Kit #1003 SBD-3 Dauntless

[donnier]

I am about to begin the SBD-3 Dauntless Dive Bomber and note that I see very few, if any, pictures of this completed airplane online. I could use some cool pics to inspire me to greatness. Anyone have any to post? Also, what material have you used, besides the supplied paper, for the dive brakes? Will appreciate any inspiration. Thanks!!

[heywooood]

the Virtual Aerodrome has lots of examples of this model and several builders have posted their work there..

http://www.virtualaerodrome.com/image_d ... ge_id=5837

[cliffm]

I swapped computers so my dauntless pics. are not here. but to your dive brake querie, I airbrushed them with the blue and red and punched all the holes with a good leather punch. After punching I recoated them with the airbrush and while they were still "slightly damp put them between waxpaper and left them there with a large book on top for a couple days. When I removed them they were nice stiff parts that have lasted the last 8yrs. without distorting. Hope this helps.

[Doppiejohn]

I know I'm a little late in replying, but if you can send me your email address I can send you a few of mine. In regards to the dive brakes and their accompanying holes, if you have a Hobby Lobby in your area, you can go there and purchase an "imaginisece" hole punch. This punch has a wheel that has six punches on it and one of them is the exact size you need. I use file folder paper that is a little stiffer that the paper supplied in the kit. If you can go back to May of 2015 in the archived photos, my Dauntless was the Model of the Month that month and there is a picture there. I build for display and detail and don't fly my planes, I look at it this way, "If I'm going to put 2.5 to 4 months in the build, I'm not going to take it out and crash it." When I build a Guillow's kit I go to the internet and look for any "Walk around" picture displays of the real plane and build mine to match. A lot of the time I have to print my own decals for the build because the ones in the kit won't do the job. I built a large spray booth out in the garage to paint my planes and that helps a lot. If I can find decal sets in 1:32 scale I will enlarge them to the scale of the kit, the only problem there is if the decals have white in them then they become a little harder to print because you have to cut the exact size around the image because you have printed them on white decal paper. I cover my WWII planes with 1/32" balsa sheeting and fill in the seams with wood filler for a smooth finish, I don't like tissue for WWII planes as they were covered in aluminum and had a smooth finish. My WWI planes are covered in tissue though.

Ok, I hope I have helped you, again if you want a couple more pictures of the Dauntless let me know.

doppiejohn AKA "YeOleModeler"
doppiejohn@aol.com