Infinity Models SB2C-4 Helldiver. Finished. Well, OK, maybe not.

[Martinnfb]

Zoukei Mura style bomb bay.    Canvas colour looks good, the first thing that crossed my mind, was to ( as a pilot) cut a little hole into it, sneak in a smoke charge and start yelling to the radio " we got hit, we got hit, jump , jump, jump"  .... Ultimate prank :0

I know , highly immature.   Not sorry

[Clunkmeister]

1 hour ago, Martinnfb said:

Zoukei Mura style bomb bay.    Canvas colour looks good, the first thing that crossed my mind, was to ( as a pilot) cut a little hole into it, sneak in a smoke charge and start yelling to the radio " we got hit, we got hit, jump , jump, jump"  .... Ultimate prank :0

I know , highly immature.   Not sorry

Wanton destruction of Government property anyone?

But it could be the joke’s be on you, because right underbeath the roll cage lives a nice, big, LEAKY fuel tank. 

[Martinnfb]

There would be no destruction, except for the gunner's undies  

 

 

[Martinnfb]

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Nice progress on the Big Helldiver. Completely agree that the AM details for the bomb bay are worth the price of admission as they will be visible after completion and look so good. Some mighty nice research work and execution on the rear canvas cover that is taking your build over the top. 

 

[JohnB]

Really coming along well Ernie.

[Martinnfb]

https://www.facebook.com/infinitymodels.cz/videos/if-you-ever-wondered-how-we-pack-our-kits-for-you-heres-a-small-video-about-the-/1180827476015171

 

 

[JohnB]

14 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

https://www.facebook.com/infinitymodels.cz/videos/if-you-ever-wondered-how-we-pack-our-kits-for-you-heres-a-small-video-about-the-/1180827476015171

 

 

Interesting.

[Peterpools]

Martin, thanks for the video - pretty cool how they pack the kits. Any videos on how Infinity actually produces the kits?

 

[Clunkmeister]

Another thing that would be well served with an AM piece:  wheel wells. The kit construction is tedious, and every single piece must be modified to fit. 

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Your perseverance is amazing and shame on them. I just never understood why some companies that produce AM sets and details have fit issues. Afterall, they have the actual kit to work fit and surely with their talent for creating detail parts, fit should be as important as detail. ❗

[Clunkmeister]

I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about the wing to fuselage joint. 
 

First, the top half is a total butt joint. No tabs, nothing. The bottom half slots in..  but the airfoil on the wing won’t quite be perfect to the fuselage so you’ll need to fill it, so instead, install the top half first, starting at the front, and use Ca. 1/4” at a time, with Zip Kicker, and make tour way along the wing, forcing it to conform.  Once it’s in place and you’re happy with the fit, install strips of styrene on the inside of the joint to strengthen it, and Ca the crap out the support spar. 
After that, the bottom literally drops on and it will have NO gap at the wing root between the halves. 
The perfect fit is there, you just gotta work for it. 

[Clunkmeister]

16 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Ernie

Your perseverance is amazing and shame on them. I just never understood why some companies that produce AM sets and details have fit issues. Afterall, they have the actual kit to work fit and surely with their talent for creating detail parts, fit should be as important as detail. ❗

Peter, in their defense, they took a kit designed from the outset as a resin model, and backed it out to IM construction.   The reversed engineered the resin kit, so yeah, some stuff is a bit vague. I don’t mind, because I like to “work for it” a bit. Others, maybe not so much, but HPH kits have always been for more experienced modelers. 
If you can build a PCM Fw 190C, or rag wing Hurricane, you can build this 

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Agreed and I need to look at it a different way. One area that they should have improved was the instructions - same as with the Whirlwind. Poor, vague instructions just lead to a lot of frustrations and redo's, which I'm knee deep in now.  

 

[Peterpools]

Ernie

Perfect work on the wing attachment butt joint - your system solved any and all problems and looks spot on the money.

 

 

[Spitfire]

Looks like this is coming together nicely, glad you said thet if you could build a PCM Hurricane you can build this kit as I'm on my 3rd PCM kit and one of them was the fabric winged version ! And I have a Helldiver in the stash.

Cheers

Dennis

[Clunkmeister]

On 9/9/2022 at 5:24 AM, Spitfire said:

Looks like this is coming together nicely, glad you said thet if you could build a PCM Hurricane you can build this kit as I'm on my 3rd PCM kit and one of them was the fabric winged version ! And I have a Helldiver in the stash.

Cheers

Dennis

Dennis, I’ve built a couple of those as well.  I specifically mentioned the ragging version because of the techniques needed to preserve the wing root detail….

I think this kit is easier in many ways:  no, none of the main cockpit bulkheads fit, but all the main airframe components fit flawlessly. 

[Clunkmeister]

[Martinnfb]

Actions that might seem extreme under normal circumstances are appropriate during adversity !!!  

[Clunkmeister]

14 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Actions that might seem extreme under normal circumstances are appropriate during adversity !!!  

Notice the extra helping of CA in critical locations.  No locator pins, just good old butt joints 😇

[Martinnfb]

[Clunkmeister]

Here are our accessory wing root ribs that come with the open bomb bay kit. The interior of the wing is visible through the bomb bay and I thought I’d go the extra strip of cutting the lightening holes open. 
They’ll be quite visible through the bomb bay and will add much to the look. 

[Clunkmeister]

Sometimes, we tend to outsmart ourselves..  Like I just did.  Both wings, top and bottom, fit perfectly, to each other and to the fuselage.   On the second wing half, I tried for the “perfect fit” on the top half at the root, and did a very slight bit of sanding to achieve that but failed to take into account the alignment problems that’ll pop up when placing the lower half, which has a lip molded on, to slide into the fuselage.   OOOOOOOOOPS!

So, of course now the lower wing half is slightly too long, and I have to shorten it slightly, without losing the positive lock lip on the root edge.  So, out comes the #11 and I start scraping the lip, trying to pull the bottom half it.  20 minutes, and piles of shavings later, I got it. I even managed to only gouge the surface once  

Moral:  don’t get cocky building a short run kit. Instead, take what you have and fill any gaps with Plasticard and Milliput. 
 

[Clunkmeister]

What a difference one little piece makes. The front root rib ahead of the spar.  It’s nice to be able to look into the bomb bay and see actual wing structure rather than just open space.
Next I’ll fix my ham handedness and repair the main spar carry through  

[Clunkmeister]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the open bomb bay kit adds more to this model than even the open gunner position. At least when it comes to detail.  The parts provided in this kit are lifted straight out of the HPH resin Helldiver kit, and are truly gorgeous parts.