1/48 SB2C-4E Helldiver, White 80 of VB-85, U.S.S. Shangri-La

[zaxos345]

Good morning guys, it is being some time since i my last update but it is a lot of work that has to be done into the cockpit. The Eduard's PE are a bit wrong regarding the correct placement of all the detail, so i had to combine them with parts from True detqails resin cockpit which by the way is very nice but i had started using ther Eduard's PE so i could not go back. So i started cutting small details from the resin, ugrade them a bit and trying to combine them with the PE. Of course every little detail that was added i had to dry fit everything in order to achieve the correct placement of them so that to depict a correct cockpit according to the images i have from Detail n' Scale.
Enough with the talking take alook at some photoes...

After i had dry fitted everything i had done so far, i started building the port side where the Eduard details were poor so i used most of the resin parts.

At this phase i decided to use the Part's PE instrument panel against the prepainted Eduard's one because i think that is more accurate and close to the real one. Of course a lot of dry fitting is going to take place in order to be 100% sure, so plan ''b'' will be the Eduard one. At the same time i decided to place some of the interior details in different places in order to be closer to the real one.

Here with the fuselage closed and with the Quickboost gunsight, the kit's one is very poor!!! I think that i am closer to the real one.

That's all so far guys, there is a lot of work to be done before closing the fuselage so stay tuned...

John

 

[Lucky13]

Outstanding work mate!

 

[Airframes]

Very nice work John, it's looking very good indeed.

 

[gbr-22]

Looking forward to seeing all this detailed work painted Gianni! My compliments!

 

[zaxos345]

Thank you very much guys.

John

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Just popped in for a quick look……………..that was an hour ago, simply stunning work John.

 

[Crimea_River]

Continues to impress John.

 

[zaxos345]

Thanks for the kind words guys

John

 

[Wayne Little]

Excellent John!

 

[zaxos345]

Excellent John!

Thanks pal, cheers

John

 

[Gnomey]

Coming along great so far!

 

[Matt308]

Looking great.

 

[zaxos345]

Good evening guys and thank you for your nice comments. It was not my intention to post right now but i wanted to share my excitement with the instrument panel of the ''beast''. The Part's IP is excellent with all the details and lie the real thing in 1/48!!!! Well this is the one with some minor details added. You can also see the rudder pedals!!

I painted the instrument panel with citadel black which dries semigloss and without noticeable pigments. I have also painted the small details and i have added some Archer dry transfers... You can see the result which was exactly what i wanted.

Then i had to build the instruments clear sheet in order to place it behind the PE. Here i followed the Roy Sutherland's instructions (ακα Barracundastudios) from the resign details he provides for Tamiya's 1/32 P-51D. At first i painted the backside of the clear sheet with white+2 drops of XF-4. Later after it had dried completely i brushed an amount of future on the sheet and i placed the PE on it. I made sure that everything was in the right place and i let it dry. You can see the result on the following photos where the glazing and the detail of the instruments is like the real thing!!

Later on i added a piece of .5mm of evergreen sheet on the back in and i trimmed everything. At the same time i painted the rudder pedals, of course there are some minor details to be fixed but you cn get the idea...

Here is side to side with the Eduard's one, which i also fixed in order to have a plan ''B'', for comparing purposes.

And for the end as i had my airbrush out for the black i also painted the resign radios and here is the big one finished!

That all folks, hope you like it,

John

 

[Crimea_River]

I DO like it very much. You bettered the Eduard panel by a long shot. Well done!

 

[brucejscott]

Great tip. Thanks for passing it on.

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff, both panels are good, but the 'new' panel is much better!

 

[Gnomey]

Coming along nicely!

 

[Lucky13]

Most excellent work mate!

 

[zaxos345]

Thank you very much guys, have a nice week

John

 

[vikingBerserker]

John - That was VERY impressive!