Additions:
Eduard TBF-1 Avenger Zoom Set FE267
Construction
I was at
Aeroworks one day when I spotted this kit and thought why not. When I got
the kit home I had a look, the detail looked
fantastic like most of the kits that Accurate Miniatures supply. However,
I
noticed that the control panel was on the clear spur didn't seem to
have much detail. This would not do, so I sent Craig from Aeroworks an E-mail
to order me in the Eduard TBF Zoom set. Even after the Zoom set arrived I
didn't start on the kit. It looked like a fair bit of work was needed to
assemble the kit, and at the time I had my hands full with the Hasegawa
F-14. Two F-14's later I decided to start on the Avenger kit.
Accurate Miniature have supplied some good goodies in with the kit with a
few options throughout the build.
I started with the cockpit using the
Eduard kit. I assembled the cockpit which looked great. I did use the
Accurate Miniature web site a fare bit through out the construction as I found
the instructions a little hard to follow. Not as clear as Hasegawa or
Tamiya. After the cockpit was assembled and painted it was time to add
some shaded detail and for this I used the Tamiya weathering kits to weather the
cockpit. When I was happy with the weathered detail, I went over the
cockpit with some matt clear to seal the pastel. With the cockpit and
interior assembled, it was time to assemble the fuselage halves together,
the kit went together with little fuss and minimal putty.
Click on
images below to see larger images
Picture 3 and 4 show the
cockpit assembled and weathered. I used Model Master Interior Green to
paint the interior. Tamiya's pastel set was used for the weathering.
The engine was
assembled and weathered and I found the detail of the engine is quite good and when painted
and weathered it comes up looking great. With the engine now done, it was time to
attach the engine to the Avenger and glue the engine nacelle halves together.
Painting and Finish
With the Avenger basically
assembled it was time to paint. I followed my usual method of first laying
down the aluminium followed by the gloss clear and then the sea blue. In the
past I have used the old tape and rip method to obtain the chip effect, but this
time I used some gritty wet rub sand paper and attacked the surface of the
Avenger. When I was happy with the result, I hit the kit with a gloss clear ready
for the decals. Once I had applied the decals, it was again time to cover the
Avenger in another gloss cote followed up with a pastel wash to high light the
panel lines. With the panel lines completed I airbrushed matt clear over
the entire Avenger.
Time to add the finishing parts.
I had a little trouble
placing the turret into the kit and had to revert back to the Accurate
Miniatures web site for clearer instructions on how to the get the turret into
the Avenger now it makes sense. I finished adding the cockpit windows landing
gear and bomb bay doors which were also a little tricky, I opted for a torpedo
for the ordnance, but there is nice little bomb trolley as well as other
ordnance supplied in the kit. The Avenger has been built to represent that of
one of the Avengers from squadron 79M of the ill fated flight 19.
Although Flight 19 last flight was a training bombing mission which was
accomplished before they disappeared, I went with the torpedo and placed a bomb
on trolley next to the Avenger
Thanks
Thanks to Craig from
Aeroworks aeroworks@iprimus.com.au for
the kit, Zoom set and the display base. Craig retails in kits, resin and
accessories for model aircraft. Drop Craig an E-mail for a updated product list
here and around the globe
Thanks to Steve Bamford for
his endless work on this site
Alan
Click on
images below to see larger images
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