Small Scale Military Headquarters

Now that we have the long awaited Avenger and will probably be getting different paint jobs on it for the next few years.

How about the Dauntless Dive Bomber. The Dauntless was the "real" hero of the Pacific war, that and the B-25, but I've given up on the great B-25 in 1/18 and since 21C has now worked out the folding wings problem, why not a Dauntless?

I know we have alot of Dauntless fans out there, so why noy?

TTT

I think one is in the works. The writing is on the wall.

I'm on board with that!! make it!!!!

Ditto on the Dauntless. In fact, I'd take an SBD over a TBF anyday.

A Dauntless and a F6F Hellcat together would be nice.

I am a big fan of the SBD Dauntless. I really like the shape of the vertical stab and rudder. That would be a great looking model in a pre war Navy paint scheme.

<still waiting for the long awaited avenger

You are not alone in your quest to find an Avenger. I am having a hell of a time dealing with my AWD!

The wing is not like the Avenger, so the folding is not a issue. What should be implied is the Wildcat can be made now, as the wing fold is similiar.

DH

In fact the wing does not fold at all on the SBD1/2/3/4/5 or A24.

It is a must have!

Didn't Mike from BBI hint at one a little while back?

The Dauntless is one of my favorites too. I would buy one in a second. One wonders what criteria the manufacturer uses to determine what planes to tool up for. I love my Avenger, but they are pushing the envelope with the size issue. A Hellcat or even a Wildcat would be a logical choice for a Navy Fighter too. Of course, I must close my comment by saying that they all need to be produced in 1:32 scale too...please, please, please...Cant you see I am begging here...

TJ

I would have d prefered the Dauntless been made first too. It was always one of my favorites.

You all are killing me with all the talk of an F6F, a F4F or FM2 would be too much to ask for. If someone did a Dauntless, Hellcat, and a Wildcat well I would be in big trouble. Not only for the money spent on aircraft but the bigger house I'm going to need to display all these beautiful warbirds.

Killerf6 wrote:You all are killing me with all the talk of an F6F, a F4F or FM2 would be too much to ask for. If someone did a Dauntless, Hellcat, and a Wildcat well I would be in big trouble. Not only for the money spent on aircraft but the bigger house I'm going to need to display all these beautiful warbirds.

About folding wings on 1:18 sale aircraft
I think it great that they work, but couldn’t they add a bit mote detail?
I hope in time that ALL of the 1:18 aircraft out there that have folding wings will be retooled to show greater detail in that part of the aircraft.


To get back on topic.

The Dauntless Dive Bomber is one of my all time favorite WWII aircraft, Next to the P-61 BW. My father made a Dauntless when I was 4 years old and I had it until my parent’s home until it was flooded 11 years ago. My most favorite part of the Dauntless was how the folded wing was done. Please Bbi don’t screw it up!!!!!



When I was my father would make the US Navy aircraft with the folded wing in the stowed position. I always like the detail that went in to those models especially when it showed the mechanical parts of the folding mechanism.

Btw way I can live with what is out there in the1:18 scale but I feel they can always do better.

Killerf6 wrote:You all are killing me with all the talk of an F6F, a F4F or FM2 would be too much to ask for. If someone did a Dauntless, Hellcat, and a Wildcat well I would be in big trouble. Not only for the money spent on aircraft but the bigger house I'm going to need to display all these beautiful warbirds.

I don’t thing having those aircraft made would be to much, heck do what my GF does she collects just about every thing and from time to time she will box what ever she has on display and always puts something different out. Not even the Smithsonian museum displays every thing at once. Right now I am trying to figure out how to display my corsairs on the ceiling next to my G/F precious moments and bear collection “that happens to be displayed near the ceiling on a ledge” with out making it looking like some massacre.

If you have to many box them up and rotate your collection.

I to would love a Dauntless but I have yet to see a Hellcat. And its getting to the point where I dont think I ever will. No A-10 and no Hellcat. This is sad but I wont give up hope.

Boy! I'll have to get on board with this thread!!!! The Dauntless is absolutely my favorite of all time.

It would also be very simple to make: no folding wings at all, simple landing gear, and small size. The only relatively complex thing would be the five-section pierced dive flaps. I would prefer if they left all the control surfaces fixed but concentrate on making good dive flaps.

Good variety available of paint schemes. Could do some pre-war in silver with yellow wings, pre-war Marine with its colorful scheme, Pearl Harbor time scheme, Coral Sea (May 1942), Midway (June 1942) and the later tri-color. I've alread posted some nice profiles elsewhere. Some pretty famous and well-documented aircraft from both the Coral Sea and Midway battles.

I'm betting Admiral is going to make a go of it! Perhaps this year yet? I recall BadCat referred to some new planes being offered this year by another manufacturer.

JImBob

AT, is probably a safe bet. But, I am so conflicted with who will do a better job. I think that 21st is a great company, but BBI makes better figures and AT makes more complex models. In other words I am totally perplexed. I have no idea on who should make this model.

I think we are in a position where we cannot chose. I would take an SBD from any company!

The SBD is a must.

However, I am happy that most of you have figured out that there are "NO" folding wings on the SBD.

In my estimation, the Dauntless is almost the same size as the Corsair and would end up scaled out to a 21.78" wingspan and a 27.4" length.

Here are a couple of my Dauntless photos showing the flaps. One SBD is a -5 on the Yorktown (Charleston), and the other is a -4 hanging in the O'Hare airport terminal.





I read about an interesting carrier-deck misunderstanding in a book I have titled "Paddles". The author (an Landing Signal Officer) was using an SBD later in the war as a courier plane. He landed on a carrier other than his own, and the deck crew were not familiar with the SBD. The author landed and hooked the 3-wire, and then began taxiing forward at the direction of the deck crew. Then the deck crew frantically kept repeating the "wing fold" signal to the author, not knowing this was impossible with the SBD. I'm sure it was all straightened out after he secured the aircraft and had a chance to explain.

An interesting observation... the SBD's wing construction is very similar to its big brother the DC-3. They both have a flat center wing section with the dihedral beginning at a point well out from the wing root--at a longitudinal 'rib'. Notice these 'ribs' just outboard of the landing gear doors and the central flap; they are on the wing bottom and top. This appears to be the same as what appears on the DC-3, just outboard of the engine nacelles.

Pure trivia, I know, but fun for me.


JimBob

Wasn`t the Dauntless hanging from the ceiling at O`Hare recovered from Lake Michigan? I seem to recall reading an article about the restoration of that particular plane. It had been originally lost in a training accident sometime during the war from what I understand.

TJ

Yes, you're right. I also incorrectly said O'Hare Airport; the Dauntless is actually at Midway Airport. I did some checking and found this reference in the Midway Airport guide:

"In September 2004, Mayor Daley and Commissioner Roberson joined veterans
of the Battle of Midway in dedicating an SBD Dauntless Dive-Bomber, which will
be on permanent display in Concourse A of Midway International Airport.
The airplane is the same type flown by U.S. Naval aviators in the Battle of
Midway, which took place June 4 through June 7, 1942, and is generally
considered the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. In honor of the
battle, the City Council changed the name of Municipal Airport to Midway
Airport in 1949.

The bomber on display was recovered in 1991 from Lake Michigan, 47 years
after it had crashed during training exercises. Some 15,000 Naval aviators
were trained in the Chicago area during the war."


Also, an interesting link from the Naval Aviation Museum:
http://broadcast.illuminatedtech.com/di ... 4&sid=7987

JimBob