"If there is only one plane left" - S&P TBD-1

[talls6]

The Final "pep talk" Commander Waldron gave his men prior to taking off on June 4th 1942, was a bit of Foreshadowing. "If there is only one plane left to make the Final Run-in, I want that man to go in and get a hit. May God be with us all. Good luck, Happy Landings, and Give-em hell". VT-8 took off from the USS Hornet and flew into history.

The plane they flew was the outdated TBD-1. I am sure the crews knew what they faced and that they didn't have the best bird, but they went anyway.

The Douglas TBD Devastator was state of the art when it was introduced in 1937. But such was the pace of aircraft design that by 1941 it was outmoded and coupled with a highly ineffective Torpedo it was an easy target for enemy fighters. Slow, maneuverable, and needing a straight run to the target it was a testament to the bravery of the men who flew it and the gunners who tried to protect its tail. 36 of the 41 TBD's sent out that day were shot down by Zero's and AA fire.

Bruno of Scissors and Planes created a very nice 1/100 scale version painted in the colors of Ensign George Gay and his Radioman/Gunner Robert Huntington. I scaled it up to 1/87 scale and scratch built the Mark 13 Torpedo. Thank you all for checking in.

[Vinalssergio155]

Very beautiful, very well done Darren.Lindo tribute to those brave men.

[MichaelS]

Very nice job and a very thoughtful tribute to Torpedo 8.

[CMDRTED]

well done, thanks for sharing

[Don Boose]

Excellent model, excellent background information, and a very evocative historic image.

Thanks for posting!

Don

[Rata]

Thanks for sharing this model Darren. History has shown the TBD to be sadly lacking but that never stopped the brave men who took them to war.

[Mike1158]

A very nice 'Bird'.

[tigertony100]

Nice Upscale!! Torpedo 8 planes is a piece of history I like. Another Bruno´s design that made it. A whole legion of builders, recolorists, upscalers, downscalers and so on has merged around this easy to build planes. All of that just is for what we all are here:FUN.Regards.Tony.

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by tigertony100

Nice Upscale!! Torpedo 8 planes is a piece of history I like. Another Bruno´s design that made it. A whole legion of builders, recolorists, upscalers, downscalers and so on has merged around this easy to build planes. All of that just is for what we all are here:FUN.Regards.Tony.

Absolutely could not agree more young fella!!

[talls6]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. To me, scale modeling (no matter the medium) is about the story behind the model. Why was it important/infamous, who were the people who crewed them. The TBD is a prime example of this to me. Men going into battle knowing the outcome was not in their favor, but doing it anyway because "it was their job". The 41 TBD's that day, along with the B-17's, TBF's, B-26's, SB2U's from Midway, kept the Japanese occupied enough for the SBD Dauntlesses to hit them hard. May we all keep doing this hobby for fun, but also to not forget those who sacrificed so much.