Clunkmeister

The gear seems pretty stout, actually. There are a lot of anchor points as well. The only issue being vague fit. But, the internet is your friend here

There is room on the web for two excellent Large Scale forums, and I wish the absolutely no harm. None. If they find there is a staff problem, I hope and pray they get the issue handled soon. They’ve lost a lot of good members over the years, to the benefit of us. I wish them no harm, only good, but the poison pen can destroy years of work in a very few seconds. I suggest we all focus our efforts on building, we have a great and wide open GB going on, and let them sort out their problems, which I’m sure they will. We have the best bunch here, and it’s growing on a daily basis. Thank you, LSP, for your help in growing our awesome forum here.

Nah, in person it looks stupid. It’s barely there, but it can be seen, and it has a clearly defined mask line.

I haven’t felt this good about a build since I built my first Felixstowe.

Thanks Gary, but there’s still plenty of time to screw it up. 😂 Once ai get the basics together, I’ll be doing a bit more mild weathering, and shipborne equipment was generally kept shipshape, and then a few more stencils, followed by dullcoat. I’m certainly seeing the finish line here, now. The rear gun ring and seat is just sitting in there. I’ll have it out later and wear the heck out of it. Then the guns and brass ammo belts to finish it off. It looks like I have a ghost of white overspray on the prop, so I’ll need to touch that up as well. Dammit

We are wide open to armor. Bring it on and maybe some of us will learn something. We have several gifted armore builders here already.

The thing about short run kits is that a lot of the small details are somewhat vague and open for interpretation Im slowly figuring this out, but it needs to be correct, as the main gear is extremely prominent on the Helldiver. The gear is hand fitted into the wing so far. Some adjustment to do as of yet.

From what I understand, it was all a Mod’s hurtful and accusatory PMs to Maru, and then Maru brought it up to the Administrators. I’ve known Maru long enough to know there isn’t a hateful bone in that person’s body. It’s sad to see this happen to anyone, but most of all to Maru. But, like I said before, they had their reasons and they run their shop differently than we run ours. edit: One thing I’ll add here, FYI. This is something I didn’t realize until I actually became an Admin and had to follow through on a request from a member to delete his account. When a member requests you delete their account, their previous posts will then show him as a “guest”, and, I hate to say, will show him as “Banned”. It’s just a fact. That’s how the software does it, and it’s not a vindictive or vengeful act on the part of the Admin. There is a “Ban Member” spot as well, but either way still shows as “banned”. Yep it sux, but that’s the software. Plus, if the member has been a member for an extended period, the deleted member’s previous posts will still show up, as they are out there in the ether. Removing multiple thousands of that person’s previous posts is all but impossible to do because they have to be done individually, one at a time. So no, I don’t think the Admin’s actions were meant to be hurtful whatsoever. If you request your account be deleted, it’ll show, (at least in the short term) “banned”.

And it’s all based on two things: the good and bad we experienced elsewhere, and how we would want to be treated ourselves.

The Barracuda set is a good call for this kit, not for any real shortcomings of the parts, but Revell got turned around and some parts are Mk.V, and other issues with the type of prop for the period, and metal vs fabric ailerons, etc. I think Revell’s oil cooler was Mk.V, if I remember right. Ooops.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Gary, I have to agree 100% with you there. There are quite a few of those types I hope I never run into. They can be quite insufferable at best, and total idiots at worse. It’s a sad state of reality these days where some seem to live to cause trouble. My point was more towards us here not having to deal with trying to figure out if what I might say as a compliment, could be mistaken as an insult in certain parts of the world. It happens. LOL. Oh, and BTW, we pay attention to what happens to other forums enough to know who the troublemakers are, and they don’t come here. LOL. Yet. And with Jennings finally being zapped, they seemed to be back to normal. Until Maru got it too. Crazy.

Thanks Mike! I’m looking forward to the finishing stages of this build, as I’ve had it on my bench far, far too long. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the process completely, but I’m ready to jump into the GB. It’ll sure look good next to my other completed builds.

Well, I’m liking this better. Minor rebuild, which looks good.

I guess we need to just remember that it’s their site and they can run it any way they wish. Much of what we do here is modeled on lessons and experiences from there. Plus, we’re more of a European and North American forum, with little to no Far East participation except from Nations with European histories… so without the multitude of world views and different customs, maybe we mesh better? Along with that, we’re Blessed with a forum owner who gave us basic ground rules, allows his small team to run it without much oversight. Unless we ask for help. It’s an absolute Blessing to work and interact with the likes of y’all.

Yep, older jets, up to the end of the Korean war are a nice size in 1/32, but modern jets with the exception of F-16, MiG-29, Starfighter, Mirage, and similar are best handled in 48. I have a lot of room, but not THAT much room.

I just got off an hour long telephone conversation with Maru as well, and all I can say is that there isn’t a mean bone on Maru’s body, anywhere. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Maru is a retired British law enforcement and as a result, knows right from wrong, but in all the years I’ve personally known Maru, there has never been even the slightest hint of scandal. I’m as shocked and gobsmacked as everyone else here is. Gutpunched, actually.

Yes, I know a couple of those are a -5 restoration, but you can see how the turtleneck folds right down. the way I had it, it was like looking at a VW Bettle folded convertible top compared to a 55 Ford Fairlane Sunliner top. And, if I didn’t attend to it now, I’d be bugged by it forever

Haha. Yep. I’ve already removed and reworked it. I’ll just reattach them later today and touch up the paint.

Hey guys. I’m not happy with the retracted turtleneck and I took it apart. It’s sitting too proud and I’m going to trim some things to create enough clearance to lower the stack.

Hey MARU! Oh wow! I never saw that coming. We’re pretty laid back here, and we welcome you with open arms. I’m actually shocked to hear that, I thought it had settled down over there and things were back to normal. You’re loved and cherished everywhere you go and are welcomed here with open arms. No, we’re not as fast paced, but pretty much everyone here is passionate about model building. There is room for two large scale forums, although we also allow armor and 1/48, and don’t even frown at ships and automobiles.

I’d say it’s starting to look like an actual Curtiss SB2C Helldiver

There is a whole lot of little details that need to be added to the Helldiver IF you decide to use the optional accessory packs. Much of this area is PE and resin castings that Infinity lifted straight from the HPH kit.

I know. I was out that way in the mid 70s, and it was building g up even then. Insanity! It’s the same way everywhere. A guy I used to fly with went on to fly 727s and DC-9s for Air Canada, and a few years back, he told me about all the noise abatement crap they had to deal with at most every airport. Rapid power reductions with steep turns right after takeoff, and at the same time, climb as quickly as possible. A 727 isn’t blessed with excessive reserve power at the best of times, but all a full load on a hot day, followed by an immediate power reduction and a steep turn is an accident waiting to happen. Yet in every case, the big airports were there decades before the neighborhoods.

I'm still stuck on Mr Color, and the reason I went with MRP here is that I liked their take on the all important "Sea Blue". What's kind of sobering is how the Helldiver (and the earlier Dauntless) are really the only non Grumman offensive carrier aircraft the USN used in WW2. Grumman had the Navy literally locked up tight, but first the Phantom, and later the F-18, absolutely killed a once proud company. It was sad to see Bethpage close it's doors for good.