Accurate Miniatures SB2U-3 Vindicator USMC, VMSB-241,Capt Richard Fleming

Started by Chuck A. Villanueva · 64 · 7 years ago
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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    The AM instructions call out for a silver/aluminum interior and cockpit. Like the Devastator I thought it would be interior green or Bronze Green, but it calls for the aluminum with black details.

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

    Which it was, ex-factory, for the -1 and -2. It is unclear when/if before -3 production Vought changed over to whatever cockpit green they used. There had been complaints about glare in the cockpit due to the aluminum finish. If you look at the famous Life picture of the prewar full color TBDs on deck, and look at the visible cockpit on 6-T-16, also aluminum ex-factory, it has been repainted in a green. I also remember hearing recently that some aircraft had the upper cockpits painted blue-gray, like the exterior, at some point after they went to camouflage, December 1940.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Here's another link for you Chuck.

    This one shows several really cool photos of Vindicators and a few more very cool photos of the rear cockpit and other locations of the SB2U-2 that has been restored at Pensacola.

    Dana Bell who has written numerous books and articles on colors, (and a book on strictly the Vindicator) states here that the dash 3's all left the factory with "Dull Dark Green" on the metal portions of the cockpit. He also stated that the earlier versions were all painted in aluminum lacquer.

    http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1318945279/Vindicator+detail+painting+questions

    Hope this helps...

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Here's another link to an article about interior colors and the various uses of paints with dated memos from the Army and Navy that was also written by Dana Bell.

    http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/aviationcolourprimerdb_1.htm

    I zeroed in on the sections that would have applied to your Vindicator. This is literally copied word for word from his article, in hopes that this may help you with your build.

    19 Jan 1940 Navy Spec SR-15C identifies “cockpit green” color as “dull bronze green lacquer, Army color #9.”

    28 Nov 1940 Navy memo notes that Spec L-12a “...has been revised to replace the current Dull Bronze Green...with [Dark Green #30] lacquer...”

    17 Dec 1940 Army memo accepts Dull Dark Green for cockpits and anti-glare.

    01 Feb 1941 Army memo cancels list of approved oil base metal primers; they are replaced by zinc chromate primer.

    03 Feb 1942 To conserve aluminum pigment, Navy memo recommends tinting second coat of zinc chromate primer with Indian Red, lampblack, or other suitable indicator. Light gray can be used on fabric surfaces where aluminum dope has been used.

    31 Aug 1942 Curtiss-Wright memo reports Berry Brother 174-G-13 to be used as “Curtiss Cockpit Green.”

    10 Sep 1942 Navy memo proposes to replace dull dark green with new green standard for cockpits. Proposed color can be procured as lacquer, or made from zinc chromate primer, tinted with black pigment.

    It looks like Dull Dark Green was proposed to be replaced with a "New" green standard for cockpits on Sept 10, 1942...

    Hope this helps you with your research Chuck.

    But in the end it is your plane and you should build it as you see fit. Either way would really look nice...

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks for the info, this will help on future builds. I just wonder that reading a bit on the Vindicators on Midway in June 1942 were well beyond their depot level of service. They were on an island that did not have a repair facility that could handle that level of maintenance. So the aircraft that were able to operate in combat were not 100% mission capable. But did the best they could at the time. Which of course led to them being withdrawn from active service after the battle of Midway. Which means in Sept 1942 it would be for any Vindicators that may have still being used for training stateside.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Working on the rear gunner/navigator compartment. A little bit more complicated and careful in building the side panels front and rear avionic racks. Slow going as being careful not to misalign any of the components here, test fitting each step as it is very tight here when closing the fuselage halves. Also adding the PE bits, painting and detailing the various boxes on each panel. A little wash on the rear compartment floor to enhance the details. Added the belts to the gunners seat pan. After getting the various details painted it was time to start assembling, as mentioned earlier, very careful as the locating point to each part is not exactly clear in the instruction sheet. Already had a bad feeling in getting the rear seat installed. It was quite tedious here. I had to walk away after trying to manipulate the seat into place. But finally got it installed whew! Not perfect but it will suffice. With that I call it a day for this one. More to follow

    20 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Wow Chuck this interior is really detailed. I guess you don't realize just how much so until you start watching it get put together. You're doing a fantastic job with this. Thanks for sharing these photos with us.

    Happy Easter my friend.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Happy Easter Louis, yeah AM did an amazing job in research in getting as much detail in plastic without over engineering. Though the parts are detailed and pretty close to scale, something you would get in resin difficult to create in plastic. Still you have to take your time just like in the Dauntless, the parts are flimsy which is not a critique, but just being aware of being careful in assembly and test fitting. Especially in locating the parts in the correct position. Important when it is time to get all the sub-assemblies installed.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Now it's time to get all the sub assemblies into the fuselage. Starting with the tail wheel. Next is to trim the rear upper gunners rail detail it and put that aside. The rear bulkhead reinforcement also removed and trimmed. Install the tail wheel and check for alignment. Next up to cement the IP to the front part of the pilots compartment, check alignment as again the location is vague in the instructions test fit and then permanently affix to the cockpit. Once that is done now to install the forward section of the interior into the LH side fuselage half, again checking alignment and test fit the RH side to make sure this is so. Once determined that things are aligned, next to install the gunners rear compartment, the locating points here are more defined still test fit the RH side half. Here it will be a very tight fit. Now to install the rear reinforcement bulkhead, again align and test fit. Very tight here and I can tell when it's time to finally assemble the fuselage that it will need to be clamped until the cement sets. Now it's time to mate the fuselage halve, I will start at the front and work my way back. By using Squadron liquid cement (hoping Tenax returns again) I place the nose in a clamp until the cement sets. Once that part is set, I will go ahead and seal the rest of the fuselage, again clamping the rear section carefully, and install the rear upper panel as well. Next the worst part of the whole kit in my opinion is the rear lower fuselage insert, first installing the tail hook and then installing the whole piece under the fuselage. Just don't care for the way AM approached this part of the process. I'm going with the open cowl flaps option and proceeded to add the engine mount and install this on the forward section of the fuselage. And with that more to follow, Happy Easter everyone.

    18 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Greg Kittinger said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    wow - coming along nicely!

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    Paul Wilsford said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Impressive work

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    Louis Gardner said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    This one looks pretty complicated ! (and you are doing a great job with it too ! ) They sure have packed a ton of details into a tiny package... Look great Chuck.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Thanks Greg this kit does need a little bit more care but it does fall into place, even though the instructions are vague with location it just takes experience in building comes into play.
    Paul. thanks it does looks quite busy once you get everything into place.
    Louis, yeah tiny bits and pieces in this scale though too bad a lot of it will be hard to see once we button things up.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    This update I start with adding the tail planes. These do have a good fit once they are installed. Next we build the wings up before the task of installing them to the fuselage. There are parts in the kit to cut them if you wish to fold them. I decided to build this with them in flight position. First installing the wing mounted machine guns on the leading edge. Next carefully placing the wing spar in place before cementing it to the lower wing half. A slight warp with the lower wing, the wing spar took care of this nicely. The fit of the wing to the fuselage is not quite as positive compared to the Mono Devastator, had to play with it a bit to get it to sit as it should, and even then it wasn't quite as it should be. Since it did try my patience a bit, will let it sit overnight and work on the engine next. More to follow

    8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Tom Bebout said 7 years, 7 months ago:

    Enjoying the progress you'r making, can't believe all the detail in the cockpit. Looks like a fiddly kit, guest that's why you don't see many at shows.