SBD Dauntless

by Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak

Detail & Scale
Digital Volume 5

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner Jr.

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The Detail & Scale series of books is a hallmark of any book collection.  Author Bert Kinzey is a noted author and able to write in a way that keeps the reader’s attention.  The artwork by Rock Roszak is some of the best out there.  But what do you do when you have so much information and the cost of printing the books becomes excessive?  Well if you are Bert and Rock you embrace technology. 

Available from the iBooks app on the iPad these digital volumes are impressive in their scope and content.  Like a typical book you can use the Table of Contents.  You can access it two ways, you can use the Table of Contents icon or you can ‘pinch’ the page.  Once there you can navigate to any place in the book by going to a chapter, section or page.  The benefit of the digital format is that you can tap on any picture and a high resolution photo will pop up.  You can turn the iPad to get a full screen pic if the orientation is different from the photo.  You can also enlarge a portion of the photo to highlight the details.  You can go up to 200%.  With all of these benefits its quite easy to see why the digital format works so well for these types of books.  One other benefit is that Bert can use color anywhere without having to worry about format of a printed page.  This volume has 125 color detail photos. 

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The book itself is a plethora of information and pictures.  The original SBD book was published in 1995.  Typical of the Detail & Scale series, the book is broken down by aircraft version with history and photos. 

Chapter one is a historical summary of the development of the aircraft from the BT-1 through the SBD-6.  This section contains the historical significance of this nearly obsolete aircraft.  The Army version, the A-24 is also included and researched.  Despite the slow speed and nearly obsolescence the SBD soldiered on throughout the war and maintained the lowest loss rate for any American carrier-based aircraft.

Chapter two starts to discuss the variants in detail.  Everything from the beautiful SBD-1 flown by the Marines with their yellow wings to the SBD-6 are discussed.  The photos of the cockpit and systems will be invaluable to the modeler.  Many drawings from the manuals are used when they are applicable.  Line drawings by Lloyd S. Jones and they are some beautiful renderings. 

Chapter three is the details, the meat and potatoes, of the book.  This section is what the Detail & Scale series is known for.  Using the remaining aircraft from museums around the US.  This chapter alone is worth the price of admission.  This chapter has everything including rivet patterns.  The armament is discussed in detail, including the practice bomb dispensers.  Literally everything is covered from prop to tail and wingtip to wingtip. 

The Dauntless colors are discussed in the next chapter.  The evolution of the paint schemes starts out with the yellow orange wings on the SBD-1, followed up with the Non-Specular Light Grey.  Even the experimental Dark Green paint scheme is shown.  The famous Blue Grey over Light Grey is next up.  Included in each section is at least one aircraft that was historically significant for that paint scheme.  For example the Blue Grey over Light Grey is shown using a Battle of the Corral Sea and Midway markings.  The evolution of the national insignia is also covered in this chapter.  The tri-color paint scheme is covered and its variations.  The two color Atlantic scheme are shown.  The A-24 is covered in this section as well.

Detail & Scale was one of the first books that was tailored to the modeler and had a modeling section.   Well the digital format lends itself to this section too.  Every scale is covered in detail.  In additional to the models being covered, the aftermarket parts are included too.   Complied by Haagen KlausAll the shortcomings and highlights of the kits are included in this section.  You can make an informed decision on which model to buy and what to buy with it.

Another thing that can happen in the digital format is the addition of changes to keep the book up to date.  This is particularly important in the modeling section.  So unlike your printed book this book will always be up to date. 

Bottom line- You don’t need any other reference on the SBD.  You will not find another detail book with more up to date information and such a low price.  The ability to blow up photos is extremely useful for the modeler and historian.  If you have the Accurate Miniatures Dauntless or any of the other models on the market you NEED this book.   If you just like the SBD this book is impressive in its scale and scope.  The expertise of Bert and Rock makes this digital book something that every modeler should have on their workbench.  Oh yeah that is another thing, the digital book takes up very little room on your bench.  That and the ability to blow up the photos makes this an essential tool for the modeler.  This book not only keeps up the great tradition of the Detail & Scale series but it builds on it with the addition of technology. 

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Detail & Scale for the sample.

Review Copyright © 2016 by Floyd S. Werner Jr.
This Page Created on 15 November, 2016
Last updated 15 November, 2016

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