PIPboy

The sources I found say that an extra window was added but it was used to move the minigun from the door further inside the aircraft to make getting in and out (and I assume throwing flairs) easier. Consequently it didn't affect the position of the minigun nearest to the wing.

Great picture, thank you!

Thanks, great links!

Yeah, I watched the few videos I could find on youtube. They show a similar variation in angles but they don't really spend time explaining how and why the miniguns were mounted.

I guess that makes sense but the minigun closest to the cockpit still remains a mystery to me. (As far as I can tell) On some pictures it's aimed in angle where it would hit the wing. Was it also aimed slightly to the back of the aircraft?

Thanks, I already checked the wikipedia but it didn't really help: On the Nha Trang Air Base picture the miniguns are aimed straightforward. However, on the last picture in this article https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/vietnam-war-weapons-the-ac-47-gunship/ they are aimed downwards (similarly to the Italeri kit). Both aircraft seem to have the same setup (two minigun pods in the windows, one in the door) so I'm not sure why the pods are aimed so differently?

Hey all, I'm currently building an Italeri AC-47. I just assembled the body and the wings and to my dismay the minigun closest to the cockpit would hit the wing if it started shooting. I followed the instructions so I'm not sure what's going on. I looked up pictures of real AC-47s on the internet and the barrels of the miniguns seem to be fixed in different positions: on some aircrafts they are almost parallel to the wing, on others they face downwards. Unfortunately I don't have good quality pictures of Vietnam era AC-47s, it's either a bad quality picture of a Vietnam era airplane or a good quality picture of a restored airplane so I can't really make the call myself. Online sources say that the gunpods were attached to locally fabricated mounts. Were these mounts adjustable? If they weren't, what is the right angle and direction for the miniguns and what's the reason for the different angles? I can't really change anything at this point but I'd love to know what's up.

Thank you both! So a scene which shows the F-15 taxiing with the drop tanks missing and let's say 1 or 2 GBUs missing from random hardpoints should be fine?

Hey everyone, I'm currently rebuilding on an old Academy F-15E which I built about 10 years ago. I'm experimenting with new tricks and learning new techniques on it but I still wan't to make it as accurate as possible. My problem is that some parts are missing. I can recreate most of them using plastic sheets but that's hopeless in the case of the drop tanks and I don't want to invest money in a rebuilt kit. F-15Es always had drop tanks on them during Desert Storm according to this website so I thought maybe I'll build a diorama with the aircraft returning after mission. Here are my questions: Did SCUD hunting F-15Es drop their tanks if they engaged the enemy during their mission? In what order are the bombs dropped from the hardpoints? I'm planning to build either loadout 1 or 4 if this makes any difference.

Please tell me you helped him a LOT! I built my first model around the age of 6 and I was happy that I managed to glue it together and not the complete canopy is white because of the glue. Great work!

Hey everyone, I kept digging as well and found this link, I think it's pretty useful: https://airplanes3d.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/differences-between-dauntless-versions-sbd-5-and-sbd-6/ Antoine, Thanks for the suggestion. I considered the Mexican scheme but I usually prefer to build the airplanes of nations in war.

Jure, Thanks, that is a great idea! To be honest I am (was?) thinking about buying the French decals because of the green color scheme Troy linked. However, your suggestion might prove to be the middle ground.

Troy Smith, Thank you again for the tip! I'll definitely check hyperscale. Mike, Amazing thread, thank you! I want to try scratch building at least in the cockpit. I'm not so sure about converting to SBD5 anymore. According to the resources the two of you posted in this thread I would have to change the panel lines of the kit at least around the nose. Now the problem is that the kit has raised panel lines and I'm not sure I could replace them if they get lost.

Thank you, I would give you two likes if I could! Yeah, the kit is pretty crude. However, I want to experiment with scratch building so I think it will be a perfect fit. I knew the articles you linked about the kit and they gave me some confidence too.

Hey all, My brother recently gave me this old Monogram Dauntless kit. The decals became useless over time so I have to buy new ones. I want something more unique than the usual US Navy scheme so I looked up French decals for it. The problem is that the French used SBD5s and I think this kit is an earlier model. I don't really know the Dauntless but judging by the pictures I've seen it's an SBD3(?). Can someone suggest me a good website/book/any other resource which shows all the differences between the Dauntless models? So far I looked at googled pictures but their quality is usually so poor that I can't use them.