Trumpeter 1/32 SBD-2 Dauntless
By Dave Orloff
Photos by Milton Bell.
This is my build of Trumpeter's big Dauntless. A wonderful and (for me) long-awaited kit. It's mostly stock, just added a starter crank to the baggage compartment and plugs and wires to the engine. Also removed the gun and pilot armor, as I wanted that "pre-war" look. Antenna wire is .005mm Nylon monofilament, with a craft wire tensioning spring and fine stainless steel hook attachment at the tailpost. Insulators are blobs of Mr Surfacer painter white.
The markings are for Six-Sail-Three off the Enterprise, piloted by Ens. John Vogt and gunner RM3c Sidney Pierce, Dec 7, 1941. Aircraft was seen by Marines at Ewa Field in a wildly twisting treetop fight with a Zero that ended with the fighter pulling up abruptly into the SBD, both planes fell in a single wreck. None of the crew members survived.
© Dave Orloff 2006
This article was published on Friday, September 27 2013; Last modified on Saturday, May 14 2016