SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Interior color of SBD-1Dauntless

1124 views
4 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    November 2005
Interior color of SBD-1Dauntless
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, June 5, 2003 2:13 AM
Hello,

I recently aquired an Accurate Miniatures SBD-1 Dauntless which I'm about to start building. The kit looks amazing detail-wise and should prove interesting, however, here is where my confusion lyes. The instructions say to paint the interior cockpit surfaces aluminum. I though all american WW2 aircraft interiors were "interior green"?. All the built Dauntlesses I've seen as reference were painted green. Is it only the later versions (3 and 5) that have interior green? Which is correctQuestion [?]

Any advice given would be very helpful.Smile [:)]Smile [:)]Smile [:)]

Thanks, Joe
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Pominville, NY
Posted by BlackWolf3945 on Thursday, June 5, 2003 6:42 AM
Hey Joe,

The interiors of many pre-war US Navy and Marines aircraft were coated in a clear lacquer with aluminum powder mixed in. Logically, one would think that the SBD-1, being a pre-war aircraft, would also have had it's interior finished as such.

However, there is evidence to suggest that this may not have been the case.

Here's a link to an interesting web page that I found:

http://sbd_dauntless.tripod.com/closeup/1612/ph_sbd1.htm

The SBD seen on this page was raised from lake Michigan in the 1990's and is said to be an SBD-1. It appears as though you can see some remnants of a green colored paint in some shots of the interior. Hard to tell in most of the shots because of the corrosion, but there are a couple where the green seems to be fairly distinct.

Also, there are two period photos which seem to show that, at the least, part of the interior (in this case the rollover pylon) may have been painted green. Whatever color it is, it certainly is not bare aluminum or aluminized lacquer.

The first shot is a legitimate color photograph. The second is somewhat suspect; it appears to be a colored print and cannot be trusted as it is presented on this web page. But the original image IS a color photograph and is reproduced in two books that I have. I'll try to scan them, but my scanner is giving me problems at the moment. (I guess I've been giving it quite a workout lately!)

Anyhoo, close examination of a couple dozen black and white shots of several different SBD-1's also confirm that whatever color the pylons are, they are not aluminum.

I hope this helps some.

Fade to Black...
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, June 5, 2003 7:24 AM
There is a walk-through of the SBD-1 at the Accurate Miniatures site as well that refers to the interior color....my Bert Kinzey book does not have any color pics of the -1, but I'll look through and see what it says about the interior...
Mike
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Pominville, NY
Posted by BlackWolf3945 on Thursday, June 5, 2003 5:48 PM
Knew I forgot sumthin'!

Here's a link to the SBD-1 Online Build at the Accurate Miniatures site that Jeeves mentioned. It should serve as a bit of inspiration!

http://www.accurate-miniatures.com/builds/sbd/sbdbuild.htm

At the top of the page is a bit of overrun from one of the TBF articles, just scroll down a ways.


Fade to Black...
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, June 5, 2003 9:27 PM
Well-- Kinzey has no reference to actual colors, but the B&W pic of the SBD-1 pit does eem to be more shiny than the -3 or -5 :D
Mike
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.