FINISHED - TBM3 Avenger by CDW - Trumpeter - 1:32 scale

[CDW]

Just now, Landlubber Mike said:

Looks well worth it!  That would be quite a complicated tape job especially with the round surfaces.  Really nice job.

 

Can I ask what paint you're using for the Chromate Green?  Is that the Vallejo bottle I saw in an earlier picture?

Yes, i am using Vallejo chromate green.

Yes on the tape, there's just way more than $6 worth of taping on this model, and that's approximately the cost of the masking set if you can find one. I searched hi and low for this set.

 

PS: for some odd reason, the Vallejo chromate green is not easy to find on hobby shop shelves. You can make your own chromate green by mixing Tamiya green with yellow. In hindsight, I would go with Tamiya if I had to do it all over again.

Edited February 19, 2020 by CDW

[popeye the sailor]

the interior is looking great....nicely done  

[CDW]

Just now, popeye the sailor said:

the interior is looking great....nicely done  

Thanks Denis. I am so ready to close up the fuselage and finish this beast. The tri-color US Navy scheme should prove interesting to do.

[popeye the sailor]

look'in forward to it  

[Old Collingwood]

8 hours ago, CDW said:

Just an hour or so after I posted the last photos, the canopy mask set arrived in the mail from England. Because of the complexity of the masking required for this model, the pre cut masking set is a huge benefit for a small cost. 

 

 

How do you remove the masks  after painting  - I assume a blade would be no good due to scratching the  canopy parts.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Just now, Old Collingwood said:

How do you remove the masks  after painting  - I assume a blade would be no good due to scratching the  canopy parts.

 

OC.

Best way I've found is to use a tooth pick/cocktail stick to pick at an edge and make it rise up just a bit so you can grab it with tweezers. The wood stick won't scratch the clear plastic. Sometimes I just carefully use my tweezers which have a pointy end to lift the mask, but that's more risky of scratching the plastic.

[Old Collingwood]

Thanks mate,   I have that stage to arrive soon  (got the mask).

 

OC.

[CDW]

With this aircraft and many other WW2 US aircraft, you want the inner canopy frame colored zinc chromate. To achieve this, the canopy is first painted (on the outside) with zinc chromate. After the z.c. is dry, then a coat of the exterior color is painted on the canopy frame, in this case navy blue. 

Twice I glued on and subsequently knocked off the photo etched turret gun sight. Finally decided to wait until just before the turret glass was installed to glue it on for the last time.  

I have finally arrived at the time to join the fuselage halves.

 

[lmagna]

See you can improve someone else's build. I would have never thought of painting the interior frame color from the outside! My Huey has much the same design in that the frame is clear and part of the windscreen. I was wondering how hard it was going to be to do the inside gray and the outside black. Now I know.

 

Each picture you are taking of this plane makes it look more massive than the one before. 

[CDW]

Just now, lmagna said:

Each picture you are taking of this plane makes it look more massive than the one before. 

 

Glad there is something here that helps just a bit.

The Avenger was the largest single engine aircraft of WW2.

[CDW]

My brother pulled this big spec out from the gator's lair yesterday. He's fishing at Lake Kissimmee in Fla

 

[popeye the sailor]

I'd have never thought to do that either......and also gave me more insight.   when I get more into the Memphis Belle,  I'm going to need this masking stuff..........I've never used it before.   being a first for me,  I thank you  for the info on how to use it.  the paint tip is a plus,  because the inner framing too will need to be the chromate green.  when you see some of the panels,  this will be important    you'll see soon    the blue looks black to me........gotta be the camera. 

 

my best friend Mike lives Kissimmee..........closest I ever got was DeLeon springs........lake Dias.   there's something unnerving about seeing a gator sunning himself on a log,  after swimming and having a good time in the water 

[Edwardkenway]

I reckon you could write a book for modellers with all the great tips you gives us Craig 😆👍

Edited February 20, 2020 by Edwardkenway

[CDW]

Not enough natural light in my room. It's definitely navy blue which is a very dark blue.

When you look at the photo of the gator, you'll see water lilies. Ahead of the lilies are floating roots called tussocks. The gators root up the water lilies and the roots float to the surface of the water where the gators lay out to catch sun (reptiles do that) and to lay/hatch their eggs. Often, you'll see baby gators 8" long sunning themselves on the tussock beds.

[popeye the sailor]

me and a friend { Randy}  boated out in lake Dias........ beached on a sandbar and went for a swim.  it was coming back when I saw the gator.  I think it was also the time where I got a case of roundworm.......very nasty and itchy.......everywhere........even places you can't see! 

[CDW]

There are a lot of critters to ruin your swimming in Fla lakes. Water Moccasins, gators, parasites, etc. 

As a Fla native, I don't swim in lakes but we used to do it a lot as kids. The water was cleaner back then before the massive population increase and urbanization which brought a lot of pollutants to our lakes through rainwater runoff, not the least of which is fertilizer and heavy metals (from automobiles).  

[thibaultron]

I have a friend, who used to do a lot of sailboarding on the Chesapeake Bay. That is until he looked down one day, and saw two 5 foot bull sharks swimming one on each side of him! Fresh water only now.

[CDW]

It's well known in Florida, bull sharks are man eaters. Last time I checked, they account for the majority of shark attacks in Fla.

They swim far upstream in rivers as well, well beyond brackish water. 

[FriedClams]

This model is coming along wonderfully CDW, such careful and precise work.  As others have mentioned, I too like your method of painting the inside of the clear canopy from the outside - very clever.  A very informative and fun build to follow.  Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Gary

[CDW]

The Avenger model comes with a set of bi-fold bomb bay doors. The doors are enhanced with a fully photo etch lined inner door detail provided stock in the kit.

 

Often, modelers ask what type of glue to use for photo etch. While CA glue has it's place in the scheme of things, my personal favorite most of the time is acrylic glue. Why? *The slower drying time gives plenty of latitude for positioning the part without it inadvertently adhering too soon. *It dries completely clear with no fogging. *It dries very thin without a buildup. *It cleans up with water. *It's a more flexible bond, not brittle like CA. I can easily clean up any excess glue with a paint brush wetted with water to eliminate any sign of the glue on the finished model.

 

Another question modelers often ask, what is the best primer for photo etch? My choice is Mr Metal Primer. *It is a solvent based primer, and completely transparent. *It adheres very well to photo etch and mostly eliminates the chance of the finished paint color peeling away from the photo etch. *It can be brushed onto delicate photo etch parts and is self leveling. *Dries quickly. *Since it has no color pigments, it will not obliterate the fine surface details that photo etch is meant to provide.

 

The kit provides pre shaped bomb bay hinges for the doors to attach in a bi-fold fashion.

 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent info  - just looked on  Ebay  for that  Gator's Glue  but no sign of it.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Just now, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent info  - just looked on  Ebay  for that  Gator's Glue  but no sign of it.

 

OC.

Try here. You'll need to email the seller.

http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder1.html

[Old Collingwood]

1 minute ago, CDW said:

Try here. You'll need to email the seller.

http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder1.html

Thanks mate.

 

OC.

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

18 minutes ago, CDW said:

Try here. You'll need to email the seller.

http://www.gatorsmask.com/gatorglueorder1.html

Craig, how do you find the Gator Glue on very tiny parts, or parts that have a tiny contact point?  I tried using it on my current 1/700 destroyer build where the PE is ridiculously tiny, and had trouble getting it to work with attaching things like railings where the contact point is smaller than the head of a pin  

 

I might try it again.  I've been using CA but CA dries so fast.  The thin is way too quick for models I think.  The medium is better set-time wise, but I find you have to smear it before putting it on a part or it's too thick.  Then again, this is my experience with 1/700 scale which is a good scale to torture yourself and ruin your eyesight with 😳

[CDW]

Just now, Landlubber Mike said:

Craig, how do you find the Gator Glue on very tiny parts, or parts that have a tiny contact point?  I tried using it on my current 1/700 destroyer build where the PE is ridiculously tiny, and had trouble getting it to work with attaching things like railings where the contact point is smaller than the head of a pin  

Mike, the applicability of acrylic glue is going to vary on particular jobs depending on the specific parts (as you referenced) as well as the experience the individual has in using acrylic glue. Like a lot of other things, we get better at it with time and practice. One thing for sure, you don't use it exactly the same as you would use CA, as with CA, you're trying to use as little of it as possible to avoid a big mess. With acrylic glue, you can use more of it and clean it all up later with a wet paint brush before the glue completely dries. I find acrylic glue is particularly well suited for ship railings. Sometimes the difficulty comes from trying to use too large of a section of railing at a time. I often cut my railings into smaller sections and find it makes working with it much easier. I cut the railing to the length I want at a vertical post, then use a smidgen of overlap of the rails on the subsequent vertical post to mate them together. When using it, don't be afraid to use a larger drop of it where the photo etch is to be attached as it will be very easy to clean up later. 

A good way to get practice is to use scrap pieces of railing and just glue them down on a piece of sheet styrene plastic. The little blobs of glue you put down will be enough to hold the railing in a vertical position until it starts to get tacky and once tacky use your wet paint brush to clean up the excess glue around your posts.

[lmagna]

I need to quit stopping in here Craig

Every time I do it seems to thin my wallet a little more. My wife is beginning to think I have a mistress! All of these high tek models and after market stuff seem to require a lot of high tek stuff to make the best use of them!

[CDW]

A dry fit of the bomb bay doors before moving on to another step. Will leave the doors off until the end. One less thing to work around when masking and painting the overall aircraft, and one less thing to knock off or break.

 

[popeye the sailor]

look'in sweet ......   when you ordered your masking set for the canopy and such,  did it specify that particular model kit?  I've been looking for a set for the Memphis Belle and have been unable to find one for Revell kits.

[CDW]

2 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

look'in sweet ......   when you ordered your masking set for the canopy and such,  did it specify that particular model kit?  I've been looking for a set for the Memphis Belle and have been unable to find one for Revell kits.

Yes, the masks are specific for a particular model by manufacturer. 

[CDW]

5 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

look'in sweet ......   when you ordered your masking set for the canopy and such,  did it specify that particular model kit?  I've been looking for a set for the Memphis Belle and have been unable to find one for Revell kits.

Denis

Is this the B-17 you're building?

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/kv-models-72100-mask-1-72-boeing-b-17f-g-flying-fortress--1194449