Airfix

1/72 Douglas TBD-1 Devastator

Reviewed by  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

History The history of the Douglas TBD-1, the Navy's first carried based monoplane torpedo bomber, is well known, so I won't repeat it here. It is enough to say that the aircraft was kept in service long after it should have been replaced, and although its successor, the Grumman TBF-1 was available in 1942 during the Battle of Midway, it was not present in quantity when it could have made a difference. So the TBD-1 was used against the Japanese fleet, and although their crews were not able to inflict any damage on the Japanese carriers, they did serve to divert Japanese attention from the VB squadrons overhead who were able to do the serious damage that resulted in a disaster for Admiral Yamamoto's navy. References At least three good references are available on this aircraft. In 1973, Aero Publishers produced a monograph entitled Douglas TBD-1 "Devastator" which contains excellent photos, drawings, and interior views. The authors were B. R. Jackson and Thomas E. Doll. Later, Squadron-Signal produced U.S. Navy Carrier Bombers of World War II, which covers the TBD, TBF, TBM, SBD and SB2C. It has a very useful section on the TBD. The later Squadron In-Action series monograph on the aircraft is also useful. The Kit For many years, the Airfix kit has been the only show in town, and if you wanted to build a TBD-1 (there was no further development) it was the Airfix kit or nothing. This is a very old kit, dating back at least to the seventies, although there are no indications of the kit's release date either on the moldings themselves or on the original British instruction sheet. I also have a Japanese issued kit from the same molds, and if there is a date on these instructions, it is in Japanese, so no help there. The only modification you could do on this kit, aside from the usual variations in markings, is the floatplane model, the TBD-1A, which was tested briefly before the war. I have built a number of these models over the years, and have encountered both white and light grey plastic. The molds don't seem to have deteriorated much over the years, as all of my kits have very little flash or distortion. This kit came out at about the same time as Airfix's Douglas SBD, TBF, and FM-2, I believe in the early seventies, and is probably the best of the lot. The kit is typical of the time period, with excellent surface detail, slightly overdone rivet detail (although the TBD-1 was produced before the advent of flush riveting), and very little interior at all. In this case, the kit provides three seats, a cockpit floor, an instrument panel, two of what appear to be control sticks, a rear bulkhead, a DF loop antenna, and a bracing structure for the raised bulkhead. A telescopic gun sight fits through the front windshield, and the canopy consists of four sections. There is also a rear gun and mounting parts for it. Wings are made up of inner and outer sections, two pieces each, and it is possible to assemble the wing either in folded or extended positions, although the wing root has to be detailed for the folded model. The fuselage is in two sections, and the engine faithfully represents the twin row radial, crankshaft, cowling, and exhaust stacks. Two landing gear assemblies are provided, one for extended and one for folded. The same wheels are used for both versions. The horizontal tail surfaces are one piece, and the corrugations peculiar to this aircraft are well reproduced, requiring some trimming after the wing halves are joined together. Armament consists of one Bliss Leavitt torpedo or one 1000 pound bomb mounted in the belly. Racks are provided for the bomb. Two different center sections are provided to accommodate the armament variations. Assembly The kit goes together very easily, with no surprises. The cockpit area is easy to detail, and the sidewalls can be built up with no problem, especially as there are a lot of interior photos available from various sources. Interior photos show the basic color to be silver, not chromate, and although the seats are rather basic, they can be used without too much modification. An instrument panel blank is provided, but this can be embellished by a printed or painted instrument panel. Cockpit details will be hard to see after the canopy is installed unless you vacuform your own. The four piece clear canopy can be done in the open position, as I did on one of mine, but the pilot's canopy is a little thick to get it to sit in the right position. These require quite a bit of masking, but although a tedious job, as any multi-frame canopy is, it is not at all difficult. The fuselage goes together well and requires only a little bit of filler to smooth out the rough spots. The rivets are somewhat larger than life, and should probably be sanded down a little, but don't remove them, as photos I have show an absence of flush riveting. The wings are molded in eight parts, and lining them up is a little tricky if you are going to leave them extended. If you are going to model the aircraft with wings folded, you'll need photos of the actual aircraft, available in the sources, as although the model has provision for folded wings, the wing butts have to be built up. This is easy to do. You might want to put some detail into the wheel wells, mainly wing ribs and a spar, and this information is NOT available in the sources, so you're on your own there. One factor to consider with the wings is the corrugations. The wing leading edges need to be filed down after joining the wing section together, but they line up properly, and this is a simple job. The tailplanes are made in one piece, and can be added once the wings are attached and lined up properly. The landing gear is very basic, but lines up correctly, and the wheels can be attached during final assembly. An armament option is available, and requires different components for torpedo or bomb installation. Use the bomb racks if you are not going to install the torpedo. The engine cowling is very nicely done, and the Pratt and Whitney R-1830-64 radial engine can be used "as-is", with some paint detailing to accent the pushrod housings in front of the cylinders. The prop is a little heavy, and the blades need thinning to give them the petite look of those pre-war low altitude props used by the Navy during that period. A replacement would be good if you could find one, but the kit prop is adequate if you want to use it. By the way, if you ever scrap a TBD kit, the cowling and engine is perfect for converting one of the Curtiss SBC-4 kits (Matchbox or Heller) to the more common SBC-3, although the propeller needs to be changed. A Monogram P-36A prop would be perfect for this conversion. Painting There were many color schemes used by TBD's while in service. Originally silver, grey, and chrome yellow, neutrality grey became the color in 1941, and later a coat of "non-specular" blue was added to the upper surfaces and lower surfaces of the outer wing panels. Surviving aircraft were sometimes painted in the "tri-color" scheme during late 1942 and 1943. The last survivors, scrapped in 1944, must have carried the "star and bar" insignia common to late war Navy aircraft, but I haven't seen a photo of the aircraft in either "star and bar" combination. Markings ranged from the multi-colored squadron colors of the pre-war days to the plain white or black side numbers used for in-unit identification. A few aircraft carried the large red and white rudder stripes used during the Coral Sea operations. The marking variations are almost limitless, so check your sources and go for it. Recommendations This is an old kit, and I understand that a new one might be forthcoming, or actually produced, by an Eastern European firm. But this kit is certainly worthwhile, and as it is available at a low price from stores that still have them, or at swap meets, it is certainly worth the effort to model this historic aircraft. Used long after they should have been replaced by more modern aircraft, they nevertheless helped to turn the tide in the Pacific, turning the Japanese to more peaceful competition so that we can now drive our Toyotas, Nissans, and Mitsubishis. Airfix kits may soon become hard to get, since the firm has recently gone into receivership, so this might be a good time to pick up several examples while you can. Build several while you can still get them.

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