Tis that time of year again. It is time for my Pearl Tribute.

For this year I am finishing off a sister kit to one I did a couple of years ago. This is the Accurate Miniatures 1/48 SBD -1 from the Marines at Pearl Harbor set.






Joe

So far not a lot of time but I did get through steps 1 and 2a as well as part of 2b. These are constructing the cockpit and all the little details provided. i added the detail to the port and starboard as well as most to the floor. There are some things that I will not add until after I get some paint on this.





Does not seem like much but on the last few this would have taken about four to six weeks.





All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.







Joe

Joe,
Excellent choice. The Accurate Miniature's kit is really quite well detailed, and builds into a outstanding model. Are you going to be doing the all neutrality Gray scheme?
Joel

Joel I believe so.



Joe

Nice work on your SBD-1! Motivated me to blow the dust of my stalled build, I may bring it back to the bench soon. I forget how long the interior took me but its a model all its own, thats for sure.

It is a beauty so far as far as detail. Crisp and clean. I am really enjoying it.



Joe

And moving right along. Geez this thing seems to be just falling together in the box and I just take the pictures.

Paint on the interior. I do need some touch up but for the most part it looks ok. I may highlight with Chrome Silver just to bring it out a bit more but here it is.



And wow is the fit good on this thing so far. This is dry fit only.



It does not look like it but there is hardly a seam at all. Quite a good fit.



That is it for now.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Just a brief update from me.

After a few comments from folks who know a whole lot more about these than I do and just a bit of research from me, the interior got a different color. Interior Green. I have seen a site that shows a SBD-1 with original paint. It shows Interior Green. So there I go.


Repainted.



Added a couple of the interior parts but for the most part just the color change.


All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.


Joe

Joe,
I'm really impressed with the overall detail of the Accurate Miniatures kit. It's hard to believe just how old this kit is, and how advanced they were in their designs and model philosophies.

If you're doing a pre-war Neutrality scheme, generally all USN aircraft interiors were painted Aluminum lacquer, rather then just clear zinc chromate coated. The Interior Green was applied with the two tone Blue Gray/Gray scheme and change of National insignia right after Pearl Harbor.

Joel

Joe, Im with you on the interior color. I read of much contention for the interior color when I was painting mine but a couple period photos certainly seem to show IG or its early derivative on the frame behind the pilot. Also I recall pictures of a -1 that was pulled out of the great lakes that had interior green and no sign of a previous layer.

However the -1 doesnt have the upright piece of armor behind the seat that fits to the framework. I didnt know this till aftet I painted mine as well. You can just cut it flush behjnd the seat, then separate the headrest boss and glue that up into the A-frame to hold the rest in place. Also if you didnt know, early models only had lap belts for the pilot.

Mike,
Right after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Neutrality all gray paint scheme and the national Insignia was changed to the two tone Blue Gray/Neutral Gray, and the interiors were either left as Aluminum lacquer or repainted Interior Green. The National insignia was changed to delete the large red circle so as not to confuse a gunner that mighty confuse it as a Japanese aircraft.

If Joe is going with the Neutrality scheme, then the interior should be Aluminum Lacquer as that was how all USN aircraft were painted prior to the war.

The standard practice on the inside of the dive flaps was to paint the out ones red, while leaving the center flap Neutral Gray on both sides.

Joel

joel the one thing that may be overlooked is that i think joe is doing a marines version. would they have different inerior/exterior schemes from the navy?

joe

Joe,
I don't think so as the Marines were part of the Navy, so their aircraft would have followed the Navy regulations before and at the start of the war. But then again none of us were actually there to see 1st hand. I'm just stating what I've learned over the years of doing WW11 USN aircraft.

I've made more painting mistakes then I care to admit, but that's how I learn. Just check out my painting issues with the Spit Mk.IXc. I ended up having to strip it, and start from scratch.

Joel

Sorry Joel, I just disagree on this. I know thats the conventional line of thinking but my searches 2 years ago brought up some controversy on the issue, and I came away from it believing green interior in the case of the SBD-1. I cant cite sources, just scratched notes on the instruction sheet. I urge anyone interested to investigate for themselves.

Or just "run whatcha brung" because these color debacles can be nail biters sonetimes, right one day wrong the next and then right again a couple years later.

Mike,
As long as Joe is satisfied that the colors are correct, that's all that matters.

All I'm saying is that it was the standard paint orders of the period. Prior to WW11 all aircraft should have had Aluminum lacquer cockpits. It's not like they switched from Interior Green to Aluminum lacquer. I'm not even sure as to why they decided to switch other then the glare issue. Or maybe that the Aluminum pigment was needed as Aluminum sheet.

Here's a quote from a article on the Swedish IPMS site:

" Some sources state the SBD-1s most probably had Aluminium lacquer interiors, while others claim some Mixed Green/Interior Green with Zinc Chromate for the remaining airframe"

I took this to mean that the cockpit itself was Aluminum lacquer, but that the rest of the interior was painted a Green Interior color.

I had this issue with the Buffalo build as well since I was modeling a specific event: the Battle of Midway. Even simple things like going from the tri-color prop tip to Yellow wasn't done in a day. Jim Maas sent me pictures of black props with tri-color tips that dated mid 1942, which made even less sense.

Joel

Guys thank you for the information. I have to say that I did not realize just how debatable the interior color question was on the early war Navy birds. On several sites the debate has flared up a bit. I, to be quite honest, have not a clue as to where to even begin to answer this question. I did find one site with an unrestored -1 that appears to show Interior Green. However even with that there seem to be a number of pictures that show the Aluminium.

I do find it interesting that this would to be as contested as which color the Japanese had on the Zekes in the early war years, Grey or the Caramelish tan.


Joe

Well I am choosing to move forward on this one.

Detail painting as well as some chipping. I know it might be overdone a bit but I did try to keep it light.



Next will be to close up the fuselage.


All comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



Joe

Joe,
As I said before, and at times I found myself in the same position. Go with what you feel is right and your comfortable with. It's your build, and the final decisions are always yours.

Joel

Joel very true. Not sure why I am getting so hung up on this issue.



Joe

Joe,
I would assume for the same exact reasons I went through a long and detailed search for the correct interior colors for my F2A-3 build, which is getting as accurate as possible in our modeling. Like I said during that build, Jim Maas, pointed out errors in most of the common and accepted notions of what was the correct interior colors for the version and time period I was modeling.

Restorations are more often wrong then right, B&W photos are hard to interpret correctly over a long period of time, so gov't documentation as to what should have been is how I usually try to go.

Joel

From what I know of SBDs, that is the correct interior colour now.

Many thanks.

Joel you are very right. We strive to do our best.

This build moves on.



Joe

Joe, I can't find it right now but there is a well known picture of a USMC SBD-1 in pre-war "golden age" markings in flight. The "interior green" on the rollover bar behind the pilot is unmistakable. I think your choice of interior color for this A/C is correct.

Also, for a bit of atmosphere for your Pearl Harbor SBD-1 build I came across this,



with this caption, "The burning wreckage of a Marine Corps Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pictured at Ewa Mooring Mast Field after the Japanese attack on 12/7/41." See http://www.airfields-freeman.com/HI/Airfields_HI_Oahu_S.htm

I did further digging into my some what limited research files. USN and Marine aircraft pre and post Pearl Harbor is one of my main modeling interests, so I tend to collect tidbits of information as I come across them.

These are a few quotes from Tom Cleaver from another well known Modeling site. Tom has vast experience in WW11 colors and markings, so his input is certainly helpful and insightful.

As Joe has alluded to, he's leaving the interior as is, and moving on with his build. So at this point, I'm offering this information as my final thoughts on the interpretation of the proper interior color. Joe's picture of the Accurate Miniature box states that the correct model is a Marine SBD-1 not SBD-2 which would almost certainly have had a Interior Green cockpit.

"...It is not a "natural metal finish," but rather an aluminum lacquer. No one really knows whether the interiors were painted differently when the exteriors lost the "golden wings" colors, but from my own experience of the USN aviation department, I think they didn't do anything that didn't have to be done. In other words, I think the Marine SBD-1s were left in aluminum lacquer.

I know for a fact that the SBD-2s had an interior green color... because the CO of VB-6, who flew SBD-2s until they re-equipped with SBD-3s just before they went to Midway, told me so (interview with LCDR R.E. Best, USN, Ret).

However, those airplanes were never "golden wings" in markings, but arrived overall grey, were later painted blue
on their uppers, which makes things just different enough. FWIW, I asked Dick about this point, and while he had nothing specific, he did say that there was so much effort going on during the period before the war "none of my SBD-2s had the same shade of blue on them," so I think my belief that nothing more than was necessary was done, so you can safely go with aluminum lacquer interior..." Tom Cleaver

Joel