1/48 Tarpon (Revell Avenger)
I said I would next built an American plane in British markings, here it is, a Tarpon, from the ancient 1/48 scale Revell TBF Avenger kit.
This kit is sooo old...it has a 1958 copyright mark, that,s even older than my copyright mark, but not by much!
The kit is made to have moving everything but somewhere along the line they took out of the instructions the part about the folding wings and just left a picture with two arrows indicating "stick wings on the sides, here". They even include the wing hing parts in the kit and list them in the parts list, but never say where they go. Thats OK, I like it looking ready to fly. Only problem is, the wings don't fit well at all...
But the turret moves, the rear gun elevates, bomb bay (wrong shape) doors open, the tailhook and tail wheel retract - I didn't try to make the main gear retract but I think they are supposed to.
Interior detail is none to speak of. I usually don't do pilots a crewmen, but when they are practically the only interior parts, I do them.
There was so much 'flash' I had to wear sunglasses building this and enough sink marks, if combined the completed model could have ditched in it. Good thing the crew has their life vests..
The decals are left overs from other kits and it was brush painted with a bit of weathering added mainly to compensate for the poor fit and ugly seams.
Oh, but the propeller spins very well! I like that...
I remember building that one many years ago and know exactly what you're talking about regarding the wings!
You sure did this one justice, Ralph, nice job!
I built that "ancient mariner" not too long ago myself. Revell tried to make it too 'operable' and all they did was make it harder to assemble [correctly]. Mine doesn't have movable anything! Yours sure tuned out well, though. Nice job.
You are a braver modeler than me Ralph. Mine went back to the box half assembled. " Your courage has served you well!" (now, what movie was that from?)
Great looking model,
California Steve
I don't know Steve, that aircraft carrier you posted took a lot of gumption I'd say...and you are building two more?
Ralph, good job on the old girl. I like the Tarpon markings, too.
When it came out, the wings folded, the landing gear retracted, and you could drop the torpedo! Lotsa fun! Oh, the turret revolved and the gun went up and down, as well. That running figure was quite good, but kinda small. If you left the rear door open, it looked like he was running to catch his plane. Early diorama!
Monogram used to send builtups to hobbyshops, assembled and painted. The displays "sold" the model. Ask me how I know!
I got mine as a reward for behaving myself at the dentists. I somehow avoided my usual terror and combativeness, as the drill approached. Bleah!
I painted the undersides with Testors little square bottle gray, and the figures tan, with brown details. Done! High art, in those days.
Great story Bernard! You truly earned that kit.
Ralph,
I can only add that you made a silk purse out of a sows ear. I think we all built the early Monograms and loved them for what they were in the day. They still are are good basic kits and when done up as yours is, they are great.
ah...one of the models that got me started...it has nice lines...great job...thank's for the memories
it was actually Monogram not revell
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
I always did like the AVENGER ( TARPON in this case ), and that old MONOGRAM model, even though it is not up to today's standard, brings good memories. It still builds to a respectable model. I like it.
An old MONOGRAM in RN colors.
Nice.
Well done Ralph, a good job done despite the kit`s failings.
58 mark, older than I too.
Thank you all. Someone said theirs never got finished because of the poor fit. Mine almost didn't but I figured once it was painted and decals were on it I would feel better about it. I used my wife's hairdryer to spin the prop for the photos and one of them is an animated .gif file that shows it spinning on my computer but doesn't seem to work once it was posted. I guess I had a setting wrong when I made it.
Great work, Ralph, and an entertaining write up as well, you obviously enjoyed building it despite the poor fit of some parts, and a spinning propellor as well! What more could we want?
I enjoy building these old kits - most of my stash consists of them! You did this one justice (as others have already said quite nicely)!
Justice done indeed! That's a great model Ralph. That's one kit in my stash that may never get built, having heard some tales about it. It seems you've wrestled this one together in a beautiful fashion!
Oh, I forgot to mention how cool that spinning prop looks! 🙂
Thanks all that I didn't thank yet!
George, I did enjoy building it but enjoyed getting finished building it more.
Gary as far as "wrestling it together beautifully" , you got the wresting part right...but the beautiful part - well, as a line in a song goes..."the close ups can get rough..." ...one might notice the omission of any photos of the underside!