My BBI Dauntless arrived today after super fast shipping from The Motor Pool. I chose the Motor Pool because with the close proximity of them to me, their shipping was better and faster than Badcat. Thanks Lightining for the fast service on this wonderful model from BBI.
As most everyone knows, the Dauntless was used by the United States Navy during World War II until replaced by the Helldiver. It was loved by its crews and is best known for its heroic role in defeating the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway. For such a great airplane, it is sad that I have only seen two in my airshow travels. One is operated by the CAF Museum and the other one hangs with pride in the Naval Aviation room at the National Air and Space Museum. When this model was annouced I was hoping for a model that did this one justice without me building one as I just don't have the time to build anymore. BBI has done a wonderful job with this model.
The model comes packaged in a very compact box and is packaged with stronger ties used for computer wires, etc. This holds the parts nicely in place in the box. The plane assembles nicely and easily for the most part. The main wings snap into place and are sturdy. The rear wings I can also say the same about as well. The smaller pieces include the canopy, bomb racks and bombs as well as the radio mast and barometer. A spare barometer was included with mine, either by design or by mistake. The bomb racks snap into place firmly and the bombs fit to them in a very tight fashion. My advice is to snap the bomb racks into place first and not the whole attachement. The barometer and radio mast fit well. The barometer plastic is a little soft for me, but this is not a big deal. Although I did not measure it inch for inch, the Dauntless appears to be close to scale by looking at some of the 1/32 aircraft in my collection and then comparing their sizes on a poster I have.
First a picture of our subject. This is the Dauntless that hangs in the naval aviation room of the National Air and Space Museum.
The pilot and half gunner figure fit nicely into their positions with the open canopies. Much has been made on this forum of the half gunner figure, but honestly it is not a big deal, as the gun mount really hides where his legs would be anyway. The gun mount and twin .30's are well designed and look nice. Up front, the pilot figure is very well done and sits in the cockpit nicely. The cockpit is nicely done and looks good as well. The front canopy works nicely and the back canopy when in position fits super nicely, unlike the recent models from 21st where they fall off frequently. The locking tabs are terrific and although take away from realism, are a good solid design and provide a way to keep it locked in place. Although I like the idea of a closed canopy, I will most likely leave the aircraft canopy open as most pictures of the Dauntless crews in flight show the aircraft with the canopies open.
This is a view of the plane with the canopies in closed position. The highlight of this model for me is the paint job, it is quite frankly flawless. The paint is perfect, graphics perfect and colors and weathering blended nicely. This model makes the paint job on my new 21st Spitfire look pitful in comparison. The price point is steeper than 21st, but the paint is simply better. The landing gear work nicely and close to look like the actual Dauntless.
This is the underside of the plane. The bomb racks and bombs fit nicely underneath the aircraft. The smaller racks fit tight and one of my tabs broke while I pushed it in. Super glue will fix this but they do fit tight. I'd rather them fit tight than loose however and breaking it was my issue because I forced it in place anyway.
This is a view from the back. The back wings do droop a little bit, but as someone else said on this forum, this is actually true to the actual aircraft. Though there are no moving control surfaces, the detail on the model is excellent and the paint job more than makes up for that in my opinion. The paint scheme and application is better than the F-4, which in my opinion was the best aircraft to date.
Overall, this is a terrific effort on the part of BBI. The Dauntless defintely has some high points including the terrific paint scheme, excellent graphics, nicely detailed crew area and creating a much loved but forgotten aircraft of World War II compared with more popular fighters. Although moving control surfaces would have been nice, I hope this is only the start of more 1/32 models from BBI with even more details and functionality. I am quite happy with my Dauntless, and it is a great addition to my growing collection of 1/32 aircraft.
And just for fun, the Dauntless with its nemesis in the Pacific War, the dreaded Zero.
My great thanks to Lightining and the Motor Pool for getting this aircraft to me fast and providing such a nice example.
