Reference material that is
specific to the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator is few and far between and most of it
is starting to show its age. Osprey book goes some distance to resolve this, but
Steve Ginter’s book goes a long way towards giving us a definitive resource for
TBD research. Ninety six pages of black and white photos and historical text are accompanied by more than a few Douglas blueprints showing details like wingfold mechanisms, wing access panels, ordnance load-outs, and even drawings of the radio gear not photographed in the cockpit walk-arounds I’ve seen. There is also a full cutaway spread on the center pages and a copy of the original order listing plane number, BuNo, unit destination and marking callout for the first 114 TBDs built (only the first 81 TBDs had markings from the factory). The text, although a bit sparse with all the photographs and blueprints, does a good job of covering the development of the TBD and gives a brief overview of the TBDs service-particularly in the Atlantic. Steve Ginter is also quick to point out that even though the loss of VT-8 at Midway was
catastrophic, the losses
suffered by VT-3 and VT-6 should not be overlooked. The book finishes with some
coverage of TBD activities with training units and a brief model section,
featuring the Airfix and Valom 1/72 kits and the 1/48 Monogram release.I’m writing my first internet review because I can’t say enough about this book (in spite of the few typos-Shoho didn’t sink on 6 June 1942). Packed full of the best photographs of the Devastator and with enough blueprints to satisfy any AMS craving, I highly recommend this book as a stand alone definitive resource guide for modeling the TBD.