1/72 scale TBD-1 from VT-3 off USS Yorktown

Started by Rick Wilkes · 30 · 7 years ago
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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 9 months ago:

    https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography.html

    I found this neat website. They have a searchable base and have TONS of WW2 Naval and Aviation photos.

    Hope this helps. I have not found too much on VT-3 on line, but there are some pictures here .

    They have a complete section dedicated to Midway, and includes after action reports from each US Carrier that list losses by crew name, aircraft type and bureau number.

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    Rick Wilkes said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Got the Blue Grey painted a couple of days ago when I did the Wildcat, I'll be glossing it in a couple of days.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Wow your TBD is looking great ! I really like how the camouflage demarcation line between the Blue Gray and Gray turned out. It looks awesome ...

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    Rick Wilkes said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    I used "white tac" removable poster adhesive. It's like blue tac but not nearly as sticky.
    That allowed me to bend the line around the fuselage insignia and get a slight feathered edge. Lucky for me VT-3's color separation line dropped straight down from the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. So far I've been able to avoid having to repaint the light grey. Hope to get more done tonight.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks for the tip with the "white tack". I'll try to locate some... It looks like it works well to reduce the overspray and still gives a soft demarcation line.

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    Rick Wilkes said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    You can get just about anywhere they sell school/office supplies, it comes under multiple brand names, I used the Scotch brand I got at Office Depot. Here's a picture of Elmers version, it all looks the same.

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    Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Rick, thanks for the tip!

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    Rick Wilkes said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Okay life keeps getting in the way but I've managed to get the major decals on my TBD-1.
    Decals are from the Starfighter USN at Midway set and they worked great. After talking to Mark about getting the decals to settle over the corrugations, I used hot water, Micro Sol, a hair drier and gentle pressure. I'm very happy with the results.




    More when I start to weather it.
    Cheers,
    Rick

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    Bernd Müller said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Looks good and a good option to the flawed plastic kits 🙂

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    Bernard E. Hackett, Jr. said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Rick, looks really good! Corrugated surfaces are always a concern.

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    Rick Wilkes said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks guys, hopefully I can get started on my Kate in the next couple of days

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 8 months ago:

    Your decals turned out really good. I had some problems with mine on the corrugated wing surfaces on my TBD build. They didn't want to snuggle down into the valleys and had air gaps there. I like your approach ... You just about have this one wrapped up... Looking Good !

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    Greg Kittinger said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Looking outstanding!

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    Paul Barber said 7 years, 6 months ago:

    Apologies for the repetition but the paint job is really impressive and the decals have gone down beautifully. Although I possess very little hair, I do believe my wife's hairdryer may be coming on temporary loan from time to time ...

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    Tom Bebout said 7 years, 6 months ago:

    Looking really good Paul. I've had to buy my own small hair dryer because the wife got tired of looking for hers. Not a bad investment.