Academy 1/72 TBF-1 Avenger

Post by **gosselin2112** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:37 pm

I took this photo in August 2012 at an airshow outside of Denver

The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber had a crew of three: pilot, turret gunner, and radioman/ventral gunner. It was powered by a 1,700 hp Wright Cyclone engine. It was armed with a .30 cal. gun in the nose; a .50 cal. gun in the turret; and another .30 cal. on the ventral side. It could deliver one of the three following payloads: one Bliss-Leavitt Mark 13 torpedo; a single 2,000 lb bomb; or 500 lbs. of bombs. It had a range of roughly 1,000 miles with a ceiling of 30,000 feet.

The Avenger saw service from 1942 up until the 1960s with the Japanese Maritime Self-defense Force, taking on many roles other than a torpedo bomber. During WWII, the Avenger was used a a command aircraft and sub-killer in both the Pacific and Atlantic. They were used in the sinking of the IJN Battleship Yamato. The future 41st US President, George HW Bush, piloted an Avenger. Hollywood movie star, Paul Newman, was a radioman/ventral gunner of an Avenger.

All right then, enough with historical data. Let's see the model

Nice recessed panel lines. The interior is lacking some detail, however, with a closed canopy it shouldn't be too much of a bother. The .50 and .30 cal. machine guns may need to be replaced. I may just swap out the barrels with brass tubing. We will see.

The instructions are pretty simple. Just seven sections! A nice history is provided, but I thought mine was pretty snappy

There is only one color scheme provided in the instructions. More research must be conducted to fine other alternative colors and styles.

Just like the color chart, only one decal set is provided. Not sure if I will use these or not. Will post pics of alternative decals if used.

July 27, 2013
All right. After battling a respiratory infection and travelling cross country to move the rest of my household stuff and model stash, I am ready to get back into model building

The machine gun barrels needed some replacement. A little brass tubing will do the trick.

All Set.

I didn't plan on doing too much scratch building on this project. I did some research and thinking about opening up the cowlings and the exhaust.

Why not.

I marked the areas that needed to get cut out with a marker and made some dots.

I marked the reverse so as to thin the plastic down, making it easier to drill.

Once the pilot holes were drilled I went right around with my bit and knocked out the unwanted pieces. A little file work to smooth out the edges was all that remained.

I'm thinking of using lead foil for the cowling flaps and some brass tubing for the exhaust.

Post by **Lee** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:38 pm

Looking good and nice write up too

Post by **Paul** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 10:49 pm

Beautiful looking plane, and great write up, brilliant

Post by **coladito1** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:02 am

One of my favorites, love the history behind it !!

Post by **Modelpro72** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:12 pm

Really looking forward to seeing this little gem coming to life. Doesn't seem to be much to this kit but I bet you'll make a cracking job of it.

Lenny

Post by **Bagpiper** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 3:23 am

Nice write up. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers

Jim

Post by **schweinhund227** » Sun Jun 16, 2013 7:15 pm

Nice Pick ! should build nice and clean !

Post by **rodders** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:53 pm

Looking forward to seeing your work on this. I've got one in the stash. Nice introduction.

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:23 pm

looks like a nice build on its way

Post by **Bagpiper** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 11:39 pm

Just checking in with you Russ. Hope all is well and your getting some progress with the build. Looking forward to seeing your progress when you get a chance

My build is very slow going at the moment - work is being a pain in the bottom.

Take care and see chat with you soon.

Cheers
Jim

Post by **panzerman** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:32 pm

The Avenger is one of my favorite planes from the Pacific Theater of War. Looks like a nice kit.
Too bad they only gave you one crewman....I think it should have 3. At least they could have provided one partial figure for the turret position.....if interested you could canabilize a crewman from an Airfix kit of the same plane. Just a thought, I don't even know if you're going to put a crew onboard.
Have fun with the build.
Bill.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:32 pm

Hmmm. . . I thought by adding my new pics to the already existing document it would show up as a new update. No such luck

Hope this reply works

Russ

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:56 pm

Not sure if anyone has noticed that I added some pics way back in the beginning. Guess I'll drop them here, hoping it will "reboot" this thread.

The machine guns need some barrel replacement, as they just don't appear to really do the model any justice.

Replaced barrels with brass tubing. A little measuring, cutting, and CA glue (super glue).

I didn't plan on any more scratch building, as I just wanted to build it up rather simply. Sometimes it is really hard to say no. I decided to replace the molded exhaust pipes with brass tubing. Hey, and why not open up some of the cowlings!

I began by marking the areas to be cut with a marker. This is styrene surgery - cant cut the wrong area

I then marked the reverse side. Now I can thin the plastic down, so as to make drilling a lot easier.

I began by making a series of pilot holes around the area to be removed, being careful not to go outside the line. All that pre-school coloring finally paid off!

Now it is just a matter of knocking it out with the bit and filing the edges nice and smooth.

Well, that's it for now. . .

Post by **Nige201980** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:13 pm

Looking good mate and no sorry I didn't notice the other pics

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:17 pm

Some good work their though the blurring hurts my eyes abit.

Post by **Lee** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:23 pm

Cool

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:45 pm

panzerman wrote:The Avenger is one of my favorite planes from the Pacific Theater of War. Looks like a nice kit.
Too bad they only gave you one crewman....I think it should have 3. At least they could have provided one partial figure for the turret position.....if interested you could canabilize a crewman from an Airfix kit of the same plane. Just a thought, I don't even know if you're going to put a crew onboard.
Have fun with the build.
Bill.

Thanks, Bill. Yes, crew of three. Nice idea of having some crew. Always brings the model to life, especially if being depicted in flight. I think I'll just leave it empty. Too much on the workbench. This is it, after the summer I am committing myself to a number of three models at any given time.

Russ.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:48 pm

T3hGuppy wrote:Some good work their though the blurring hurts my eyes abit.

Tell me about it.

Need to invest in a camera that can focus in on the small stuff of life. Currently I am using a Canon point and shoot digital camera. Nice little guy, however, not for our modelling world

Post by **gosselin2112** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:49 pm

Aaaahhh. . . A successful styrene surgery.

I began with the exhaust pipes, as I felt that it would be the most challenging part of the project. There was nothing to glue the tube to the fuselage, so I had to make some sort of cradle out of block styrene. This required sanding to a nice round shape and then filing a nice grooved notch in the block where I could attach the exhaust. It worked, but I decided to use plastic tubing on the other side (less work involved).

Picked out the tube of choice.

A little trim work on the vise.

The tube will be happy in it's cradle.

Before installing the cowlings I inserted some styrene sheet as a back support. A little heat forming was used to ensure a nice flush fit up against the fuselage wall. I fastened my pieces to the end of a kitchen knife that had similar curvature. Just dunked them in for about 10 seconds of hot, boiling water. Let cool, and away I went.

The cowlings are made out of wine bottle foil. Just to be a little cautious, I decided to take my measurements and make paper templates. In this way I could fiddle with the paper without wasting foil. I drew up a basic design here to give you all a general idea of what I was trying to accomplish. Hope it helps.

Once I had a good fit with the paper templates, it was just a matter of measuring, cutting, and folding the foil cowlings. Just a little fiddling was required. Then it was just a matter of gluing them in with a little CA glue.

This Academy kit does not include the .30 Cal nose machine gun. After doing a little research, I discovered that the nose gun was replaced by machine guns on the wings, as many pilots complained of not having enough firepower in the front. So I guess my model will be depicted as the next variant. Installing the wing mounted guns will be easy - brass tube! I guess that will be my next project.

Please feel free to add comments, questions, and constructive criticism.

Post by **DC87** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 10:56 pm

Nice skills, very good stuff. Its nice to see that your improving the kit with your ingenuity.

Has your camera got a macro mode at all?

Post by **gosselin2112** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:06 pm

DC87 wrote:Nice skills, very good stuff. Its nice to see that your improving the kit with your ingenuity.

Has your camera got a macro mode at all?

Thank you. Macro mode? I have no idea. I guess I'll check it out. My camera is not really suitable for our hobby. It is a Canon point and shoot thing. Any recommendations for a basic camera on a modest budget? Thinking of getting something better down the road.

Russ.

Post by **Daishi12** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:13 pm

Great build on the TBF-1, with regard to the camera I'm using a Nikon Coolpix S6100, which is point and shoot camera. The Macro (close-up) function works really well. I think it was about £80 as an end of line camera from my local supermarket.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 11:19 pm

Daishi12 wrote:Great build on the TBF-1, with regard to the camera I'm using a Nikon Coolpix S6100, which is point and shoot camera. The Macro (close-up) function works really well. I think it was about £80 as an end of line camera from my local supermarket.

Thanks! I am off to look at my manual to see about this Macro mode thingy. As you can tell, I'm not particularly good at all this digital stuff. But I am learning.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 1:22 am

Thank you, DC and Daishi12!!!! I looked up the Macro Mode in the manual. Awesome! Now I can set the feature and take nice close ups! Many thanks to the both of you!!

Post by **Nige201980** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 8:44 am

Looking good mate keep up the good work.

Post by **Daishi12** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:47 am

No problem mate, hope you get some good pics, and look forward to seeing them. As a tip, try using a constant light source as the flash on some cameras can be a bit fierce.

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:49 am

Liking the added scratch built stuff.

Looking great.

Post by **good2us1** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 7:04 pm

Nice and good choice, looking forward to seeing it finished .

daryl

Post by **chief5437** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:40 pm

How's this coming along, Russ? Cool looking plane, even cooler with Paul Newman in it!Lol

Post by **gosselin2112** » Fri Aug 02, 2013 12:10 am

chief5437 wrote:How's this coming along, Russ? Cool looking plane, even cooler with Paul Newman in it!Lol

Hello Chief.

The build is coming along well, now that most of the scratch building is finished. I haven't built an aircraft since 1993

I might be a little rusty with basic aircraft builds. The only snag I have run into with this kit is that there is an ejection pin mark right in the turret canopy

I have no experience with clear parts. I suppose I could dremel it out and then buff the scratches out, however, I am not confident that I can pull it off. Way too far outside of my comfort zone for the moment. I will just leave it alone. Paul Newman! Would be nice with a figure of him in it

Take care, Russell.

Post by **chief5437** » Fri Aug 02, 2013 12:14 am

Yes, I've heard about the mark on the inside of the turret, worst place ever! Like you, it's a bit outside my comfort zone too! I hope someone else sees this and can help you out. Good luck mate.

Website · Post by **Gav0909** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:05 am

Shame about the EPM in the clear turret Russ. I wouldn't know how to go about tackling that either. I have various grades of sanding paper/sticks and polishers, but the inside of a curved turret is a nasty place to get those tools into! Have you a rotary tool? If so then you do get polishing implements for that, might be your best bet.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:53 am

Time is flying . . . IPMS Nationals, new school year, internet back online. Need to get this bird in the gallery. I feel like Cinderella (will I turn into a pumpkin if I don't finish in time?).

Painted the cockpit and other interior items. Not much detail here, but with a closed canopy it will look all right.

The wings will need lots of filler to bring the seams together.

Sandwiching the fuselage was difficult. Cockpit is a little cockeyed. Seams need filling.

This is really turning into a filler model. I couldn't keep the wings level without resorting to enormous gaps and miss alignments. Milliput to the rescue!

The gap the got away. Decided it was too late to do anything about it, and moved on. You can see it right behind the turret basket, just before the circular aerial thingy. Does anybody know what it is called? Need to add it to my aircraft vocabulary

That's all for now. Need to crank up the heat and finish this Avenger!

Russ.

Post by **Coen** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:13 am

I'm not 100% sure Russ, but it looks like a primitive radar emitter or receiver. I've seen something like that before on one of the old ships here in our harbour... it's almost identical.
As I said though... not sure.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:41 am

Gav0909 wrote:Shame about the EPM in the clear turret Russ. I wouldn't know how to go about tackling that either. I have various grades of sanding paper/sticks and polishers, but the inside of a curved turret is a nasty place to get those tools into! Have you a rotary tool? If so then you do get polishing implements for that, might be your best bet.

Yes, I do have a rotary tool. I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, I have been too busy to put extra effort into the build. I just left the canopy alone and moved on. Not a good habit to get into. Thanks for the suggestion!

Post by **gosselin2112** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 8:30 pm

I entered this model in the wrong GB! I should have built it for Alex Modelling & Panzerman's Lemon GB

This kit has really tested my patience. The overall model has increased in weight due to all the filler I've added. And to add insult to injury, I managed to lose the ventral gunner's canopy! I looked and looked, but I have know idea where it is

I still need to add some filler to the engine cowling, hang the aerial. Painting and minor weathering to follow!

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 8:37 pm

Coming together nicely.

I really like the look of this aircraft.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:46 am

This weekend has been a model building marathon! I filled and sanded to the point of puking. . .

Enough is enough. Primed her up with Tamiya Surface Primer. My only problem was that I forgot to mask the port and starboard windows. . .

Ooops!
Tomorrow I will get the color scheme on. There's a lot of variety with these PTO aircraft. The blue ranges from dark to a very worn baby blue. Well, my wallet is dictating what my paint is going to be. I have some medium blue from Tamiya on the bench. The underside will get a cocktail of some off white color.

Never knew a napkin holder had so many other uses.

Post by **Lee** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:31 am

Looks like you might make the deadline Russ

Looking good mate ...

Post by **Coen** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:19 am

I've always thought this was a cool plane.
Great job so far bringing her to life Russ.
I'm interested to see how the paint that you chose works out.

Post by **Paul** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:42 am

Looking great mate, hope you get it finished on time

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:18 pm

Paul wrote:Looking great mate, hope you get it finished on time

Thanks. I've been cranking this thing out all weekend. The painting should be done at the end of the day.

Post by **UKscalemodeller** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:27 pm

Looking good but

get on with it we want to see this one finished.

the thingy behind the turret I think is the D/F loop antenna.

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:05 pm

Ukscalemodeller, your funny! Love the cracking wip! Ok, so now I have to decide about painting the topside surface. From the references I've seen, there are a lot of varieties. I am thinking of doing a wavy demarcation line between the two tones. Silly Putty will be my masking agent. Hard edge or soft?

Seems like both were used. I'll just keep it easy and do a hard line. Time is of the essence! The seventh is around the corner!

And I'm off. . .

Post by **gosselin2112** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 6:55 pm

Silly putty and masking tape. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

Not bad. . . not bad.

The silly putty came out ok. Edges need a little more rolling effect, but that is for another model. I'm learning a lot about basic aircraft model building here!

Allright, the leg work is done. Now it is a matter of the small detail stuff. Looking forward to painting the yellow stripe on the engine cowling and propeller tips! It's going to really accent this bird!

Post by **chief5437** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:40 pm

Looks great so far!

Post by **spruecutter** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:10 pm

Nice work

https://www.youtube.com/user/bnealuk · Post by **T3hGuppy** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:16 pm

Nice camo came out well.

Post by **Coen** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:25 pm

Russell that is a sweet paint job dude.
I love that colour!

Post by **gosselin2112** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:53 am

Made a lot of progress in the last three days. A big thanks for all of you lads for the kind words. It really helped encourage me to keep building (painting). Painting the yellow stripe on the engine cowling was an interesting process. I wasn't sure how it was going to come out. Yellow is a real pain to paint (according to Russ). I decided to paint a series of shades to help let that final yellow stand out. I masked the cowling and put on an earth tone, followed by orange, and finally yellow. Did the same for the propeller.

My crazy masking system to paint the engine. Probably should have done it before the full paint job?

The finished result!

Found a few paint errors. I'll see about trying to patch them up for the big reveal. I'm hoping the canopy masking works out as good as the cowling. Now for a frosty beverage. . .

Russ.