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

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Good evening guys, there is a saying here in Greece that says ''Good things take some time to fulfill''. I dont know how my build is going to be at the end but for sure it takes some time to ''fulfill'' Well here is some update. These are the back portions of the flaps components. I tried and succeed to pass a 0.3mm brass rod through the small holes of the actuators.
On the next pic you can where these are doing to be placed.





And the outcome...







The back unmovable portion of the canopy was placed as well as the gun sight, the life boat and the windshield.











After that i spayed decanted Tamiya white primer. I chose this primer because i wanted to take advantage of the white color for the later on ''G'' symbols and with portion of the national insignia.
The primer also revealed some minor imperfections, i dealt with them and sprayed again the primer.









After that i glued the dive flaps at the closed position. I also placed the actuators.









It was the time for the ''G'' symbol, serials and national insignia masks. I did not use the Montex masks for the ''G'' symbol as they were a bit thick and the ones for the wings wrong. So i made some of my own from Tamiya tape.













Thats all for the time being lads, next comes the paint, hope you like it. Have a nice week.

John
 
Good evening guys after some time, here is a major update. I finally reached the painting section!!! All the colors are Mr. Color lacquer thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner. I lighten up some sections, not many and i have removed the masks for the ''G'' symbol and serial, so far so good.









continue...











Next it was time for the insignia. They were painted with masks provided by a close friend of mine. You can also see the red color at the flaps which is a bit weathered...













Exhausts as well as the rear wheel were also painted





Then i painted the small lights under the wing...





Next it was time for Tamiya gloss varnish and stenciling!!! A lot of job!!















 
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It was time for the small teardrop lights at the upper side of both wings. For that i used the Eduard guide from my spares from the spitfire project, clear sprue,a lighter and Mr. Hobby's glue for clear parts. It took some time to produce 3 identical ones but it worth the time!!!

















That is for now lads, there is some stuff left to be posted later...see you.

John
 
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Thanks guys,
To continue my previous post, i also assembled and painted the propeller and the AN/APS-4 radar











Next it was time for the wash...here you can see it with the varnish on, xtracrylics matt one (which it is not so matt, i would say that it seems more satin to me)







and here is the weathering process. You cannot see a lot from the pics as i did not want to weather her a lot as this specific aircraft was a new one, so i tried to keep the contrast to the minimum.













And here with the final varnish on (the same one). I also unmask the clear parts, the wheel wells and the bomb bay for the next stage

























Next chapter, the landing gear assembly, till then have a nice time and a happy week.

John
 
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