Looks really good, the actual plane was brand new when Dick Best flew it, they picked it up at Pearl, and a week or so later were at Midway, so it would've been factory fresh....
Found it. Tom Cleaver wrote that “Dick told me the SBD-3s that VB-6 re-equipped with after their return from the Doolittle Raid had just been shipped out to Pearl Harbor and "they were the cleanest airplanes I ever flew in the Navy."” So about five weeks.
There you go, knew I wasn't imagining it....😂
I did the Best Dauntless and McCluskys Devastator last year from Midway, so I remebered the Dauntless was mint condition, and the Devastator was rough and ready....
Nice pair, (Fnarr fnarr), I went green as that's what the research pointed to, wheel wells were alu, engine and all other internal areas from the cockpit were yellow zinc chromate, and cockpit was interior green. A right old mix.
Absolutely. I did only light dirtying up on the wing roots. I thought they got them in April after Doolittle - I need to check that. Only Bombing 6 pic I’ve seen at Midway was B-15 so I’ve followed that for (lack of) stencils and general (lack of) weathering.
They had them as an upgrade in Pearl, whether that was a couple of months before Midway I can't say, i know they sailed from Pearl to Midway though, and the planes were reported to have been "factory fresh". They may have had a week or two familiarising with them.
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I did the Best Dauntless and McCluskys Devastator last year from Midway, so I remebered the Dauntless was mint condition, and the Devastator was rough and ready....