Slow But Deadly in 1:100 from Nobi

[MichaelS]

The repair crew made a lot of progress today. Once they got over the hurdle of figgering out what to do about the cockpit things moved right along. Some of the men from the engine room came by and said that they were wasting their time trying to get that 'pit back in there but they persevered and got it in. No one will probably ever see it but the crew knows it is there and very necessary. The CPO in charge was very impressed by the Douglas engineering. Once they had their plan on how to proceed the repairs made today went very well with all the pieces really requiring no unusual amount of trimming, etc.

[Rata]

Such patience doing the full cockpit on a 1/100. Or are you really doing the original scale and posing it next a giant pair of scissors?
Seriously though, it's looking incredible and I'm in awe of your skill. Can't wait to see the final product.

Cheers, Garry G.

[Ofanim]

Good job with cockpit !
It's going to be an another cool model,

Best regards,
Ronan

[MichaelS]

Work has moved from the fuselage to the wings. The original designer offered paper spars but in my experience wire is much better. One of the things that for me detracts most on any model is an incorrect dihedral. With wire you just hold it up before a headon view and squint jest raht and you can nail it every time. If is a bit off after construction you can even give it a lil' bend to get things right. Also did Airdave's shaping trick on the wingtips. This is overdone now but should look just right once they are massaged into place. Also doin' my stuffin' without gravy to keep 'em plump!

[MichaelS]

Very early this morning the Lexington shuddered as she increased speed and made a large change in course. Everyone knew something was up but had no idea what. Were they dodging a sub? Were they finally heading for the long dreamed of passes in Honolulu? Or was it something more sinister? Orders came down from the bridge to speed up the maintenance on the air wing. Everyone then knew that this was no trip back to Hawaii. All the repair crew redoubled their efforts to get another Dauntless ready ASAP. The wings were quickly but carefully assembled. The now tried and true method of strengthening wings and tail surfaces by adding tissue was continued. Because this plane had trailing edge flaps that also operated as dive brakes additional spars were added to provide the necessary strength. Once again the good initial design was seen in how well the fuselage mated with the wings. This plane's aircrew stopped by to check on the progress and thanked the repair crews for their tireless efforts.

[PacificWind]

Looks absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to see it finished.
Keep it up.

[alzictorini]

I can’t wait to hear the rest of the story even though I know the ending!

Nice work

[gotham]

Great build to follow, mad skills man😸😸😸

[MichaelS]

May 7 1942. The repair and maintenance crews crews have worked exhaustively for days to repair the little Dauntless dive bomber. They finished just in the nick of time for a quick test flight and the SBD was added to the squadron roster as duty ready.
That morning the crews were awakened early with the news that a Japanese task force had been found in the Coral Sea to the north and east of Australia. No one knew how the Japs had been found but everyone's blood was up to avenge the "Day of Infamy", the dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor and other American installations exactly six months ago. The pilot had one last cigarette while the gunner checked and double checked his .30 Cal. The little bird was armed with a 1000 pound bomb and was full of avgas. Three blasts on the siren and then the flags went up on the flight bridge "Prepare to launch aircraft!"
Along with its brothers the little SBD took its turn and trundled down the deck and into the air. Taking up the heading written on their leg clipboards the formation turned towards the Japs and destiny.
Soon they saw the white streaks of wakes in the distance. All eyes swept the skies for any sign of the Jap Combat Air Patrol which would be up waiting for them. The air wing leader gave the hand signals to each of the squadrons. The TBD torpedo bombers dived for the surface to gain speed for their run in to the targets. The little F4F Wildcats split with some going with the torps and some staying with the dive bombers as escorts.
One by one the SBD's rolled over into their steep dives. The pilots hung by their straps in an almost 90 degree dive and carefully lined up the huge flat deck of a Jap carrier in their sights. Concentrating on getting their dives just right they barely sensed the gunners firing short burts behind them. Out of the corner of their eye they saw the TBDs beginning their runs. This was just like all those practice attacks they had made so very many times! The one difference now was that the decks below were lit up with orange flashes as the Japs tried to defend against this two pronged attack.
One by one the bombs and torpedos found their mark and the once neat and tidy deck of the Shoho was pierced with holes and covered in dense clouds of thick smoke. Pulling out of his dive and circling to see what his squadron had accomplished Lieutenant Commander Robert E. Dixon broke radio silence and called back to thje waiting US fleet. "Scratch one flattop! Dixon to carrier: Scratch one flattop".

Such a splendid little aerioplane deserved all the skill I could muster to do her justice. This is Thai Paperworks 1:48 SBD shrunk to 1:100. I found it a very well engineered kit. The kit comes in a weathered version as well as the clean one. I chose the weathered version. I think the weathering was perhaps a tad overdone but the presentation comes out well. I opened up and added cockpit detail which presented some problems because of where the formers are placed but this certainly isn't a criticism of Nobi, the designer. Opening the dive brakes was relatively easy. I used red paper to line the inside of the open wing flaps. They were painted red after the start of the war to aid others in the squadron seeing the plane in front of them in its dive.
Doing the clear canopy on this one was better than my P-47 Razorback but I still need some refinement. I used the very thin clear mylar from school notebook dividers this time. Once cut out and the inside colored I laid on a very thin coat of CA and then laid them down on a small piece of the clear divider. Once dry they are pretty easy to bend to shape. The dividers don't accept the Future coating very well as it just beads up and runs off. The spinning propellor is simulated with a disk of clear mylar from one of the many bubble packages that are ever present in out lives today. The figures are shrunken versions of the freebies from John Dell. The antenna are from Uschi van der Rosten: Wood grain decals and fine art scale model accessories. - Uschi van der Rosten. The base picture is from Ms. Google images.

[PacificWind]

You made it! Transparent canopy in the 1/100. Whole model is stunning and looks so beautiful.
Great idea for that stand.