Accurate Miniatures SBD-3 Question/Problem

Jeff, is the part number on the sprue for your model 3411-2001?  I have the Battle of the Coral Sea boxing of the SBD-3 and the biggest difference should be mine has a single 30 cal in the rear cockpit, and I'm guessing yours has a dual mount.  They should have the same clear parts, and if so, they have both open and closed canopies included.  If so, its the right sprue.  Having not built mine, I'm not sure about the cowling.  Is there anyone else out there with some experience?

Hope this helped.  John

Thanks for the help.  The part number on mine is 0200-2000.  It's just obviously the wrong sprue was put into the box.  It's an inch longer that what it shoudl be, and has 10 window sections.  It looks like its from a Vindicator, or one of the trainers that has a long canopy.

I'm sure just a packaging mistake.  Was mostly wondering if the company that took them over would support it.  If it comes to it I suppose I'll cobble something together out of the wrong parts/spares and hang this thing from the cieling where you can't see it!

It's a shame, because it seems like a really nice kit otherwise.

Disclaimer: This is all 'If I Recall Correctly' from a post on this forum some years ago.

Pretty sure this was a quality control issue when it was boxed at AM.  

I think the longer cowl was meant to go into a later version or something like that.  Some people on here indicated their kits game with an additional sprue with the correct part, whilst others were just packed and shipped incorrectly.

Academy bought out the moldings from AM and (i think) some people have had some success emailing Academy for the replacement part - but this was some years ago. They may no longer be willing to do this.  Unfortunately i don't know what the part number is that you would need from Academy.

So...i probably haven't helped at all, but maybe shed some light on this issue.

Re: the Clear parts - no idea, i haven't seen that issue come up previously.

Had a look back through the forums, this is the thread i was talking about:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/160714.aspx?page=1

My memory betrays me - in the end, the modeller (Lawdog) was lucky enough to have somebody cast a new part for him.

Sorry, but i have no real solutions for you, but wish you all the best in (hopefully) finding a part you can use or cobbling one together.

The gun cover sounds like the mix and match parts problem some of these kits had, in the yellow box.  They needed the SBD-5 twin guns and they forgot to change out all the SBD-5 cowling parts.  If you cut the part in half you can sand down the back edge of the front half until it fits. 

As as for the clear parts, all the Accurate Min Dauntless kits had the same sprue.  There have been some eBay sellers with cheap kits with no decals. One even had the sprues for sale individually. 

Eduard recently released a version of the Dauntless kit so you might be able to get clear parts from them too. Academy might be worth a try too. 

GreenStyrene48

The gun cover sounds like the mix and match parts problem some of these kits had, in the yellow box.  They needed the SBD-5 twin guns and they forgot to change out all the SBD-5 cowling parts.  If you cut the part in half you can sand down the back edge of the front half until it fits. 

...

Thanks for the tip GreenStyrene. I'll have to remember this when i eventually get to mine.

Squadron has a canopy set for $7.95.

For your info, I have the single gun kit no.3411-0200. The clear parts assembly is no. 3411/12/20-9300. This is a great kit; sorry you have the wrong canopy! You may want to check out the possibility of a vacuum formed kit if all else fails.

Jeff, I have another possible solution. I pulled a Revell 1/48 SBD Dauntless kit no. 85-5249 out of my stash. It is a very simple kit compared to th AM kit, but the canopy is very close to the same size as the AM kit.

If you have a Michael's near by and a 40% coupon; you could have a workable canopy for less than $12!