Academy USMC SBD-1 "Pearl Harbor"
After spending three months on the card stock Russian tank, I decided I wanted to take a break and do something simple and easy. This Academy kit fit the bill nicely and accomplished two things: a) I finally upgraded my dive-bomber collection by replacing the Monogram SBD with a modern kit and b) I was able to add an example of the overall light gray camouflage scheme that was only used for the pre-war period of 1941.
This was an enjoyable kit to build, plenty of detail and nice fit for the most part. I did have to do some puttying around the wing-to-fuselage joint on the bottom, but otherwise it went together with no problems. I further simplified the experience by brush painting everything with Vallejo acrylics, except for the actual exterior light gray coat, which was air-brushed. I used Vallejo black primer underneath, and Tamiya panel liner on top. The kit has two sets of canopies so it can be built with them all open or all closed. I went with the third option - front open only, so I had to cut away the pilot canopy from the "closed" set with a razor saw. I laboriously masked the canopies with tape before discovering the canopy mask in the box(!) - oops. Oh, well.
The kit supplies decals for two aircraft, one that was present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and one based in Quantico, Virginia (of which there are actual photos on the web). I went with the Pearl Harbor version, of course. They went on nicely and settled down without needing any help.
A coat of Vellejo matt varnish went over the top of the decals, then I weathered with charcoal for the exhaust stains and dirty areas on the wings. Hope you enjoy my build!
A fantastic result, Robert! Would love to build one some day!
Thank you, Spiros! @fiveten
Amazing Dauntless, Robert @robgenev665
Detailing, painting, weathering, everything looks great.
The sunlight pictures are beautiful. When I take pictures of my models in bright sunlight, I simply see too much imperfections. Yours looks great allover.
@johnb Thanks for the compliments, John! The late afternoon sun was quite friendly to my photography efforts on this one, because there certainly are flaws 🙂
Have not see a SBD for some time, and yours turned out awesome, Robert!
@jroamer Thank you for the compliment Joe!
Looks really snazzy in the light grey. SBD's are Cool. Oh, nice yard.
@billkoppos SBDs are my favorite over all, I think. Thanks for the comment, Bill!
@robgenev665 - Incredible detail Robert. It looks very realistic in the natural sunlight. I seem to typically go for option 3 as well.
@brithebuilder Thank you for the comment, Brian! I think the big greenhouses on the planes of that era are really fascinating.
That's a fine build and finish. I always liked the light grey scheme.
@chasbunch Thank you for the compliment, Chas! I like the scheme as well, so was happy to be able to include it in my collection.
Looks superb in the late afternoon sunlight, Robert.
@chinesegeorge Thank you much, George!
Nice work, Robert. It seems we never model planes in that scheme.
@j-healy I certainly haven't seen the gray scheme very often. It was the end of the Golden Wings era. thanks for the comment, John.
Here's one from way back.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
@roofrat That's a nice Helldiver, Robert. Which kit is it?
The Heller 1/72.
Robert Knaack (@robgenev665)
You did a wonderful job on your SBD. It looks magnificent. The SBD is one of my favorite WW2 US Naval planes. Some years ago we had one that's operated by the CAF land at our local Deland airport, which was actually used to train Dauntless, Wildcat, and Ventura US Navy aircrews during the War. Later on the Navy used the airport to train crews to operate the Navalized version of the B-24.
So seeing (and hearing) the SBD at our airport was like a trip back in a time machine for me.
I have taken one of my old build 1/48 Tamiya F2F Buffalo's, gave it a make over, and painted it up similarly. Then I was able to score a special edition boxing of the Accurate Miniatures "Pearl Harbor" kits, which contained two models in one box. One was a Dauntless, while the other was a Vindicator.
The cool thing is that both kits were painted the same color scheme as yours is... now if I can paint one of my Devastators in this color combination I will be a very happy camper.
Your model looks exceptionally nice, and the outdoor photo's are like icing on the cake.
Well done, and I'll be sure to click on the "like" button too. Thanks for sharing this one with us.
@lgardner That's a great story about the SBD, Louis. I'd like to ride in the back seat of a Dauntless or Helldiver some day, that would be quite a trip. Thanks for the compliments!
Very nice one, one of my favorite WWII planes!
@michel-verschuere Thank you, Michael!
Great build! I am a fan of the SBD, but never realized it flew in that scheme. I may need to add another to the stash to get a similar result...
@gkittinger Thanks, Greg! If you build one, I hope we get to see it!
Awesome Dauntless!
🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
Very nice looking Dauntless Robert.
Love that subtle faded look.
@de4ever thank you kindly Erik!