[kb466]

Well, I received my Hobby Master 1/32 SBD-3 a couple of days ago from Aim Higher Jets. Being a bit of a student of the SBD and probably knowing more about them than most people, I thought I would post some thoughts and impressions. First, it is big and impressive size and weight-wise. With the limitations inherent in a large diecast model, it is actually quite an accurate representation of an SBD-3. Looking it over, I am fairly certain that HM used the Trumpeter 1/32 plastic SBD-3 as their master. As far as I am concerned, this is a good thing as the Trumpeter kit is very nice and quite accurate itself. The negative aspects are that the crew is too small. I can live with this as I usually leave the crew out of my planes anyway. However, it would have been nice to have a crew the quality of the 21^st Century Corsair pilot which has been displayed here. If that had been the case, I would have been sorely tempted to put a crew in when displaying my SBD. The dive brakes are not easy to work and seem a bit flimsy. However, they look good closed, so that is how they will be displayed. And yes, my SBD had an extreme case of propeller droop. For a fix, I drilled out the pin and removed it from the propeller and replaced it with a short length of brass rod. I also drilled out the front of the engine and inserted a short length of brass tubing for the brass rod to slide into. Now the propeller no longer droops, and all is well with the world. I am not sure that I would advise using this technique unless you have a drill press or milling machine. It sounds like a simple job, but unless you can carefully align the angle of the drill and make everything “square”, the propeller might not end up straight at all but may be more skewed than ever. If you doubt your abilities, I would use a temporary shim or removable glue and then wait for the replacement propellers from HM.

As I have studied this thing for the past couple of days, I have become more impressed and pleased with it. I will be doing some improvements to mine. I plan to add some seatbelts to the interior. I will also do some subtle weathering and exhaust stains. I say “subtle” because this particular SBD was fairly new at the time of the Battle of Midway. Panel lines will be subtly accented. I know some cringe at this, but I think it is really necessary on a model of this size. The firewall will be painted aluminum as they usually were (but not always) on the real thing. This will show as a ring of silver behind the cowl flaps. There will be other fine detail painting as appropriate. One thing that should be noted is that the insignia on the plane have the white overpainted red centers. The red very subtly shows through. Considering when the actual SBD “GC” was manufactured, that is probably exactly how it was at Midway. Nice touch, HM.

In conclusion, and having had some time to study and enjoy it, I am quite happy with my purchase. As I said, it is a pretty decent and accurate example of an SBD. There are a few problems, but overall, I think it was a nice job.