Subject: Re: Dauntless article for ARC
From: "Steve Bamford ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Edward Fuquay" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:54:12 -0700

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you have never been hurt; and
Dance like no one is watching!

----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Fuquay <[email-masked]>
To: Steve Bamford <[email-masked]>
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 5:09 PM
Subject: Dauntless article for ARC

Gallery Template #08

1/48th Scale Hasegawa's SBD Dauntless
By
Ed Fuquay

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The "Slow But Deadly" Dauntless earned its niche in world history as it dove
on the Japanese aircraft carriers during the battle of Midway. This nimble
aircraft armed with two .50 caliber machine guns shooting through the
propeller arch and two .30 caliber machine guns defending its tail was quite
an opponent. Japanese pilots quickly learned these planes were not easy prey
in spite their sluggish speed. In the hands of a good pilot and gunner they
shot down Zeros! John Northrop originally designed this famous aircraft.
Douglas improved the design and I would not doubt that Ed Heinemann had his
hand on it too.

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I bought this kit when it was first released. I shortly got home and opened
the box. I got to say it was a bit of a disappointment when I saw the dive
breaks. I started the tedious job of aligning the centers of the
indentations and drilling out every hole.. If I had just known Accurate
miniatures was to release the SBD! Nevertheless I soldiered on one hole at
the time. Later on Hasegawa released another SBD with photo-etched flaps,
which I got to make up for the initial heartbreak. That kit still is in the
box, but I have really come to appreciate the handy saw they provided with
it. A pretty expensive one, but it is good.
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The cockpit is got a lot of detail, but it cannot match the level of detail
the Accurate Miniatures kit has. For one, all radio equipment is missing.
There are no seat belts, and there is no relief tube. The detail in the
cockpit is crisp, the panel lines are thin and accurate, but the flaps are
simply terrible! I did not expect that from Hasegawa. Oh! Well, one bad
apple in the bushel. I can live with that. I put this kit away in its box
halfway built and went to other project. Several years later, I opened again
the box and decide to finish it. I had put enough work already in the flaps,
so here it is. I used Floquil's Blue-Grey and Light U.S. Navy Grey. I used
the kits decals and they were a dream. I wish Hasegawa still used the same
process to make their new decals. I finished the model without the rear
canopies. The guns are worth leaving exposed. I could not use the rear
transparencies as they were designed to fit in the closed position. I liked
Accurate Miniatures approach to this problem. A one-piece canopy and a
multipart canopy that allows you to build it with all parts stowed. In spite
all of its shortcomings the kit builds to a decent miniature replica of this
famed airplane. Once again happy modeling!

Ed Fuquay

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Photos and text © 2003 by "your name goes here"