crazypoet

Getting there - laying out the base before I do the last bit of rigging and the lettering on the ammo cases The ropes all need a bit of aging to make them look appropriately worn. I still need to finalize the rigging on the gun. Since it was designed to be “portable” (a hernia-inducing carry in two pieces by six men) and was also meant to swivel around three different mounts, it would not have had the more complex run-in/run-out rigging of larger shipboard guns. Short ropes on each of the four rings on the carriage both make sense and align well with existing documentation.

I'm not going to be able to attend the whole thing, but I'm hoping to make it to at least some of the stuff on Friday and Saturday. I'm in Atlanta, so I have zero excuse not to attend - it's less than 3 hours from my humble abode by car. I'd love to catch up with any/all of the crew - perhaps a Friday night pub-crawl?

Ah-Ha! Accurate Miniatures had an SBD-3 kit a while back. I could pick one up and use the cowl and prop/spinner from that. Thanks!!! The cowl on the -5 was 4" deeper and had different inlets and prop spinner. Most everything else was the same...

That is BEAUTIFUL! I somehow suspect that there's not a standard Legos kit for this one?

Greetings all! I have, sitting on my bench and waiting more or less patiently, the beautiful Eduard limited Edition SBD-5 Dauntless Dive Bomber. Of course, the version I actually *want* to build is the SBD-3, as was used at the Battle of Midway. Do any of you know of a conversion set for this? I've not seen one, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist somewhere out in the ether...

This ship is iconic - and I love the version you’re building. I recall first learning about these back in the ‘80’s - there was more than a bit of institutional doubt at the time about the ability of the Cobras and front-line AA to deal effectively with them, should the balloon go up before the Apaches were field-ready this takes me back!

Cees - this is a beautiful build, and it gives me hope to see that there are projects here with even longer lifecycles than my own! Besides which, watching this evolve is something akin to a master course in conversions.

Hmmm... have to see how to post pics from my phone now! And... success! Now I don’t need to give photobucket any more $$$ sweeeet!

Step by slow step - trying to mimic the grayish/yellowish/reddish sandstone from around the Chesapeake for the stone tiles that the iron stands will rest on... I 3D printed the stone tiles (thank you Thingiverse!) and am working through layers of color to get it right. The reddish one on top is close, I think, so i’m doing the second to match. And with one of the iron stands... in parallel, i’m Wrapping up the (also 3D printed) nameplate for the whole assemblage...

Well, ok, it’s been three moves since I last got any work done on this, but it’s finally moving. i finished the main part of the stands tonight. These will sit on some 3D printed stone tiles, which will then sit on the wood base Hopefully, now that i’m Working again, I can wrap up the base, do some final rope-work on the gun carriage and put this behind me. I never, in my most fevered nightmares, would have dreamt that this would be such a long-term project!

It's been a very long and trying year and a half, but I'm finally in a position to dust off the workbench and will be moving this project from "In progress" to "Complete" in the next month or so. Wow - has it really been four years? Yikes!!! Thought for this day? "Life is what actually happens while you're busy making other plans!" :D

After a long delay caused by relocating to a new living space, I'm finally getting my working space functional again - look for updates to this over the next few weeks. I'm also looking at PhotoBucket to see why my pics aren't displaying - I upgraded my account some time ago

Nice! What are you using for the hose?

Gorgeous! Thats a ton of work, getting the design to render so beautifully

There's a whole world of hoses and fittings to get lost in, down there! Just remember to come up for air every now and then...

Damn - nice!!!

Nice!

There's not been much happening that's photo-worthy, though I'm continuing to make progress on the base and stands. in the interim, I finished up the title plate today. I had it done at Shapeways, based on an HO-scale building sign... The finish is Tamiya fine filler/primer, graphite, Uschi iron and steel powders, rust wash and more iron and steel powders to tie it all together.

Looks fine as-is! Have fun with it

I'm all ears to hear how you approach this...! err, well, given that this is all words on a screen and such... make that I'm all *eyes*

Love it! I'll be watching this one

The wood blocks make tons of sense as they provide solid support for everything around them. I also like the jig you made for gluing up the base of the tank - you're giving all of us a great tutorial here!

I'm delighted to see it there safe and sound - I hope your folk enjoy building that beautiful bird

I completely understand the desire to make it accurate even when the details are all but invisible. I *also* understand the need for a good celebratory beverage afterwards!

Looks like a fun break! I should have thought of something like that waaaay back when...