Global Scale Modeller

The Kit I Am Going To Be Building For This GB Is... The Revell 1/32 Dauntless.

Aircraft History:
The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the U.S. Navy's main carrier-borne scout plane and dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers.
Despite accusations that the aircraft was under-powered, vulnerable, lacking in range and exhausting to fly for any length of time, the "Dauntless" helped turn the tide of World War II at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. The "Dauntless" sunk four major aircraft carriers of the Japanese Navy, ceasing Japanese expansion in the Pacific. The SBD also served with 20 U.S. Marine Corps Squadrons and many SBDs were retrofitted with Westinghouse ASB radar, the first to be used by the U.S. Navy.

Specifictaions:
Top speed: 410 km/h
First flight: May 1, 1940
Introduced: 1940
Length: 33 ft. 1 in.
Wingspan: 41 ft. 6 in.
Height: 13 ft. 7 in.
Wing Area: 325 sq. ft.
Empty Weight: 6,404 lbs.
Loaded Weight: 10,676 lbs.
Crew: 2
Power Plant: 1 × Wright R-1820-60 radial engine, 1,200 hp
Range: 773 miles
Guns: 2 x .50 cal. machine guns (mounted in cowling), 1 x (later 2 x) flexible-mounted .30 cal. machine gun(s) in rear
Bombs/Rockets: 2,250 lbs. of bombs
Produced 1940–1944
Number built 5,936
Developed from Northrop BT

Varients:
XBT-2
prototype, airframe was a production Northrop BT-1 heavily modified and redesignated as the XBT-2. Further modified by Douglas as the XSBD-1.
SBD-1
Marine Corps version without self-sealing fuel tanks; 57 built.
SBD-1P
reconnaissance aircraft, converted from SBD-1s.
SBD-2
Navy version with increased fuel capacity and different armament but without self-sealing fuel tanks, starting in early 1941; 87 built.
SBD-2P
reconnaissance aircraft, converted from SBD-2s.
SBD-3
began to be manufactured in early 1941. This provided increased protection, self-sealing fuel tanks, and four machine guns; 584 were built.
SBD-4
provided a 12-volt (up from six volt) electrical system; 780 built.
SBD-4P
reconnaissance aircraft, converted from SBD-4s.
SBD-5
The most produced version, primarily produced at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Equipped with a 1,200-hp engine and an increased ammunition supply. A total of 2,965 were built, and a few were shipped to the Royal Navy for evaluation. In addition to American service, these saw combat against the Japanese with No. 25 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force which soon replaced them with F4Us, and against the Luftwaffe with the Free French Air Force. A few were also sent to Mexico.
SBD-5A
as A-24B, for USAAF but delivered to USMC; 60 built.
SBD-6
The final version, providing more improvements, including a 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) engine, but production ended in the summer of 1944; 450 built.




Sprue Shots To come Soon...

Alex

Wow another dauntless great choice I'm building the same one too

Nice entry

A Dauntless with its massive fuse and broad wings in 1/32 will be an impressive model for sure!
Nice entry dude!

Here Are Some Sprue Shots:

A Couple More! Alex

Looks like this will be a nice one to build up.

Going to be an impressive size.

Waiting for start on this

You can't go wrong with a Dauntless.

Here Is The First Part Of The Cockpit Build:

[youtube]UWxjSpYCsLE[/youtube]


Parts Supplied In The Kit Were Inaccurate And Very Basic, So Looks Like Some Scratch Building Is Going To Be Required!

Here Is Some Pictures Of The Cockpit Parts Supplyed: Alex

Hi Guys I Have Finally Managed To Get Something Done On The Dauntless After Being Ill For The Last Week Or So! I Have Had To Modify The Interior Base As The One Provided Isn't Accurate.

Here is A Reference Picture To The Cockpit I Have:
Here Is A Picture Of The Cockpit Base Provided! Here Is What I Came Up With So Far: More To Come Soon

Alex

Just a little difference between them both lol.

Looking forward to the interior detailing

Here Are A Few More Things I Have Done To The Kit:

The Back Headrest To he Seat Was Wrong And Needed Modifying...

Here Is The One Supplyed: I Started To Modify It... Then I Cut The Head Rest Away As It Would Be In The Wrong Place!

Here Is All The Parts I've Got Done So Far:

Cheers Alex

Managed To Get Some More Done Today....


Here Is The Seat Provided And Also The Seat I Have Made(One On The Right Is Mine): I Have Also Managed To Mark Out Where I Am Going To Put The Ribbing On The Fus Interior
Finally I Managed To Start To Make Parts To Go In The Interior Starting With The electrical Distribution Pannel Made From Bit Of The Old Interior Base....
More To Come Soon!

Alex

Best of luck Alex, great subject choice and the kit looks like it can be turned into a winner.

Liking your detailing work.

Really adding alot to this build.

Here Is A Quick Video Summing Up All That I Have Done So Far

[youtube]W4zEaFv66Lo[/youtube]

More To Come Later


Alex

I Have Managed To Really Crack On With The Dauntless Today And Have Managed To Get The Gunner Tub In And Also Glue The Seat In... Aswell As That I Decided To Make A Former For Behind The Seat As The On Provided Was Still Inaccurate. I Then Started To Get All The Parts Out For The Gun Which Will Need Modifying Too I Will Post Pictures Of The Side Wall Detailing Later

Cheers Alex

Here Is A Couple Of Pics Of My Scratch Built Fuselage Side Detailing...
Right Side Left Side: Here Is The Machine Gun Glued Together And Primed Cheers Alex

After Finishing Detailing Up The Cockpit Area And Priming It I Got To Work On The Gunner Compartment, After Adding Some Detail I Sprayed Both Sides And The Base In XF-71 (Tamiya Cockpit-Green) I Then Clear Coated This And Shaded With XF-61 (Tamiya Dark-Green)

Here Are Some Pictures Of Them Finished...

Right Side: Left Side: The Base: More To Come Soon!

Alex

Great work Alex keep it up buddy

Looks like quite the Daunting task!

Great work so far

I second that. Looking very good.

Thanks Guys

Alex

Here Is A Few Pics Of The Interior Almost Finished!

Left Side Wall: Right Side Wall: Cockpit Floor: Video Update Coming Soon...

Would Appreciate It If You'd Let Me Know What You Think.

Alex

Here Is The Final Cockpit Video Part.

[youtube]WVsWfEND0i0[/youtube]

I Will Be Moving Onto The Engine Soon!

Here Are A Pic Of Them Off The Sprue!

Cheers Alex

Coming together really well dude.

Just caught up with the vids for this build.

Excellent brush work on the interior.

The cockpit looks absolutely awesome!

Hi Guys Managed To Get Some Done On The Dauntless Finally

Engine Compartment Painted: Engine Compartment Finished: I Also Managed To Glue The Fuselage Together. Alex

Youtube Update:[youtube]9x_8g_OuueA[/youtube]

Here Are A Few Pics Of The Wing Parts!



Thanks For Looking!

Alex

Looking good Alex

lovely work Chris


keep it up



Shane

Thanks For The Kind Words Guys Managed To Get Some More Done!

I Drilled All The Flap Holes Out Bigger (Bottom One Flap Is All Drilled Out)
I Have Also Glued The Middle Section Of The Wings Together, A Nice Fit! And Filled And Painted The Wheel Wells. Finally I Have Glued The Wing End Together Again A Nice Fit!
Cheers Alex

Today Has Been Really Productive And I Have Managed To Get The Central Part Of The Wing Glued Onto The Fus!
The Wing Root Seems Are Fairly Decent! Cheers Alex

Nice work Alex, looking very very good so far!

Here Are A Few Pics Of Some Parts I Cut Off The Sprue

The Horizontal Stabilizers Come In One Piece: I Glued The Front And Rear Part Of The Bomb Together!
More To Come Later!

Cheers Alex

Here Is Potentially My Last Update For This Weekend!

Here Is A Picture Of The Tail Wheel Glued Together!
I Cut The Wheel's Off The Sprue And Glued On Together As Shown Below.
Here Is A Closer Look At The Wheel Glued Together!
Cheers Alex

This Is Definatly My Final Update For This Weekend

The Exhaust Straight Of The Sprue Were Boring So I Staged Drilled The Exhausts To A 3MM Diamiter!

Original Exhausts: Drilled Out Exhausts: Here Are The Finished Exhausts Painted: Colors Used:Model Color Brass, Model Air Rust,Model Air Olive Drab And Model Air Sand Yellow
Cheers Alex

Okay So Here Are A Few More Pics Showing What I've Got Done!

The insides of the cowling are green: I also painted the front case of the engine stone grey which i mixed with the following:
Here is the front casing! Cheers Alex

Great work mate

looks very nice indeed



Shane

Your doing an epic job on this build, keep up the good work

Nice progress...god mix of colors on the Engine, will remember that one.

Thanks For All Your Kind Words Guys

Here Are A Few More Pics To Update You!

I Glued The Bulkhead Section Onto The Front Of The Plane! I Have Now Glued The Horizontal Stabilizers On: The Bomb Halves Are Now Tided Up And Ready To Be Stuck Together: Cheers Alex

Looking Great!! Big Beast!

You're unfolding parts of the Skydiver which I have never seen berfore. Looking fantastic!

Thanks Guys Appreciate All The Nice Words

Alex

Here Is Another Update

I Glued The Engine Onto The Front Of The Plkane And Hid The Compartment Behind The Fire Wall With The Covers The engine Is Painted With The Following Colours And Was Glued On Using Tamiya Extra Thin

I Then Primed It In Alclads White Primer And MicroFiller Hope Your Enjoying The Build

Alex

Sorry for not updating in a while i have been busy i will post 6 pictures of my progress so far!

I pre-shaded using a Veda 180 using craft acrylic black at 39lbs. Here is a quick picture of the pressure i sprayed at: Here is it pre-shaded: Cheers Alex

Hey guys i have no painted the bottom white and masked it up here are a few pics

Are use craft acrylic titanium white for the underside: I then masked up ready for the blue: Cheers Alex

Here is another quick update

I painted the light shade of blue using craft acrylics thinned with IPA
I then masked it up using tamiya tape as it is less likely to pull the paint off, here is a picture of her masked up!
Unfortunately after this the camera decided not to work and with a full weekend ahead i couldn't' afford to not continue so in the next post are a few pics of her done!

Alex