Completed 1/48 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless

[spanner570]

Here is the finished Hasegawa 1/48 Dauntless model. It flew from the the U.S.S. Lexington during WW2.

Apart from the wing roots, it went together well. I added the seat belts and M.G. ammo belts. I made these from thin foil.

The aircraft is brush painted using thinned Humbrol enamels, both gloss and matt.

I applied a coat of 'Klear' followed by the decals, then another coat of 'Klear', then a final coat of Vallejo matt varnish, thinned with distilled water.

The weathering, oil stains and and panel lines are all done with my trusty 5B pencil.

The 'chipping' was achieved with a sewing needle dipped in aluminium paint.

As I was well chuffed with my background watercolour painting for my D.Day Omaha Beach landing dio. I have done one for this too, but with a bit more detail on the destroyer, fading to the carrier on the horizon.

It shows a Kamikaze attack on the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific. Luckily, the dive bomber has missed it's target and is heading for the 'oggin....

You will notice the aircraft has been turned through 180 degrees, this is due to the flight deck crew moving the Dauntless away from danger but being disturbed by an attack and legging it for cover, leaving it all alone on the flight deck!

The flight deck is an old roofing slate I found behind my shed.

I have tried to depict a well worn, battle weary and sea sprayed dive bomber....

I hope you like the model and the selection of photos and all comments, even physically painful ones are more than welcome.

Cheers,

Ron

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[Caledonia]

Hi Ron, superb job, love the chipping and scuffing very realistic, only wish you would do a tutorial on how to brush paint, must be far more satisfying than blasting everything with an airbrush. Cheers Derek

p.s. 5 Stars from me, would have given you a 6th for the background if I could.

 

[Ian M]

I love it! You really pulled out the stops there. Well done sir!

I do like the back ground. A man of many talents.

Ian M

 

[yak face]

Lovely job ron,even better with the excellent backdrop. The pencil oil staining works brilliantly,and the paint job is fantastic. Top work , we'll have to make you buy some more aircraft at cosford. (MMM? i wonder if i can coerce him into buying a biplane?!!):emo6: cheers tony

 

[treyzx10r]

Ron, brush painted really???That is amazing you've done a brilliant job its awesome!!! I'm with Derek would love to see a 'how to' thread on your brush painting technique!

 

[spanner570]

Thanks to you all for the very complimentary posts and the 5*s. I am glad you approve of the model and the background.

I'm not really the sort of bloke who could do justice to a painting tutorial and I prefer to just keep my head down and plod on.

I would probably not be able to convert it to the written word anyway. Also there are far, far better people at it than me and vast majority of people use an A/B anyway so it might be a bit pointless.....I don't really know.

I will certainly give it a bit of thought though and thanks for thinking my efforts good enough for a tutorial.

Ron

 

[phalinmegob]

after my first forays into airbrushing (until i lost the tip down the sink) it just seems like so much hassle,mixing paint to the right consticincy,cleaning it every two minutes because the acrylics i use keep drying in the tip,and then stripping the thing down to clean it when finished which is how i lost the tip.lol.cmon ron i need some video tutorials on brushing cos i am crap at that too.

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Nice work Ron and great photos too matey, love it. I think you deserve some stars for this.

Have fun, John

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Andrew and John, glad you like the Dauntless and thanks too for your comments, good stuff!

Seems I'm in a bit of a corner over this brush painting lark so I reckon I will have to give some serious thought to some sort of tutorial, and how to present it....

I'll root around for a suitable kit first.

Cheers,

Ron

 

[Gern]

Hi Ron,

I want to second all the comments about your painting. I could leave brushmarks if I painted with pure water so a tutorial would be massively helpful to me!

Gern

PS Still trying to work out a way to get to Cosford! It looks like it could come down to selling part of my stash - which obviously I don't want; or selling the missus into slavery - which I don't think she wants! :lol

 

[spanner570]

Hi Ron,I want to second all the comments about your painting. I could leave brushmarks if I painted with pure water so a tutorial would be massively helpful to me!

Gern

PS Still trying to work out a way to get to Cosford! It looks like it could come down to selling part of my stash - which obviously I don't want; or selling the missus into slavery - which I don't think she wants! :lol

Dave, the answer is simple........Take the missus to Cosford, sell her there. Then you will have ready money to buy kits!!!!..........Sorted!

Ron