The Rollover Pylon

The SBD, like many other warbirds has a "Rollover Pylon" placed on a deck that sits just behind the pilot's shoulders. This pylon not only provided some protection from a crushed canopy in the event of a rollover accident, but also held the small headrest for the pilot. This pylon went through a minor variations throughout the life cycle of the SBD variants. For the biggest part it was the headrest and armor plate on the front side that you'll find different from one SBD to another.

Sorry I didn't take any construction pics of mine as I built it, just forgot. However, it's a straightforward build from the Bates Plans, nothing special to show or tell. Since you can build this easily before even getting close to being ready for the cockpit, I went ahead and put this together early on, during a break from framing up the fuse. However, I did take some pics here of the detailing, painting and weathering steps.

The pylon is first built up from a little balsa and very thin aircraft ply. Next I sealed the grain with a couple coats of epoxy thinned with alcohol. Finally, I sprayed it with a light coat of enamel paint and applied rivets with Titebond glue.	Next I used Tamiya Acrylic Model Paints to lay down a good base coat of my own recipe of green. This color varied quite a bit from plane to plane as it was often hand mixed and applied by the crew in the field.
After a good base coat of my interior green was applied, I moved on to my favorite part of modeling... the "weathering." I did all my weathering (rust, dirt, seawater salt, etc.) with the same Tamiya acrylics that I used for the base coat.	I'm adding some various shades of blotchy green to represent multiple paint jobs having been applied in the field over time. Also, shadows and highlights are accented here to increase 3D relief and realism.