1:48 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless and A-24 Banshee in combat Part 1

The dive bomber that decided Midway

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was neither the fastest nor the best armed machine of its time, but it managed the main thing: to come down at a steep angle toward the surface, put a bomb on the deck of a ship and return. In June 1942 it sank four Japanese aircraft carriers in a single morning and changed the balance of forces in the Pacific. The army version designated A-24 Banshee lacked an arresting hook and fought over Java and New Guinea.

The first of the markings on the sheet

The data for the sheet opens with an SBD-2 machine with the fuselage code S-5 of squadron VS-6 from the deck of USS Enterprise. The rear gunner Bruno Peter Gaido flew in it, and the date of February 1, 1942 refers to the raid on Kwajalein, that is to one of the first American counterstrikes of the war in the Pacific.

How to work with the sheet

These are waterslide decals. The surface under them must be glossy, otherwise a matte haze settles under the film. Soak the cut out motif for a few seconds, let it rest on paper and only then slide it into place over the damp varnish. A softener will help settle a decal into panel lines and rivets; at the close, seal everything with matte or semi gloss varnish.

What to remember before the build

• the sheet is intended for 1:48 scale, and the kit itself is sold separately
• the stars and codes on machines of 1942 differed from machine to machine
• carrier aircraft carried worn and faded paint, so a decal will stand weathering
• the markings left over from the sheet can be used on another model of the same type