1/32 Trumpeter TBM-1C Avenger

Gallery Article by Matt Wohlford on Mar 7 2012

 

 

This is Trumpeter's 1/32 scale TBM-1C Avenger done in the livery of VC-76, flying off of the U.S.S. Petrof Bay in 1945. This model was completed out of box except for the use of Tech-Mod decals, and EZ-line .003 rigging. The photos taken were done before rigging was added.

 

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This was my first large scale WWII bird in many many years.  It was a great change of pace from the many 1/32 jets I have built.  Painting up a radial engine for the first time was quite the challenge, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

The Trumpeter kit is extremely detailed.  The Avenger has plenty of interior detail, and the interior could be considered a kit itself.  Construction went fairly easy.  The kit is not overly complicated, it just has many sub assemblies to tackle.  It took a very long time just to close up the fuselage.  I was very tempted to finish the kit with the wings folded, but end the end I glued them locked in place (by doing so, I unknowingly made the model to big to fit in my display case. Doh!)

The kit's fit was very good, especially considering how many parts had to fit into place.  I used a little filler on the fuselage behind the cockpit.  The wing fit up very snug against the fuselage and no filler was needed. Nice!

I finished the model using Model Master enamels.  Decals were from Tech-Mod.  They went on nicely.  The decals even included vinyl masks; a very nice touch considering how much masking would be involved otherwise on this kit.  Weather was accomplished using Pro-modeler Dark wash.

Overall I'm happy with how the model turned out.  I'm sure there are things that I got wrong on the kit, but this was my first "real" attempt at a WWII bird, and I'm please with the results.  Now I have to figure out how to store this thing! :-)

Matt Wohlford

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Photos and text © by Matt Wohlford