1:72 Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator (V-156 Chesapeake)

A dive bomber that served under three flags

The Vought Vindicator was the first monoplane dive bomber of the US Navy and quickly found foreign customers. French naval aviation ordered the V-156-F version, and Britain received the V-156-B1 machines under the name Chesapeake. Both European air arms found out the same thing: the aircraft was weakly powered for the year 1940, and all the same it reached the front lines, with French crews attacking advancing columns with it.

Three export machines

Two markings belong to the French V-156-F machines of the winter of 1939 and 1940, specifically to the aircraft number 7 and number 13 of escadrille AB1 from the coastal base of Alprech. The third variant is the British Chesapeake with the serial number AL924 of No. 811 Squadron, captured in 1941 at the Lee-on-Solent base, where the type served for training rather than for combat.

The Alprech base and what goes with it

Escadrille AB1 belonged to the formations that in the spring of 1940 sent obsolete carrier bombers against bridges and columns in the north of France. The losses were hard and only a handful of machines came back from the fighting. The British examples on the other hand were given a quieter task: their performance on small escort ships was not enough, and so they headed for training units.

Not a printed sheet alone

Masks for the canopy and photo-etched parts belong to the set as well, replacing the cartridge-case ejection chutes under the wing and the flap surfaces with dive brakes. The photo-etched parts are best degreased before gluing and bent in a bending tool or between two blades, so that the edge comes out sharp. Stick the masks on only onto a finished glossy base and peel them off shortly after the paint has dried, while the adhesive is still pliable.