The cowl machine guns don't line up well with the troughs in the cowl. The instrument panel sits a little high and will interfere with tabs under the cowling top. I had to file the rearmost cockpit bulkhead to get it to fit. Dry-fit most parts before committing them to glue. Sand and file away the remainder of the sprue stubs. To avoid bending or breaking small parts when removing them from the sprues, cut a couple of millimeters back. The color chart eliminates guesswork when you shop for paint. Diagrams and text guide you through 15 assembly steps and tell you what each part is called. Accurate Miniatures has improved its instructions. Decals are provided for Lepla and Liska's SBD-3 that shot down several Japanese planes during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Two 100-pound bombs are provided for the small wing racks and a 1,000-pounder fits in the central bomb crutch. The recessed belly (to hold the bomb) is highly detailed and includes the pilot's downward-view window. Unfortunately, my sample's dive flaps and actuators were warped.
SCORCH SCALE DAUNTLESS FULL
You can pose the brakes closed, bottom down (for take-off and landing), or full open. Yes, and the dive-flap actuators are also included. With any SBD kit, the first question modelers raise is whether the dive flaps are perforated. Aftermarket interior sets will be superfluous, except that photoetched belts or homemade ones would be better than the decal seat harnesses provided. The kit features an excellent reproduction of the R-1820 Cyclone radial engine, and a cockpit interior that has everything, even a relief tube and a flare gun! You can spend hours building and painting the interior, but when enclosed in the fuselage much of it can't be seen. Even the tiny clips that held canvas engine and canopy covers are there. External detail is mostly fine recessed panel lines with realistic raised-rib, fabric-covered controls. Along with this kit, Accurate Miniatures has released a late-war SBD-5, and is planning a pre-war Marine SBD-1 for production.
The early World War II SBD-3 Dauntless dive bomber was the star of the heroic battles of Coral Sea and Midway.
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