1:144 Curtiss SBC-4 Helldiver with etched parts and decals (3D-Printed)

A biplane that saw the war but did not fight it

The Curtiss SBC Helldiver tends to be remembered as the last combat biplane taken into American service. The SBC-4 variant got the Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial of about 950 horsepower and was built at a time when the pace of development had long been set by monoplanes. France bought fifty part-built examples in 1940, but the transport aboard the ship Bearn ended at Martinique and the aircraft weathered away there without flying into action even once. The British took over five aircraft under the name Cleveland I. At home Helldivers stayed with training and reserve units into the first months of the war.

Why a small scale suits a biplane

Struts and interplane bracing tend to be the weakest point in 1:144: they turn into coarse posts. Printing with a fine layer step gets around that problem, the struts come out slender, the engine cylinders can be told apart one by one and the wing covering keeps a hint of ribs under the fabric.

• the whole aircraft in the box, not a set for improving somebody else's mold
• the more powerful engine to the standard of the SBC-4 version
• etched accessories for the bracing and the fittings of the open cockpit
• decals for a prewar American color scheme

The print supports sit on the lower surfaces, and once peeled off the spots only need sanding with fine paper. Modelers usually rig the wires between the wings with their own thread or thin wire according to the practice they use on biplanes. The printed surface holds paint best once a thin primer has been applied.