1/72 Academy Helldiver

by Mike Williams

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This is a reissue of the previously released Academy Helldiver with the added bonus of Eduard etched dive flaps and wheel/canopy masks.  If you follow the instructions then construction starts as usual with the cockpit interior, however, I deviated from this and constructed the etched dive flaps which require the instructions to be followed closely as these are quite fiddly to assemble.  When built, the dive flaps are exceptionally well detailed and look fantastic. The only down side is that the details inside will be lost if you decide to close them as is the case when the aircraft is on the ground.  I modelled them open although its not technically accurate for a parked aircraft, it would be a crime to hide all that fine detail!  Once I'd built the etch flaps, I removed the moulded items on the wings following the instructions as to where to cut.  Next was the cockpit which is exquisite for this scale, the only thing lacking is a set of seat straps which I added using foil.  The instrument panel deserves special mention as this is brilliant, although Academy supplied decals for it, I opted to paint it and add a couple of coats of Klear onto each dial using a fine brush, this worked well and made for a most convincing instrument panel.  There are no less than 23 pieces that go into making up the cockpit and bomb bay.  The only other thing I added was some ammo belts to the rear gun from some spare etch.  The undercarriage is very nicely done, but a little fiddly to install.  The rest of the build was very straightforward and presented no problems at all.  A dry fit of the flaps revealed that a sliver of plastic needed removing from the inside trailing edge near the fuselage to wing joint on both sides, other wise these fitted perfectly.  Before I knew it I was ready to mask up and paint.  The Eduard supplied masks fitted easily and with no problems.

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I used Xtracrylix for overall painting and they sprayed on beautifully.  I used XA1141 White, XA1125 Intermediate Blue and XA1121 Gloss Sea Blue in that order.  The insides of the dive flaps were sprayed Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red.  I then gave the model coat of Klear ready for decalling.  The decals went on with no problems at all, only time consuming due to the amount of stencil data. The stencil data and especially the white stencil data on top of the dark blue is very readable so the time putting these on paid off.  I hope you enjoy my model as much as I enjoyed building it.
Mike

Photos and text © by Mike Williams