8/8/2023 0 Comments Sbd dauntless![]() You will need to test fit the new flaps often to make sure your opening is correct. Be careful when doing so, especially with respect to the upper flaps as they are not square and in fact there is a slight jog inboard at the inner trailing edge of the upper flap. ![]() On the Hasegawa kit, both the upper and lower halves of the dive flaps are molded as part of the upper wing halves, so the first step in construction is to remove the molded on dive flaps. ![]() You also need to take care in cleaning up the attachment points at the edge of the flap that attaches to the wing when removing the pour stubs as the flaps are very thin and crack easily. This was a little time consuming, but necessary and in the end it was really worth it. As the flaps are very delicate and fragile, I used a round toothpick to gently poke open the flashed over holes and then used a round sanding stick to clean up each hole. So take a little time and plan out how you will remove the endplates and then the castings.Īs you would expect from Aires, the castings are very nicely detailed and look great, however, just as in injection molding, there are limits to what resin casting can do, and I discovered that many of the perforations were lightly filled in with a very thin layer of flash. Due to the way the castings were made, this was a bit more complicated than normal as there are two large endplates on the casting, presumably to protect the delicate flaps during shipping and normal handling. The first step, after washing the castings, is to remove them from the casting blocks. Please note that there is an error on the packaging for this set as it says it is 1/48 scale, but a quick check of the set number at the Aires website and a comparison to a 1/48 th Dauntless verify that this set is a 1/72 scale set. The set provides both upper and lower dive flaps for the wings and a new lower central flap, all with the perforations cast in. As a result, any modeler wanting to make his Dauntless more authentic is faced with cutting out the wing dive flaps, scratchbuilding replacements and then drilling out each of the perforations, taking care to make sure they line up in rows and columns.įor those of us who don’t have that kind of patience, Aires has produced a set of resin replacement dive flaps for the Hasegawa SBD. In addition, on the wings, the upper and lower flaps are molded as part of the upper wing leaving just the lower central flap as a separate piece. On its 1/72 scale Dauntless kits, Hasegawa has molded the dive flaps as solid pieces with small raised circular outlines depicting the perforations. ![]() Unfortunately, the perforated dive flaps are extremely difficult to make with injection molds due to the number of holes in each flap. One of the key features of the SBD was its perforated dive flaps which were used to slow and stabilize the Dauntless in its near vertical diving attack. L2008.For many people the Douglas SBD symbolizes American carrier aviation in World War II as it played an instrumental role in most of the early major battles in the Pacific, especially the victory at Midway where the SBD’s of the Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet sank four of Japan’s best carriers on June 4, 1942. Funding courtesy of Madlyn and Paul Hilliard. On loan courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In November 1944, this aircraft was lost on a training flight in Lake Michigan where it remained until 1990 when it was recovered by the US Navy and restored to its present condition. In the spring of 1943, BuNo 06508 was assigned to Navy Bombing Squadron 10 aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise for a short time before being returned to the States to serve as a trainer at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois. SBD-3, Bureau Number (BuNo) 06508 was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at El Segundo, California, and is a combat veteran of the Guadalcanal Campaign operating from Henderson Field by Marine Scout Bombing Squadrons (VMSB) 141 and 132. By some accounts, the Dauntless sank more Japanese ships than any other plane. The US Navy’s primary dive-bomber at the war’s start, the bomber earned its reputation-and helped earn victory-at the 1942 Battle of Midway, sinking four Japanese carriers. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was sturdy enough for pilots to dive at a near-vertical 80 degrees. Dive bombing requires precise maneuverability and accuracy to fly at steep trajectory and hit a moving target.
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