BBI 1/32 Prototype SBD Dauntless
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 9:51 pm
Greetings:
I haven't posted here much but recently acquired something worth posting. Everyone knows that I love the SBD and have a family connection to this amazing aircraft. I came across this mysterious model and purchased it about a month ago. The person I acquired it from tells me this was a dealer sample of the 1/32 SBD Dauntless that was offered to us several years ago.
Here are some pictures. Enjoy.
Corey
If everyone remembers, many years ago when BBI first released the news they would be releasing the SBD, they showed a color scheme in box art with a red bordered U.S. insignia. When we got the airplane, the model had been changed to a much later color scheme with the late war blue bordered insignia. As you can see, this factory prototype was painted with the red bordered insignia scheme indicating BBI had plans to make the model in this color scheme. The color scheme can be traced to an airplane from the USS Lexington during the 1943 raids on the Marshall Islands. This color scheme is very striking and stands out.
The model is very similar to the SBD's we got in terms of construction and parts make up. But there are some subtle differences. More on the differences in a bit.
One of the biggest differences between this prototype and the actual version we got is the box. This dealer sample came fully assembled in a large box with the wings already attached. The smaller detail parts were simply hot glued into the box indicating they had never been put on. It also indicates at the stage this sample was shown to dealers, BBI had not completed the design of the packaging for the smaller parts. At some point in time, maybe to save in costs, BBI decided to go with the smaller box and have most of the model unassembled, like the retail version we got.
The dealer sample and the actual model we got together for a picture. The two models together reveal some significant differences. The dealer sample lacks the reinforcing metal pins in the landing gear that the retail version has. As a result, the sample has much more unstable landing gear. I imagine BBI made this adjustment for the production version to strengthen the gear. You will also notice the prototype does not have the no step areas painted on the wings. The figures are also a darker color on the dealer prototype.
The dealer sample had some combat damage when I acquired it. The rear machine gun piece was missing and the tailwheel had gone missing along the way. The landing gear and main wings also fit very loosely. As I wanted to display the model, I added some super glue to the landing gear not to hold them down fixed, but to make the joint tighter so they were more stable. This worked well. I also acquired a tailwheel and rear machine gun part from a retail version of the BBI model to fix the prototype. The prototype now displays nicely and properly. I'm glad to have such a unique model of the Dauntless in my collection. The colors are very striking and it would have been neat to see BBI produce this color scheme of the model.
I haven't posted here much but recently acquired something worth posting. Everyone knows that I love the SBD and have a family connection to this amazing aircraft. I came across this mysterious model and purchased it about a month ago. The person I acquired it from tells me this was a dealer sample of the 1/32 SBD Dauntless that was offered to us several years ago.
Here are some pictures. Enjoy.
Corey
If everyone remembers, many years ago when BBI first released the news they would be releasing the SBD, they showed a color scheme in box art with a red bordered U.S. insignia. When we got the airplane, the model had been changed to a much later color scheme with the late war blue bordered insignia. As you can see, this factory prototype was painted with the red bordered insignia scheme indicating BBI had plans to make the model in this color scheme. The color scheme can be traced to an airplane from the USS Lexington during the 1943 raids on the Marshall Islands. This color scheme is very striking and stands out.
The model is very similar to the SBD's we got in terms of construction and parts make up. But there are some subtle differences. More on the differences in a bit.
One of the biggest differences between this prototype and the actual version we got is the box. This dealer sample came fully assembled in a large box with the wings already attached. The smaller detail parts were simply hot glued into the box indicating they had never been put on. It also indicates at the stage this sample was shown to dealers, BBI had not completed the design of the packaging for the smaller parts. At some point in time, maybe to save in costs, BBI decided to go with the smaller box and have most of the model unassembled, like the retail version we got.
The dealer sample and the actual model we got together for a picture. The two models together reveal some significant differences. The dealer sample lacks the reinforcing metal pins in the landing gear that the retail version has. As a result, the sample has much more unstable landing gear. I imagine BBI made this adjustment for the production version to strengthen the gear. You will also notice the prototype does not have the no step areas painted on the wings. The figures are also a darker color on the dealer prototype.
The dealer sample had some combat damage when I acquired it. The rear machine gun piece was missing and the tailwheel had gone missing along the way. The landing gear and main wings also fit very loosely. As I wanted to display the model, I added some super glue to the landing gear not to hold them down fixed, but to make the joint tighter so they were more stable. This worked well. I also acquired a tailwheel and rear machine gun part from a retail version of the BBI model to fix the prototype. The prototype now displays nicely and properly. I'm glad to have such a unique model of the Dauntless in my collection. The colors are very striking and it would have been neat to see BBI produce this color scheme of the model.
I remember this was the original scheme they were going to release and we got the other one instead.