the Baron
Ich bin ja, Herr, in Deiner Macht
- Joined
- May 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,967
Hi, all! I've finally finished another build, which I'd like to share. I've also posted this in Agape's "Finish What You Started" fellowship build. This time, it's Monogram's SBD kit, which I finished as an Army Air Force A-24 Banshee.
This was a kit that I identified back in 2008 as one of 12 New Years' Resolution builds--12 kits I had started in past years, and then let sit. My goal in 2008 was to finish those kits. Well, as you can tell from this build, I didn't get very far.
Here is a shot of the status back in March 2011:
That's what the kit looked like from 2008 till 2011, when I dusted it off as one of two entries into the first Monogram Mafia Group Build at FineScale (my other entry was a Zero, which I finished on time). I got the kit assembled and painted, and applied a gloss coat in preparation for decals...then got stuck again. I couldn't decide which decal sheet to scavenge, from among all of the ones in my stash. Now that's indecision, and that's probably the biggest problem that keeps me from finishing. In any case, last week, I bore down and decided to finish the kit in time for our club's December meeting, tomorrow night. National markings are from a sheet by Expert's Choice.
The kit is basically out-of-box, except for the tail wheel. The A-24 differed from the SBD primarily in that the tailhook was omitted (though the actuator fairing was left) and the hard rubber tail wheel was replaced with a pneumatic tire. I scratched that from some styrene discs and aluminum wire.
Weathering was accomplished with oils for filters, drybrushed acrylics and pastel chalks for the engine exhausts, and Prismacolor silver pen ink for the chipping on the wing roots (I applied the ink by touching a toothpick to the pen, then to the model). Decals settled down eventually, with several applications of Solvaset.
The "US ARMY" ID came from the Classic Airframes' P-43 kit. That needed no setting solution.
The markings are for the batch of A-24's shipped to the Philippines in November 1941; my sources showed aircraft with no serials or other identifying marks, only the national roundels and the "US ARMY" marking underneath. That made this one pretty simple. Though it was four years from start to finish, I'd say it took all of 12 hours to complete. No problems, either, except that the canopy seam came loose when I was removing the masking, so there's a bit of a mark on the starboard side, center section. It was fun to build, just as it was some 38 years ago or so, when I built one as a kid.
Criticisms/comments are welcome, as always, and as always, thanks for looking!
YbiC
Brad
This was a kit that I identified back in 2008 as one of 12 New Years' Resolution builds--12 kits I had started in past years, and then let sit. My goal in 2008 was to finish those kits. Well, as you can tell from this build, I didn't get very far.
Here is a shot of the status back in March 2011:
That's what the kit looked like from 2008 till 2011, when I dusted it off as one of two entries into the first Monogram Mafia Group Build at FineScale (my other entry was a Zero, which I finished on time). I got the kit assembled and painted, and applied a gloss coat in preparation for decals...then got stuck again. I couldn't decide which decal sheet to scavenge, from among all of the ones in my stash. Now that's indecision, and that's probably the biggest problem that keeps me from finishing. In any case, last week, I bore down and decided to finish the kit in time for our club's December meeting, tomorrow night. National markings are from a sheet by Expert's Choice.
The kit is basically out-of-box, except for the tail wheel. The A-24 differed from the SBD primarily in that the tailhook was omitted (though the actuator fairing was left) and the hard rubber tail wheel was replaced with a pneumatic tire. I scratched that from some styrene discs and aluminum wire.
Weathering was accomplished with oils for filters, drybrushed acrylics and pastel chalks for the engine exhausts, and Prismacolor silver pen ink for the chipping on the wing roots (I applied the ink by touching a toothpick to the pen, then to the model). Decals settled down eventually, with several applications of Solvaset.
The "US ARMY" ID came from the Classic Airframes' P-43 kit. That needed no setting solution.
The markings are for the batch of A-24's shipped to the Philippines in November 1941; my sources showed aircraft with no serials or other identifying marks, only the national roundels and the "US ARMY" marking underneath. That made this one pretty simple. Though it was four years from start to finish, I'd say it took all of 12 hours to complete. No problems, either, except that the canopy seam came loose when I was removing the masking, so there's a bit of a mark on the starboard side, center section. It was fun to build, just as it was some 38 years ago or so, when I built one as a kid.
Criticisms/comments are welcome, as always, and as always, thanks for looking!
YbiC
Brad
Completion is the best. 
