Monogram 1/48 TBD Dauntless

Like the Devastator, this is another build I had on the bench from about a year ago and just finished up in the last few days.

From the box and box art I'd say it too, is from the 70's, with all that implies.

I normaly abhor tacky little figures in aircraft but on this occassion, the cockpit was so bare without them, (not even seats or a joystick!!!) I decided to include them,

The engraving on the wheels was too poor to allow 'flowing' of thinned paint for the tyres, so I made some covers for the wheels. Other than this, the radio wire and drilling the myriad of holes in the dive vanes, it's completley boxstock.

The only original decals that were 'useable', were the rudder stripes and the side roundels. The rest came from the decals stash.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

That is a cool plane. I'd like to be the guy in back.

Oh man, that just looks sooo good. Making the transition from cars to planes isn't a big deal for you.

Nice.
Air brake flaps look cool !!

Thanks both. It's probably my favourite out of all my model planes.

coyote wrote:Oh man, that just looks sooo good. Making the transition from cars to planes isn't a big deal for you.

No it isn't Chris but then modeling is modeling.... no matter the genre!

Very nice build, I admire your persistence in drilling out the dive brakes.
The Dauntless like most of the Monogram 1/48 kits is from the mid 60s. They have been reissued several times with different box art. Yours is from the 80s. Same kit different box. As a kid this was one of my favorites - all of the moving features. A couple years ago a picked up a Japanese knock off of this kit - Nichimo I think was the brand. It was horrible, huge flash, warped and otherwise malformed parts, bad engraving but the same parts as the Monogram kit. I doubt I will ever finish it :(

Great lookin' plane Al! That's amazing work especially with all the holes. Great work my friend! 8)