One of my first builds was a 1 72 Testors SBD, in fact its a old Hawk kit reboxed or reused or recycled or …
Heres a crappy pic of the first I had finished.
I have another in my stash that I have decided to build after swearing never to build 72nd scale again. I have a strange attraction to all scales even though this kit has bench seats. I find them relaxing and fun while at the same time yelling obscenities. Anyway, Im attempting to learn from the previous model and increase this one.
First thing I learned was to use squadron green to make the star magically dissappear from which I believe may have been a P-40.
Next I attempted to drill out the ailerons with a pin vise as I wanted to in the first build but never did cause I wasnt to sure about messin up the kit.
They could have been better, I believe. The ailerons are being difficult as sanding off the residue only pushes it into the hole and using the pin vise only pushes the residue back out. Drilling almost became tedious work so I took many breaks cause this hobby is for fun…and my hand and arm hurt like a …
While on break all I could think about was building so back I went. I attatched the wing assembly. I am hoping for as much detail as I can get into this build as this model is (choosing words very carefully, cause all builders try as hard as they can on all builds) not something one would put one hundred dollars of PE. If they even made aftermarket for it. My attention to detail increased after starting so the bench seats and interior was left out. Actually, theres nothing to put in it ! I guess I could have scratch built but I never have before. Thanks for looking .
Ripcord: thanks for posting this. I have this in my inventory, but haven’t opened it yet, so I will be interested to see how you progress. It appears this is the only SBD currently available. I seem to remember that Hasegawa (?) did a series of them a number of years ago. Is that star scribed into the fuselage?
Yes the star is scribed into the fuselage. Also when the halves go together the nose will have a deform/defect and will not line up. Without fail I have open three and they were all the same.
Wait … this is a hobby and it’s supposed to be … fun? I never seem to get those memos. [blndfld]
As to the pin vise pushing debris out one side of the hole, yeah, the only thing you can do is drill, scrape carefully with a hobby knife, and repeat. I will sometimes drill from both sides to try and even things out. And look at the bright side! You only have a few dozen holes in a large scale. I once got engrossed in drilling out the holes in the elevated track on a 1/700 Japanese seaplane tender I was building. 321 holes later, all with a No. 80 bit …
Yes, I meant 1/72 scale, since that’s the scale Testor’s offering is in. I think Airfix has one also, but it doesn’t seem to be in production right now–at least, Hannant’s is carrying none. This is too bad considering the significance of the Dauntless.
I had the 1/48 Monogram offering decades ago as a kid, when you could build it, push a button and the little bomb would swing forward and drop. That was a fun thing! I had no Japanese ships, so I just bombed Revell’s old Yorktown carrier–while listening to the soundtrack from “Victory at Sea.”
Yep…good little kit too…good fit but no cockpit…I`m building one right now for the “Mafia” GB…my 3rd kit. I scratched up a cockpit and rear gunner station outta my spares box…coming out pretty good if I do say so myself…[:D]
Thanks for all the info guys. Its nice to see whats goin on sometimes. So yesterday I bought this.
And while I went back today I see that have a 1 48 Dauntless on the shelf from revell. I left with this. [:(] I think Im sick… I cant stay away and I keep buying more.
Checked my stash (i havent been around awhile) and see most everything is Revell. Well back to the 72nd dauntless. See what details I can scratch.
