hsr Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 This is my Sword 1/72 TBM-3W Avenger. The TBM-3W was developed as the first US Navy Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft during the latter part of WW II under Project Cadillac (named after the mountain in Maine where tests were performed, not the car). While the TBM proved a little cramped for the AEW task and was superseded by variants of the Douglas AD Skyraider in that role, when teamed up with a TBM-3S it served as part of a hunter/killer team in the Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) role for several years until replaced by the AF-2W/S. While certainly not Hasegawa this Sword kit proved to be a very pleasant build with only the wing to fuselage connection proving problematic. The slots in the fuselage for the wing tabs were a bit undersized and needed some filing and then the joint needed filling, but that is par for the course from these smaller manufacturers. The only other issue was that the otherwise excellent decals wanted to stick for dear life to the first location they were placed. I found that I could work a wet brush under them and once loosened they could be repositioned. But this also had a tendency to make the roll up into a unusable ball. Luckily I had a second set handy and it all turned out in the end. In my net searches I came across this picture of the aircraft that the decals were for So we can see how close I came. I am looking forward to Sword's upcoming release of the TBM-3S2 to build the killer half of this pair but until them next up will be the Octopus/Pavla F7F-3N Enjoy 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I like it ... A LOT! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmike Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I've got a real soft spot for the Avenger. Lovely build and. presentation, and thank you for the history. Well done! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 My late father-in-law was a radio operator in a TBM-3 Thanks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 That's one helluva BEAUTIFUL TBM 3. looks quite SPLENDID. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Very cool indeed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Very nice indeed....although it looks rather pregnant to me! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsr Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, Mark Joyce said: although it looks rather pregnant to me! Like a pregnant guppy? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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