SBD-5 Dauntless
Limited Edition

Eduard, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Eduard's 1/48 scale SBD-5 Limited Edition is available online from Squadron.com

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was an American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944.

The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-borne scout plane and dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

During its combat service, the SBD was an excellent naval scout plane and dive bomber. It possessed long range, good handling characteristics, manoeuvrability, potent bomb load, great diving characteristics, good defensive armament and ruggedness. One land-based variant of the SBD — in omitting the arrestor hook — was purpose-built for the U.S. Army Air Forces, as the A-24 Banshee.

The Dauntless was also operated by the French Air Force and Aeronavale, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.*

It is almost unbelievable to think that Accurate Miniatures released their SBD-5 Dauntless in 1997 – almost 20 years ago.

It is even harder to believe when you examine the sprues in Eduard’s reboxed packaging. The level of detail and finesse of surface texture still rivals the best of today.

The plastic sprues contain 105 parts in medium grey and 14 parts in clear. This modest total is reduced by 20 parts marked “not for use” in this iteration.

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Eduard has added two photo-etched frets, 14 resin parts, self-adhesive die cut masks and a big new decal sheet to the lovely Accurate Miniatures sprues.

Interior detail was always excellent with plastic controls rods, bristling sidewall structures and a clear instrument panel, but Eduard’s PE upgrades will lift the cockpit to a new level with a replacement coloured and layered instrument panel, wide lap belts, radio, throttles and knobs and much more.

Ailerons, rudder and elevators are all fixed in neutral positions, but the perforated dive flaps are separate and may be posed to taste.

Other options include the tail hook, bombs and the choice of a closed canopy or separate open sections.

The resin parts include replacement main wheels with two styles of cover – spoked and solid – plus tail wheel, a gorgeous jewel-like twin .30 cal machine gun assembly.

The instructions are supplied as a glossy A4 16 page booklet with colour-keyed assembly illustrations, a masking guide, full-colour four-view diagrams of the five marking options and a stencil marking guide.

Markings

Decals for five varied options are supplied on a single Cartograf-printed decal sheet:

• SBD-5 of 25 Sqn Royal New Zealand Air Force, Piva, Bougainville, April 1944 finished in mid-war three-colour scheme.

• SBD-5 of VMS-3, Virgin Islands, Spring 1944 finished in the grey and white Atlantic scheme.

• SBD-5 of VMSB-331, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, Spring 1944 finished in mid-war three-colour scheme.

• A-24 Banshee of 407th Bomb Group USAAF, Amchitka, Alaska, Summer 1944 finished in Olive Drab and Neutral Grey.

• SBD-5 of French Aeronavlae, 4°Flotile, Western France, early 1945 finished in mid-war three-colour scheme.

The decals are well printed and appear to be in perfect registration.

Accurate Miniatures’ 1:48 scale SBD-5 Dauntless was a beautiful kit when it was released nearly 20 years ago, and the plastic parts look just as good today. The addition of Eduard’s resin and photo-etched parts are a welcome upgrade, and the retail price is very reasonable considering these multi-media bonuses and the large Cartograf decal sheet.

Take your time with this one - test fit and follow the sequence of the instructions - and you'll have a lovely replica of the Dauntless for the model shelf or the competition table.

Highly Recommended.

* Historical summary courtesy of Wikipedia

Thanks to Eduard for the sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2016 by Brett Green
Page Created 12 February, 2016
Last updated 12 February, 2016

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