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Cyberhobby 1/72 Curtiss SB2C-4

By Matt Bittner

Introduction

Even though, when it was first flown, the Curtiss SB2C was considered difficult to handle, in the end some pilots ended up liking the power. It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless, and while it was bigger than the SBD, it was also faster.

The Kit

One may wonder why another "Beast"? Why do we need another 1/72 SB2C Helldiver when the Academy kit already exists? While I don't own the Academy kit, I have seen enough of it on-line and through other modelers to know this takes "The Beast" on a whole new level. The cockpit detail and folding wings should be enough to convince you the Cyberhobby kit is the one to purchase. There are 154 pieces of grey injected plastic, a sprue of 6 clear pieces, and a photoetch fret of 12 pieces, containing flaps and slats, as well as seat belts. There are decals – nicely printed and in register – for the following schemes:

VB-80, CV-19, U.S.S. Hancock, 1945 (overall sea blue)
VB-87, CV-14, Ticonderoga, 1945 (overall sea blue)
VB-3, CVA-10, U.S.S. Yorktown, 1945 (three-color camouflaged)

Right off the bat you'll need to make your first decision with this build. The turtle deck – the area between the gunner and the tail – can be built "up" or "down" (another difference between the Academy kit). Once that decision is made and the pieces glued together, construction then moves to the engine. Be sure you paint each piece before assembling (there are five pieces to the engine out-of-the-box). Now that the engine is together, construction moves to the usual spot aircraft models start at – building up the cockpit. There are plenty of parts, and lots of excellent detail to the stock cockpit. With the right washes and dry brushing, the cockpit will really look great. Building up the cockpit includes adding pieces to the bomb-bay, including the bombs and their cradles/launch arms. In fact, there are multiple sub-assemblies to creating the entire cockpit – both ends – and the bomb bay underside.

Once that is all taken care of and glued into one fuselage half, then the fuselage halves can be glued together, along with the engine, cowl and separate rudder.

Before you start the next few steps, you'll need to decide if you're going to have the wings extended, or folded. That's because the folded wings are actually part of the last step in the instructions, while the previous steps have you actually build the wings, but don't mention the fold at all, nor that the fold even exists. Each wing consists of two main sections, and each section multiple pieces. While the outer section is built the same for either "folder" or "extended", it's important to realize the way the outer sections are attached to the inner sections.

Once you decide on how you're going to deploy the wings, the rest of assembly continues with the horizontal tail surfaces and separate stabs, bits and pieces for the wings and the photoetch flaps. However, I would leave the landing gear off until last.

Conclusion

If you haven't picked up a 1/72 "Beast", then the Cyberhobby SB2C-4 is the kit you want. There are a lot of excellent aspects to this kit, and the detail is outstanding.

My thanks to Dragon USA for the review kit.