Pearl Harbor - VS-6 SBD-3 Dauntless

[helios]

My entry into the campaign. 6-S-4 SBD-3 Dauntless of VS-6 off the USS Enterprise flown by Lt. Dickenson & RM1 Miller.

6-S-4 was part of a 2 ship scouting flight w/ 6-S-9 in preparation for the Enterprise's docking in the following day. The 2-ship was jumped by a pair of Zeros near Barbar's Point. 6-S-9 was shot down almost immediately. RM1 Miller scored an unconfirmed kill on one of the Zeros before 6-S-4 was stricken. Lt Dickenson was able to bail out, return to shore, report to the base commander, and acquire another aircraft to rejoin the fight. RM1 Miller succumbed to injuries and went down with the aircraft.

 

[lupanzer]

Great stuff!...

Luiz

 

[moon puppy]

Good startup photo!

 

[SA Dave]

Good grief that is a nice box of goodies

 

[Jeeves]

My favorite aircraft of all time- and in a very interesting A-M boxing! Dottie in my sig tag approves!!

 

[jknaus]

James

 

[centaur567]

I built this kit yrs. ago when it first came out. One of my all time favorite aircraft and kit. Enjoy the build. Gary

 

[helios]

Good grief that is a nice box of goodies

More out of necessity than just desire. :laugh: The kit is actually an SBD-2, so the main reason for the PE & resin engine is to update the -2 to -3. Fortunately there really isn't much for external differences, mostly internal. The biggest being the addition of the self-sealing fuel tanks in the -3. The -3 also saw the addition of a dual cannon for the rear gunner...but that was a running change during the -3 production, so that will be my excuse for the -2 single rear gun (unless I happen to find a dual somewhere).

Though I will admit I keep eyeballing the PE flap/dive brake kit.....we'll see.

 

[helios]

Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to it. Admittedly I'm more of a jet guy, so I'm stepping a bit outside of my norm on this one. We'll see how this one goes.

I did some digging around before I bought the kit, and the general consensus was the AM kit was the one to have. I snagged it on sale a while back...hence why I sprung for the -2 instead of bidding my time trying to find a -3.

I do have a couple other WWII birds in the stash if this one strikes a chord, a F4U Corsair & DH Mossie FB/NF.

 

[fightnjoe]

As you are working on this aircraft you may be interested in this.

Just thought you might be interested.



Joe

 

[helios]

Thanks Joe. Always an interesting read. It's amazing when you read through these that the greatest danger for our naval pilots weren't the Japanese...but our own ground crew! hmy:

I found a site that had a bunch of action reports a while back when I was researching the validity of the decal sheet. For anyone else thinking of doing a bird off the Enterprise, here is some reading for ya. http://www.cv6.org/ship/logs/ph/

 

[fightnjoe]

The Enterprise site is one that I do not spend enough time on.

The action report above and one from the PBY that first dropped on the Japanese midget sub are two of my more prized pieces.



Joe

 

[Sherman 18]

 

[moon puppy]

wait what?! So the Germans did bomb Pearl Harbor?!? Someone tell Bluto he was right.

 

[centaur567]

Great site. It's a shame about the fate of the Enterprise after the war. It was scrapped and only the rear name plate was discovered at a NJ ballpark. Gary

 

[helios]

Time to blow the dust off this one. Got about a month to get it done. What are the odds? Any takers?

 

[Heavens Eagle]

I wish you luck! My build time thses last few weeks has been zip zero nada. Building this case thing for work has taken all my free time. My Jap plane is still in the box and probably won't even get started.

 

[Rhino]

A fine and yet surprising choice from You. I would never have expected the ol' Speedy-Dee Bug/Jap-smasher! :v I'd take a finished Dauntless @ 3-5 odds!

For the Old CV-6 USS Enterprise;
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=enterprise_exhibit

I saw this last March. Gone, but never forgotten.

In New Jersey;
http://www.rivervalelibrary.org/enterprise-collection.html

I'd like to visit here. CV-6 was an inspiration to many young men of my Era. :salute ldguy

 

[helios]

Sprues are out of the bag and in the process of getting washed. This one should hit the ground running here in the next couple days.

 

[helios]

So tiny! :laugh: