1/48 TBM Avenger - Pacific Theatre of Operations II

[chris brown]

Username: Chris Brown
First name: Chris
Category: Intermediate
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Accurate Miniatures
Model Type: TBF-1C Truk Lagoon Boxing
Aftermarket Addons: Eduard PE zoom set, Eduard flaps, Quickboost exhaust, True Details wheels and Techmod decals.

I hope there is room for me and my Avenger in this group build. This is my first post on this forum but I have been lurking here for a little while checking out all the great builds. I will be building an Avenger flown by Lt(jg) Rothwell of VC-76 flown off of the USS Petrof Bay (CVE 80) in 1945. It has a small drawing of Betty Boop on the nose and the plane was named Blopsy.

 

[Wurger]

Welcome to the site. And Good Luck with the assembling of course.

 

[fubar57]

Welcome Chris. I just purchased the -3 version and Lucky13 is building the -3 in this GB. Will be following this one.

Geo

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool, welcome aboard Chris and looking forward to your build.

 

[chris brown]

Thanks guys. I had the pleasure of building this kit a couple of years ago when I first got back into modeling after a 20 year hiatus. Unfortunately that build did not survive a move so I am happy to be building this kit again for this group build. Back then I had never heard of Accurate Miniatures and knew nothing of this great kit. I just picked it up by chance at my LHS and fell in love with it. Its a shame they aren't still around producing amazing kits. At least most of their catalog is still available in one form or another from other manufacturers.

I have a love/hate relationship with the instructions. They give you lots of information and helpful tips to build the kit but the drawings of the individual steps are a little vague in places. Thankfully there are several great builds online here to look at to help me along.

I have never used Techmod decals before so if any of you guys have any useful information about them you can pass along that would be great.
And I have only found one picture of "Blopsy" so if there are any more pics at there that can be shared that would be great as well.

 

[chris brown]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I started this build a couple of weeks ago when this GB first started. It seems like I have been a little cursed with it since then. Soon after starting it I sliced my hand with a utility knife while working on my front door. This gave me 10 stitches and a 2 week break from modeling. Then I went skiing on vacation and promptly got a mild concussion when I got tangled up with one of my friends on the slopes. Hopefully things will go smoother from here on out. I am going to do a couple of posts to catch things up to where I am now on the build.

The kit has a lot of great detail right out of the box but I always love adding extra PE when I can.

The IP is molded in clear plastic so you can somehow stick a decal on the back side of it and see the instruments through it but I'm not sure how this is suppose to work in reality. I scraped off most of the molded on details to make room for the pre-painted PE from Eduard. I also cut off the rudder pedals which will be replaced by PE as well.

This is how the IP looks now. And here is what the PE rudder pedals look like.

I added a strengthening plate to the seat from plastic card (I think that's what that angled plate is) and some PE details as well. I had some black paint in my airbrush so I shot some pre-shading on the seat as well.

Here it is with some Interior Green paint on it.

And with a little weathering added as well.

I still need to add an oil wash for the recesses and add the PE seat belts.

 

[fubar57]

Good start Chris. Don't be afraid to ask questions here, somebody is an expert on something.

Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Great work so far and welcome to the forum. Very glad you jumped in with this nice build. I built this very kit last year for GB#15 and you'll need to be careful when you get to the turret installation as the instructions will mess you up.

 

[Wayne Little]

Welcome aboard Chris, good choice mate.

Beware....things happen in Threes....I only count 2 so far...

 

[chris brown]

Thanks guys, Andy I have your build from GB 15 bookmarked to help me along with my mine. I have a love/hate relationship with the Acc. Min. instructions. They give you lots of information and tips to help with your build, but the diagrams can be vague at times.

 

[Totalize]

Chris,

Welcome to the site and very nice start on your avenger build. Looking forward to seeing your progess.

Dave.

 

[chris brown]

I added some details to the bomb bay with wire and fine solder.

Next I sprayed interior green everywhere. This will be a Eastern built avenger so I wont have to worry about mixing up any bronze green.

Next I mixed up a lighter shade of IG and added some highlights. This is how everything looks right now. I still have more detail painting to do and a coat of future and oil wash before I can close everything up.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice Chris. Wasn't aware of the interior color difference between the manufacturers.

Geo

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Airframes]

Nice work so far, and welcome to the forum. What ce ... er, room are you in?

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very nice, I love the seat.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

G'day Chris, nice to have you join us and what a great start. Good also to see that lovely selection of extras lined up for this build.

 

[mikewint]

Indeed, excellent work, IMHO you are well above Intermediate in your skill level

 

[Wayne Little]

Some nice work there Chris.

 

[destrozas]

good good job....