandpaper. Fail. This sucks. I was gonna try to remove it but even with the primer dry it just falls off like powder. By the way I live in Yuma, AZ, normal temperature here is 100’s - 115’s. I think I may need to not store paint in the garage. Im gonna try another can and hope I can cover the furry and keep the panel lines. Oh and the star is covered, gone, at least one right thing happed.
This is really dissapointing. Im gonna try to sand it out when it dries. But hey, who else do you know that can camouflage an aircraft flat white with carpet spots…
The powdery paint is usually caused by the paint drying before it hits the model. With your extreme conditions it might be worth making a post in the painting section looking for tips on painting in hot dry conditions. During the summer when it is really hot you may need to start painting at night when it is only 105. [:O]
I’m not the guy you are looking for, but I can help.
I love building these Testors SBDs and have figured out a solutiong to the "no cocpit"cocpit.
Scratchbuild the whole thing out of wood and wire! It’s simple. Most of the detail will be lost after you install the canopy (especially of you do as bad a job as I did with masking) so you really shouldn’t put too much work into scratch-building every thumb-sized button and knob into it. It’s quite enjoyable. Another way to make it look better is to drill out the holes in the dive-flaps (Time-consuning, Yes. But the results are worth it)
One of my most reliable resources (prepare to laugh) is acually the IL-2 Stromovic Forgotten Battles Pacific Edition (I don’t know the offictial name) It’s very reliable as it shows you every detail like you are acually sitting in the pilot’s seat. Not to mention, you can have fun buzzing the tower while you wait for the glue and paint to dry [:)] I have used that game for just about all of my WWII aircraft builds.
Mabe it’s time to go back and raid the hobby shop of all of it’s Testors 1/72 scale SBD Dauntless models again[Y]
I bought and used my first airbrush today. I took the disaster aircraft above and used the body from the second same kit I bought. Wow is all I can really say right now, and that Im never going to a rattle can again if I can help it. Wish I could post pics, I would. Thanks for the responses everyone.
what do you guys use to drill out the flaps?
I believe they drill out the flaps to make the aircraft look more authentic. After building one…the wind kinda gets taken from ones sails to find how bad the actual kit is. The picture on the box is not of the model kit itself as one finds out at the end. Its probly a 1/48 scale reduce in size. Anyone else notice the picture has doors for the landing gear and the model does not.
Not gonna laugh… I use Microsoft CFS 2 for the same thing on some builds where there’s no cockpit or panel photos that show what I want to see… The add-on planes that some guys make are painstaking in the level of authenticity of these Warbirds…
I even tried take a screenshot of the panel to make a decal… It would have worked nicely, except the quality of the print was pretty poor… That was my printer’s fault though, not the panel’s…
I drilled out the flaps on the SBD Dauntless models each time I get them. The drill I use is the #61 drill bit (which, after a super-glue acident, is virtually welded to one of my pin vises) and it is a perfict fit for the dive-flaps. The only warning I would give you, if you intend for the bottom to be visible, is to be careful with drilling out the flaps. I wasn’t and, as a result, the bottom of the flaps look like they went 2 rounds with a machine-gun. However, if you don’t plan on the bottom being seen by anyone, you can get away with mis-matched holes.