Search the Community

As part of my growing collection of "Pearl Harbor Attackers and Defenders", the SBD Dauntless has an important spot. On the morning of December 7, 1941, 18 SBD Dauntless departed from the USS Enterprise to Ford Island, among them VS-6 6-S-4 piloted by LT Clarence Earle Dickinson Jr., radioman/gunner’s seat RM1 William Cicero Miller. Completely unaware of the Japanese attack, they were bounced by Zeros upon reaching Oahu, Miller, the gunner of 6-S-4, managed to return fire and probably shot down one of the Zeros before expending all ammo and getting wounded. This was probably the first US naval aerial victory of the war. Dickinson continued flying until his Dauntless was crippled and parachuted to safety. Miller, hit by the Zeros, was killed in the crash. Therefore, as 6-S-4 was fired upon and returned fire on flight, it matches the criteria for joining my "attackers and defenders" of Pearl Harbor collection. I started looking for an 1/72 kit a while ago, quite frustrated to find only vintage, low quality options. Luckily, Hobby 2000 came up with a re-box of the discontinued Hasegawa SBD-2/3 Dauntless, and that is the one I got for this project (Flyhawk new release was not available back then). The kit is still good, negative scribing, quite accurate I would say, no rivets (grateful for that, don´t like those in this scale), nice engine as a base to add some detail, external ordnance (which I´ll not use). On the minus side, there is only basic detail in the cockpit (seats, control columns, pedals plus a decal for the instrument panel), and something that annoys me is that only a version of the canopy with the enclosed gunner´s position is provided (and haven´t found an aftermarket vacuum-formed option). Dive brakes can´t be positioned open, either. Instructions are easy to follow, with color codes for interiors as well. I bought Eduard´s PE that includes parts for cockpit/engine/landing gear, and another set for the dive breaks. These will take care of most of the omissions of the kit. And I got pilot and gunner from Legend Productions and 0.30" MGs from GasPatch models. Markings for 6-S-4 will come from Starfighter Decals "Pearl Harbor Defenders". Cockpit needed a complete update, for which Eduard´s PE is quite appropriate. Only key item missing is the gunner´s seat, they´ll leave you to somehow work the awful plastic one provided in the kit. Removing ejection pin marks is one of the most annoying things in scale modeling... The kit provides a very basic representation of the buttocks for the 0.50" machineguns on the sides of the instrument panel but does not mention any color for them. I added the buffer tube and painted them gunmetal (Wow, the pilot will have issues holding that thick control stick!!!) Marco

Brengun is to release a 1/144th Douglas SBD Dauntless kit - ref. ? Sources: https://www.facebook.com/HaulerBrengun/photos/a.443370235821630/1540075489484427/ https://www.facebook.com/HaulerBrengun/posts/1579045355587440 Box art & schemes V.P.

Have just completed this model from Hobby 2000, It is a re run og the Hasegawa under new label. Very nice kit fit is perfect as can be expected from an Hasegawa kit. Build OOB, with decals from set. Cheers Jes

Hi folks, For my contribution to the GB, I thought I'd go for the US Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive bomber from mid-1940 through to mid-1944 - the Dauntless. The kit I'm using I bought at Telford a few years ago, so thought this would be the perfect chance to get her built. Here's the kit in question... and here's what you get inside the box... This is the more recent boxing of the Hasegawa kit by Hobby 2000 and it looks to be a nice enough little kit with some nice details. There's two schemes in the box, one for a SBD-4 and a SBD-5. I'm going for the SBD-4 option. The kit also includes a paint mask for the canopy glazing which is also a nice extra that will certainly save a lot of time Good look with your builds everyone - looking forward to getting started. Best wishes Kris

Well this is a welcome surprise. It should be an excellent kit if Flyhawk’s other releases are anything to go by. Finally a modern tooling of the “Slow, but deadly.”

Hello all, After almost 6 months of work, we finally finished our SBD-3 Dauntlesses. This was a group build with my dad, who built the aircraft flown by Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky, I built the aircraft flown by Richard Halsey Best “B1”. We used the 1/72 Hasegawa kits that were re-boxed by Hobby 2000. We replaced the dive brakes with Eduard photo-etched and added detail to the cockpit using the Eduard set too. My kit is pretty much out of the box; to see if it would add any value my dad did some other modifications to his kit: he replaced the kit canopy with a RobTaurus vac-form canopy, scratch-built oil coolers and machine guns, model master gun barrels, photo-etched bomb racks, Brassin bombs, scratch-built bombing view window, reskit modified resin wheels (smoothed out) and scratch-built window air flow deflectors. Both kits were painted with AK real colors acrylics (the underside colour was corrected). The decals are a mix of the ones from the Hobby 2000 reboxing, Aeromaster decals and some other spares. We had a lot of fun building the dauntlesses (but it was quite complex), so we hope you enjoy looking at them. Comments welcome! Underside of McCluscky's aircraft. Underside of Best's aircraft. Last picture.

To build the model from scratch you need a good reference. Initially I decided to use for this purpose detailed scale plans from the monograph published by KAGERO in 2007 (Authors: Krzysztof Janowicz, Andre Zbiegniewski, ISBN: 978-83-60445-25-9). It contains SBD Dauntless plans in scale 1:48, traced by Krzysztof Lukasik. They are quite detailed (up to the rivets on the aircraft skin). Apparently these drawings were made using Corel Draw or similar software. I scanned these drawings to do the basic verification. During this phase I did not find any flaws: All the key locations of the fuselage are in the same place in the side view and the top view. The proportions of the length and the span of the top view is correct: 0.787. (This ratio comes from 996/1266. According the dimensions specified in this monograph, the length of the SBD-3 fuselage was 996 cm [32’ 8”], while the wing span of all the Dauntless versions was 1266 cm [41’ 6”]). This good impression disappeared, when I compared side views of two different Dauntless versions: SBD-3 and SBD-5: According the monograph data, SBD-5 fuselage was 4 inches (about 10.1 cm) longer than SBD-3. (The SBD-5 and SBD-6 fuselage was 33’ long. Most probably it has slightly different engine cowling and the propeller. The airframe after the firewall was the same in all Dauntless versions). However, in this monograph they have the same length! Maybe the textual data contains an error? In such a situation I try to find an “official”, archival drawing of the aircraft. They do not show many details, but contain the key dimensions. I have found on the Internet a BuAer Navy drawing of the SBD-5, from 1944: From the front view you can read the precise wing span: 41’ and 6 5/16“. From the side view you can read the exact length: 33’ and 1/8“. This BuAer drawing isn’t an ideal source: it does not contain such details as panel seams. You can also find here some manual errors, made by its draftsman. While the aspect ratio of the top view matches the span and length specified in the dimensions, the actual fuselage length on the side view is somewhat shorter. (The positions of the wing and horizontal tailplane match in the side and top view match each other. It seems that the part of the vertical tail contour was shifted). On the other hand, the BuAer top view is a little bit asymmetric, and the firewall line is moved forward a little. The good news is that the wing and the tailplane arrangement on the KAGERO plans and the BuAer drawing match each other: Then I compared the side views of these drawings (I marked the correct fuselage length measured on the BuAer top view in red): The differences of the side views are overwhelming: this is not only the engine cowling but also the cockpit canopy, the fin, and the tailwheel. (In general: none of these drawings shows the correct tail). Thus, I can conclude: never trust the scale plans! I need a better reference, to fix these drawings. In the next post I will show how I verify these drawings using photos. Note: for editing these images I use two free, Open Source programs: GIMP (it is similar to Adobe Photoshop) and Inkscape (it is similar to Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator). You can find more about them in this e-book.

Hello, Just finished this one here. It’s the old Accurate Miniatures reboxed by Academy. I’ve been reading a lot of praising for this kit, the best Dauntless in this scale, a classic etc etc. Well, I have to say, not a bad kit, in general, but I’m not that enthusiastic about it. But, being fair, just could not be that good, given its age. The clear parts are terrible. When not cracked, with me 3 out of 5 were, they don’t fit well, either if you choose closed or open, stacked, canopy. For the rest, except for the flashing in almost all parts, it was ok. Oh yes, the manual too, not good. I was told to search on line for the original Accurate manual, which I did, and it turned out way better than the Academy one, even having some parts that don’t match the model. Hope you’ll enjoy. Cheers!

Dear Britmodellers, This is the Eduard SBD-5 Dauntless 1/48 kit. This is a rebranding of old Accurate Miniatures kit plus several photo etched parts. Additionally I've added photo etched Dive Flaps. Any constructive criticism will be apreciated

This is the Hasegawa kit, released in the early 90's and bought by me about 20 years ago. Despite it's age, it's still a great little kit and the French markings included make it a bit different. I think my intermediate blue came out a bit dark, perhaps a drop or two of white in that next time I build something with a USN type camouflage, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with this. The SBD makes build number 9 for 2017.

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.

Next project, something quick and easy for the WW II category in next years comp. Plus I want the bench clear for the Tamiya Tomcat when it arrives Decided to go with the Eduard (Accurate Miniatures) SBD-5 Dauntless. I'm not sure what decal option I'll do but it'll obviously be a RNZAF one. Lots of PE in this box. Most of it was reasonably easy to apply even though it was a small I've used this as an exercise to improve my PE skils. This was quite successful

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless 1:48 Eduard Limited Edition The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a Naval Dive Bomber and Scout aircraft developed by Douglas for the US Navy. The SBD being Scout Bomber Douglas. Design work on the aircraft was started back in 1935 by the then Northtrop Corporation under the designation BT-1. Northrop being taken over by Douglas in 1937. The design was modified to become the BT-2. This was ordered by both the US Navy and Marine Corps. The original SBD-1, and later SBD-2 (with increased range and different armament) were the first two types deployed. The USMC getting the 1 in late 1940, and the USN the 2 in early 1941. One of the main features of the aircraft were the split flaps, more commonly referred to as Dive Brakes which were designed to stop tail buffeting in dives. The SBD-3 was to follow in 1941 which had increased armour, self sealing fuel tanks, and four machine guns. The SDB-5 followed and was to become the most produced variant with 2965 being built). This aircraft had a 1200 hp engine, and increased ammunition capacity. The Royal Navy was to evaluate the SBD-5 but not take it on. As well as use by the USMC & USN the SND-5 would be used by the Royal New Zealand Navy, and the French who used them against the Germans in Western France in early 1945, and lastly in Indochina in 1947. The US Army would use the A-24 Banshee of which the A-24B was equivalent to the SBD-5, but with the tail hook removed. The A-24s survived long enough to be incorporated into the new USAF inventory where they would become F-24s. The Kit The kit is a Boxing where Eduard have taken the Accurate Miniatures plastic, added two sheets of photo etch; brassin wheels & guns; and a full set of cockpit/wheel masks. Construction starts in the conventionally enough in the cockpit area. The Instrument panel (which is on the clear sprue) has virtually all of the raised detail replaces by PE parts. This is ten added to the main cockpit floor. Various side control columns and linkages are then added. Once this is done the floor is put aside for later. There is then an extensive set of parts which need to be fitted into each side of the main fuselage. First the rear bulkhead goes in, along with all of the control levers for the engine and bomb release gear. All of these are replaced by PE in this kit. Other control, boxes, radio equipment and ancillary gear is installed. Again a lot of this is enhanced by, or replaced by PE. The rear gunners seat is made up, again with PE enhancements and installed. The pilots seat and armoured back is then installed. PE belts are provided for both seats. Once all of these parts are in the main fuselage can be closed up and the cockpit floor can then be added from the underside. The wings can then be attached to the main fuselage. These are a conventional one part lower wing with upper left/right parts. Once the main wings are on the instructions would have the modeller attach the tail planes, though I suspect most will leave these until later on. Depending on the version being modelled the tail wheel can be replaced and the arrestor hook added. Construction then move onto the front of the aircraft. The front fuselage parts (left & right) are glued together and the forward firing guns to the top are added. The engine is assembled and added to the front of the aircraft. Once this is on the cowling can be added. The modeller then moves onto the underside of the aircraft. The landing gear legs are added along with the gear door. The kit wheels are replaced with resin ones. Here two styles of hubs are provided for the wheels, but Eduard make no mention of which style is to be used for you preferred building option (I guess its back to doing your research). The main dive brake is added along with the bomb racks and their bombs. Wing antenna are then added along with the wing mounted dive brakes. We then move to the rear gunners area. Complete new resin guns along with mounts are provided, with the gun armour being in PE, along with some smaller parts, and the ammo belt. The rear guns are a small model kit in their own right. Care will be needed with the parts but when done the par of guns should really look good. The last parts to add to the model are the external aerial antenna, propeller and the glazing. A one part canopy is provided, as is a multipart one. With all the effort and PE going into the cockpit are it would be a shame to box it all in. Full masks are supplied in the kit for the whole canopy. Decals The decal sheet provides 5 sets of markings for the diverse users of the aircraft. The sheet is printed by Cartograf and should pose no problems. No. 25 Sqn Royal New Zeeland Air Force, Piva, Bougainville, April 1944. US Marine Corps Sqn VMS-3, Virgin Islands, Spring 1944. US MArine Corps Sqn VMSB-331, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, Spring 1944. USAAF A-24 Banshee 407th Bomb Group, Amchitka, Alaska, Summer 1944. French Navy or Aeronavlae, 4°Flotile, Western France, Early 1945. Conclusion Eduard have taken what is already a great kit and added the right level of embellishment to make it into an excellent kit. Highly recommended for this one. Review sample courtesy of

Dauntless Upgrade & Flaps Sets - For Eduard Kit 1:48 Eduard These sets are intended for Eduard's own limited edition kit in 1.48, though they will of course fit the Accurate Miniatures kit. Update Set The upgrade set provides parts for the cockpit structure, new magazine for the rear guns, a part for the pilots seat, new walls for the main gear bays, and a new surround for the underside bomb aiming window. Parts are provided for the engine, and oil cooler intake. New braces are included for the bomb racks, as well as replacement bomb fins and fuse wiring. A couple of parts are provided for the canopy framing. Landing Flaps This is a substantial two sheet set which replaces the full width landing & speed brake flaps on the Dauntless. While the kit parts are good for plastic there is no doubt these will look much better on the model. As these parts are already separate on the kit there is little cutting out to do. Though some 0.6mm rod will need to be supplied by the modeller. Review samples courtesy of

ex Accurate Miniatures 1/48 Dauntless is expected after the Yak-1B source - Eduard Info 06/2015

Hasegawa's 1/48 SBD-3 Dauntless. Slow But Deadly. Flown by Lt. Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa on 8th of May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea (thanks Stephen). Vejtasa managed to shoot down two Zero's with his divebomber and ram a third. Quite an achievement since the SBD was severely underpowered compared to a thorough bred fighter as the Zero. Only Naval airman to be rewarded with a Navy Cross for both dogfight and dive bombing, three in total. After this Battle he was rightfully transferred to a fighter squadron where he became ace-in-a-day as well, ending the war with 11 victories. Ultimately commanding the USS Constellation. Vejtasa passed away on 23 January 2013. Eduard sets for the flaps and the interior. Canopies from Falcon. Modified Quickboost engine. Paints from Mr. Color and Gunze with Alclad2 Flat coat. Decals scratched from various older sets and the Hasegawa decals and US Insignia from Techmod. The tail is not a decal. Scratched the cowl flaps. Pollock and Vejtasa

Completely out of the box this one. Very nice kit, and great value for money I think. Painted in Tamiya. Over weathered because that's the way I like pacific WW2 aircraft! Hope you like it, thanks for looking. on the deck of my garden carrier

A completely out of the box build of Trumpeters excellent Dauntless after a year off. Really liked this kit it's a cracker. Here's the build> linky Thanks for looking Nick

Source: http://www.academy.co.kr/eng/6q/frmBoardView.asp?pMenuId=BOARD00012&pCode=6303 Academy is to release in November 2013 a new boxing from the Accurate Miniatures 1/48th Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless "Battle of Midway" - ref.12296 V.P.

The Dauntless and the Banshee were in effect the same aircraft. The army Banshee did not have a tailhook and had an pneumatic rear tyre instead of a solid rubber one. This aircraft was built as an A-24B but restored to look like the Navy Dauntless. Pics by Chris.