Matchbox 1/72 Curtiss SBC-4 Helldiver

This is the review of an old airplane, from an old mould: Curtiss SBC4 in 1/72 from Matchbox.

The Curtiss SBC was a two-seat scout dive bomber, being the last biplane procured by the US Navy, and it was obsolete before WW2 started. It was underarmed, and not that fast. It was kept well out of the combat front.

Some model builders get shivers when they think on building old mould models... Its always a mistery to know what you'll really get, how good will the fitting be, how much detail...

How much work will it require to be at least ok... And this one is not dreadfull... It is actually a nice fast build.

The biggest headache was to fix the forward canopy because it had an injection defect... But I cannot blame the manufacturer for that now, It was sold in early eighties, any kind of warranty is long overdue.

Landing gear details are ok. You may have an empty space, but that gives you room to work and improve, if you wish.

Cockpit doesnt have astonishing detail, its actually rough, but there isn't much to see... the machine gun is well represented. For its age.

Engine detail could be a little better, and if you do take some time in cutting down the interior, you may actually get some nice cylinders.

Decals were problematic because of the protective sheet having glued itself to the decals... but despite that, they were usable.

But appart from all that, if you do take some time and effort on it, you may get more than an ok model, you can even get an astonishing model.