Academy 1/48 Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless - Inbox Review

[Dave Ward]

Academy are a well established Korean Manufacturer, producing a wide range of mosels in many scales. This model began life in 1997, with Accurate Miniatures in the USA, they produced a range of very high quality models. The original AM went bust in 2001, their moulds have since been used widely, this one for example not only being produced by Academy, but Italeri, Eduard & Revell.
There are several different boxings around ( -3, -4, -5 variants )
The SBD was the mainstay of US Navy carrier strike forces for most of WWII A sturdy dive bomber with nonfolding wings it was just coming into full service at the US beginning of WWII & was beginning to be replaced by the SB2C Helldiver in late 1944.

Nice sturdy box with glossy boxart
Sprue shots

Deals & other bits

Canopy masks & tiny PE with seatbelts

Instructions - A4 Fold out sheets - line diagrams & photos - look reasonably clear


3 marking options - all the same colours - the SBD-5 never did have any fancy schemes!
One thing is immediately apparent is the quality of this model, despite being 1997 it is still very much comparable with the latest models.
Part 2 for detail pics & comment

[Dave Ward]

Detail shots:


All parts are cleanly moulded, no flash or sink marks - one or two ejector marks, but not bad. The surface detail is exceptional, very clean & well defined. It doesn't have a massive parts count, but the detail is all there - the perforated dive brakes are really well done. The canopy has options of fully closed, or separate oieces - thankfully canopy masks are included! I reckon a beginner could take this on easily. Colour call out are referenced back to several paint brands. All in all it's complete, you don't need any AM parts to make a very nice model. As I've said this is very much a contemporary quality kit - in 1997 it must have been really exceptional
Availability? Yes - at around the £25 mark ( +p&p ). Shop around............
Scalemates comes into play here - you can find who has produced the SBD - for example the Revell boxing can be found, for much more than the Academy version( and it doesn't have the masks or PE ), but it's the same basic plastic.................. so do your research before parting with your pennies!
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

That looks really impressive Dave. Love to see that built when you’re up to it :thumb2:
Good to get some education as well. For some reason, I thought Academy was a US brand :flushed:

[Dave Ward]

That looks really impressive Dave. Love to see that built when you’re up to it :thumb2:
Good to get some education as well. For some reason, I thought Academy was a US brand :flushed:

Tim,
there can be a big difference between a model brand country & it's actual manufacture - Airfix are made in India, but it's a British company - Tamiya are Japanese, but their products are made in the Philippines. I reckon most of the major western makers subcontract the production of the plastic to China/Korea!
I also have an Academy 1/48 SB2U Vindicator in the stash, it has the same pedigree, and is of a similar quality, I didn't know which to review,the SBD, or the SB2U, but on opening the box, there were several parts off the sprue, so the Dauntless got the nod..............
Dave

[outrunner]

Really good detail on what is an older model.

Andy.

[Dave Ward]

Really good detail on what is an older model.

Andy.

I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this & a 2022 model.................
Dave

[Guest]

For some reason, I thought Academy was a US brand :flushed:

They got started producing cheap Tamiya knock-offs — as far as I can tell, they copied the parts 1:1 but arranged them differently on the sprues. I guess that because South Korea was trying to become an economic powerhouse at the time (the 1980s), this was hard to act upon for Tamiya, but I know for a fact that the Tamiya importer in the Netherlands did not like people selling Academy kits — to the extent that you basically had to be referred to the shops that sold them. I remember phoning one shop up in the late 80s, as I wanted to buy the Academy copy of the old Tamiya M10 3-inch gun motor carriage kit (because that was out of production at the time), and being asked by the shop owner, “Who told you?” and only when I mentioned the name, did he admit selling them

As for the SBD, I built the old Matchbox kit in 1:32 years before wanting to buy the M10 kit, and it was one of my favourites — still is, really. I wouldn’t mind a 1:72 SBD, but this one is unfortunately too large for me, even though it looks like a really good kit.

[rtfoe]

I have the original Midway version of the AM kit and its staying in the box for a while as it is so cool and so different than the old Nichimo/Arii kit that has rivets coming out of every pore that's a shelf queen for years. Maybe I'll tackle both someday.

Cool review Dave.

Cheers,
Richard