Valom 1/72 Northrop BT-1
|
 |
History:
The total history of the Northrop BT-1 and its subsequent follow on
variations is in realty a very well know story of a very well know US
Navy aircraft that played a key roll in WWII. Of note is the fact that
it had a very advance design for its time in that it was a low wing all
metal monoplane with semi retractable landing gear and split trailing
edge flaps. Of course some of you are asking what I am talking about and
just how the BT-1 played such a major roll in WWII.
The story of the BT-1 begins with its brilliant designed Jack Northrop.
Northrop stated his career, in the late 1920s, with Lockheed and is credited
with the design of their famous Vega. Northrop, being very independent,
left Lockheed and started a series of his own companies that subsequently
were taken over by the larger ones that had backed him. Of course Northrop
eventually was successful in establishing his own aircraft company that
still bares him name to this day. However, at the time that he designed
the BT-1 his company had been financed by and was a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Douglas. As noted above the BT-1 was very advanced for its time and
as such, in 1937, the Navy placed an order for 54 of the aircraft. Production
deliveries, starting with VB-5, began in April of 1938. As is the case
with most aircraft, after the initial production batch is delivered a
design improvement program is initiated. The BT-1 design was no exception;
however the company itself had gone through some changes and was now know
as the El Segundo Division of Douglas Aircraft. As a result of this shift
in ownership the designation of the BT-1 was changed to SDB and the aircraft
was then named the Dauntless. And as it is said, now you know the rest
of the story.
The Kit:
The Valom 1/72nd scale BT-1 is a multi media kit consisting of an injection
molded airframe, resin and photo-etched details, and a choice of either
vac-u-formed or injected molded canopy.
The airframe comes molded on a single sprue tree in dark gray styrene.
The molding looks to be fairly clean with very little clean-up required
and no sink holes. The recessed panel lines are well defined but not overly
heavy. The cockpit is made up from a combination of the resin and photo-etched
parts, including a PE instrument panel with film instruments and PE seat
belts. The engine is also made up from resin parts. The split flaps/dive
brakes are very nicely detailed PE, as are the detail for the resin bomb
and bomb release mechanism. The injected molded canopy is of excellent
quality being both delicate and very clear. However if you chose to have
an open canopy on your BT-1, Valom has thoughtfully provided a thinner
vac canopy that can be easily cut apart and slid under its other sections.
Finally the instruction sheet seemed to be adequate and fairly easy
to read and understand, as does the colored decal placement guide. However
be advised that the colors as printed on the decal guide are slightly
incorrect. For example the tail surfaces of the aircraft from the Enterprise
are not purple but medium blue. So be sure to use the color guide provided
on the instruction sheet that references either the Fed Standard number
or the correct color from the various companies, such as Humbrol, Model
Master, or Gunze Sangyo.
Markings:
The kit provides two sets of makings for the BT-1. One is for a VB-5
aircraft circa 1938 that was assigned to the USS Yorktown (CV-5). The
other scheme is for a VB-6 aircraft that operated off of the USS Enterprise
(CV-6) also in 1938. The decals look to be of very good quality both in
registration and color.
Conclusion:
This kit is nicely done and well detailed. The makings look to be of
good quality. If you are a pre-war (yellow Wings) buff this will be a
nice addition to your collection.
Thanks to Valom for this sample copy.
|
|
