The World War Two-Seaters: A few newly painted 6mm aircraft

EDIT: The original article had the Douglas SBD Dauntless as a miniature from Raiden/I94. However, this was not correct. It is from Scotia Grendel miniatures.

An interim post on three 6mm (1/285 or 1/300) aircraft that have been sitting basecoated, in the to-do box for literally years. I finally painted them the other day.

I picked these three planes to paint together as they are of similar configuration, being two-seater monoplanes, Allied, from WW2. Each type however, managed to shoot down at least one enemy fighter aircraft in a dogfight, despite the disadvantages of a relatively low-powered two-seater design.

Intended for Check Your 6! Introductory Scenarios

The first introductory scenario in the Check Your 6! rulebook is called 'The Swede', and it pits three Green-quality IJN pilots in Mitsubishi A6M Zeros against an Ace-quality US Navy pilot flying a Douglas SBD Dauntless. The scenario is designed to showcase the importance of pilot skill, perhaps even the primacy of this factor in the ruleset over aircraft technical capabilities such as power, speed, manoeuvrability and armament.

Years ago I posted to this blog a solo game where I tried out 'The Swede' scenario using the planes I had at the time (three Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and a Fokker D.XXI as the Ace) which of course I called 'The Dutchman.' The the D.XXI is a single-seat fighter, so I needed even more unlikely dogfighters to refight the scenario with different historical matchups, hence, the two seaters with defensive armament. The Dauntless will of course fight Zeros. The CAC Wirraway will face Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusas (historically an Australian Wirraway managed to shoot down a Ki-43 over Ambon, I think) and a Bolton Paul Defiant will try to survive as a turret fighter versus some 109s (maybe, if the 109s mistake it for a Hurricane).

The Planes

For reference material, I used Angelucci, E. and Matricardi, P. Combat Aircraft of World War II 1941-1942; Wheeler, B.C. The Hamlyn Guide to Military Aircraft Markings; and pictures from the internet.

Douglas SBD Dauntless (dive bomber). Markings: VC-40, US Navy, 1944.
Although this colour scheme is apparently too late to have been on the Swede's aircraft, I always liked it, so I'm painting it.
(Scotia Grendel miniatures, Dom's Decals).

The open cockpit on the Dauntless is a really nice touch and I'm glad I went for this miniature.

Bolton Paul Defiant. Markings: 264 Squadron, RAF, 1940.
(Scotia-Grendel miniatures, Dom's Decals).

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) Wirraway (multirole trainer/light attack/army cooperation/and sometimes the only 'fighter' available). Markings: No 4 Squadron, RAAF, 1942. Note: This is not the actual Wirraway that shot down the Japanese fighter: that was a No 24 Squadron aircraft. I only had No 4 Squadron colours to work from.
(Scotia-Grendel miniatures, Dom's Decals).