Topdeck details

The center section of the SBD interior was where the radio and radar controls were housed and operated by the gunner. The "topdeck" held just a few details as well as the critical "rollover pylon" shown earlier in this site. Below the topdeck, there were a limited set of avionics that the rear gunner could use to fly the SBD in the event that the pilot was killed or wounded.

I fabricated all the details that go on top of the deck out of balsa blocks, sheeting them with 10mil styrene, FliteMetal, etc. and using various styrene stocks for subdetailing.

Note in the pic at left how the 2 toolboxes were made. To produce the stepped relief of the toolbox lid, I surfaced the bottom half with FliteMetal and the top half with styrene. Strips were glued to all 4 sides and top, then sanded down to produc a finished box. Styrene sheeting was also cut up into tiny pieces to form the latch and handle while more FliteMetal was used for the hinges on the back.

The actual topdeck itself was made from balsa sheeting and then surfaced with styrene. I went with the thicker 20mil styrene for this to add strength to this large panel. The recessed area was cut out and boxed in with additional styrene, and the detail components glued in place.

Whenever I glue components like this in place, I always "pin" the joint with a styrene rod through the component and the surface I'm gluing to... sometimes 2 rods. This takes a lot of the load off of the glue joint itself.

The "horseshoe" shaped rear former posts were also made of balsa and surfaced with styrene. I added balsa strips on top of the styrene, which would later be used to glue the rear section wall panels up against.

I fashioned a mounting area for the rollover pylon to secure to, which included bamboo pins in each pylon leg which went through holes in the topdeck, and into the pilot's rear former. After repeated test fits, I added the 10mil styrene sheet on the floor below the topdeck and it was all pretty much ready for paint.

As usual, all was painted with acrylics and got the standard weathering and distressing. I decided to repaint the rollover pylon to make the colors and weathering match the rest of the cockpit much more closely. I had painted this almost a year ago when I first started building the plane, and have since changed my position on color and weathering... so it needed to be repainted.

There were a whole host of additional structures and equipment below the topdeck of the SBD radio/radar section, but I decided not to detail this area out for a number of reasons. Once everything is assembled, including the gunner ring and gunner, you can't really even see up under that section. It's a lot of work and additional weight for an area that is 90% obscured from sight.

This area is pretty far behind the CG too, so additional weight in this area could mean adding nose weight to balance later. I did however make a few of the major components that were partially visible, but didn't go hog wild on detail and accuracy. These were made out of styrofoam and psuedo-detailed just to give a "hint" of the equipment in the shadows of the partially visible avionics area.