The Operation “Judgement” FAA Avenger is +++FINISHED with RFI Added+++

[jackroadkill]

I've got to echo Chris's comment, Mark; that mechanism looks excellent.  I think that folded wing is going to be a great feature of this build.

[Dunny]

Mark,

 

That is seriously impressive work. I shied away from the same detail on my Tarpon, even losing interest in a 3D printed version. Your interpretation nails it and I am now slightly in awe,

 

Cheers,

 

Riger

[AliGauld]

The overspray. That's amazing attention to detail and how well it works.

Super scratching too.

I'm nearing speechlessness yet again.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Anthony in NZ]

Fantastic work Mark, you are very talented!  Like everyone else mentioned...love the overspray detail!  Very cool

[Iain Ogilvie]

Lovely work!

 

Iain

[mark.au]

Thanks for the kind words @bigbadbadge, @heloman1, @jackroadkill, @Dunny, @AliGauld, @Anthony in NZ, and @Iain Ogilvie.

 

I'm probably a little too excited to report have found another image of J-P. According to the caption it was taken at RNAS Hatston upon the squadron's return from a North Atlantic anti-submarine patrol aboard HMS Trumpeter, and dated in the latter half of 1944.

 

 

While it's not quite the holy grail inasmuch as it gives me the S/N (well, it does, but I'm going to have to really dig in on my photo enhancement skills to decipher it), there's a tonne of interesting stuff in this image.  First, it confirms the position of J and P on the port side, which I was struggling with.  Second, I believe it shows that I have the black anti-glare in more or less the right place, that is sweeping up to the windshield framing but not behind it.  In this it's different to the image of J-G that @tonyot posted earlier where the black extends beyond the windscreen framing to the midpoint of the sliding windows.

 

What about the Avenger over on the left?  It looks to me like it still has its sky undersides but does have the black anti-glare - albeit painted differently to J-P's but the same as the aircraft in the background; it is wearing a Type C roundel on the wing and the wing's leading edge is painted (unevenly) black.  The roundel is a bit curious, Type C was introduced in 1945 which makes the date of the photo a little suspect.  And, along that train of thought, the left-most person is in shirt sleeves and while I haven't been to the Orkneys I doubt he'd be in shirt sleeves if it were much later in the year than mid-September (I looked it up, by September the average day time temp is 15C, but the end of the month it's down to 13C.  Having said that, it's around the same temp in May so maybe he just liked the midday sun?).

 

Anyway, coming back to J-P, the comparison to the aircraft on the left makes me interested in its wings' leading edges.  Would we say there's enough in the photo to say the leading edge is black, too?  I'm not totally convinced but there's certainly enough circumstantial evidence to say yes.  If it is a black leading edge, it's not as prominent nor wrapped around as the other aircraft, which gives me pause.

 

Lastly, this picture gives me a cleaner view the font used for the letters, so I need to revisit my stencil graphics to correct what I've got right now.  The J has a flat base and the P appears squared off too.

 

Do my observations and logic make sense?  Happy to hear alternate opinions...

 

Cheers.

[bigbadbadge]

Well done for unearthing another photo and it's certainly good to confirm the font of the fuselage codes.  I am not sure about the leading edge as it looks a clean line underneath and could be the upper colours wrapping round slightly,  there is a gap between the back of the black nose as it sweeps up past the wing so could it be possible that the wing on this particular machine could have been left in its camouflage??? It certainly looks the same lighter tone than the fuselage from the canopy aft. And the darker are under the leading edge appears shadow, looking at the angle of the sun.

Good luck with your excellent and intriguing photo enterpretations . 

Chris

[tonyot]

10 hours ago, mark.au said:

Thanks for the kind words @bigbadbadge, @heloman1, @jackroadkill, @Dunny, @AliGauld, @Anthony in NZ, and @Iain Ogilvie.

 

I'm probably a little too excited to report have found another image of J-P. According to the caption it was taken at RNAS Hatston upon the squadron's return from a North Atlantic anti-submarine patrol aboard HMS Trumpeter, and dated in the latter half of 1944.

 

 

While it's not quite the holy grail inasmuch as it gives me the S/N (well, it does, but I'm going to have to really dig in on my photo enhancement skills to decipher it), there's a tonne of interesting stuff in this image.  First, it confirms the position of J and P on the port side, which I was struggling with.  Second, I believe it shows that I have the black anti-glare in more or less the right place, that is sweeping up to the windshield framing but not behind it.  In this it's different to the image of J-G that @tonyot posted earlier where the black extends beyond the windscreen framing to the midpoint of the sliding windows.

 

What about the Avenger over on the left?  It looks to me like it still has its sky undersides but does have the black anti-glare - albeit painted differently to J-P's but the same as the aircraft in the background; it is wearing a Type C roundel on the wing and the wing's leading edge is painted (unevenly) black.  The roundel is a bit curious, Type C was introduced in 1945 which makes the date of the photo a little suspect.  And, along that train of thought, the left-most person is in shirt sleeves and while I haven't been to the Orkneys I doubt he'd be in shirt sleeves if it were much later in the year than mid-September (I looked it up, by September the average day time temp is 15C, but the end of the month it's down to 13C.  Having said that, it's around the same temp in May so maybe he just liked the midday sun?).

 

Anyway, coming back to J-P, the comparison to the aircraft on the left makes me interested in its wings' leading edges.  Would we say there's enough in the photo to say the leading edge is black, too?  I'm not totally convinced but there's certainly enough circumstantial evidence to say yes.  If it is a black leading edge, it's not as prominent nor wrapped around as the other aircraft, which gives me pause.

 

Lastly, this picture gives me a cleaner view the font used for the letters, so I need to revisit my stencil graphics to correct what I've got right now.  The J has a flat base and the P appears squared off too.

 

Do my observations and logic make sense?  Happy to hear alternate opinions...

 

Cheers.

I`d say that the anti glare panel does actually sweep up behind the cockpit, to just behind the frame line of the opened canopy entrance, just like my model of P-B and I did say (and depict) the anti glare black was on the wing leading edge too, it was there to stop reflections from above by flares during attacks in arctic darkness or at night. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by tonyot

[mark.au]

6 hours ago, tonyot said:

I`d say that the anti glare panel does actually sweep up behind the cockpit, to just behind the frame line of the opened canopy entrance, just like my model of P-B and I did say (and depict) the anti glare black was on the wing leading edge too, it was there to stop reflections from above by flares during attacks in arctic darkness or at night. 

Thanks Tony, your input always appreciated.  I think we’ll agree to disagree on the finer nuances of the fuselage anti-glare, I tend to think @bigbadbadge and I are seeing the same thing on that.  But, I may be coming around to agreeing on the wing leading edges though Chris’ observation on the tonal similarity between the leading edge and the camo is quite compelling.  
 

What do you think about the Type C roundel on the left side aircraft’s wing?  Early adoption of the type or the photo was actually taken in ‘45 not in ‘44 as captioned?

 

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by mark.au
Clarity

[mark.au]

I have to travel again this week so here’s a status update to bring the progress on the bits and pieces.  The pics pretty much tell the story so I’ll keep the words to a minimum.  
 

 

 

 

…and the eagle-eyed will notice that the wing leading edges are little different.

 

By the time I finish this trip on Thursday I should have the vinyl I need to cut my masks. Assuming, that is, I have decided about the Type C roundel on the wing…

 

Cheers.

[Dunny]

Looking good Mark - did you opt for white undercarriage & bays? Looking very sharp all round at this stage - can't wait to see the markings sprayed!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[tonyot]

20 hours ago, mark.au said:

Thanks Tony, your input always appreciated.  I think we’ll agree to disagree on the finer nuances of the fuselage anti-glare, I tend to think @bigbadbadge and I are seeing the same thing on that.  But, I may be coming around to agreeing on the wing leading edges though Chris’ observation on the tonal similarity between the leading edge and the camo is quite compelling.  
 

What do you think about the Type C roundel on the left side aircraft’s wing?  Early adoption of the type or the photo was actually taken in ‘45 not in ‘44 as captioned?

 

 

Photo taken in 45 I would say. 

[mark.au]

10 hours ago, Dunny said:

Looking good Mark - did you opt for white undercarriage & bays? Looking very sharp all round at this stage - can't wait to see the markings sprayed!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks Roger.  Yes, went with the white all round.

[Phoenix44]

I don't think you can tell one way or the other on the fuselage black. The wings perhaps because the demarcation line seems low. The aircraft at the back clearly doesn't have any black on the leading edges though. The roundel on the aircraft on the left is odd - I thought it might be the film but JP doesn't show the red and blue "reversed" in terms of tone? The whole wing is very light. The three figures at the back look to me like civilians - possibly at least one of them is a woman? - which suggests post War. The shadows on the figures are very short so midday near midsummer? Probably quite warm then.

[mark.au]

7 hours ago, Phoenix44 said:

The shadows on the figures are very short so midday near midsummer? Probably quite warm then.

Thanks, your observations are sound.  That’s a good point about time of year; I realised that the pic was close to midday but hadn’t considered that it must be close to mid year too.

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see this all laid out waiting for markings, almost wrote decals!!! It looks great.  Good luck with the trip. 

Chris

[mark.au]

Well, back from my travels and after a marathon evening session where I completed the mask design and then put them to use.  This is where I got to…

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty happy with that.  Unfortunately I became so engrossed in the process that I didn’t take in-progress photos but I suppose most of us have seen these kinds of masks in action by now.  
 

The colours are again mixed artist’s paints.  
 

I weathered the roundels as I painted them.  The sealing top coat has toned down the weathering but I expect it to re-emerge when I apply the finishing coats later on.

You’ll notice I settled for Type B roundels for the wings.  In looking through pics on the IWM site I found what I think are some companion pics to the one showing the airframe with Type C roundels on its wings and those pics were dated July 1945 - when 846 left Halton.  Both the month and year make sense for Type C on the wing; my model represents JP as it looked in May 1945 and would have worn Type B on its wings.
 

I have also cut masks for the code letters and even ROYAL NAVY and the S/N.  Those last two are very small and will be difficult to set up but will look far superior to decals if I can make it work.

 

I’ve given up on being able to decipher the serial number from the photo posted above.  I am reasonably sure it’s a JZ number so I chose a Grumman-built number to match the interior paint of bronze green and interior green.  I made masks for two options, JZ177 and JZ255 (because I couldn’t find any reference to those numbers in any squadron), if anyone knows for sure that it couldn’t have been either one of those I’d be glad to know.

 

I’m very impressed with the Portrait and its ease of use.  These markings were quite simple to create, I am looking forward to taking on some more complex markings when the right project presents itself. 

Cheers.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by mark.au

[bigbadbadge]

The markings look awesome Mark, great work.

Chris

[mark.au]

4 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

The markings look awesome Mark, great work.

Chris

Thanks Chris.  I’m hoping I’ll get the remaining markings painted this weekend but we’ve got a bit going on with our son arriving for a visit from Canada (first time we’ve seen him in 2.5 years) so the the model may take a back seat for a few days.

[Anthony in NZ]

Just beautiful!  In fact that is an understatement.  Your paint is flawless.  You are a talented guy thats for sure

[AliGauld]

That looks absolutely incredible.

Stunning indeed.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Dunny]

Mark,

 

Looking lovely - I've been thinking about investing in one of these for a while and your beautiful results take me one step closer. Just got to convince the finance committe now! Great work mate,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[mark.au]

Thank you gents, @Anthony in NZ and @AliGauld, very much appreciated.

 

4 hours ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

Looking lovely - I've been thinking about investing in one of these for a while and your beautiful results take me one step closer. Just got to convince the finance committe now! Great work mate,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks Roger.  May I refer you to an earlier post on Page 3.?  I think the RBP applies here - even more so in this case because one can calculate a payback period to less than two years based on a productivity of ten kits per year costed at $30 per aftermarket decal sheet.  😉

[mark.au]

G’day all, some progress to report on the remaining markings.  First, the current state of play;

 

 

What went well; the code letters worked very well and I was able to make my S/N masks work reasonably well too.  What didn’t go so well; I could not get the “ROYAL NAVY” masks work at all and had to use decals.  The decals did not cooperate and I’m left with a little clean up work to do, though the flaws in the pic below which look like dust are actually a mix of rivets and some imperfections in the clear coat which will disappear under a flat coat later.

 

 

I may need to do some fine paint touch up as well, but I’m not too concerned about the final result here, it will look fine. All that remains for markings is the stencil decals.  I’ll apply them to the upper surfaces where contemporary photos show stencils were present but most photos don’t show any on the white underside.

 

Readers with an eye for detail will also notice I changed the anti-glare to sweep back to the rear of the pilot’s station.  Every wartime photo I found of 846 Avengers had their anti-glare painted in that pattern so I thought the balance of probabilities favoured JP would have too.  Just as @tonyot said, I should have paid more notice.

 

Once I’ve completed the dozen or so stencils it’s time to weather and then it’s only a hop, skip and jump to the finish.

 

I realise my pics have been a bit slap dash lately, I’ll take more and better the remainder of the works.

 

Cheers.

[bigbadbadge]

Nice progress despite the mask and decal issues, like you say,  that will disappear under final varnish coats,  black area does look good coming further back too.  

Code letters look good.

Great work 

Chris