I've really, really wanted to add a Brewster SBA/Naval Aircraft Factory SBN to my dive bomber collection, but it seems no one has put out a kit of this little-known aircraft. So a while back I got the idea of making my own vacu-form kit, and started doing some internet research. Jim Sullivan and I had communicated a few times over the past year, and I learned from him that he had authored some of the Squadron/Signal books, so I was just about to write to him for advise on sources for the SBA when I heard of his passing. As it turns out, I first discovered the Brewster SBA from reading his co-authored book, "Golden Wings 1941-1945", so in a way, he was the inspiration for my interest in building this aircraft.

Now, this is my first attempt at building a model completely from scratch - meaning I have to build the molds for the vacu-form process, then figure out how to actually DO vacu-forming, then try to scratch build all the other elements of the aircraft. It's going to be a challenge, but if successful, I'll have a memorable addition to my dive-bomber collection, and a way to honor Jim at the same time. Wish me luck!

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

@fiveten Thanks, Spiros, it's going to be a challenge, for sure!

This is definitely going to be an interesting build, Robert @robgenev665
Looking forward to see it progressing

Scratchbuilding, awesome! Great idea and good start.
Perhaps you can find some aftermarket items like engine, prop, wheels to help with the tricky bits. Or do you intend to go full scratch?

@skyraider3d I imagine I'll beg, borrow and steal as much as I can, but I'm thinking this is a pretty unique aircraft and other than the engine, prop and wheels that you mentioned I'll probably have to build everything myself...

Gave yourself a bit of a challenge, I'm sure it'll come out great. The Buffalo landing gear seems similar.

Incredible project undertaking here. I have never even considered doing something like this, so my hat's off to you ! Thank you for joining the group, and I look forward to seeing this one come to life.

Here is my first run of vacu-form molds, my "proof of concept" run, as it were. Overall I am quite pleased with how the kit is turning out. I was wondering how well the detail on the wooden mold would come through the plastic, so I tried .020 styrene, but it was too thin. As it turns out, .030 sheet styrene works well and shows the detail sufficiently - in fact, I see lots of places I need to clean up my wooden molds because all the defects come through as well!

I've included photos of my vacu-form box and the toaster oven I use to heat the plastic. I use the toast option on the lowest setting, and still have to pull the piece out before the timer goes off or it melts. The whole process is quite fascinating to perform, and I was pretty thrilled when my very first sheet popped out!

9 attached images. Click to enlarge.