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1/72 Hasegawa Grumman TBF-1 Avenger


Stew Dapple

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I'm all moved in to my new place, got the internetz up and running with no effort at all (plugged the router in, switched it on, walked the dog, came back, used internet) and am currently still a bit dazed by the extra space I have here. I got my modelling table set up in the back room:

 

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Just look how tidy! And remember it well for we shall not see its like again.

 

I will be building this bad boy:

 

DSCN1058.jpg

 

I bought it several years ago, I can't even remember where now but they were as rare as hens' teeth even then. Fortunately for anyone who wants one at a reasonable price they are currently available as a re-pop under the Hobby2000 label from Poland and include nicer quality transfers and a vinyl mask set, I believe they can still be had for less than 20 pounds.

 

Many years ago I built the Guillows balsa wood kit of the Avenger which never flew (or at least it had the flight characteristics of its component parts of balsa and tissue if they had simply been thrown unassembled into the air) but did hang for several years from the ceiling of a flat in Southend - my ex always referred to it as 'the grumbling avenger' :D 

 

Anyway here's the instructions and transfer sheet for mine:

 

DSCN1060.jpg

 

I've ordered the Print Scale decal set for mine, as the kit ones look as thick, shiny and hard as crockery.

 

The clear parts:

 

DSCN1061.jpg

 

... various bits:

 

DSCN1064.jpg

 

DSCN1066.jpg

 

... wings:

 

DSCN1068.jpg

 

The undercarriage bays are much too shallow, but not quite as bad as the picture suggests. In so far as I will be displaying it, it will be displayed the right way up anyway.

 

Finally, the fuselage halves:

 

DSCN1069.jpg

 

I do have a few extras, namely the Eduard mask set:

 

DSCN1071.jpg

 

... and a couple of Eduard's Super Fabric seat belts:

 

DSCN1073.jpg

 

As I mentioned above, I also have some aftermarket decals on the way, the print scale set includes markings for some interesting early Avengers including the Midway ones in Blue Gray over Light Gray, one in a similar scheme with the red-bordered stars and bars and one with the same national markings in the tri-colour scheme. I'm not sure which I will be doing yet, I'll decide when I've had a proper look at them.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Good luck on this one, Stew! The only Avenger I ever built was the Frog Tarpon (and it was a Tarpon, done with proper British camouflage and roundels!). I would like to do a more modern kit - good luck on yours!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

P.S. Simply because I find it difficult to build 'normal' versions of any famous aeroplane, I'll probably do an Aeronavale TBM-3W with Suez stripes.

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Nice new modelling area Stew and a nice tidy start :) 

 

The new gaff looks nice and tidy too - enjoy the extra space!

 

I'm in, of course :popcorn:

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Stew Dapple? - check

1/72? - check

a subject already in my stash ready to borrow (steal) ideas from this build? - check

Colourcoats paints likely to make an appearance? - check

 

Well this seems to check all the boxes Stew, I'm in!

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On 3/26/2020 at 5:03 AM, Stew Dapple said:

 

As I mentioned above, I also have some aftermarket decals on the way, the print scale set includes markings for some interesting early Avengers including the Midway ones in Blue Gray over Light Gray, one in a similar scheme with the red-bordered stars and bars and one with the same national markings in the tri-colour scheme. I'm not sure which I will be doing yet, I'll decide when I've had a proper look at them.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

Hi Stew,

 

You probably know this already but "I have started so I will finish" as they say on a certain TV quiz show.

 

The Midway TBF-1's were somewhat different to later versions like your TBM-1C I believe, production of which did not start until 1943 according to Detail & Scale. They had a single 30 cal machine gun firing through the right side of the top of the engine cowling instead of the later 50 cal in the wings, and the windows and aerial mounting were different as well.

 

Good luck with the build.

 

Pete

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On 3/26/2020 at 5:10 AM, Learstang said:

Good luck on this one, Stew! The only Avenger I ever built was the Frog Tarpon (and it was a Tarpon, done with proper British camouflage and roundels!). I would like to do a more modern kit - good luck on yours!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

P.S. Simply because I find it difficult to build 'normal' versions of any famous aeroplane, I'll probably do an Aeronavale TBM-3W with Suez stripes.

 

Thanks Jason :) - but the TBM-3W? Where the 'W' stands for Ugly? Even stripes can't flatter that! :D 

 

On 3/26/2020 at 6:04 AM, CedB said:

Nice new modelling area Stew and a nice tidy start :) 

 

The new gaff looks nice and tidy too - enjoy the extra space!

 

I'm in, of course :popcorn:

 

Thanks very much Ced, I'm very much enjoying the new flat, which is obviously a good thing, since I will barely be allowed out all weekend :lol: 

 

On 3/26/2020 at 3:30 PM, Cookenbacher said:

Stew Dapple? - check

1/72? - check

a subject already in my stash ready to borrow (steal) ideas from this build? - check

Colourcoats paints likely to make an appearance? - check

 

Well this seems to check all the boxes Stew, I'm in!

 

Why thank you Cookie old chap, I am following your Dauntless build for similar reasons and with the same nefarious intent :D 

 

On 3/26/2020 at 10:04 PM, rob85 said:

Nice stew, really like the avenger and it looks a good kit.

 

looking forward to this!

 

also glad your into the new place! Hope you safe and well.

 

Rob

 

Thanks very much Rob, yes I timed my move exceptionally, another week and it may not even have happened. Me and the dog are both hale and hearty, thanks, and I hope the same goes for your clan :) It's not a bad kit, 90's Hasegawa are a bit basic but fundamentally reliable builds though you do notice the difference from their newer kits which fit equally well but are very much better in terms of detailing.

 

On 3/26/2020 at 11:44 PM, stevej60 said:

Love the Avenger Stew,good luck.

 

Thank you Steve, it's a beast, isn't it? :D 

 

12 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Stew,

 

You probably know this already but "I have started so I will finish" as they say on a certain TV quiz show.

 

The Midway TBF-1's were somewhat different to later versions like your TBM-1C I believe, production of which did not start until 1943 according to Detail & Scale. They had a single 30 cal machine gun firing through the right side of the top of the engine cowling instead of the later 50 cal in the wings, and the windows and aerial mounting were different as well.

 

Good luck with the build.

 

Pete

 

Peter, thank you twice, once for the information and once for providing it before I had got so far into the build that it was too late to use it  :D  My boss, mentor and buddy Jamie at Sovereign once spent a fair amount of his time explaining the differences between the various Avenger types to me, a charitable act akin to explaining calculus to your dog: however good your intentions, ultimately your time will prove to have been wasted :lol:  I shall however keep your note in mind when the transfer set arrives and see what opportunities this closes off, and which it offers.

 

Anyone know what's up with PostImage? The last two days half my galleries have been missing and it says the picture upload facility is 'disabled for maintenance'... 😐 I have been doing some work on the Avenger anyway; I'll prove it when I can get the pics up... :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Hi Stew

 

You are more than welcome to whatever info I have, plans, photos etc but it sounds like Jamie will have the same if not better, and probably easier for you to access. At least you should have no problem getting the correct paint colours😀.

 

Pete

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16 hours ago, PeterB said:

At least you should have no problem getting the correct paint colours😀.

 

Haha you're right but on the other hand I'd better make damn sure I'm using the right colours in the correct places :D 

 

PostImage seems to be up and running again; here's my progress... I assembled most of the interior parts that could be assembled before painting, and the wings:

 

DSCN1076.jpg

 

Then I did the masking for the turret with the Eduard set - the turret framing is rather complex and the Eduard set seems to delight in using three tiny bits of tape where you would think one would do, and then fill in the gaps with masking fluid, so it wasn't the best fun I ever had and the end result was not stellar:

 

DSCN1078.jpg

 

Still, it's a better effort than I would have got masking it myself or hand-painting the framing...

 

After that I did the main canopy and the ventral gun position glazing:

 

DSCN1080.jpg

 

So all in all I think I'm about ready to do some painting today...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

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21 hours ago, CedB said:

Very neat masking Stew - you're flying along with this one!

 

Looking forward to the paint :) 

 

Thanks Ced, I do whine a bit (a lot) about the Eduard mask sets but over the years they may have saved me a whole day of modelling time :D 

 

3 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Yes, moving right along Stew!

 

Thanks Cookie, it's a comparatively simple kit and it hasn't given me any problems so far :) 

 

I gave the internals a spray of Nearly Black as a base:

 

DSCN1082.jpg

 

Not visible there but I also sprayed a few other bits such as the tyres and propeller which will save a little time later on. There's a useful page on the Sovereign Hobbies website detailing the interior colour for a number of USN/USAAF/USAF aircraft here - it includes guides for the Grumman- and General Motors-built Avengers. 

 

I applied the Interior Green ACUS09:

 

DSCN1084.jpg

 

... and, hereby committing myself to building a Grumman-built aircraft. applied the ACUS30 #9 Bronze Green to the pilot's cockpit:

 

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Finally I cut out the kits' decals for the instrument panel (five little transfers!) and the side consoles:

 

DSCN1087.jpg

 

So just a little detail painting for the cockpit and the addition of the seatbelts and I should be good to close up the fuselage... :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Towards the end of last week I got the seatbelts and instrument panel fitted:

 

DSCN1090.jpg

 

DSCN1092.jpg

 

... and installed the cockpit into the fuselage half:

 

DSCN1094.jpg

 

... added the side windows:

 

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I fitted the masks before joining the fuselage halves just to make sure I didn't poke one of the windows in while doing it...

 

DSCN1098.jpg

 

Then I joined the fuselage halves together. You know how everything test-fits beautifully? That's what happened to me. You know how when you glue everything together, secure it with clothes pegs, then go to work to come home and find that everything still fits beautifully? That's what didn't happen to me :lol: Of course the bit where the parts shifted and left a step was the upper cowling, the most visible place it could have happened. I put some Citadel Liquid Green Stuff along it and sanded it and hopefully once it is painted no-one will be any the wiser :D Here's where we are now:

 

DSCN1101.jpg

 

Speaking of paint, I dug out the relevant four colours for the tri-colour scheme:

 

DSCN1108.jpg

 

We don't actually make the USN Non-Specular White shown on the right any more, since it turned out that in real life it was just... well, white, without the faintly creamy tinge of the old paint. However I like it and I've still got the best part of a tin to use up and who will know, or care? :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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What a neat build Stew and as you say, those Eduard masks must have been a god-send.

I'm also very jealous of your speedy internet set-up.  That's much, much faster than I managed when I moved last year.  Maybe it was walking your dog that made the difference :winkgrin:.

 

Cheers

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Nice work on the internals Stew :) 

 

Bad luck on the slippage - I hate it when that happens too - but you've sorted it.

 

31 minutes ago, Stew Dapple said:

I fitted the masks before joining the fuselage halves just to make sure I didn't poke one of the windows in while doing it...

Tip of the day! Now I just need to remember it :) 

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