1/32 Douglas TBD-1 Devastator by Trumpeter - TBD-1A in October 2023!

[denders]

5 hours ago, npb748r said:

anybody know what the thingy (technical term !) is located on the right hand side of the plane just below the cockpit windscreen in some of the pictures ?? 

I think that is the gun camera.

[ivanmoe]

1 hour ago, denders said:

I think that is the gun camera.

 

Cameras were a fairly common sight on F3F for training flights:

 

 

Analysis of the film helped improve pilot proficiency in deflection targeting.

Edited October 5, 2022 by ivanmoe

[Out2gtcha]

You go away camping with the wife and a buddy for 4 days and a miracle happens!   

Honestly never thought Id see the day...............

Now mind you if the windscreen is the worst f-up on the model that may be the easiest kit to fix in a while. Well, only have to hope the rest of the kit is decent.

 

Glad those wanting a 32nd TBD stood by their guns for 20+ years.   Guess that old "Trumpy TBD" joke everyone busts out when talking about something that never will get released has to go by the wayside.

 

 

 

[Finn]

Even the gunners had gun cameras:

 

 

a couple more pics, note the exhaust staining:

 

 

 

Jari

[LSP_K2]

Another photo from the excellent Schiffer book, that clearly shows the raised reinforcement for the scope and boot. I'm now leaning heavily toward the notion that the two vertical and parallel bars, are not framing, as such, as they are neither bolted nor screwed, internally or externally.

 

[Dennis7423]

I agree with Kevin. They appear to be some sort of support structure inside the canopy, and they are not attached to the perspex at all:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And while this is a flight sim, they appear to have depicted this quite well:

 

 

 

So, we sand the two frames off, polish, and all two straight pieces inside the canopy. Easy-peasy.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[Borsos]

Finally a Devastator in 1:32 scale. These news made my day 

who‘s in for a Vindicator?

 

Andreas

[LSP_K2]

1 hour ago, Borsos said:

who‘s in for a Vindicator?

 

Andreas

 

Me.

[CRAZY IVAN5]

4 hours ago, Dennis7423 said:

I agree with Kevin. They appear to be some sort of support structure inside the canopy, and they are not attached to the perspex at all:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And while this is a flight sim, they appear to have depicted this quite well:

 

 

 

So, we sand the two frames off, polish, and all two straight pieces inside the canopy. Easy-peasy.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

I see no real problems fixing this either , now if the rest of the kit passes muster. Going to have to wait for the sprue shots .

[Finn]

A bunch more photos:

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Douglas_TBD_Devastator

 

Jari

[alaninaustria]

So, any more news from Japan when we will see this kit hit the market? 

Cheers

Alan

[ivanmoe]

On 10/4/2022 at 1:00 AM, LSP_K2 said:

 

I've yet to check my one single best reference on the Devastator (the Schiffer volume), but found this photo in this Osprey book. To me, this looks very much like what this kit provides, with either a curved or flat central panel (I really can't tell from this particular photo).

 

 

I received a copy of the Schiffer book this afternoon, and a larger version of Kevin's pic above is on page 44. Provided with a bit more detail, it really does appear as though the grommet around the windscreen's gunsight port is integrated into the rightmost of the two black strips/rods. It might be that a plausible approach to modeling both the grommet and the strips would be to simply paint them a dark rubber color, although I'm not sure that they should present externally in relief. One way or the other, I suspect that the rivets on the kit windscreen's inboard "framing" will need to be removed. This of course assumes that the builder isn't interested in building an example of a TBD from the "replacement batch" of Devastors that's been discussed.

[D.B. Andrus]

On 10/5/2022 at 5:18 PM, LSP_K2 said:

 

Me.

 

Me, too.

[Oldbaldguy]

14 hours ago, ivanmoe said:

 

I received a copy of the Schiffer book this afternoon, and a larger version of Kevin's pic above is on page 44. Provided with a bit more detail, it really does appear as though the grommet around the windscreen's gunsight port is integrated into the rightmost of the two black strips/rods. It might be that a plausible approach to modeling both the grommet and the strips would be to simply paint them a dark rubber color, although I'm not sure that they should present externally in relief. One way or the other, I suspect that the rivets on the kit windscreen's inboard "framing" will need to be removed. This of course assumes that the builder isn't interested in building an example of a TBD from the "replacement batch" of Devastors that's been discussed.

There is extant on line a photo of one LCDR Lance Massey of VT-3 who was killed at Midway along with everybody else in the TBD community save one.  It is a PR shot of Massey in the cockpit.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see clearly - in my mind anyway - that the black strips everyone is in such a twist about are simply hard rubber strips between the three pieces that make up the center panel of the windscreen.  They are not metal rods, braces or anything else inside the cockpit.  I would imagine that the technology surrounding compound curved bullet resisting glass at the time was limited and Douglas found it easier/cheaper/quicker to make the Devastator’s windshield in three pieces rather than one.  Why narrow rubber strips over more conventional aluminum framing you ask?  Probably to give the pilot a better view of the flight deck and LSO when coming aboard.  Or maybe to allow him a better view of his target.  Or maybe they just wanted to do build them that way.  Sadly, no one who built these airplanes is available to tell us.

[DrDave]

Mig 3 canopy is similar, curved and joined, but not framed except  at the edges IIRC.