SBD Dauntless interior

There is a book out called "Cockpit" that covers British, U.S., German, and Russian (only one, the Yak) fighter and bomber cockpits from WWII. It's a great reference to have, but I can't remember the authors' names or the publisher off hand but I'll look and find it. The only down side is you get only one pic of each cockpit and you can't always see the sides. I found this out while doing research for an A6M Zero project.

No, I think they just screwed up. I plan to fill in everything. (In what few photos I've seen, I see no circle whatsoever.)

Ahhh the testors kit. Quite a surprise when I opened it.
But it will come out fine with a little extra work and creativity...

The main reason I'm writing is in response to sphealey's comment about filling in the star....

I filled in the star on mine, and originally I thought that the recessed circle was a misalligned part of the star insignia - but then I thought - how could they possibly misallign a recessed line in a mold ? So I figured I would leave the circle and just fill in the star. Do you know if this is right ?

Ah, yes, 'tis true. I did buy the Testors kit. The only reason I need some interior detail is because the rear gunner's station is open, and I decided not to put in the provided crew figures. Yeah, the only reason I'd buy an aftermarket interior is 'cause I don't really trust my own skills to build my own. I don't know. I guess I'll see what I want to do as soon as I get a little cash.

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/185169_sbd_cockpit_port.jpg
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/185169_sbd_cockpit_starboard.jpg
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/185169_sbd_cockpit_panel.jpg
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/185169_sbd_rear-seat_view.jpg
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/185169_sbd_rear-seat_instruments.jpg

Also Detail and Scale for the SBD is very good, I think it's about $15.

The photos above are very useful too.

Darren

You must have bought the testors kit. I currently own this kit, and you should just put in the bare minium of interior detail (floor, seats, guns...), because of the heavy cockpit framing. (and fill in that star on the side of the fusalage).

Thanks a lot, guys. All of the sites (at least the ones I've been too) have been very helpful. I just might use the interior set suggested by Pete. (Thanks for that ) I don't think I'll go as far as the PE, though. (I didn't even intend to use aftermarket parts!) Anyway, thanks again. I'll let you (maybe not you, specificely, but the forum as a whole) how it turns out.

Here's another site that I have found useful:

http://sbd_dauntless.tripod.com/home.htm

Nothing beats Bert Kinzey's Dauntless Detail & Scale book though!

Not too long ago, I also built the Hasegawa 1/72 SBD Dauntless. If you are looking for pictures for the purpose of building an accurate interior, you've got a big job ahead. Let me suggest that you get the True Details resin interior from Squadron. It fits well and has every little detail including painting instructions.

The only thing that I didn't like was the rear gun mount, too large and out of scale. I used the mount from a PE set.

If you really feel ambitious, get the PE set and use the landing and dive flaps also. But be advised, all of the tiny ribs come seperate and have to be glued on one at a time. The finished flaps seem to want to bend by just looking at them, I wish that these PE sets were made of stainless steel like most of the European 1/43 car kits have. When it's finished, your SBD will be little gem. Your only alternative is to drill out all of those accurately spaced holes and hope it looks good.

Pete

Dave,

Thanks for posting those links. Some good interior shots there. That should help out Lucien.

Try these...

http://www.avweb.com/news/skywrite/185203-1.html
http://www.airzoo.org/sbd.htm
http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/sbd.html

Good luck!
Dave