Jump to content

1/48 TBF-1C Avenger - Battle of the Atlantic May 1944; #FINISHED# 13/03/18


nimrod54

Recommended Posts

My initial thoughts of a build for this had been to do something like a DC-6 or DC-7 but having had a rummage through the stash I have found a couple of kits that are suitable subjects. This Accurate Miniatures boxing is my first offering and is an original boxing.

 

36073395066_6832d0e3b1_c.jpg

 

35724169080_09d176c601_c.jpg

 

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Cliff. These kits were considered state of the art when they first appeared. I built their F3F-1 as part of a Grumman aircraft phase I was going through. It was a lovely kit and on the strength of that build I bought this one as soon as it was released.

It's also quite a step up in scale for me, these days I normally I build 1/144, so this will seem positively gigantic to my usual fayre.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They go together really well, I built one last year I even manadged to fit a figures in the verious places. Eduard masks are a must as there is lots of canopy to paint. :popcorn:

 

image.jpg

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Ozzy said:

They go together really well, I built one last year I even manadged to fit a figures in the verious places. Eduard masks are a must as there is lots of canopy to paint. :popcorn:

 

https://s19.postimg.cc/g0kt20c83

 

not sure what's going on with my picture link?

 

Thanks for the info Ozzy and for sharing your build image. I like the faded paintwork, I'm not sure if I can achieve a finish of that standard though, mine is more likely to appear as if it is fresh from the paintshop or a museum example. :D

 

I'm not familiar with the way postimage works, but at first glance your link appears to be missing the .jpg filetype extension. I think that the forum software uses that to recognise one of the picture formats. HTH 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, nimrod54 said:

 

Thanks for the info Ozzy and for sharing your build image. I like the faded paintwork, I'm not sure if I can achieve a finish of that standard though, mine is more likely to appear as if it is fresh from the paintshop or a museum example. :D

 

I'm not familiar with the way postimage works, but at first glance your link appears to be missing the .jpg filetype extension. I think that the forum software uses that to recognise one of the picture formats. HTH 

 

 

Thanks john,

 

im not sure what's going on today, normally I select all and put it in my post and the picture appears. Not today though, the paint finish is the HATAKA set through an airbrush. I do like the Atlantic white colours, looking forward to seeing your build progress. I've sorted out the linking issue.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Whilst I contemplate whether I can adapt aftermarket parts for the Hasegawa Skyraider for possible use on my Airfix kit, I decided that it was about time I made a start on this. My first job was to push on with painting the interior areas of the fuselage halves and the associated parts which go to make up the cockpit and rear fuselage sub-assemblies. I used Bronze Green and Interior Green from the Colourcoats range, following the kit painting and stencilling guide. I still have to paint the details like autopilot boxes, radios, armrests etc before I can begin any assembly, but things should move along pretty quickly once that has been completed.

 

36721061215_5a6496f1fa_c.jpg

 

36674721116_23a052f371_c.jpg

 

36674719126_1e1a7b739e_c.jpg

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have spent the last couple of sessions adding the painted details to each of the fuselage halves, starting with the cockpit and stbd side details.

 

35981269044_c2f5452857_c.jpg

 

36676346921_a0b9059840_c.jpg

 

35981267334_119392bf50_c.jpg

 

The section behind the pilots seat needs the radio equipment adding and a small bulkhead on the cockpit tower. This was followed by the rear bomb bay bulkhead.

 

35981264984_63f6d7d523_c.jpg

 

and the flare chute and rear bulkheads.

 

35981266274_c8d87c791b_c.jpg

 

Some paint touch ups and small details to add to complete the interior. I am also considering replacing the gun barrels with Master brass details before I join the fuselage halves.

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks very much for your really kind comments gents.

 

@SimonT

The one thing that I would advise is that you check the fit of the parts before you finally glue them in position. It is not that they are a poor fit it is just necessary to be sure that you get everything aligned correctly and that way you should finish with good fitting seams. I had a problem getting the instrument panel seated properly in the left fuselage half because it was fouling on the left hand side console. In the end I had to trim about 1mm from the forward section of the side console details to seat the I/P properly and enable the fuselage halves to meet. Overall, I would say that you need to check several stages ahead before committing to glue on the one you are working on.

 

@zebra

 

These were excellent kits at the time they were released. I haven't seen an Italeri boxing but would think that they are just as good. On my kit there are a lot of mould ejection pin marks but they are generally in places where they hidden by other parts or not easily seen.

 

@Hewy

 

I generally use enamels for most of my painting but in this case a lot of the detail painting has been done with Citadel acrylics. In fact, for all of the black detailing here I have used Citadel Abaddon Black and I used the same manufacturers Reikland Fleshshade as a wash and the details were then dry brushed with silver and grey enamel. 

I usually thin enamels with the manufacturers thinners, as with the Colourcoat ones that I have used here, but recently I have started using Hannants Quick Drying Thinners for Humbrol enamels. This is a bit of an ongoing experiment but I have found that it has helped with the drying of Humbrol's paints. 

HTH

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎28‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 7:45 PM, PlaStix said:

Fantastic cockpit work John.

Kind regards,

Stix

Thanks Stix. I want to try finishing the 1/144 Pups off and get my Made in Britain Builds completed so I may not make a lot of headway on this for a week or two. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice so far John, i have quite a few ww2 aircraft  in 1/32 in the stash and i dont have the trumpeter version of this   though i may treat myself very soon your work is tempting me to pull the trigger. 

Glynn 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

With some collapsed struts on a 1/144 bi-plane, I decided that I had to do something which had a bit more substance. This morning I took this off the shelf and continued work by adding the last few parts before closing the fuselage up. One of the bits that caused me an issue was fitting the seat in the left half of the rear fuselage as per the kit instructions, the locating pegs for this are a bit sketchy and I found it easier to close up the fuselage and fit this item through the rear door opening.

 

Once again the fit is excellent, providing you take the time to check for any alignment issues before joining the fuselage halves, and the only problem I had was getting the bomb bay roof to sit properly in the correct location. A bit of pressure at the right point clicked this into position, I still have to clean up the seam but I will wait a couple of days for everything to harden up properly.

 

36758619403_fef23ae868_c.jpg

 

36758618643_d1df1d180e_c.jpg

 

Meanwhile, Stage 3 in the instructions is for the Engine and Cowling assembly and this work is now in progress.

 

37171867740_421c74f603_c.jpg

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A dry brush of some dark grey over the plug leads and push rods saw the engine painting completed last night, and I also added the cowling ring to the front end of the cowling sides and then checked the fit of this assembly against the fuselage this morning. With a bit of tidy up around the cowling I think that I can call this little job done.

 

37230646890_80395048f8_c.jpg

 

37230647370_6c1e575223_c.jpg

 

37230647880_e79522367d_c.jpg

 

The fuselage seam has had an initial clean up with some filler required on the nose, just behind the cowling. in two tiny sink marks and more around a couple of sprue attachments after some clumsy parts removal on my part, I will recheck all this work after a coat of primer. Next in line for assembly are the Rudder, Tailplanes and Wings.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have now assembled the rudder and tailplanes and I will clean those up later then fit the tailplanes, the rudder I will fit later to avoid knocking off the aerial post on the top.

 

37250765640_4ed3c9c2d1_c.jpg

 

Attention then turned to the wings. The flap internal detail is moulded onto the lower wing halves and it seems a shame not to expose this, so I removed the flap sections from these and then used the template provided in the kit to create the fill strip. I still have one wing to complete before I can add these to the other parts for clean up.

 

37250765120_b88acc5b75_c.jpg

 

37250764710_8d9cc3f6e5_c.jpg

 

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...