Imsjim - Brewster ID Model

[lmsjim]

I was not sure where to post this but I noticed the thread on ID Models was really old so I decided to put it here instead. I remember growing up the 40's that I had a number of the Bakelite ID airplane models in black. I also remember they were pretty strong and you could throw them pretty far before they would break. Shudder! Wish I had them now after seeing what they are going for on eBay. I decided to stay with the plans as far as the build but paint and decal it since I am not wild about black airplanes except the spy type that is.

This is my first attempt to build a solid model plane from scratch. I do vaguely remember in my early childhood attempting a few model kits that had wood blocks for fuselages. I also do not remember ever really coming close to finishing one. To be honest I am under no illusions that I have any capability to do this but I have overcome so many seemingly insurmountable obstacles in my modeling such as using an airbrush or soldering that I thought I would try. I originally wanted to make the model out of pine but could not find any so I tried basswood. I thought it would be too soft but I was wrong.

Well I got all the basic materials together and took the plunge. I printed the planes out to scale. I then cut out the fuselage, wings and tails and using rubber cement glued them to the wood. I then cut out all the pieces following the procedures described in the bureau pamphlet.


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Basic materials

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This is the second cut for the fueslage

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When I got it I was pretty much ready to give up but hung in

I also made a base of basswood. I first cut the fuselage down using the cross section pieces and then sanded the finally phase. I was surprised to say the least in that it actually looked something like a Brewster. After the wings had been shaped and sanding I cut them in half and reglued them to get the correct dihedral. I then glued the wings into the fuselage and trimmed the bottom piece and glued it on. The tail pieces were last. I made the spinner out of a dowel which I chucked in a drill and sanded it down to the correct shape. I did notice the vertical stabilizer's shape was odd. I looked at all the photos I could find and it does really look too narrow but I wanted to stick to the Bureau plans. I have read the plans have some problems and I guess this is one of them.


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It does look a lot better now

I then puttied up the gaps with Green Stuff. After I was happy with the general shape of everything I started applying sanding sealer and sanding between coats.


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All putty done

After I was happy with the sealer coats, I used four coats, I sprayed the model with Tamiya light gray as a primer coat and to identify flaws.


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Gray primer coated

I sanded and resprayed with primer a couple of times till I was happy with the finish. I had decided to paint the plane in the early prewar Naval colors since I really like the yellow surfaces. I know this is stretching the F2A-3 version but it could have been in that color since the Navy started taking delivery of that model in early 1941. I started by spraying the nose and canopy. I sprayed the nose cowling with Tamiya Royal blue which turned out too dark to match my decals so I repainted it with Tamiya blue. The canopy was sprayed with a mix of Tamiya sky blue and chrome silver. I then masked these areas and sprayed the top of the wings and horizontal stabilizers and the horizontal stabilizer with Tamiya Lemon Yellow. I let all this dry for a couple of days. Actually I was out of town. I then masked off all the yellow surfaces, the canopy and the cowling and sprayed the rest with Tamiya chrome silver.


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Basic paint waiting for silver

For the canopy frame I tried something new. I used chrome silver Chart Pak 1/32" silver. The tape worked pretty good but I doubt I will use it again. The problem is the stuff does not stick that well. Also the color was too different from the fuselage so I ended up repainting it anyway.

For the decals I made some and used some from a cheap plastic kit I picked up. The ones I made were the wheels and wing walks. After applying the decals I gave it another two light coats of Future wax. I made a prop arch out of clear acetate and glued it on then the spinner.


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Completed


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I want to thank all those involved in scanning copies of these drawings and posting them. I may even attempt a few more.

Jim

[dave_t]

Congratulations , the colors really make it stand out. I also like the step-by-step details and photos you provided.

[lastvautour]

Very nice work Jim. An excellent model and a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing with us.

Lou

[Oceaneer99]

Very nice job with the Brewster, and a nicely done write-up, too.  Thank you for sharing your project with us.

Garet