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Rodney J. Williams
171 articles

1/48 scale TBM-3 Avenger

January 31, 2020 · in Aviation · · 9 · 3.9K

Accurate Miniature's went all out on this kit by making a whole bunch of parts that fit very nicely. I went step by step putting each section of parts together, like the top turret, lower gun emplacement, radio area and of course the cockpit. I used my regular white cloth ribbon for my belts along with Waldron's P.E. parts. The white ribbon was bought at a local crafts center in San Jose, CA back in the mid 1980's. The ribbon came in different colors.

The bomb bay area was neatly made, including the big torpedo. There was no problem getting the torpedo to fit properly and I glued it in before the door's were installed. To see all of this you really have to place this on a 12 inch x 12 inch mirror.

The paint was by , and mixed with 4 equal parts of "Denatured Alcohol" (DA) to one part paint and sprayed @ 15-20 psi in my Badger-200 airbrush that I have used since 1981.
When I change color's I spray some clean DA thought the gun and also "back-flush" it a couple of times. I spray a quick test of the new color to make sure that none of the previous color is left in the airbrush.
Remember::: "It's not what color that's on the model...It's how well it was applied."

I became an IPMS/USA judge in October, 1984 and judged at several dozen contest until I retired in 2016. On many occasions the paint helped the model get into the winner's circle, and took it away as well.

Like all my other models, this -3 has been kept in one of my dust free plastic boxes and when I lifted the lid the other day, the model still looks like the photo's I took way back in 2008.

Enjoy...Rodney

Reader reactions:
15  Awesome

24 additional images. Click to enlarge.


9 responses

  1. These Accurate Miniatures Avengers are among my favorite kits for building. They packed a lot of details in their kits and in my opinion they don’t need anything else except maybe adding seat belts like you did.

    I like the finish on all of your builds and this one is no exception. Very nicely done Rodney.

    I checked the “liked” button too.

  2. Top build. Like Louis I also really enjoy Accurate Miniatures kits.

  3. A perfect rendition. Bravo!

  4. Nicely done Rodney, I've really enjoyed building their kits, especially the Allison Mustangs, too bad they went belly up.

  5. Thanks for sharing the in-progress pics. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never built one of these even though I have two in the stash.

    • John H: Sell your kits and/or give them away then buy my model.

      I did not know that A/Min went belly up! Lot's of hobby shops are closing too as modeler's are buying on line like I did when I moved from San Jose, CA to the open desert of Colorado where the nearest hobby shop was 222 miles away and they did not have an on-line business from 2004-2016. when I left.
      I usually do not pick a kit by the manufacture's name, but buy what's in the box, like...if it's Corsair,I'll buy it!
      I'm gonna post my big Russian cargo plane next !

      And thanks to everyone's comments! RJW.

  6. The Accurate Miniatyrer Kits are sorely missed. Even though Academy and Italeri release some og Their Kits, we will not see any more of them.

  7. I haven't done an Atlantic scheme yet, but this one is sending motivation to do so! Nice job on this.

  8. To All who commented:

    I guess I lucked out by buying and building so many models in the mid to late decade of 2000 to 2010 and maybe even up to when I quite in 2016. My shaky hands started in 2000 & by 2016 were all over the place...
    like moving 1/4"/7mm in any given direction.

    Try getting a fork full of loose food from your dinner plate up and into your mouth. When the fork gets to your lips, just look down and you will see that 95% of the food has been shaken off and it's either on the plate and/or in several other places between your plate and your mouth. Do like the Asian people when they eat rice out of a bowl with chop sticks...put your plate/bowl to your mouth and you will be able to get at least 90% of the food into your mouth, providing that your mouth is "WIDE-OPEN." It's nice to get old, but it brings on many physical problems.
    RJW !

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