1:48 SBD-5

Two heavy barrels in front, a flexible twin in the back

The Dauntless was a machine with two completely different firing tasks. In the cowling it carried a pair of Browning M2 heavy machine guns of 12.7 millimeter caliber, which fired through the propeller disc and were used mainly during the attack on the target. At the rear sat the radio operator, who worked a flexible pair of lighter 7.62 millimeter machine guns, the only defense against fighters pressing in from behind. It was precisely this rear position that made the Dauntless a unique case among bombers: its gunners were credited during the fighting in the Pacific with more victories than would be expected of a type with that purpose.

The metal part of the package follows the front pair. The turned muzzles have an open bore and in a close-up view of the cowling they replace pegs, which on injection-molded parts are always blind for technical reasons.

The rest of the contents deals with paint. The glazing of this type is long, divided and above the rear gun position it also slides, so masking by hand takes substantially more work than on a single-seat fighter. The enclosed films cover both sides of the glass, a further sheet is intended for spraying the national insignia and the package does not lack decals either.

Carrier aircraft of the US Navy wore a three-part blue-gray camouflage with large insignia on the wings and on the sides of the fuselage. Sprayed markings have the advantage over a decal that there is no carrier film between the paint and the surface, so after a matte overcoat they merge with the rest of the finish and against the light they do not give themselves away by a glossy outline.

The dimensions are derived from the Accurate Miniatures model in 1:48 scale, which is obtained separately.