Well, it's finally decal time. I glossed the SBD-4 with Testors Glosscoat cut 1:1 with plain Jane lacquer thinner as always, then airbrushed it on in light coats, then a final heavy coat. Next day was decal day.

I added the dive flaps, and engine cowling prior to the glossing. The dive flaps really came out a lot better then I thought they would.

My brother had the Accurate Miniature's SBD-3 decal sheet, and offered it to me, since I was just more then a little concerned with the thickness of the Hasegawa decals. I opted to go with the basic AM decals.

I started decaling on the lower wings with the AM decals. They went on ok, but were super glossy, and were a real bear to get to conform to the panel lines, let alone the wing vents. They also started to crack from what I assumed was drying out due to old age. So I switched back to the Hasegawa decals. Nothing I used or did got the AM decals to really settle into those wing vents. So after they completely dried, I cut them, then applied a ton of Micro Sol, and when dry, touched up with either white or sea blue Tamiya acrylic paint.

The Hasegawa decals were a very pleasant surprise. Went on with a Matt finish, conformed to every panel line, and with Micro Sol actually settled into the upper wing vents.

I let the decals dry for a full day, then re-glossed with Glosscoat. 24 hours later I applied Flory Dark wash. I wasn't happy with the results. Just too much wiped off due to the gloss finish. So after I apply a Matt coat with Dullcoat, I'll apply the Dark wash again to the lower surfaces, and some light wash to the upper surfaces.

The overall finish looka a little too dark right now due to the gloss finish, but should lighten up once the matt coat is applied.

I had a accident when the Dauntless slipped out of my hand and landed on the main antenna mask, and snapped in half !! I re-glued it. Next will be a lite sanding, then primer and repaint. Should be good as new. Also the fuselage access door needs quite a bit of interior green touch up.

Thanks for stopping by and having a look.

Joel

Very nice job on the decals Joel, I'll be following how you wrap up this project.


Kind regards, Sven.

Sven, Thanks so much for the kind words.
Joel

Joel
WOW.
She is looking awesome.
Looking forward to seeing her finished.

Chris

Looks very much like a SBD, Joel. Well done!
I have two AM Dauntless in my stash (reboxed by Italeri) and I plan to build one as a "Flying Kiwi" and the other will become an A-24 from the French Air Force, one day ....
Don't worry about "thick" Hasegawa (or Tamiya) decals. They will set nicely and thin on the surface if you use softener. I found out that Revells Decal Soft works fine with all decals I have used so far. Just put a little under the decal and later if wanted also on top of it. Wait a minute, then press it to the suface with a cotton bud. That takes away the bubbles and prevents silvering.

Happy modelling!
Torsten

Thanks Chris for the positive words.

Torsten, I've always had excellent results with Microscale's Set & Sol. They both did their job. You're right about the Hasegawa decals, they certainly were a lot better then I thought they would be. My two Corsairs both have Tamiya kit decals, and were a little on the thick side, but still worked out ok.

I'm sure that I could have gotten the Accurate Miniature decals to settle down, but they were just too dried out, and started to crack and come apart.

Joel

Well, it's time for my final update to the SBD-4 Build. Yep, the Dauntless is finally finished. Been a really enjoyable build, pushed my envelope some with detailing, and weathering, and ended up with one of my best, if not best builds to date.

For those of you that have followed along, I hope that you've enjoyed my build blog, and stayed the course.

the 1st picture is a try at producing a back lighted SBD. Thinking of using it for my desktop for a while.

Joel

Having that rear canopy closed changes the whole look of the aircraft
That's really well done. Now I want to make it into a feature article.

That's a fantastic result, Joel! Your "Slowly But Deadly" looks great! Hope mine will turn out that good later this year ....

Torsten

Thans Jessica & Torsten, for those very king words. Torsten, after seeing your work, I have no doubt that your build will be the equal or better of mine.

Jessica, I'm truly flattered that you want to make my build a feature article. Not sure it's exactly worthy compared to many of the featured builds I've seen. Just let me know what I have to do, and I'll do it. Thank you so much.

Joel

Stand by for imcoming private message

Hi Joel

VERY nice indeed!

I'd better ask, though - is the rear section of the canopy too small for the fuselage? I've never built the Hasegawa kit, but it looks like it simply doesn't fit...

All the best

Rowan

Rowan, thanks for the "well done". Much appreciated.

As for the rear cockpit section being too small. It certainly is. The whole cockpit glass is just plain wrong.

From what I understand, the original boxing had two canopies, one sectioned as I used, and one closed, which wasn't included in my sealed box. So I'm thinking that Hasegawa just stopped including it. That's too bad because I would have used that closed canopy cut off after the pilot's section so that I could have that one area open, and the rest closed.

At 1st when I test fitted the canopy sections, I figured that they would stack, so the last section had to be undersized, and it is. All the sections are too narrow in cross section so that they do line up. The issue is that none of the sections from the pilot's section back fit snuggly and correctly into the preceding one, making the stacking look more like some kind of kids puzzle. Not what I wanted, nor envisioned.

My solution was to just have the pilots section open, and the rest closed. As you can plainly see, the last section is too narrow in cross section. Another glaring example of the either/multi role, that in reality does neither correctly.

There are two solutions to the whole canopy issue, 1: buy the Accurate Miniature's kit just for the canopy, which isn't really an option considering my modeling budget. 2: vacuum form new sections from modified kit sections. That sounded like the way to go, but I don't have a vacuum form machine, so I would have to build one, and I would have to basically destroy the current canopy sections to create the molds. Being basically lazy, and really wanting to bring this project to a finish, I decided for the present to just install the sections as they are. The two rear sections are just white glued on, so popping them off is no problem. The other sections are glued into place with Xtra thin.

Joel

Hi Joel

That's pretty disappointing to say the least(!) if they really are all being shipped these days with a canopy that doesn't fit. I think I've still got an old issue kit boxed away somewhere un-built, so I'll try to remember to look out for it next time I rummage through The Stash. If I find it I'll PM you to see if you still need the one-piece canopy.

All the best

Rowan

Very nice build Joel. I like the lettering on the side (don't often see that on SBDs) and the canopy arrangement. Very cool, and like Jessica said, it changes the whole look of the plane.

I'm a little surprised that the AM kit is not preferred by the folks here to the Hasegawa, but to each his own. Never seen the H one myself, though I HAVE seen the Monogram one!

EDIT: Perhaps I'm seeing things, but I'd recommend you use a permanent marker or paint to color the radio antennae black.

To be honest I don't think that any of us have said that we don't prefer the AM kit, it's just that some of us have proven that anyone can make a model to rival it using the other kits

Edit: That sounded too pompous at first.

Rowan,
Thanks. That would be much appreciated.

Joel

Samuel,
Thanks for the kinds words. The stretched sprue for the Antenna is actually gray. Didn't realize that it didn't show up that well in the photographs. Will try a little gun metal acrylic paint before I take the pictures for Jessica's article.
Joel

Jessica,
Well said.

Joel

JA
Awesome work! Without question, you really pushed the envelope with the Dauntless, as the detailing and weathering are all new ground; superbly done. Aces on the build
Bro

Bro,
Thanks for those kind words. Still not in your class, but I'm slowly getting there.
Joel

Hi Joel Great looking model and thoroughly enjoyed following your build Have fun Phil

Phil, thanks so much for those kind words. And yes, this build was a ton of fun.

Joel

I can confirm the Accurate Miniatures closed one-piece canopy will fit the Hasegawa fuselage with a much more acceptable width margin at the rear. Still some very minor side step in the segment before the last, but a near-perfect flush fit for the last segment! The better-shaped Hasegawa windscreen will also fit the AM one-piece canopy at the front.

The AM has a better cowling with more correct lips.

I plan on using the AM perforated flaps and somehow adapt them to the Hasegawa wings.

Excellent build with interesting markings.

Gaston

Gaston, thanks for your input on the canopy glass issue. And of course thanks for the positive comments.

Joel