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Frog RN Avenger


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Hello

This has been a long term project, started before digital cameras were available... (as my first photos of the Frog fuselage and wings were taken with a 35m camera). A mate gave me his KMC detail set for the interior and to fold the wings, combination of resin and p/e, the decals came from Eagle Strike and did not take kindly to my unvarnished paint work!! The KMC is actually meant for the much better Hasegawa kit... but I wanted to do a RN FAA Avenger/Tarpon and believed the Frog kit would be more accurate!! Doh etc.... it was like trying to fir the proverbial square peg in a round hole... a very poor decision on my part and a waste of a lovely detail set on a rough old kit!!!

 

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Now I remember looking back that the wing parts were not fully molded and required a lot of either filler or plastic card and elbow grease by the gallons:

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The lovely resin interior:

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The replacement tail area:

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More of the interior:

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It was the folded wings that sold it for me.. er but what a job!! But I digress.. the Frog engine and cowling were molded as one but I decided to use an old Airfix engine from their Avenger... actually it fitted quite well!!

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Can't recall but I think the canopy also came from an old Airfix kit and with a bit of cleaning up worked okay..:

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Anyway this is the finished beats... port folded wing unfolded twice, tail wheel refused to glue with liquid cement so I super glued it... and the turret assembly came lose in the assembled fuselage... The wings took a lot of super glue and pva to stay in place.. I tried to hide the glue wherever I could....excuse the pun but a sticky problem..

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I was motivated to complete this model for a club display at a local model show, a modelling mate and I put together a display of carrier types for our club... all these in this photo were by my fellow conspirator!

 

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This is my small collection:

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Then in to the display cabinet at home:

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High Planes Sea Fury, Rareplanes Fulmar, Airfix Firefly (RAN markings) and Airfix Swordfish!

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Edited by Slywolff
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That’s a cracking Avenger Sly and a lovely display to admire for quite some time. There’s a lot to like about that as well as all the other Naval builds on show. Well done to you and your modelled mate. 

Now if you fancy having another crack at a Frog Classic, be sure to join us next June for the ‘Frog Squad’ Classic Kit Group build. It should be another blast from memory lane. We would love to have you aboard. 

 

Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

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Hi,

the KMC set was definitely not wasted on the Frog kit! It looks great and the whole build does not look like a Frog!

The only thing you mention that is a bit of a shame are the decals: indeed a gloss support would have been much better. But this is what life is for... try and learn the odd thing along the way.

Whatever, nice kit and very nice collection.

JR

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Always a fan of the Avenger 👍

You've done a great build.

The kit parts look reminiscent of the Academy kit; which (so I hear) is no coincidence.

Your labours on this have really paid off.

:goodjob::clap:

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FYI, the TBF-1/Avenger I/Tarpon I was unique in having a single .30 cal. machine gun in the upper right of the cowling synchronized to fire through the prop arc. On later aircraft, this was deleted and replaced by two .50 cal. guns mounted one in each wing. This photo shows the installation very well:

 

 

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I believe the old Monogram 1/48 kit is the only Avenger kit that is a TBF-1 out of the box.

Edited by VMA131Marine
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