34 - Douglas SBD Dauntless

3034 Douglas SBD Dauntless – Andre R. Zbiegniewski, Krzysztof Janowicz – ISBN 978-83-60445-69-3

The monograph on the Douglas SBD Dauntless, famous WW2 U.S. dive bomber, discusses its design, development, camouflage and markings, and operational history. Each variant is specified and described with coverage of changes made in its sub-variants. The book covers the early battles of the U.S. Navy units against the IJNAF: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway and the Guadalcanal campaign. The author constitutes a thorough insight into the decisive impact on air warfare in PTO made by units operating the SBD Dauntless during the early stage of war, when the aircraft gained its reputation as the ‘Slow But Deadly’. The actions of USMC units equipped with the Dauntless are also described. The monograph features specifications of the key Dauntless variants and lists of serial numbers and units operating Dauntless.
English text, 104 pages, 104 photos (including 7 in colour), 16 sheets of 1:32, 1:48 and 1:72 scale drawings, which include specification of external changes in production-run versions of the aircraft, 9 pages of colour charts with 18 examples of camouflage schemes.
Extra decal sheet with 1:48 and 1:72 individual markings for 4 schemes may be ordered:
SBD-1 (BuNo 1741) of MB-2, summer 1940,
SBD-5 (NZ5057, ex-BuNo 36925), flown by S/L T.J. MacLean de Lange of No 25 Sqn RNZAF, Piva, Bougainville, spring 1944,
SBD-5 of VMB-231, Pacific Theatre of Operations, 1945,
A-24B, flown by Lt. Virgil Schwab of 8(L) BS/3 BG, Moresby area, April 1942.