Trumpeter's 1/32 scale Avenger
The Grumpy Gobbler

by Jay Laverty

Trumpeter's 1/32 TBF Avenger is available online from Squadron.com

Okay, so I have finally finished it.

It was six months in the making (albeit there were a couple of projects completed in the meantime) but this is one of the best models I have ever had the pleasure of building. I enjoyed it thoroughly and if you are on the fence about getting one of these beasts, get off and get one. You will not regret it.

And before you ask about the title, US pilots affectionately nicknamed this beast “the Turkey” after its ungainly appearance and unique handling capabilities.

Trumpeter have definitely outdone themselves on this one, and are to be commended for going the extra mile and producing a model kit that most guys will be able to build into a showstopper. I will not go into the boring details of how this and that fit, as if you wanted to know that you would buy a magazine. Suffice to say that this kit fits very well in general and even the wing folds went together easily.

There are only two or three spots of filler on the entire model and were I not one of the most virulent procrastinators on the planet, this model would have been done ages ago.

The basics are there for any level of modeller, and while I chose to float in the easy space somewhere between detail job and box build, I certainly hope this model will impress even the most cynical of modeller.

The only after-market parts I added to the model were the Eduard seat belts, any other details I added were scratch built, and were limited to some wiring in the fuselage. Nothing exciting and hardly worth mentioning.

The only part that I spent any serious time on was the framework on the interior of the canopy and that was done using microstrip and took two evenings.

When it came to the markings, I was in a bit of a quandary, as there are no 1/32 scale Avenger markings available for anything other than Us aircraft. Or so I thought. After I had finished the model Lukasz Kedzierski pointed out the fact that Roo Models make a sheet for RNZAF aircraft which has the roundels I spent two days modifying from a Techmod Corsair sheet.

30 Sqn Servicing unit provided the inspiration for this model, as they used several comic characters as nose art and as far as I know are the only squadron in the RNZAF to do so. For more info I highly recommend a trip to Pete Mossong's "RNZAF in the Pacific War" web site on HyperScale's HobbyVista portal, as it is a mind expanding introduction into the contribution of the RNZAF in WWII as well as an endless source of modelling inspiration.

Grumpy was painted using artists oils, and even though he looks a bit like Santa tripping on acid, I am pretty proud of him as I didn't resort to decals and talked myself into doing it by hand.

I must thank Pete Mossong for his help and for having his web site which provided the information and inspiration for this model, as well as Matt from the RNZAF museum.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2005 by Jay Laverty
Page Created 27 June, 2005
Last Updated 29 June, 2005

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