Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless" – the US carrier-based bomber

The SBD-3 "Dauntless" began its service in the US Navy in 1939 as a dive bomber. Due to its unimpressive characteristics, mainly due to its low speed, it did not arouse enthusiasm among the pilots, flying it. And that lack of enthusiasm was further increased by memories of even worse flight characteristics and shortcomings, that characterized the previous versions of this aircraft: the SBD-1 and SBD-2. And the new aircraft was unarmored, which meant it was easily vulnerable even to small-caliber weapons, poorly armed, had a low maximum speed, and did not have a long range. The indisputable good qualities were its almost fighter-like maneuverability and excellent dive bombing characteristics. True, later SBD-3s already had some armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. Defensive armament was reinforced in later series - it already consisted of two 7.62 mm caliber machine guns. The main armament of the “Dauntless”, however, was bombs (or rather one 1,000-pound (454 kg) bomb), characterized by high penetrating power and delaying explosives. 500-pound bombs of various purposes (fragmentation, high-explosive, incendiary) were also used. 1000-pound bombs easily penetrated even the armored deck of ships and exploded only at the lower levels of the attacked ships. Their effectiveness was confirmed by the sinking of 6 Japanese aircraft carriers and a fairly large number of other warships in 1942 alone. Thanks to these planes and their bombs, two Japanese super-battleships, “Yamato” and “Musashi”, were also sunk. The high speed of penetration and maneuverability often allowed the SBD-3 to be used as a fighter, covering their aircraft carriers, and here they won a number of victories. Since 1944, the “Dauntless” has been steadily displaced from the decks of large aircraft carriers by the new heavier and much faster Curtiss “Helldiver”.

A moderately detailed, but well-designed model with full cockpit equipment, armament, landing gear, propeller and exterior detailing. The model is not complicated and can be assembled perfectly by modelers of any experience. There are no color stocks. The textual instruction is small, but clear, informative, and explains a lot in Polish, the graphical one is medium-size, but also comprehensive and informative, and is also perfectly readable. The model recreates the appearance of the 1st Marine Air Wing 243rd Dive Bomber Division machine, which operated from the Munda and New Georgia bases in August 1943. Antiquarian publication.