Matchbox Curtiss SBC4 Hell Diver on Deck

[JR]

Richard .
Thanks for the tip with the wet tissue.
As for the green, looks good to me . Very annoying though when you find out the colour was wrong. I'm quite good at that !
John .

 

[Steve Jones]

What John said

 

[Jakko]

Vintage kits come with vintage decals that desintegrate right before your eyes in 5 seconds...talk about mission impossible.

I’ve read that spraying them with varnish will work, though you will need to cut them from the sheet much more closely so the varnish doesn’t stick the decal to the paper.

 

[langy71]

Good god, what an excellent build you've got going here,
I'm struggling to believe that's a Matchbox kit, mine never looked that good,

I really love the extra detail you're putting into this, can't wait to see more..

 

[rtfoe]

Hi John, Steve, Jakko and Chris, thanks.

I noticed how tissue can easily be teased into tight corners and can be fastened with water just like paper mache. Jakko, the decals refused to leave the backing paper so I photo copied the stencils in black and the stars were masked and sprayed. I love adding extra details to old kits like Matchbox...just enough to get it looking presentable.
Not only was it stuck it was hard to remove the tracing paper covering it.



Tracing and masking was the only other solution but you will see I had problems with paint peeling from the first try...in hind sight I should have the red dot first.



Looked like disaster but I kept a cool head and reversed the steps of masking and re-did the blue.

The rest of the stencils in black were photostated on decal paper.

Once all decals set I protected it with a layer of future and matt varnish.

Coming up next will be the carrier deck and figures.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice work on the decals. Will save that one for the future. Many thanks.

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Steve, I hope I wouldn't have to go through the decal debacle again. You're welcome.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Great stuff. That wet tissue idea is one to remember. Love the detailing. Shame about the decals but you'll sort it.
Jim

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Jim, thanks, just remember to wet the tissue again when you remove it. In the end replaced the decals with my own photocopies on decal film and masking.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Moving onto the diorama part I had to look for references on American carrier decks of the Lexington. As I was going to do just a portion of it at the edge so was curious how it looked. The following images are for reference only and were helpful...



The materials I used for my base is plywood, wood bidding, mounting boards and polycarb sheets. I wanted a raised platform for the deck which was formed with measured and cut mounting boards.



I usually don't composition perpendiculy and made a cut at the corner for the side walkways to the deck. I gave enough lip to the mounting boards to cover the polycarb sheet edges and had the sheet jut out a little for the deck edge.



I fashioned the walkway structure from plastic sheet and rod with plustruct T braces. The same was done for the hull side structure.



Rivets were spots of thick white glue applied with a tooth pick and port holes were sliced plastic tubing. Pipes were from rod and lead wire.



Squadron Green Putty filled areas that needed flushing with the raised side panels



The deck edge now primed revealing the rivet detail. At this time the plane was positioned to measure the rundown lines which I would be adding later as I didn't have any precised measurements...mostly eye-balling all the way.



Thanks for looking in.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi, continuation where I left off...
There has always been a debate on whether the aircraft carrier decks were stained blue just after the start of WW2 or after the events of Pearl Harbour. As I wanted the contrast of the wood deck rather than the blue I scourd the internet and found this coloured image that helped a lot to detract rivet counters from the debate.




So brown it was and then I lined the planking with a pen and stained it with some oil and grease spills.



I would later follow the deck markings with broad yellow from the reference.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[Steve Jones]

Stunning work Richard. Quality all the way as always. Liking it a lot

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Steve, I'm glad you're liking it and following the build.

Dr Frankenstein goes to work again...actually this was my first time working with Preiser figures. If you'll notice they are Luftwaffe figures. Modifications will be abundant.



The sprues are still full but after I had gone through them for the Walrus build, they're nearly all gone.



I like using Preiser as they come with extra arms and head fixtures. The plastic is soft to work with carving and cleaning



These are the selected patients waiting for suitable arms and heads.



All seam lines removed...I have already made a cut on the figure on the bottom right.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi, here are some test poses on the flight deck before I weathered the dio.



With two part putty I created detail like the Mae-west, parachute bags and headgear for the figures. As this was my first time working with detailing figures the detail was soft. The practice I got from these helped with the RE8 figure dio, UH-34 dio and the Walrus Catapult dio.



They look small against the side of Humbrol paint tinlets.

Cheers,
Richard