Testors 1/72 SBD
Dauntless finished as A-24B Banshee of the Mexican Air Force (FAM) circa 1950 in
Yucatan. The natural metal airplane has a replacement wing and cowling from an
American A-24. Incidentally, A-24 was the USAAF designation for their version of
the Navy Dauntless dive bomber. The A-24 lacked the tailhook and employed a
larger pneumatic tailwheel. A-24s were supplied to Mexico for anti-submarine
patrol beginning in 1943. The Mexicans lost several ships to German U-boats
during the second world war. The A-24s were finally withdrawn from service in
1960.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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My
sources for this build included the Latin American Aviation Society website (www.laahs.com), and a fascinating article by Mr. Manuel Guajardo.
A picture of
this aircraft can be found in the Squadron SBD booklet.
This model
includes a scratch-built interior and white metal .30 caliber twin tail guns by
Aeroclub. I don't know if these were utilized by the Mexicans but they are too
good to leave out. The metal exhausts are by Moskit and rubber tires by
Equipage. The markings are by Aztec Decals. The gun tub and gun doors, as well
as landing gear and nav lights, are scratch built.
Billy
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