Small Scale Military Headquarters

I'd like to see an X-15 from Pegasus. How many bought a SW Me 163? I have one.

i doubt many bought a SW Komet. Tad expensive for most.

An X-15 is a possibility from Pegasus. They said that if the Bell X-1 sold well they'd be doing one. I don't know how well the X-1 sold. But an 1/18 X-15 is a possibility in a couple of years.

I bought a kit for a SW ME-163 a few years ago through MTS when they were having a sale of sorts. It cost $149. It had the markings of that solid red prototype version, but I figured I could convert it easily enough into a "regular looking" one.

I was not very impressed with the kit. Items made by Pickelhaube and Grunt1 are far superior. Tooling was done pretty well on the Komet, but assembly was odd... The fuselage halves came assembled yet the cockpit tub was not inserted. Kind of hard to fit that big piece into the little space and there was no way to prop it up in the correct position. Never could figure out how the decals were supposed to work, either. Jacksons are the best. I eventually put the kit in storage and later sold it to a fellow board member.

Back to the Dauntless, now that the Midway version is out, anyone have pictures?

I just received the new Midway version this afternoon. Unfortunately , I don't have a digital camera to give you any details other than what I can describe.

I think they did a great job on this one too. Mine is absolutely flawlessly pristine perfect from what I can see through the window. It's lighter in contrast w/ little to no weathering compared to the C S version. Overall , I'm quite pleased w/ it though. I think any Pacific war buff or Dauntless fan or like myself , just an AC enthusiast in general would be happy w/ this bird as well as their 1st. C S release. I've got the pair now & quite pleased w/ both.


- MG

Thanks for the update MG-42...may you one day get that camera!....anyone else have any pictures of their Midway SBD? Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?

Here is a link of actual photos taken of the production model. Box art included.

http://www.flyingmule.com/products/MI-88001

Thanks for posting! Certainly a bit cleaner than the Coral Sea version, but it looks just as good. Not sure what I'll eventually do with two Dauntlesses

Thanks for the link BV. All the other photos I've seen with it look a lot darker and as I posted a bit earlier in this thread I was disappointed. However I am less so now and more sure that Midway because of its historical significance and decreased weathering is the way to go.

I got my Dauntless in today I ordered from a small retailer, but then during my lunch break, discovered that my local Hobbytown USA store had gotten in 6 of them. Hobbytown and the retailer were priced the same ($169.99) and the retailer had free shipping, but I could have gotten a small discount at Hobbytown... Oh well, next time.

Anyways, the plane. Not really much different than the Coral Sea version in terms of tooling and functions. Its all pretty much the same. Detail and quality are the same high standards as well.

The double .30 cal machine gun mount is a nice modification! It elevates well and the curved bar that helps raise the gun up out of the storage area works smoothly. (Incidentally, I just discovered that featured also worked on my Coral Sea version tonight, so now that gun properly raises out of the storage locker). Flaps/divebreaks are not very loose on my Midway plane.

Its still a bit tricky to put together (namely due to the tight fit of the wings) but assembly is identical to the S1 plane.

Then there is the new paint scheme. The Midway Dauntless is "cleaner" than the Coral Sea version. It still has slight weather-texturing along the panel lines and scuff marks/paint chips are detailed where appropriate along the wing walkway, footholds, and where the canopy runs. The exhaust staining is much more subdued than on the Coral Sea aircraft. Weathering on the underside still has those little "splatter spots" as on the Coral Sea version. Really, that is the worst paint error. Otherwise, the scheme is flawless of any large paint defects. Certainly a far cry from what we got with 21c, even on their good pieces.

Excellent acutal product pictures can be seen on TheFlyingMule website (linked above in a previous post) but I thought I'd post a couple comparison shots between the S2 Midway Dauntless and the S1 Coral Sea Dauntless:







Overall, this repaint is well worth the purchase, even if you already have the Coral Sea version. The Midway Dauntless represents a famous aircraft that had a direct impact on the outcome of a major WWII battle and which directly helped to turn the tide of the war. Few of the aircraft our models depict can claim that

Great comparison shots. Hope you don't roll off the wrong side of the bed.

Just received my Midway Dauntless from Aikens Airplanes, and concur with Tman, it is just as well executed in “fit and finish” as the Coral Sea version. This really is one great looking and historically significant aircraft Merit chose to produce…Great job Merit, another homerun!

Has anyone else noticed that the clear plastic shipping tray for the Merit Dauntless has packaging blisters for the Westinghouse radar antennas under each wing? Is the S-3 version going to be a SBD-5? …Maybe VMSB-231 "Ace of Spades"? ….Jim?

I already have Hobby Master's 1/32 version of the Midway/Richard Best SBD Dauntless.
One complaint I had about it was no weathering. Now that I know the real Midway/Best Dauntless didn't have a lot of weathering, I like the model a lot better.

"VB-6 gave up our old SBD-2s after returning from the Doolittle mission at the end of April, 1942. We received brand-new SBD-3s that were as close to “factory new” as could be (with having been shipped from California to Hawaii). They were the cleanest airplanes I ever saw in the Navy.” Richard H. Best

YOXFORD:

Thanks for the additional info.

Quite a nice testimonial to Merit and their Midway Dauntless from Mr. John Mollison, who has an actual piece of airplane fabric from an SBD Dauntless dive bomber that is recorded to have been present at Pearl Harbor, the battle at Midway and later, a Naval training squadron at Lake Michigan. (2-B-2)
“The colored strip [in the photograph] is fabric from an SBD-3 Dauntless in original non-specular blue-gray paint. Though I'm sure you've received much praise for this outstanding offering, I'm sure you haven't received a color comparison of your model against an authentic piece of Dauntless! The photo doesn't really do it justice due to the lighting, color refraction and algae…but to see it in real life; you-all did an excellent job of nailing the color on the model.”
-John Mollison, Historian & Artist
http://www.merit-intl.com/vendor/merit.html

Greetings:

I recieved my Midway Dauntless today. As already stated, most of the plane and assembly is the same but there are a few pros and cons with the new plane.

PROS:

The flaps fit tighter on this model and they do not droop as on S1

They put stenciling on the main bomb and added the yellow stripes to the smaller bombs to give them more detail.

A very historic and accurate paint scheme.

CONS:

The wing fit is still problematic. Like Ara said with S1, it is like strangling a cat to get it to fit and you are honestly afraid you will break something trying to get it together.

The paint masks for the step areas should be sharper. I got a little overspray on the one side of mine. It should be a crisp line. The step lines are still misaligned slightly as well although the Midway version is closer than S1

Center flap still will not shut all the way closed and the other flaps are hard to operate and position (moving them a few times will help sort them out).

Overall a great piece! Will probably get another to keep put away! Will take some pictures at some point in the future!

Corey

Cool pics of the SBD and many others....


http://www.mission4today.com/index.php? ... 15&start=0

Jim@Merit wrote:The S-2 will be available towards the end of August / early Sept.
We hope to have something else by December.

So Jim.... any word on that "something else" that maybe coming out in December?

Hello all.

I'm sure a lot of you may recognize the name from previous posts under the SBD forums. I've never gone away, I keep reading, but after the response I received. I have chosen not to reply or post.

I'm speaking to a moderator, or looking for whoever included descriptions in the 1/32 scale inventory to include info on the warbirds. I've had a passion for these aircraft for a very long time. I repair WWII aircraft, AVFs and jet fighters up through the 1960s, and because of this, I have spoken with the pilots who flew the exact planes that are modeled, and have many of the conversations voice recorded, The Smithsonian back in the early 2000's were looking for audio, visual, or in writing the experiences of WWII veterans, and I was selected to engage with many WWII veterans. Because of this I have spoken to many more, and have the conversations on media. If some are interested, I can post personal experiences, but the provider will remain hidden, unless I can obtain permission. Currently I am working with a SBD-3 gunner who is quite young as he enlisted at 14. He did not look 14 so the USN admitted him as a gunner for the SBD-3. He is in his early 80's and recalls much of his experiences, and is not afraid to talk, as he was too young and bravado to see combat as a negative experience, and came home and adjusted well. He was present at Coral Sea, Midway, and many smaller engagements. After the USN and Marines began taking islands that could handle airfields, he was moved to land based operation, the fleets moved back, and they always operated behind the forward airfields. These land based aircraft carved a path for the fleets to move forward to attack another island, and the whole process would start over again. These forward airbases protected the fleets, however smaller task forces did operate with the forward airbases. The fleets were 300 to 500 miles or so behind to combat areas, and the forward airbases operated PBY, SBDs, Dauntless, Devastators, Corsairs, B-17s and such. I have stories that would break your heart, and are not the stories on any documentary, or television show. They are very personal and complex. If anyone would like to hear more, just pm me.

My objective with this post is to ask if I could contribute to the descriptions of the 1/18 aircraft as my knowledge is in depth, and quite complete. Also, How do you post photos here, and maybe audio?

Thanks.

Also, pickelhaube:

I've seen your work and very nice. Please PM me.

Pfeil, for photos, you have to use a website like Photobucket or Webshots (there are others, just google "photo hosting").
We cannot upload photos directly from a hard drive onto this website, so a photo hosting site will act as a "middle man".
You just upload your photos to the photo hosting site, then when you make a post here, you can "link" to the site that has your photos, which are then displayed here.
I think there is a post already in the "Forum Threads" section as well.

Another great picture...


...but someone printed the photo backwards.