Here's the Accurate Miniatures Vought SB2U-1 "Vindicator".I started it over a year ago, and when I laid down the natural metal finish (Alclad II) to replicate the silver-colored lacquer "dope" used on the fabric, it reacted with the primer I used (Mr. Surfacer) and the whole model was covered in "pox". Disgusted, I threw it in it's box and thought I'd never finish it. For no good reason, I took it out 5 days ago, sanded it completely bare, and re-did the finish with a different primer (Tamiya rattle-can) and metal product (SnJ). Then I finished it all together in pre-war colors from 1939. Close enough! Enjoy...

Hi James

Beautiful job! How did you tackle the infamous sink-mark on the fuselage? Hiding it so effectively on a silver finish like yours is a fine acheivement.

Your warning about Alclad II over Mr Surfacer is well worth remembering - thanks for the tip! Definitely something to test on some scrap...

All the best

Rowan

Very nice build! These early war colourful birds look really beautiful

Niiiice build mate! I love the pre-war colors...

Hi guys, and thanks for the nice comments!

Rowan, the problem isn't a big one...if I can fix it, anyone can! I filled the "buckled" ares with superglue (cyanoacrylate). When dry, I then rolled some 400 grade sandpaper tightly around the end of a long, thin tweezer and sanded each "trough" between spars individually. Smoothed out with finer grades the same way. Then I received my replacement parts from Accurate Miniatures! They were nice and sent me (2) sets, so I'll use them on my next one, still in the box. Hope this helps!

Cheers,
JK

Nice! Very, Very, Nice! You did a great job with the canopies. May I ask how you did them - what type of mask etc?

Looks great James.
Nice job on the aluminum finish.

Thanks again, Guys!! Steve, the canopies were masked with Bare Metal Foil after the requisite Future bath. I use the "Chrome" BMF, as the other colors don't seem to be as thin and as "user-friendly". I've pretty much decided that for me, canopy masking is most successful when I use BMF, and so I always have a sheet on hand. A little pricy, but you can do several dozen projects with one sheet, so it all comes out in the wash, as they say.

The kit-supplied masks do not fit at all and could be discarded. The rear window doesn't fit properly, and if you look closely, you'll see that it's actually a bit "countersunken". The rear sliding section doesn't fit under the main glass at all, so I just left it off. Wasn't worth the hassle. The front sliding section doesn't fit either, without a lot of forcing, so it just sits where you see it. It's all about the angles in photography, I guess.

Nice job James. What paints did you use for the yellow and green, did you use chrome yellow? You have a nice clean build there. I'm thinking of doing Accurate Miniatures SBD1 Dauntless in the same scheme next, Wingman out.

Thank You, Wingman!

Beleive it or not, I used Good Ole' Tamiya Flat Yellow (XF-3) and Testor's MM Acryl Gloss Green (#4669). Noone makes Willow Green, although a few enamels come close. I use acrylics exclusively, and I think that the Gloss Green is actually closer. I mixed my own a few times, and couldn't come anywhere near! This is good enough for me, as it was languishing in a box prior to being rerprieved.

Cheers,
JK

Very nice build James.
I have always liked that colour scheme, so much more colourful then the later schemes.
I always seem to get a reaction when i spray Alclad over Revell enamels. With acrylics i never have that problem, unless you try to brush Alclad over the top, then it dissolves the acrylic and makes a mess .
Andy

Thanks Andy!

I use acrylics exclusively (except for Alclad II & SnJ). This was the first "bad" occurance. Glad you liked the pics!

Cheers,
JK

Fantastic work. Congratulations