My 1/72 scale aircraft

[Bill-R]

Great work on your Devastator and your Tigercat is looking great. Thinking of the Midway lineup, do you plan on building a Vaught Vindicator?

Bill

 

[Dean62]

Great work on your Devastator and your Tigercat is looking great. Thinking of the Midway lineup, do you plan on building a Vaught Vindicator?

Bill

Thanks Bill!
Good call on the Vindicator, I had overlooked that one because they currently don’t make one in 1/72 scale. So I will have to start looking for one on EBay or Etsy at a reasonable price.
Thanks for reminding me!

 

[Daniel20]

Great bio on "Bud" Anderson, thanks for sharing.

 

[Dean62]

Great bio on "Bud" Anderson, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Daniel, glad you enjoyed it.

 

[Dean62]

F7F update…
The engines I ordered came early, so I was excited to get started on them.

Pictured above is the engine next to the kit cowling and engine, that is one piece. The aftermarket engines needed cleanup. So I removed supports and extra material. I also looked at adding the push rods. I feel like they have to be present.


I have also decided I should paint the engines first before adding the pushrods. I fear the pushrods will get in the way.
Here is some pictures of the actual engines for reference…


I have considered adding the plug wires, but it may become way too cluttered at 1/72 scale. Will look into it when I get the pushrods on after painting.

See ya next time…

 

[Dean62]

Quick update on the F7F Tigercat
I have begun painting the engines…


Next I have to add all of the pushrods…that should be fun.

See ya next time…

 

[Dean62]

Pushrods done on one engine…have to take a break! This is very frustrating, but I was not happy it had no pushrods. So it must be done!

 

[Pathfinder65]

Wow those look great. Nice detail work.

Jan

 

[Dean62]

Wow those look great. Nice detail work.

Jan

Thanks Jan!
It’s hard to hold them with tweezers to glue in place. Can’t say how many I dropped and lost. But in the end, I will get it done.

 

[Bill-R]

Great looking detail on the engine.

Bill

 

[RDN1954]

View attachment 573251

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It’s worth noting that during the Battle of Midway, the Devastators arrived ahead of the fighters and didn’t have the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter protection they needed to counter the Japanese Zeros. And having to come in at a low speed of 115-150mph to drop the torpedoes at an altitude of 120 feet, traveling in a straight line made them easy targets for the Zeros and anti-aircraft guns.
They did however draw all the Zeros to a low altitude, allowing the SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers flying and arriving at a high altitude to attack without much fighter confrontations from the Zeros until after they dropped their bombs.
It was the SBD-3 Dauntless aircraft and crews that sank all the ships that day, but owe some credit to the brave pilots and crew members of the TBD-1 Devastators who made their job easier. Unfortunately it came at the cost of being an easy target and large loses!

Just gotta love the paint job; it really makes her stand out.
(The pilot though appears to have dropped his seat to the lowest possible position; it's almost as if he can't see over the engine cowling... )

 

[Dean62]

Great looking detail on the engine.

Bill

Thanks Bill!

 

[Dean62]

Just gotta love the paint job; it really makes her stand out.
(The pilot though appears to have dropped his seat to the lowest possible position; it's almost as if he can't see over the engine cowling... )

Thanks Johan!
Good observation, the aftermarket interior PE kit mixed with the kit pilot resulted in a somewhat low seating position. Perhaps the aftermarket kit with its seatbelts wasn’t meant to have crew members used? But I like them in place on this one.