I've just posted a new build article by Mal Mayfield. The subject this time is a great looking SB2C Helldiver. Be sure to check it out and feel free to leave comments in this topic.

Pacific Helldiver

Wow what a beauty!! :-) I've been looking forward to this one for a while...

Mal - lovely job as usual!!! Really nice weathering...

A lot of people like to slag off Revell decals, saying they're really bad for silvering... but yours look like the went on fine... :-)

Great model :-)

All the best

Rowan

Hi Mal:

Your Helldiver looks great. You´ve done a great job with that kit. Congrats
I love the work done in the flaps, looks real, also I like the paintjob and cockpit details.
GREAT JOB :-)

hi mal,,,, you did a great job.
the plane looks like it just came off a carrier

Beautiful rendition of the Beast! Well done!

Oh goody, now I have a already built Helldiver to base off the Revell 1/72 kit I am building for my little cousin. I also have that 1/48 but I have no clue when I am going to build it.

Very nice, I recently completed this same model but this beauty makes mine look like an ugly duckling!

P.S. Why do articles about the bird I'm building always appear AFTER I finished!

Because it's one of Murphy's Laws of Modeling.

Awesome plane, consistent with Mal's usual high standard comes to planes. Man, I wish I can do half as good as you are, buddy.

Fabulous build and review of a really fine kit/subject. It's nice to see that such "magic" can be performed on a kit that doesn't cost fifty or one hundred bucks. Thanks, Mal, for the inspiration to dig out a number of the "old" Revell and Monogram kits competing for some space on the display shelves. Time to make room for "The Beast!"

Your Helldiver looks fantastic!!
I just may have to go out and find me one of those. :-)

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." -Your Buddies

Wad_ware

Nice work Mal. Thank for the article!

Cheers,
Jim

As much as I dislike the Helldiver on principle, you did a great job with the kit Mal. I may even learn to stop worrying and love the Beast . . . . . . uh, that didn't come out right . . . . . . you know what I mean

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been having problems with getting on the net.
Rowan


Yes, I was a bit aprehensive but as I say the only real problem with the decals was the white edge on the Stars and Bars. I did apply Micro sol a few times, to the larger decals and had to persued a few of the panel lines to show. I think the proof of the "usability" of them is the twin diamond decal on the tail. :-)

csch


Thanks, the cockpit detail is all kit, the only thing I added was the paint and harness straps :-)

Mike


I'm intrigued, why do you dislike the Helldiver.

Thanks everyone, If I have inspired some to make this kit then I am well pleased. If more kits like this are bought then more kits like this will be produced.
Jim you are welcome, Corsair on it's way soon :-)
Mal

What has the Helldiver ever done to offend anyone....apart from killing a bunch of folks...

We've all got to remember what these planes were for... whatever colours they flew under...

Rowan

Time to clarify . . . . . . or stick my foot in deeper . . . .

I've just always felt that the Helldiver in general was a design pushed in order to keep a company and a rapidly-changing operational concept going, not because of any connection to the real world of combat and carrier operations. The "Beast's" crews were brave and skilled, and they made the most of what was handed them.

I'm not going to go as far as to say the Dauntless should have stayed in the fleet any later than it did, but the Helldiver probably brought and kept more problems onboard the carrier fleet than did the Corsair.

Looking at the rise of the VBF units in the Pacific Fleet by 1945, and also looking at all the aerodynamic compromises needed to even think about putting the SB2C on deck, it just wasn't a happy marriage.

Especially considering how Hellcats and Corsairs developed into a major strike element by late '44 - early '45, I guess I wonder how much that growth was delayed by the effort needed to make the Helldiver adequate for carrier use.

Okay, I shot my bolt. But I still say you did an out-darn-standing job Mal. I'd been sitting on the fence over the last few years on whether I'd want to build the P-M Helldiver, and what you did made me lean toward the "build it" side of the fence rail.


And if anyone wants to start a thread on airplanes they detest, I promise not to bring up the Helldiver again.

Excellent Helldiver!!!! Mal,
keep up the good work, It's guys like you
that motivate guys like me to build WW II models even
more.

:-) Looks like we might be having a few more Beasts to contend with :-)
Mike I build 1/48 WWII all combatants all types. The Helldiver looks good in model form, which is why it got built. Another reason for building what I do is for the same reason as you say.


This is true of all aircrew on all sides, some had it better than others. You can only fight with what you are given, it takes guts after that.


I don't think there is an aircraft that I detest
Mal

Yeah Mal, I wasn't being derogatory about your model. I guess i just let the history major in me get unwound, lol.

Without getting TOO touchy feely (lol), I enjoy the heck out of seeing your work on here.

:-) I didn't think you were, Mike, I was intrigued that you could dislike an aircraft. Like I said, there isn't one I dislike. I also liked the sentiment about Beast crews, because piloting is something I would love to do (my ambition is to fly a Spitfire :-) ) and I do believe the same is true about all aircrew during the war. :-)
I enjoy showing my work, never had the chance before. I like the discussions it can generate. :-)
Mal

MaI,

I guess my dislike was more a matter of how and why the Navy managed to persist in procuring an aircraft that made the Corsair's deck landing and handling qualities and safety seem positively benign in comparison.

At the same time, in the air the Beast did have a certain quality with the canopies open -- almost like an Eldorado convertible -- that gets captured really well on the cover of the Squadron In-Action on the SB2C.

None of that changes a thing though -- your Beast looked tres cool!!!!!

Beautiful plane, very real looking. Nice job on the Beast!

Mal..... Its perfect very well done it must of taken a while. this is a perfect model for some one a lot better then a begginer. i think that i couldnt have done as godd if i tryed really hard well its a great model. (++)

Hi Billy, welcome to this wonderful site
Thanks for the comments :-) Yes it did take quite a while and you are right you can do as well, as can anyone. I have had some experiance, which helps, but on a site like this you can ask specific questions, and get answers, about any technique. Thats all a good modeller is, someone who as mastered enough techniques to be able to produce decent models. Of course the techniques evolve over time and what works for one doesn'y always work for everyone.
Mal