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TBM-3 Avenger Conversion to TBF-1C. On to the Cockpit


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My next attempt at model building will be the 1/32 Trumpeter TBM-3 Avenger.  (Apologies to jean who requested the 1/32 F-105, but there are too many corrections and additions I need to make to the 105 and just want to do something semi-out of the box.)  When this kit came out, it was reviewed as one of Trumpeter’s better kits as far as shape and accuracy is concerned.  The box art is here.

 

Inner box

 

Inside there is some included kit PE and it looks like at some point in time I purchased the Eduard Seat belts.   Now the kit PE has seat belts, but the Eduard are so much better.  The bulk of the rest of the kit PE is for the bomb bay doors.

 

Kit Pe

 

Now what is missing from this picture?  The canopy masks!  I hate to mask canopies. It is my least favorite thing about model building.  And this puppy has a lot of complicated masking that needs to be done.  Must go online and purchase canopy masks!  Not to worry though, it will be a bit before I need them.

Inside the main box is a little mini-box full of goodies.

 

Inner box

 

Inside the mini-box are the vinyl tires; the engine cowl; some pieces for the engine; those funny, but irritating steel pins needed to hinge the flaps, tail and elevator; stuff for the instrument panel; the clear part for the rear machine gun; some stuff for the folding wings; and finally, some string.  (Not real sure about the string use yet?)

 

Inner Box goodies

 

I got me some instructions to follow. (28 pages!)

 

Instructions

 

The decals aren’t much to write home about.

 

Decals

 

I have a choice of two color schemes; one for a bird from the USS Shamrock and the other in the markings of former President Bush’s plane. 

 

Color Schemes

 

Right now, I am strongly leaning towards President Bush’s mount as I have just reread Flyboys.  I also am tempted to do a Tarpon/Avenger II but I think I will do that with the Accurate Miniatures version I have in the stash.

Finally, there are a ton of sprues inside. 

 

Sprues

 

There are 492 parts in total, not counting the Eduard PE.  According to the kit instructions, just 2 will not be used.  This might keep me busy over the weekend!

I also did a size comparison so I can also start thinking about where to put this when it is finished.

 

Size Comparison

 

The kit fuselage is dwarfs the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures fuselage which for a single engine plane is fairly large for 1/48.  I’m thinking this is destined for one of the hutches.

I also compared the inner fuselage detail.

 

Detail Comparison

 

Accurate Miniatures is known for the quality of kit detail and the Trumpeter inner detail is pretty close to match the AM detail.  That is a good sign.

So, next up, according to the instructions is four steps on just building up the engine.  It looks fairly detailed so I will probably figure out a way to display it as the cowling is a one-piece affair.  Must do some research on how the engine panels open for servicing and how to plan the surgery to open up the engine.  Seems a waste not to show it.  As always, all comments are welcome.

 

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I've been going over the instructions regarding the engine construction.  I would assume the color call outs for trumpeter are  Mr. Hobby/Gunze as nothing in the instructions indicate the recommended brand of paint. Just the numbers are listed. Now being simple minded, I have to write a color down for a series of letters and numbers ( and the dyslexia doesn't help either!). Some of the callouts are mighty suspicious.   A number of parts call for "gloss russet" which looks to be a reddish brown. Unless this is a funny radial with water cooling that has some really bad water, I'm not real sure about the color. The front housing is listed as being flat red?  I'm thinking no. So, some research needs to be done as I paint as I go along. Not good enough to construct everything like some people and then deftly place the different colors in their rightful place.  Of course, that lack of sense of touch also comes into play. On to the internet. As always, all comments are welcome. 

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Mini-update, mainly because I haven’t had time to do anything with the plastic, but have trolled the net concerning the Avenger engine and what it looked like.  Found these pictures at different places on the web.  (Only here for information purposes, any allegation of copyright infringement, etc. and the pictures will be removed at once, blah, blah, blah, legal crap jargon.  If I post a picture you feel threatens your existence, safety, welfare and wealth in the world as we know it, I’ll remove it, just ask.)

Here are some pictures of just the engine itself. 

 

Engine 1

 

Engine 2

 

Shows some very nice detail and I will try to match this with the kit engine.  I did notice, there are no potato colored parts or red parts as per the Trumpeter color call outs.  Looks like your standard silver, black, grey colors with an added assortment of lubricant tones.

So, why is it all photos like this have old guys like me in the background and there never is a young, nubile girl in a scantily clad outfit?  That is unless there is nose art around!

The next two photos (see above for the legal gibberish) give me an idea of how the engine access panels were arranged.  This will help with plastic surgery should I turn out to be so bold.

 

Engine 3Engine 4

 

Gives me something to work with and some ideas of how to proceed with the build so I can show off the gazillion engine parts that I am about to take a stab at.  I really like the paint job on the Avenger with the duck emblem.  Must see about that aircraft.   As always, all comments are welcome.  This is especially true regarding my very basic research and general lack of specific knowledge concerning the Avenger.  Anyone who has an opinion as to colors of the engine parts, placement within the airframe and/or any horrendous misgivings about this kit, please chime in and give a Yank a helping hand.

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Work has begun on the engine update.  The first two pages of instruction are dedicated to building the beginnings of the engine for this kit.  I got a little ahead of myself and began construction prior to taking pictures.  The first part of the engine assembly is concentrated on the doohickeys attached to the firewall.  (If I’m getting too technical for you, just let me know and I will tone it down!).   Anyway, they attach to the engine firewall in back of the engine.  First up, I assembled some part of the induction control boxes.  It consists of six parts and the completed assembly is less than the diameter of a penny.

 

Assembly One

 

If you look at the instructions you will notice the drawings to describe the build are much larger than the actual pieces the drawing represents.  Check out the size of the actual PE part as compared to its drawing in the instructions!

 

PE size

 

The detail is really good.

 

Assembly One Detail

 

The next assembly is for a box that sits on top of the first assembly.  Here is the tiny PE part bent that attaches to the box. 

 

Bent PE

 

Now boys and girls, if you looked at my last build, a Bf 109 E, you will have learned I have lost the sensation of touch in both of my hands.  You would be shocked at how beneficial a sense of touch is when it comes to bending really small PE bits.  I am surprised I did not break this part with all the back and forth bends until I got it right.  Anyway, I got it bent and then attached it.  Here is the finished box.

 

Assembly Two Detail

 

Next up is the firewall and I would assume some sort of exhaust collector.

 

Firewall

 

Look Ma, the dreaded injection marks on the side of the part that is to be seen.  These marks will need to be cleaned up.

 

Firewall filler

 

I filled them with typewriter correction fluid as it is mostly self-leveling and can be judiciously applied.  (Now for you young whippersnappers out there, us old codgers used devices called typewriters to produce written documents in the stone age.  When a mistake was made typing, there was not a keystroke that would eliminate it (unless you were one of those high falutin’ IBM Selectric owners).  No, my cheery friends, you had to break out this wonderful smelling paper putty, paint over your mistake, then blend it into the paper so when you typed the correct letter, it looked as if nothing had ever been typed in that space before.  (And the inventor of this wonderful stuff is the mother of one of members of the Monkees.  Gad, you have never heard of the Monkees, google.)

Next step is to get on with the construction of the cylinders.

 

Cylinders

 

 

I have glued the cylinder halves together, but am going to paint the individual components prior to assembly just to make my life easier.  Cleaning up the push rods was great fun.  Once again, a sense of touch would have been handy as I bent quite a few of the rods.  Don’t know how I didn’t break any.

So, the next step is painting.  Which leads back to the dilemma of the colors to paint.  Previously, I posted 4 images of Avenger engines.  The two pictures with the engines inside the airframe are the mirror opposite painting of the two pictures with the engine exposed.  One set of pictures has the cylinders bare metal silver, while the other set has the cylinders black.  The rocker covers are black in one set, and silver in the other.  Sheesh.  I think I will go with the scheme of the stand alone engine photo unless someone can tell me why this is horribly wrong and the world as we know it will end if I do that color scheme.

Finally, after a careful perusal of the rest of the instructions, there is no way to display this highly detailed engine other than what’s visible through the cowl opening.  So, some real thought as to how to open access panels and the surgery that will be involved will have to be planned and decided.  As always, all comments are welcome.

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1 hour ago, georgeusa said:

Next up is the firewall and I would assume some sort of exhaust collector.

 

Firewall.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi George

 

The round item is the engine mounting ring, which attaches to the engine bears

 

You can see it (somewhat) in this photo of mine.

 

FILE0895copy.jpg

 

You can see it even better in this photo

 

TBFEngine.jpg

(Photo use permission of R Wellesley)

 

Hope that helps?

 

Regards

 

Alan

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The return of George and the Doohickies!

(Great name for a country band)

 

You may have to build this wings folded,

It's that or clear out the barn to display it!

 

Great to see you back, George, I'll be following along.

 

BTW, wasn't it Mike Nesmith? We could fly down to Rio, probably.

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39 minutes ago, LDSModeller said:

Hi George

 

The round item is the engine mounting ring, which attaches to the engine bears

 

You can see it (somewhat) in this photo of mine.

 

FILE0895copy.jpg

 

You can see it even better in this photo

 

TBFEngine.jpg

(Photo use permission of R Wellesley)

 

Hope that helps?

 

Regards

 

Alan

Thanks for clearing this up. Should have realized it was part of the engine mounting system. Thanks for looking in and helping out. 

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8 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

The return of George and the Doohickies!

(Great name for a country band)

 

You may have to build this wings folded,

It's that or clear out the barn to display it!

 

Great to see you back, George, I'll be following along.

 

BTW, wasn't it Mike Nesmith? We could fly down to Rio, probably.

I plan on folding one of the wings and leave the other extended. Which is extended and which isn't depends on which wing fold I mess up the most!  And, give that man a cigar as it was Nesmith's mother who invented "White-Out".   Thanks for stopping by Pete. 

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Not sure what version of the Avenger this is but if you want to do the FAA Camouflaged version it needs an Observers seat and office under the canopy and it has bulged windows in the rear fuselage (I think) ...

 

Great work to date, I too don't understand the russet call out... 

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5 hours ago, Grey Beema said:

Not sure what version of the Avenger this is but if you want to do the FAA Camouflaged version it needs an Observers seat and office under the canopy and it has bulged windows in the rear fuselage (I think) ...

 

Great work to date, I too don't understand the russet call out... 

It is the TBM-3 which would translate to the Avenger/Tarpon III.  I have decided to go with the kit markings for President Bush's aircraft being much influenced by my reread of the book "Flyboys".  I plan to do a Tarpon II out of the 1/48 Accurate Miniatues TBM-1C kit.  I will just have to source the domed observation blisters, make up the second cockpit, see if there is anything really visible to the hinged radio mast in 1/48 scale, and do some other minor modifications. Thanks for checking in Grey and for the kind comments. 

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Hi George,

 

it would seem that you have your work cut out!!! You will need a bit longer than a week end. Actually Easter is just perfect, as it is a LONG week end. I will check your RFI on Tuesday.

This is just as good as a F-105!!! I have never tackled such a huge kit with so many parts, and I think I'll pass.

 

Have a lot of fun!

JR

Edited by jean
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1 hour ago, jean said:

Hi George,

 

it would seem that you have your work cut out!!! You will need a bit longer than a week end. Actually Easter is just perfect, as it is a LONG week end. I will check your RFI on Tuesday.

This is just as good as a F-105!!! I have never tackled such a huge kit with so many parts, and I think I'll pass.

 

Have a lot of fun!

JR

I'm assuming you are referring to Easter weekend 2018 when I am finished?  I'm just going to plonk away at this by taking a little chunk out of the kit build on a daily basis. I have no idea when I will finish this. However, I may start on a wired aircraft build for some diversion and also try to eliminate my very large shelf of doom. 

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Hiya George,

                     I`ve built two of these and you`ll love it,......really enjoyable model! If it helps,.....with mine I went over the wing, fuselage, tail parts before construction and filled in the rivet holes,...a messy job but a quick sanding session and it is well worth it. Also,..... later TBM-3E`s had different shaped cowl gills and ventral gun position while some had externally fitted arrester hooks,.....just something to look out for when picking your subject.

 

BlueAvenger0001.jpg

 

132Avenger2-1.jpg

 

Good luck,

Cheers,

            Tony

 

PS- You asked about the Avenger in your pics with the Duck on it and RN scheme,.....well apart from a very few test airframes none of the TBM-3`s (known as Avenger Mk.III`s)  supplied to Britain wore camouflage and were painted overall Sea Blue Gloss, as per my model. Some continued into service post war but they retained the bulged side windows of the earlier British Avenger`s and the kit does not include them. I used waist windows from Monogram B-29 kits which were kindly supplied by friends making the nuclear bomber options!  

The Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton have an Avenger ECM.6 (without a turret) incorrectly painted up in wartime camouflage and D-Day stripes,... even though it was supplied during the 50`s as a TBM-3E/ Avenger AS.4 and no TBM-3`s ever wore D-Day stripes,.... so it is totally inaccurate,...... although a couple of AS.4`s from HMS Bulwark`s Ships Flight did wear yellow and black Suez Stripes,..see below for my model in this scheme,...and these post war supplied British Avengers did not have the bulged side windows;

.Image result for avenger hms bulwark 

 

 

 

Edited by tonyot
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34 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Hiya George,

                     I`ve built two of these and you`ll love it,......really enjoyable model! If it helps,.....with mine I went over the wing, fuselage, tail parts before construction and filled in the rivet holes,...a messy job but a quick sanding session and it is well worth it. Also,..... later TBM-3E`s had different shaped cowl gills and ventral gun position while some had externally fitted arrester hooks,.....just something to look out for when picking your subject.

Good luck,

Cheers,

            Tony

 

PS- You asked about the Avenger in your pics with the Duck on it and RN scheme,.....well apart from a very few test airframes none of the TBM-3`s (known as Avenger Mk.III`s)  supplied to Britain wore camouflage and were painted overall Sea Blue Gloss, as per my model. Some continued into service post war but they retained the bulged side windows of the earlier British Avenger`s and the kit does not include them. I used waist windows from Monogram B-29 kits which were kindly supplied by friends making the nuclear bomber options!  

The Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton have an Avenger ECM.6 (without a turret) incorrectly painted up in wartime camouflage and D-Day stripes,... even though it was supplied during the 50`s as a TBM-3E/ Avenger AS.4 and no TBM-3`s ever wore D-Day stripes,.... so it is totally inaccurate,...... although a couple of AS.4`s from HMS Bulwark`s Ships Flight did wear yellow and black Suez Stripes,..see below for my model in this scheme,...and these post war supplied British Avengers did not have the bulged side windows

 

Tony,

First, I only hope I can do half as well a job finishing this kit as you did on the ones you supplied as,pictures. Man, you do good work. 

Second, I am sad to hear the scheme portrayed by the duck Avenger is completely fictitious. Is this a scheme that was applied to a restored Avenger?  If so, where is it located?

Lastly, your post about the differences in makes made me look online for the Bush aircraft.  Well that was enlightening. Some references have Bush flying a TBM-3 while others have him flying a TBF-1C. Some pictures show him in a plane with the name Barbara, but the version I was planning to do is Barbara III. There are references that Barbara III was a TBF1-C and it was the plane he was shot down in WW II. now I am confused. There doesn't seem to be major differences between the marks, just don't know which one to do. Seems most of the external differences deal with the cowl and fixed machine gun layout.   Looks like more research to do to make sure I do the correct mark. Surely Trumpeter would not be faulty in its research as to have marking for a plane that is not this make?  Since the did a TBF 1-C version, why not put the decal options for Bush's plane in that kit?  This was supposed to be easy!

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24 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

Tony,

First, I only hope I can do half as well a job finishing this kit as you did on the ones you supplied as,pictures. Man, you do good work. 

Second, I am sad to hear the scheme portrayed by the duck Avenger is completely fictitious. Is this a scheme that was applied to a restored Avenger?  If so, where is it located?

Lastly, your post about the differences in makes made me look online for the Bush aircraft.  Well that was enlightening. Some references have Bush flying a TBM-3 while others have him flying a TBF-1C. Some pictures show him in a plane with the name Barbara, but the version I was planning to do is Barbara III. There are references that Barbara III was a TBF1-C and it was the plane he was shot down in WW II. now I am confused. There doesn't seem to be major differences between the marks, just don't know which one to do. Seems most of the external differences deal with the cowl and fixed machine gun layout.   Looks like more research to do to make sure I do the correct mark. Surely Trumpeter would not be faulty in its research as to have marking for a plane that is not this make?  Since the did a TBF 1-C version, why not put the decal options for Bush's plane in that kit?  This was supposed to be easy!

Hiya George,

                   I`m sure you`ll do a great job, the kit is a joy to build after all but glad you like mine, I only posted them because I wanted to show how they look with the rivets filled in.

 YesBritish painted aircraft with the Duck artwork is an incorrectly painted TBM-3 warbird, I think that it was based in France for a while and might be wearing another scheme in another country now. There was an Avenger wearing British colours at the Palm Springs Museum,...might be that one too?

As for Bush`s aircraft,.....I`m no US Navy expert but I know that it is a bit of a minefield as to what the colours and markings were, what variant it was (most say TBF-1C) and even whether the name was applied or whether it was Barbera number 1, 2 or 3,..that he was shot down in,......although I did find this photo, which appears to be on a tricolour schemed aircraft,...note the painting forward of the name too;

 1940_01_00_tbm_avenger.jpg

This build from Large Scale Planes reference photos would indicate that the aircraft was a TBF-1C;

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=62965

 

As for i/d, the best way to i/d a TBM-3 is by the engine cowling as the cooling gills come down the side of the cowling and the front of the cowling has two air intakes, one on the top and one on the bottom. The TBF-1 has single gills on either side and only one air intake at the top. Early TBF`s had a cowl mounted gun but later TBF`s and all TBM-3`s had wing mounted guns with no cowl gun. Later TBM03`s also had the ventral `tunnel' gun deleted.  

/

Sorry I cannot be of more help,..... I`m sure that somebody here on BM will know chapter and verse if you post a request for help in the WW2 Aircraft section,

 

All the best

                Tony

 

PS- As for Trumpeter getting decal options wrong,..... it is more common than you think! The TBM-3 Avenger in the American War Museum at IWM Duxford was painted up as Bush`s aircraft, although I`m not certain how accurate this was and they have been known to make the odd mistake too.  

Edited by tonyot
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A little bit of a building update; more of a research update though.  Since Tony was nice enough to remind me to check on my particular plane for some of the details I was doing, it brought up a wonderful can of worms.  I would like to model an Avenger flown by Pres. Bush, influenced by my reread of "Flyboys".  The kit I am using is a TBM-3.  There are decals for his plane “Barbara III” included.  Wonderful I thought, no problem.  Except, there are plenty of references indicating Pres. Bush flew a TBF-1C, and the markings for “Barbara III” are for a TBF 1-C.  So, instead of working on gluing and painting plastic parts this past Easter weekend, I was on the computer looking for clues.  What I found is a majority of sources have “Barbara III” as a TBF 1-C with the tail code 2.  The aircraft Pres. Bush was shot down in was not “Barbara III”, rather it was an Avenger with tail code 3.  The Accurate Miniatures kit, that also had Pres. Bush’s “Barbara III” markings, was their TBF 1-C kit, not the TBM-3 kit.  This leaves me with the choice of using a different decal scheme that would be appropriate for this TBM-3 kit, or backdating the TBM-3 to a TBF-1C.  I’m going to try to backdate the kit.  The main differences visually between the marks would be the cowl, the type of engine, and whether Pres. Bush’s TBF-1 had a nose gun.  The kit has provisions of two wing guns, no nose gun.  I checked and the only cowl in the kit is for a TBM-3.

 

Engine Paint 4

 

(I was hoping since Trumpeter issued the TBF-1C kit first, maybe they had that cowl in the kit as a part not to be used.   No such luck.).  That means the cowl I have needs to be modified to have only one scoop, not one on the bottom and one on the top.  There will probably have to be some modification of the cowl flaps, but that is the least of the problems.  As for the issue of the nose gun, the Accurate Miniatures kit version had only the wing guns.  A painting given to Pres. Bush of “Barbara III", which he signed, had only wing guns.  In the fuzzy, not real distinct, (how come they never take pictures of what I need) picture of “Barbara III” it looks like there is a starboard wing gun.  If this is true, then there is no nose gun.  In the pictures I could find, each photographer was more interested in focusing on the pilot of the plane and not its nose and cowl arrangement.  Didn’t they know what is important to modelers!!  As for the engine, I am not quite sure what visually would be different between the version in the TBF-1C and the TMB-3.  I kinda leaning towards not a whole lot of outwards differences and I can just get away with the engine that comes with the kit.  Or my version, that I will tell, is while Pres. Bush was being transported back to his carrier after being shot down, he was surprised by the maintenance people with a brand new, updated engine in “Barbara III”.  I’m hoping closing a vent opening in the cowl is much simpler than having to make one.  The cowl flaps should just be fill in some panel lines and then rescribe others. 

Now for the build update.  All I got to do was some initial painting of the engine parts. I am trashing the color call outs in the Trumpeter instructions and going with the colors in this engine photograph.

 

Engine 1

 

I began painting the parts as below.

 

Engine Paint 6

 

Engine Paint 5

 

Engine Paint 3

 

Engine Paint 1

 

 

 

I have to apologize for the pictures.  My camera’s battery died and these were taken with my IPad.  (How people take pictures with these things is beyond me, as evident by the quality of the above pictures.)  There is all sort of highlights, lowlights, general engine goop spots that needs to be done.  I also need to work a little harder on the blue/grey aspect of the front housing as it is not quite dark enough.  And there will need some additions like spark plug wires, details added to the boxes, tubes, and all manners of bits and bobs. I should get a couple of hours to play with plastic tomorrow, hopefully there will be some decent progress to show.  If anyone has other details I need to do to backdate the TBM-3 to a TBF-1, please do not hesitate to let me know.  I am far from an Avenger expert, just like the plane.  Oh, and I am hoping to post a surprise tomorrow, if I can find it.  As always, all comments are welcome.

 

 

 

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On 4/16/2017 at 5:55 AM, tonyot said:

Hiya George,

                     I`ve built two of these and you`ll love it,......really enjoyable model! If it helps,.....with mine I went over the wing, fuselage, tail parts before construction and filled in the rivet holes,...a messy job but a quick sanding session and it is well worth it. Also,..... later TBM-3E`s had different shaped cowl gills and ventral gun position while some had externally fitted arrester hooks,.....just something to look out for when picking your subject.

 

BlueAvenger0001.jpg

 

132Avenger2-1.jpg

 

Good luck,

Cheers,

            Tony

 

PS- You asked about the Avenger in your pics with the Duck on it and RN scheme,.....well apart from a very few test airframes none of the TBM-3`s (known as Avenger Mk.III`s)  supplied to Britain wore camouflage and were painted overall Sea Blue Gloss, as per my model. Some continued into service post war but they retained the bulged side windows of the earlier British Avenger`s and the kit does not include them. I used waist windows from Monogram B-29 kits which were kindly supplied by friends making the nuclear bomber options!  

The Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton have an Avenger ECM.6 (without a turret) incorrectly painted up in wartime camouflage and D-Day stripes,... even though it was supplied during the 50`s as a TBM-3E/ Avenger AS.4 and no TBM-3`s ever wore D-Day stripes,.... so it is totally inaccurate,...... although a couple of AS.4`s from HMS Bulwark`s Ships Flight did wear yellow and black Suez Stripes,..see below for my model in this scheme,...and these post war supplied British Avengers did not have the bulged side windows;

.Image result for avenger hms bulwark 

 

 

 

Where did you find the decals for the Eastern and Pacific fleet birds?

TIA

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Hi George,

 

If you wanr to build a TBF-1C - note the following (I have the Trumpy TBF-1C)

 

To see the difference between the TBF-1C and TBM-3 click on the link below and scroll between

1/2 - 3/4 way down the page - you will see diagram drawings showing difference between cowlings

 

Avenger cowlings

 

Bare in mind that the TBF-1 and TBF-1C were two different Aircraft, especially cowling wise.

Back dating the TBM-3 to aTBF-1C, will take a bit of work mostly in the cowling area, (see above link)

The cockpit is different somewhat also, the Inst panel especially.

 

These following links (photos permission NR Mines) show a TBF-1C cockpit (RNZAF TBF-1C - Stock standard

USN TBF-1C with RNZAF markings During WWII RNZAF had about 12 TBF-1's and some 50 TBF-1C's))

 

Inst Panel

Inst Panel -1

Starboardside Cockpit

Portside cockpit

 

Note the cockpit Colour (I say would Dull Dark Green), but could be Bronze Green as in this photo.

 

TBF-1C%20Bronze%20Green%20Backrest%20cop

 

The Cowling interior and engine bay would be Grumman Grey as in these photos (TBM's were Zinc Chromate Green)

 

FILE0924copy.jpg

FILE0895copy.jpg

Note the item with the rounded end is the Oil cooler air intake, the whole items looks like this in this link,

with the exit coming through the flap on the cowling

Oil Cooler

One thing is that the Engine Dishpan you have painted Interior green, should be Stainless steel

Hope the above helps?

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, NAVY870 said:

Where did you find the decals for the Eastern and Pacific fleet birds?

TIA

I made them up from spares box sources,......Apart from a sheet by Aeromaster I don`t think that anybody else does 1/32nd scale Fleet Air Arm Avenger decals.

Cheers

             Tony

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Hi great build starting up, I did not realise how much a can of worms was involved in identifying President Bush's aircraft, I do have one of these kits in the stash and hoped to build it as an FAA example but I think that will require a bit more thought.

I also have decals for FAA Avengers, they came from Eagle Strike, Avengers Part II 32072.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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6 hours ago, LDSModeller said:

Hi George,

 

If you wanr to build a TBF-1C - note the following (I have the Trumpy TBF-1C)

 

To see the difference between the TBF-1C and TBM-3 click on the link below and scroll between

1/2 - 3/4 way down the page - you will see diagram drawings showing difference between cowlings

 

Avenger cowlings

 

Bare in mind that the TBF-1 and TBF-1C were two different Aircraft, especially cowling wise.

Back dating the TBM-3 to aTBF-1C, will take a bit of work mostly in the cowling area, (see above link)

The cockpit is different somewhat also, the Inst panel especially.

 

These following links (photos permission NR Mines) show a TBF-1C cockpit (RNZAF TBF-1C - Stock standard

USN TBF-1C with RNZAF markings During WWII RNZAF had about 12 TBF-1's and some 50 TBF-1C's))

 

Inst Panel

Inst Panel -1

Starboardside Cockpit

Portside cockpit

 

Note the cockpit Colour (I say would Dull Dark Green), but could be Bronze Green as in this photo.

The Cowling interior and engine bay would be Grumman Grey as in these photos (TBM's were Zinc Chromate Green)

Note the item with the rounded end is the Oil cooler air intake, the whole items looks like this in this link,

with the exit coming through the flap on the cowling

Oil Cooler

One thing is that the Engine Dishpan you have painted Interior green, should be Stainless steel

Hope the above helps?

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

You, sir, are a gentleman and scholar. The above information is what I was seeking and you have put it all in one location. For that, I am thankful. Also, it came at a time when I can still make the needed changes. Usually, the corrective info comes right after all the glue has hardened and making changes becomes a laughable matter. Thank you so much Alan!

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 More engine paint with some miniscule building update.  I have decided I am dreadfully slow at building kits.  The next bit of work took about 2 ½ hours to do.  I know, doesn’t seem like there should be so little to show for so much time.  Oh well, on with the update.  I did some more basic painting of engine parts, completed an oil tank, and began weathering some of the engine components.

First up, finished the basic paint on the engine bearers, some engine tubing, firewall, and the beginning of the exhaust system.

 

misc. weather 2

 

misc. weather 4

 

misc. weather 5

 

misc. weather 6

 

I am not too keen on the color of the firewall and engine bearers.  I think it is too dark.  Will have to look at some more pictures, but I think these will be repainted in a lighter gray.  There are a whole bunch of pipes that need to be painted, and I think I painted some the exhaust color rather than black.  Betcha those will need some repainting.  Oh yeah, did you see my massive piece of construction for this update.  Yep, took a heaping amount of time and effort to make that tank, all two pieces of it.  (I am a pathetic builder!)  Laid the foundation paint for the exhaust system as I want it to have a brownish/rust tint to it.

Next up, started the weathering process on some of the finished engine parts that have already received their base paint.  First up are the engine cylinders.  Need to bring out some more of the detail in them, so they get a bath.  Here two of the cylinders have had a bath, while the others are waiting their turn to show the contrast.

 

Cylinder weather 1

 

Both sets of cylinders after their initial bath

 

cylinder weather 3

 

Next up the little tops of the cylinder heads get some basic dry brushing to bring out some highlights; all 28 of them.

 

Cylinder weather 2

 

Then all the different components of the control box get a dry brushing session.

 

control box weather 6

 

control box weather 1

 

control box weather 3

 

Control box weather 4

 

control box weather 5

 

Two things come to mind.  First, there is some incredible detail on these parts and it would be a shame not to display them.  Without opening up some of the engine panels, this entire control box will be hidden from sight forever.  Which means not only do I have to hack away at the cowl, but also some surgery must be performed on one of the fuselage halves.  Second, I am so amazed I have not broken that little teeny tiny PE part that rests on the top portion of the control box.  How is that possible?

Must give a shout out to Pete.  Since I just launched another paint bottle across the room because I wasn’t holding it tight enough, I now carefully wrap each paint bottle in a towel prior to shaking.  That was such an excellent idea!

Next up, I did a little work on the front engine cover.

 

misc. weather 1

 

I am also not happy with this color as it is too pale and not blue/grey enough.  Must search through the paint stock to come up with a better color.  It is almost there, just is too light.

There was some other detail painting of the push rods, etc., but too boring for pictures.  When I put the engine together, will be the time to show how it integrates into the whole engine.  Next up is to start assembling the engine and finish the weathering and detail paint.  As always, all comments are welcome.  Oops, I did not forget the surprise, I just cannot access it yet.  Patience.

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