Trumpeter 1/32 Dauntless

[BarryW]

Internals weathered and fitted.
Not much of this will be seen even with an open pit.
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See what I mean.
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[Ian M]

Great work. As you said a pity it is so hidden away. Still you know it is there and we have all seen it.

[BarryW]

Tell me - does anyone manage to complete a build without the aerial at the top of the fin, as shown in this pic from the instructions, breaking off?
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I dont think I have ever managed it. I am not sure when it broke off or where it is. Why on earth do they persist in molding these parts? understandable for small scale but silly for 1/32.
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I will need to use some plastic card at a later stage to replace that section.

[Vaughan]

Believe it or not mines still there despite being sat on the shelf since 2014 unfinished. But yes I agree with you and I have lost a few on other builds.


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[tr1ckey66]

I hear your pain. Every Revell 1/32 MkII Spitfire I've built I've managed to break off the aerial attachment point on the fin. So many times in fact that I now have a mold to create new ones in resin!
It's annoying but not too taxing a job to fix.

The Dauntless is really coming along. Excellent work as always!
Cheers
P

[BarryW]

I have been making slow progress but I am getting there.

I have joined the fuselage to the wings and, as you can see, the fit is perfect even in the usually tricky area under the wing where two fuse halves and wing section join.
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I just did a smear of Mr Dissolved Putty along the join and 24 hours later gave it a light sanding then some liquid sanding with i.p.a. and a cotton bud so no detail is lost.

The engine and engine panels attached
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The engine panels are clear plastic and it appears back because I sprayed the inside with black primer.

I also reattached the aerial. As all the 'heavy lifting' is finished on this kit the danger to this is now reduced. I will just have to take care.
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next some masking and cleaning all over with ipa before then priming.

[flyjoe180]

Looks great Barry. This is a useful resource for RNZAF SBD's: http://rnzaf.hobbyvista.com/sbd1.html

Your aircraft NZ5034 appears on a photo in Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu):
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[BarryW]

Thanks Joe - that is very interesting.

Just looking through - lots of photos with the flaps up, in fact all on the first page and that one of the aircraft I am building.

[BarryW]

I have applied MRP Black primer over the airframe. Tomorrow I will check it for flaws, deal with them, then reapply the primer black base. I have also been dealing with a few detail items.
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[papa 695]

Cracking work going into this one Barry

[Vaughan]

Looking good Barry.

[BarryW]

Bit more done working on small components and the underside colour.
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[BarryW]

The topside camo done
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[BarryW]

The ultra thin MRP paint really shows up the underlying pastic. When the paint catches the light in particular way you can see swirls from when the plastic was injected into the mold that normally you would not see. The good news is that it soon disappears once you apply varnish and is nothing to worry about. You can see a hint of that in outer sections of the left wing where the light catches it. You can also see shinier areas where cement has evaporated from. Again it will soon disappear.

[BarryW]

I have been busy masking up to paint the markings.

I will be doing it in two sessions, first the walk lines and codes and then the national markings.

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here she is during the masking process. I realised as soon as I started checking on the fuse sides that I could not fit all the masks at once due to the proximity of some of the markings. Hence splitting the process. Though I have masked the upper wing roundels I wont be painting them until the second session.

Using masks does take a bit of time but the result is well worth it. The important thing is to burnish the edges of the mask with a cocktail stick to avoid paint 'creep'.

The camo colours are MRP133 - M485 Blue Grey upper and MRP134 - M495 Light Grey lower.