Douglas Decimator

[CAO 700]

What a strange bird! . Nice work!

[sequoiaranger]

>What a strange bird!<

"Strange" in this line of work is plenty fine!!  

Actually, my "Decimator" is 90% Douglas Skyraider, so not so strange. Take off the 3-place cockpit and put a large single-seat bubble canopy on it, and, well, you have a garden-variety Skyraider. Of course, having a "Skyraider" in a 1944 time frame, as I propose, is a little strange, but not when you are being escorted by "Early Bearcats"

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2360

and up against "Jinpu-Kais",

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2234

both in my gallery as contemporary aircraft.

Things get even stranger in this strange land!!

[thedarkmaster]

I like it mate, the Glazed canopy really works on it .   

[Ed S]

This one is looking good.  That canopy really changes the look of the Skyraider. 

Ed

[sideshowbob9]

Off topic but I LOVE the early Bearcat! 

[B777LR]

I'm loving it!

[sequoiaranger]

>B787--I'm loving it
SSB9--Love the Early Bearcat
EdS., Darkmaster---canopy really works<

Thanks all. Canopies/cockpits can really change or enhance the look of an aircraft. In the "early Bearcat"s case, the plane looks more "primitive" (yet the high-performing Hellcat had the same look). In the Skyraider/Decimator's case, the crew goes from one to three and "needs" a new look. In the real Skyraider, the whole fuselage behind the cockpit was made into a crew quarters for various tasks, but they were sealed in with but a small window out the side. Hey! Maybe the wide-bodied version of the Skyraider could be made into a flying "motorhome" of sorts--bunks and a kitchen/bathroom that can travel around and flightsee!!

Anyway, the canopy situation is now giving me a flip (as in "the bird"). I have laboriously done a complete interior, and need to mask it off to paint. Normally, I would put all the crew and gear in, attach the canopy, and mask over it. I like to mask just down to above the bottom frame, so that transition between fuselage and canopy framing is smooth and indistinct (as it is on real aircraft).

If I can somehow keep paint out of the cockpit without putting on the canopy, when I do put on the canopy, the glue/seam and smoothing-out will have to be painted on after all the other paint, and thus will have a distinctive color line (the flat paint I would use would be a slightly different sheen after all the clear gloss/clear flat operations on the main body of the plane.

I intend to have the pilot's canopy section slid back and tilted, as in the Devastator, and the rear-gunner's position open. Thus, the ultra-thin Squadron canopy will be sectioned and most difficult to mask if glued in place prior to painting. Most mask will take a lot of tugging to remove, and I am afraid that the thin canopy will be ripped up when I try to take the mask off.

I am now thinking of using the "FunTack" putty-like stuff to cover the canopy and "glue" in additional card stock while painting. I have used "FunTack" on wings/fuselages where clarity is not important, but I have questions on the possible residue affecting canopy clarity (which is why I am using the Squadron canopy in the first place). Though I will post on the "tips, techniques" section as well, has any of you all used "FunTack" on canopies, does it leave a chemical residue, and if so, how do you get that residue off?

Any word will be appreciated.

PS--something I just learned about Bert's Midway TBF (From "A Dawn Like Thunder"): The Midway mission gunners put multiple "false" gunports in the wings (the TBF--and TBD--had only a single popgun in the cowl) to "scare" the Japanese into thinking the plane had a powerful forward-firing armament. The Decimator will, of course, enjoy a powerful forward-firing armament in the wings, but extra false gunports WILL BE incorporated into the Decimator FER SURE!

[sequoiaranger]

OK, I just *GOT EXCITED* after mocking-up the cockpit/decals, so I *HAD* to take a picture. I still have some things to work out/paint/glue/mask in the canopy area to get the body of the Decimator ready for painting, but.....!!!!

"8-T-1" is coming alive!

[sequoiaranger]

From my research into what the aerial torpedoes looked like when used at Midway, I came up with the scheme that my Decimator torpedoes now carry.

The "warhead" was flat light gray, and the rest of it was natural metal smeared with cosmoline, a brown/black preservative goo that metal weapons were stored in. They tried to wipe the majority of it off, but it still left brown streaks, etc. The propeller was brass/bronze, and the extra stabilizers were plywood. *IF* I can, I might get a small pilot's hand and put "hand prints" of the cosmoline on the warhead. Maybe not. I had also thought of writing the crew's names on the torpedoes, one for each of the three.



So---I have a pic below of my THREE (count 'em!) "whopper" torpedoes that will grace the underwing of my Decimator:



I have also modified the Hornet motif . "Swede" Larsen, the vilified commander of Torpedo 8, had wanted a raised, closed fist to represent the Squadron, but it never caught on. Bert Earnest and others had parodied it with a fist with the middle finger raised. I have carefully painted on such a hand gesture on the angry Hornet that will grace the Decimator's side (un-modified Hornet motif in preceding post).

Also, in "Dawn Like Thunder", recommended read for the history of Torpedo 8, Jay Manning, the gunner who perished on the Midway attack, put "extra" wing guns on by painting patches with a dark "gunport" on the wing leading edges. These, too, will be found on my finished Decimator.

I'm almost ready for the preliminary clear coat prior to decals. I will have pics when I get some insignia on!

[Brian da Basher]

That's some ace paint work on those torps, SR!

Brian da Basher

[PACOPEPE]

I like it a lot Craig. A job well done, and rigorous; as always.

Are the extra stabillizers of wood of the torpedoes to operate in shallow water? (made to avoid sinking too).


Cheers
Fran

[thedarkmaster]

I've been following this for a while and i like what i see, top class work mate   

[Captain Canada]

Those are whoppers alright ! Nice !

[sequoiaranger]

Ya know, I have been doing models and decals for....since the mid-1950's and have NEVER EVER EVER had such hassles as I have had today. What I had envisioned for the decoration of my Decimator may never happen.

I am SO DISGUSTED with the printable clear decal I had intended to use. For unknown reasons, the decals CURL up lengthwise, away from the model surface, into a pencil-lead-sized roll. I had dealt with them before on two other models, and although a hassle, I was able to overcome the problems fairly easily and present a decent appearance. If it curled the other way, I could push it down and hold it, but not the way it is currently.

On this current decal, I was able to use some white glue to have a thin, horizontal band stick to the model. So far, so good. After letting it dry, and using that as an "anchor", I applied some more white glue and pressed the rest of the curled part down. It adhered to the plastic! That would have been nice if it had stayed that way, but the decal began wrinkling uncontrollably. I *GUESS* the glue's water matrix was evaporating, and pulling the decal into itself(?). Anyway, I had to rip off the decal (thank goodness it came off in one piece).

I'm just exhausted from the anger and the effort.

[sequoiaranger]

I think I have success! The big time-gap in updates here has been partially due to a trip out to the desert (Palm Springs/La Quinta) and an unbelievable series of trials-and-errors regarding the decals.

The printable decals need JUST the right amount of acrylic coating to fix the printing and maintain some sort of practicality. I went through several sheets of precious and expensive clear decal paper trying to get the right "formula" for success.

The untreated decal paper, without any print or coating, is nice and thin and sticks perfectly to the model (I tried a series of "trials" on a dummy model). If one prints something onto the decal paper with a computer printer, the ink gradually soaks off when the decal paper is put in water. That simply won't do.

I had gotten into trouble with perhaps TOO MANY coats of acrylic in the original post where the decals curled up. Applying acrylic creates unwanted thickness and stiffness, making the decal's outline very obvious, and inducing lots of unwanted silvering when the stiff decal tries to snuggle down over any tiny protuberances or indentations in the model.

I had deliberately sanded down VERY SMOOTH the location where I wanted the "Commander Air Group Hornet" and "TB3D-US Navy" home-made decals, and applied just enough acrylic to fix the ink. The decal was still "stiff" and thick, but it only curled up a little. I was able, with some un-diluted white glue applied first and allowed to set up a little, to get a central strip to adhere to the model. Then, after that dried, I tucked a little glue underneath the curled-up "flaps" and pressed them down. So far it has worked! I have a little bit of silvering to touch up, then will spray some additional coats of clear gloss and flat to blunt the obvious outline of the decal.

I think another trouble with the original setup was that I had put MicroSet on the decal location prior to putting the decal down. This normally works well with standard decals, but not these. I think this made the smooth model surface too "slippery" and allowed the decal to refuse to adhere. I deliberately did NOT put MicroSet under the present set of decals. I truly believe that was the "narrow margin" that got the decal center to stick and allowed me to gradually get the rest of the decal to stick.

WHEW!!



Of course, buoyed by that success, I got all excited about overcoming that hurdle and was eager to finish the project. I now have to quell my burning desire to finish the Decimator and get ready to fly to Argentina this Thursday.

So I will report back mid-February, hopefully with a completed Decimator by the end of next month.