Post by NEMO on Dec 3, 2017 15:10:32 GMT
Ok next on the bench is Accurate Miniatures Avenger TBM3 - thanks for all that voted 
The History Bit
Grumman’s TBF Avenger is the most successful naval strike aircraft ever built. The airplane was equally at home on fleet aircraft carriers, small escort carriers, and forward air bases, providing outstanding performance in torpedo strike, bombing, anti-submarine, and close air support roles. Easy to fly for a wartime-trained pilot, it was reliable and rugged and trusted by those who flew in it.
Grumman’s design included a power-operated rear turret of incredibly-simple design, and an internal bomb bay capable of carrying 2,000 lbs of ordnance, including general purpose or armor-piercing bombs, or a Mk. XIII torpedo. Operated by a crew of three, it had power-operated folding wings that could reduce its 54-foot span to 18 feet, thus allowing it to be operated from all Navy aircraft carriers. The original specification had called for a top speed of 320 m.p.h., which was revealed as only 274 mph when the first prototype flew in August 1941. Test flights revealed only a need for an extended fin for directional stability, everything else in the design performing as expected.
In January 1942, the torpedo bomber was given the name “Avenger” - for obvious emotional reasons following Pearl Harbour - a name it would more than live up to over the next three years.
By the Battle of Midway, Grumman was producing 60 TBF-1s a month, and production exceeded 100 aircraft per month in November. By the end of 1942, Grumman had delivered 646 Avengers, and would attain a production rate of 150 per month through 1943. This wasn’t enough, and with the company’s prime commitment being the development and full-scale production of the even-more-desperately-needed F6F Hellcat, it was decided to bring in a second company to produce the Avenger. The General Motors in New Jersey was turned over to a new subsidiary known as Eastern Aircraft for this purpose. Those in the aviation industry were doubtful of the automotive industry’s ability to engage in mass production to the far-more-demanding tolerances of aircraft, but GM proved that - with the assistance of Grumman in simplifying assembly of the Avenger - they were capable of meeting the challenge. Production began in November 1942 with the assembly of Grumman-built TBFs, and by May 1943 had hit 100 aircraft - known as the TBM Avenger - a month. Of the 9,837 Avengers built during the war, Eastern Aircraft would produce 7,546 of them, including all of the more advanced TBM-3 version.
The Avenger went on to become the backbone of the Navy’s anti-U-boat campaign in the Atlantic, and - finally equipped in 1944 with the “ring-tail” Mk. XIII that allowed high-speed, higher-altitude torpedo strikes with weapon accuracy -Avengers sank the two biggest battleships ever built: the Musashi in October 1944 and her sister Yamato in May 1945.
The TBM-3Avenger, which first flew in prototype form in May 1944, was an attempt to deal with the problem that the Avenger was slightly underpowered. An uprated R-2600 was used, with additional cooling vents to allow maximum power on takeoff. Aft of the firewall, the changes were kept to a minimum, with the most noticeable change being a different instrument panel in the pilot’s cockpit. With minimal changes, production was easily able to replace the TBM-1C on the production line, and the type first appeared in the fleet in early 1945 in the air groups that replaced those which had fought the Central Pacific campaign. The TBM-3 first went to war with the Tokyo strikes in February 1944, and had completely replaced the TBF-1C and TBM-1C in all Navy and Marine squadrons by the time of the Okinawa campaign.
Marine torpedo bomber squadrons, primarily equipped with the TBM-3E version which did away with the lower windows and tunnel gun position in the radioman’s compartment - went aboard CVEs where they operated in support of Marine ground troops on Okinawa with great success.
The TBM-3 in its various subtypes continued in U.S. Navy service until the late 1950s, as well as equipping Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, French Aeronavale and Japanese Air Self Defense Force units in the anti-submarine role throughout the 1950s.
The Kit Bit
The Accurate Miniatures Avenger series first appeared in 1995 - it’s hard to believe they have been around now for over ten years. Popularly acclaimed as the BEST 1/48 WW2 Aircraft model kit EVER produced it is still possible to pick this up relatively cheaply. Various aftermarket sets are available including a superb wing-fold conversion set from Wolfpack which provides resin Inner wings and utilises the kits' outers I shall be modelling this as a cutaway with the stbd wing folded so I shall recreate the sing-fold myself although I shall be using Eduards Etch (including coloured interior parts) and Montex Paint Masks (after all the TBM is essentially a flying greenhouse!). Here be sprues shots:
The History Bit
Grumman’s TBF Avenger is the most successful naval strike aircraft ever built. The airplane was equally at home on fleet aircraft carriers, small escort carriers, and forward air bases, providing outstanding performance in torpedo strike, bombing, anti-submarine, and close air support roles. Easy to fly for a wartime-trained pilot, it was reliable and rugged and trusted by those who flew in it.
Grumman’s design included a power-operated rear turret of incredibly-simple design, and an internal bomb bay capable of carrying 2,000 lbs of ordnance, including general purpose or armor-piercing bombs, or a Mk. XIII torpedo. Operated by a crew of three, it had power-operated folding wings that could reduce its 54-foot span to 18 feet, thus allowing it to be operated from all Navy aircraft carriers. The original specification had called for a top speed of 320 m.p.h., which was revealed as only 274 mph when the first prototype flew in August 1941. Test flights revealed only a need for an extended fin for directional stability, everything else in the design performing as expected.
In January 1942, the torpedo bomber was given the name “Avenger” - for obvious emotional reasons following Pearl Harbour - a name it would more than live up to over the next three years.
By the Battle of Midway, Grumman was producing 60 TBF-1s a month, and production exceeded 100 aircraft per month in November. By the end of 1942, Grumman had delivered 646 Avengers, and would attain a production rate of 150 per month through 1943. This wasn’t enough, and with the company’s prime commitment being the development and full-scale production of the even-more-desperately-needed F6F Hellcat, it was decided to bring in a second company to produce the Avenger. The General Motors in New Jersey was turned over to a new subsidiary known as Eastern Aircraft for this purpose. Those in the aviation industry were doubtful of the automotive industry’s ability to engage in mass production to the far-more-demanding tolerances of aircraft, but GM proved that - with the assistance of Grumman in simplifying assembly of the Avenger - they were capable of meeting the challenge. Production began in November 1942 with the assembly of Grumman-built TBFs, and by May 1943 had hit 100 aircraft - known as the TBM Avenger - a month. Of the 9,837 Avengers built during the war, Eastern Aircraft would produce 7,546 of them, including all of the more advanced TBM-3 version.
The Avenger went on to become the backbone of the Navy’s anti-U-boat campaign in the Atlantic, and - finally equipped in 1944 with the “ring-tail” Mk. XIII that allowed high-speed, higher-altitude torpedo strikes with weapon accuracy -Avengers sank the two biggest battleships ever built: the Musashi in October 1944 and her sister Yamato in May 1945.
The TBM-3Avenger, which first flew in prototype form in May 1944, was an attempt to deal with the problem that the Avenger was slightly underpowered. An uprated R-2600 was used, with additional cooling vents to allow maximum power on takeoff. Aft of the firewall, the changes were kept to a minimum, with the most noticeable change being a different instrument panel in the pilot’s cockpit. With minimal changes, production was easily able to replace the TBM-1C on the production line, and the type first appeared in the fleet in early 1945 in the air groups that replaced those which had fought the Central Pacific campaign. The TBM-3 first went to war with the Tokyo strikes in February 1944, and had completely replaced the TBF-1C and TBM-1C in all Navy and Marine squadrons by the time of the Okinawa campaign.
Marine torpedo bomber squadrons, primarily equipped with the TBM-3E version which did away with the lower windows and tunnel gun position in the radioman’s compartment - went aboard CVEs where they operated in support of Marine ground troops on Okinawa with great success.
The TBM-3 in its various subtypes continued in U.S. Navy service until the late 1950s, as well as equipping Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, French Aeronavale and Japanese Air Self Defense Force units in the anti-submarine role throughout the 1950s.
The Kit Bit
The Accurate Miniatures Avenger series first appeared in 1995 - it’s hard to believe they have been around now for over ten years. Popularly acclaimed as the BEST 1/48 WW2 Aircraft model kit EVER produced it is still possible to pick this up relatively cheaply. Various aftermarket sets are available including a superb wing-fold conversion set from Wolfpack which provides resin Inner wings and utilises the kits' outers I shall be modelling this as a cutaway with the stbd wing folded so I shall recreate the sing-fold myself although I shall be using Eduards Etch (including coloured interior parts) and Montex Paint Masks (after all the TBM is essentially a flying greenhouse!). Here be sprues shots:
Looks like a nice kit. That last picture is hard for me to make out. Are those clear IP's?
