New Merit 1/18 DAUNTLESS DISCUSSION

[supersonicfifi]

Is there any more pictures ?

[aferguson]

yes but we decided to block you from seeing them..

[plasticboy]

Oh~ another question of Merit is going to make pilot and gunner for SBD or the plane will not include the figures? Anyhow, I can make the pilot and gunner!!!

[scbvideoboy]

Who will be selling these? Or where? Badcat? MTS? I've only dealt with those two online shops.

Dave

[aferguson]

probably everybody

[Threetoughtrucks]

Am I wrong or is Merit just a distributor and not a manufacturer?

I've bought stuff distributed through Merit, some good and some not so good.

I would like this Dauntless, I preordered a Dauntless from a manufacturer (who shall remain nameless) who never released it and after waiting over a year and just gave up. This time I will wait until some of youse guys have it in their hot little hands and can review it. Mind you, it doesn't have to actually fly, but my Dauntless standards are high and I would pay for it.

Do we now who has made this Dauntless? or if it actually made by Merit?

TTT

[aferguson]

it's unclear who is actually making it. Merit is just a distributor, as far as i know but maybe they are expanding and venturing into manufacturing as well.

If i were to bet, i would bet that they have made an arrangement with BBI to make the Dauntless for them, but that's pure speculation on my part. I'm just glad to see it's being made.

[cjg476]

Are the chances of this actually getting made good? Ive heard that other companies have made this announcement before and fallen through...are our chances really good or is this a hold your breath situation...?

[MUDHEN336]

My collection focuses primarily on modern planes/figures as that is where my interest lies. However, I will definitely be getting one of these. The workhorse of the Battle of Midway! What a great surprise!

[c44]

It appears this is a Merit release along the lines of their 1/24 series...check out http://www.merit-intl.com/vendor/merit.html
Who knows who's actually molding the plastic...

[gouchy]

So does anyone have any idea whether was there any kind of setup at the ihobby show Merit booth? Any prototype or pictures shown? Or did Merit just simply announced the Dauntless with very little fanfare?

[Barbarian333]

Nobody's mentioned JSI as the manufacturer. Is there something im missing? I always saw JSI and Merit together, in advertisements anyway. Anyway I'm guessing JSI probably made a profit on the F-14 and is ready to release something new. Am I missing something?

[aferguson]

i doubt it's JSI. They seemed to have lost a lot of interest in 1/18.

Merit is the distributor for JSI just like they are for BBI and a host of other companies. It's more likely BBI, since BBI has a 1/32 Dauntless and may have had a 1/18 Dauntless prototype for years for all we know.

Or Merit could be doing this on their own, or maybe it has something to do with the Admiral Dauntless retooled a bit. Who knows. Makes little difference any which way.

[Barbarian333]

If its BBI it's weird that this release is totally different from the recent F-16, BF 109, and Blackhawk releases.

[gburch]

wow ... I go away to work for a week and ... this! I'm pretty jazzed. No . . . VERY jazzed.

I'm thinking $175 - $200.

[gburch]

Here's a little Dauntless inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjqj1e8t1BE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk94v5kZ ... re=related

A truly amazing story ... this plane would make a great S2

[Dauntless]

Love that Dogfight episode.

Too bad Dogfights got the markings wrong. It's 1942, Battle of the Coral Sea, star, red dot, candy cane rudder, one shade of blue, not late 1943 on, stars and bars, tri-color blue.

The general pubics don't know the difference, but we do.

Inspiring nonetheless. I would love to see a Coral Sea version of Swede's SBD.

[gburch]

Love that Dogfight episode.

Too bad Dogfights got the markings wrong. It's 1942, Battle of the Coral Sea, star, red dot, candy cane rudder, one shade of blue, not late 1943 on, stars and bars, tri-color blue.

The general pubics don't know the difference, but we do.

Makes you wonder why they'd go to all the trouble to do the computer models to make the animation, and get the markings wrong . . . Stuff like that drives me crazy ... like Roman cavalry with stirrups . . .

[Dauntless]

Love that Dogfight episode.

Too bad Dogfights got the markings wrong. It's 1942, Battle of the Coral Sea, star, red dot, candy cane rudder, one shade of blue, not late 1943 on, stars and bars, tri-color blue.

The general pubics don't know the difference, but we do.

Makes you wonder why they'd go to all the trouble to do the computer models to make the animation, and get the markings wrong . . . Stuff like that drives me crazy ... like Roman cavalry with stirrups . . .

...me too! They're interviewing the actual pilot, getting all the details of every turn and tactic, but they can't get the plane's markings right?

There again it's like seeing a documentary on Midway and seeing Hellcats and Corsairs footage (how many times are we going to see that damn Hellcat crash on deck in every film?)

I will say that National Geographic's documentary on Midway was right on the money with actual footage of TBD Devastastors, and mostly real footage. It was hard to catch any flaws. They must have hired an expert to help them. Of course they could pick a couple of regular joes from this forum and get more accurate results.

[tmanthegreat]

i doubt it's JSI. They seemed to have lost a lot of interest in 1/18.

Merit is the distributor for JSI just like they are for BBI and a host of other companies. It's more likely BBI, since BBI has a 1/32 Dauntless and may have had a 1/18 Dauntless prototype for years for all we know.

Or Merit could be doing this on their own, or maybe it has something to do with the Admiral Dauntless retooled a bit. Who knows. Makes little difference any which way.

Following what Aferg noted, I've got three scenarios in mind:

1) This is indeed a BBI release, distributed by Merit. BBI already has experience with creating a 1:32 Dauntless, so this wouldn't be too far-fetched for them to make one in 1:18...

2) Merit got a hold of Admiral's Dauntless prototypes and is making the plane. This would have saved a lot of the leg-work and explain the sudden appearance of the aircraft as well as why we are seeing this particular plane and not something else.

3) Merit is making this entirely on their own. Merit has released planes on their own before. They had those 1/24 scale Bf-109s and P-51Ds out a few years ago, so this would not be unheard of for them to make something themselves. I would hope the Dauntless would have more moving parts/features than the 1/24 planes did...

[normandy]

Why doesn't Jim@Merit have anything to say on the subject? We can speculate all we want, but to me its seems pointless.
He's got to know something..............after all He started this topic.

[vmf214]

IIRC the Merit 1/24 planes were actually Trumpeteer marketed under Merit.

I still wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the HOBBY BOSS version that was slated as a kit release last year and canceled.

Personally I don't really care where it comes from or who makes it, just as long as it actually gets made (this time) & the quality lives up to the pricetag which is speculative at this point.

[toyktdlgh]

Why doesn't Jim@Merit have anything to say on the subject? We can speculate all we want, but to me its seems pointless.
He's got to know something..............after all He started this topic.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Jim, its time for am update to your thread!

[Jim@Merit]

Very sorry for not being able to keep up with the post. Just to clear a few things:

1. This is Merit's own development and is not related to other development projects of the past.
2. Our SBD will have moving parts and not a static display model.
3. We are also anxiously waiting for test shots from the factory and will share the excitement with all of you at that time.

We are about to start another post about our pre-built 1/16 Tiger I and 1/16 T34/85, which will be in country in early December along with the pre-built 1/350 USS Hornet, Dolittle Raid version.

Will try to have update more often. Thank you for the support from you all.

[VMF115]

Very sorry for not being able to keep up with the post. Just to clear a few things:

1. This is Merit's own development and is not related to other development projects of the past.
2. Our SBD will have moving parts and not a static display model.
3. We are also anxiously waiting for test shots from the factory and will share the excitement with all of you at that time.

We are about to start another post about our pre-built 1/16 Tiger I and 1/16 T34/85, which will be in country in early December along with the pre-built 1/350 USS Hornet, Dolittle Raid version.

Will try to have update more often. Thank you for the support from you all.

Thank you Jim for the update.