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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

RAZBAM SB2C-5 Helldiver

Barnes, I sure would like to meet your friend from the Navy. Whenever I go to the VA I’m surprised at how few us WWII types there are. Most of them now are young guys from Viet Nam.
I’m genuine all right but my attitude is a defensive one. There are too many smart guys out there that read a book written by someone who wasn’t even born during the war, telling them how it was.
I can only tell what I know from my own experience, nothing more. But if there are guys that want to believe in these foolish fairy tales, so be it.
They won’t have me around much longer anywise. But the SB2C Helldiver was a good airplane, as good as any military aircraft could be. It always got me home safe and sound and I’ll fight anybody that says any different.
 
Gibbage said:
Outstanding job on this one! As a fan of WWII aircraft modeling, really impressive job. Only two small critiques from me though. Double check the props. There is something very wrong with them. Im not sure how popular cuffed props are, but beside that, there is an inverse curv on the front side. This should be on the back side. Props typically have a shallow curv on them and that curv should be pointing too the pilot. Also, Navy birds were LOVINGLY cared for. The level of dirt on the texture may be find for a Marine Helldiver, that was stuck on an island, and found some 20 years after it was lost... =)

Here is a good photo of an SB2C's props and you can see the direction of the curv, and the overall shape of the cuffed paddle props.
8031_5779.jpg


Overall, GREAT work and really looking forward too it! Sorry about the critique. The props are a thing for me.
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Thanks for posting this. This one is the Helldiver we have at the Hellenic Air Force Museum in Tatoi, my club's base. Any chance of a Greek paint in the end product?
 
Okay, I'm a little late to the party here, but I would say the types and amounts of weathering probably varied based on many factors, including the ship aboard which the aircraft were deployed. I would also suspect that aircraft during 1943 would have more wear and tear than would an aircraft operating at the end of the war. With lower threat of retaliation, and more of a focus on striking at enemy facilities offensively rather than in a searching for and destroying enemy vessels, there would be more time for noncritical maintenence. Heres a video of our hellcats. http://www.criticalpast.com/video/6...-operations_F6F-Hellcat_F6F-taxi_World-War-II
 
Great pics John, thanks for posting. Nice selection of paint and weathering options. Aircraft 520 looks fresh from the factory, probably still has those paper floor mats in the cockpit. :icon_lol:
 
Bomber, what a nice set of pictures, ones that I hadn’t seen before. On planes 520, 1, and 68, the tail hook is properly stowed, which is usually the case unless your practicing landings. I wonder if the FSX one will give this option.
There were three positions for the hook, stowed, extended and lowered. If you left it in the extended position, it would go into a sort of loud humming at certain speeds. I notice that the CAF Helldiver never retracts its hook. Sort of an indication of the sad state of disrepair it has.
One of the pictures shows the Carrier’s photographer in the gunner’s seat. On board our ship he was a not too bright, Lt. JG that indulged in porn. He used to take pictures with a $300 buck camera and was an officer. Yet a guy that ran the guns, radio, and radar and most importantly, kept the pilot awake, could be an AMM 3/C. - Go figger.
 
Helldiver said:
I notice that the CAF Helldiver never retracts its hook. Sort of an indication of the sad state of disrepair it has.
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Well, the CAF Helldiver is in good shape but i cant remember why they dont stow the tail hook anymore... Ive seen a few of their naval aircraft not stow there hooks. I think the issue comes up that they are very old aircraft so parts from originals dont exist anymore.
 
jp said:
Okay, I'm a little late to the party here, but I would say the types and amounts of weathering probably varied based on many factors, including the ship aboard which the aircraft were deployed. I would also suspect that aircraft during 1943 would have more wear and tear than would an aircraft operating at the end of the war. With lower threat of retaliation, and more of a focus on striking at enemy facilities offensively rather than in a searching for and destroying enemy vessels, there would be more time for noncritical maintenence. Heres a video of our hellcats. http://www.criticalpast.com/video/6...-operations_F6F-Hellcat_F6F-taxi_World-War-II
Click to expand...

Nice video clip, now those Hellcats certainly are worn, guess it wasn't just the RN who didn't have time to clean stuff...
 
Regarding the CAF Helldiver, the extended strut on the tailwheel oleo shows that it needs servicing. The lack of covers for the tail wheel and the main landing gear covers are lacking. A friend, who also happens to be a master on an English Wheel, could rebuild them in about a week. The lack of SCR-522 radios, the Linear Amplifier and even the life raft shows a lack of attention to detail. God only knows what goes on that can’t be seen. Plus, unless they’ve wired it in the extended position, a good strong man can stow the hook manually. It’s an SB2C5-A and as such never wore the colors that they’ve painted it. From what I can see, it’s just a poor representation of a Helldiver.
 
Helldiver said:
Regarding the CAF Helldiver, the extended strut on the tailwheel oleo shows that it needs servicing. The lack of covers for the tail wheel and the main landing gear covers are lacking. A friend, who also happens to be a master on an English Wheel, could rebuild them in about a week. The lack of SCR-522 radios, the Linear Amplifier and even the life raft shows a lack of attention to detail. God only knows what goes on that can’t be seen. Plus, unless they’ve wired it in the extended position, a good strong man can stow the hook manually. It’s an SB2C5-A and as such never wore the colors that they’ve painted it. From what I can see, it’s just a poor representation of a Helldiver.
Click to expand...

I bet you didn't mind flying into the flak "back in the day" either. :icon29:
 
The lack of SCR-522 radios, the Linear Amplifier and even the life raft shows a lack of attention to detail.
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Why carry the weight? It's a flying aircraft not a museum piece.
As to the rest of it I'm sure the FAA would have something to say if it was unsafe, and may well be the limiting factor when it comes to replacing/servicing the various components.
 
Also found a few nice contemporary images, where "wear and tear" is nicely depicted! Mostly SBDs though. Check out those prominent rivets on the SBD close up!

Cheers,
Mark

PS: how do you guys insert pictures inline into a posting? When I do this per drag and drop first the images show up fine but when submitting (or preview) I get errors and the images retard to a alphanumeric gibberish (text).


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Helldiver said:
On board our ship he was a not too bright, Lt. JG that indulged in porn. He used to take pictures with a $300 buck camera and was an officer. Yet a guy that ran the guns, radio, and radar and most importantly, kept the pilot awake, could be an AMM 3/C. - Go figger.
Click to expand...

Hello Helldiver,

I was wondering if you could enlighten me as to what the term "AAM 3/C" means? It is also sad to hear that an officer in the U.S. Navy indulged in pornography.. Such is the way things were..

Cheers,
Craig. :)
 
AMM 3/C = Aviation Machinist's Mate Third Class. His basic job field was aircraft engine mechanic but as an aircrewman he'd be responsible for the other tasks that Helldiver mentioned. Our Navy has never had an enlisted rating especially for aircrewman, it's always been an additional duty to your normal job in airframes, powerplants or avionics.
 
We're getting a bit off-topic from the SB2C but indulge me...
Helldiver mentioned the LTJG's porn activities. When I was aboard USS Coral Sea in 1970 the ship's Aerial Photo Lab had machines for duplicating both 16mm and 8mm movie film. Normally the 16mm machine would be used for gun and strike camera film but the 8mm machine wasn't normally used for anything. However, the PH1 (Photographer's Mate First Class) who ran the lab put it to good use duping "stag movies" (porn) which he borrowed from other guys on the ship. He would then sell the copies. :icon_lol: Technically illegal but he bought his own 8mm dupe film and since the processing machines were available it was no big deal.
 
The JG was in charge of the Photo Lab. He had a couple of seaman that helped him to develop gun camera film. Of course there was no color in those days, all black and white.
His porn was strictly still photos. There was a big market for them the longer we were at sea. No women were allowed aboard, thank goodness. I don't think young men stuck at sea for long periods of time with available women is a very bad mix.
We were not even allowed to speak to WAVES when I was in. They kept us both isolated. They were strictly Officers property.
 
Thanks Tarps for straighten that out. I made a mistake when I wrote AAM 3/C
But your explanation of what a AMM does was concise and right on the mark. I was a mechanic in Flight Test in Jacksonville when I went to sea. Then I became an aircrewman, having trained at NAS Menphis before going to Jax. So an AMM gets to do a lot of fun things, just playing with airplanes. Best rate there is.
 
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