TBM with a twist

[Jeff]

Well................ I am a little bit embarrassed..... was talking to Martin the other day and showed him my latest build..... he says you have to post this and I lamented that there was no real specific place to post a finished  1/48 scale model , and it isn't a work in progress.... well, Martin got right on the stick and got in touch with Ernie and lo and be hold, here we are, with a specific place to show our finished smaller scale......  so this will be my first official post on this site. I usually just build for me and I am not all that good, certainly like some of the talent I see here daily, and I could name names LOL.... so as I was kind of an instigator of this particular part of the site, ... here goes...

There is a little bit of a back story here, I will do my best to keep it short so s not to bore you, a LONG while ago Tony Jones ( TJTX) was asking for information on TBM Avengers that were converted to air tankers.... I happened to have a fair bit of info, so I offered up what I had, I sent Tony a number of detailed photos, I have in my collection that I got from Mario, the Chief Engineer at Forest Protection, in New Brunswick Canada. Mario was super generous with information. So when Tony got the pics and info for his 1/32 scale conversion, he was a very happy boy. So as a thank you he sent me as a gift a 1/48 scale Accurate Minitatures TBM Avenger so I could do my idea of a conversion to a tanker.  As it turned out, I believe Tony gave the project to our Ernie, as Tony was so busy with his own 1:1 aircraft build and his new little girl, I called Cubby.

So with the kit in hand and what I had for information, I tucked in............... but as usual, life got in the way, ageing parents, losing 3 of them, then getting the last one into care , a house sale , a move, well you get the picture... the kit languished on the shelf half done, so a couple weeks ago I got back to it..... in the end , it turned out 'OK', but not to the level of talent I see here, regularly. I am over all pleased with the final result..... so the conversion is, of course to have the rear turret removed , ( easy, just leave it in the box ) and access a rear canopy section.... I got the rear canopy section from Mike Belcher, who makes an EXCELLENT 1/48 Scale TBM Royal Canadian Navy conversion, so it is basically a copy of the rear part of that conversion.... the decals came from Andrew and Above and Below Graffics, here in Victoria B.C.  I scratch built the tank from the detailed photos and info from my friend at FPL, Mario. I used, Eduard masks and their photo etched cockpit set with belts, and Quick Boost resin exhaust etc... MM enamel paints through out....

So, here we go, I hope it passes muster with you guys, I think it is kind of cool and something not seen everyday, thanks for looking guys....

[Martinnfb]

This looks absolutely amazing Jeff. Nothing to be embarrassed about. In matter of fact this is one of the nicest Avenger conversion I’ve seen in a long time. Joy to look at. Clean and crisp, I can say thou love the subject. 
Bravo!

[CANicoll]

Jeff, welcome to the forum and THANKS for getting a smaller scale RFI section created!  I never realized we didn't have one.  Now we do, thanks.

Hey, the build is terrific.  Nice and clean and the back story provided makes you fit in here perfectly.  Most of us build something with a story that resonates with us for some reason.  Nice job on the enamels, and you, like all of us, will benefit from the collective wisdom and experience here. 

Life does tend to take over some of our hobby time, hang in there.

Keep building and posting!

[Martinnfb]

I have to tell you guys that Jeff is an amazing model builder and his creations  are super cool. Logging rigs , big trucks, firefighters as you can see above and all kinds of exotic subjects. Simply impressive. 
plus, his knowledge, often based on hands on experience is wast and he’s always willing to share . 

[Jeff]

15 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

I have to tell you guys that Jeff is an amazing model builder and his creations  are super cool. Logging rigs , big trucks, firefighters as you can see above and all kind of exotic subjects. Simply impressive. 
plus, his knowledge, often based on hands on experience is wast and he’s always willing to share . 

Awe shucks...............  Thanks Martin for your VERY kind words, I certainly appreciate it....

[CANicoll]

I think I saw a bottle of bourbon exchange hands here...   

[Jeff]

29 minutes ago, CANicoll said:

I think I saw a bottle of bourbon exchange hands here...   

It was a 'small' one  🥃

[HubertB]

Great TBM, ans so much more interesting than a GSB bomber or torpedo aircraft 👍 !

Well done, Jeff !

Hubert

[Jeff]

4 minutes ago, HubertB said:

Great TBM, ans so much more interesting than a GSB bomber or torpedo aircraft 👍 !

Well done, Jeff !

Hubert

Many thanks Hubert ! It was a fun build and the other part of the story is these birds used to fly from a local airport during fire season. They were so cool

[KevinM]

3 hours ago, Jeff said:

So, here we go, I hope it passes muster with you guys,

Passes Muster !! It looks great and is definitely something you do not see daily!

[Jeff]

4 minutes ago, KevinM said:

Passes Muster !! It looks great and is definitely something you do not see daily!

THANKS Kevin , I really appreciate that.... very glad you like it..

[ScottsGT]

Sweet!  Someone posted a 1/32 guppy conversion for the Avenger and I had to have it. Your build is great! 

[Jeff]

6 minutes ago, ScottsGT said:

Sweet!  Someone posted a 1/32 guppy conversion for the Avenger and I had to have it. Your build is great! 

Thanks , Scott !

[belugawhaleman]

Hey, great job on the conversion. A very different, and good-looking TBM.

[Jeff]

56 minutes ago, belugawhaleman said:

Hey, great job on the conversion. A very different, and good-looking TBM.

Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate that very much 

[Bomber_County]

On 12/24/2023 at 6:34 PM, Jeff said:

Well................ I am a little bit embarrassed..... was talking to Martin the other day and showed him my latest build..... he says you have to post this and I lamented that there was no real specific place to post a finished  1/48 scale model , and it isn't a work in progress.... well, Martin got right on the stick and got in touch with Ernie and lo and be hold, here we are, with a specific place to show our finished smaller scale......  so this will be my first official post on this site. I usually just build for me and I am not all that good, certainly like some of the talent I see here daily, and I could name names LOL.... so as I was kind of an instigator of this particular part of the site, ... here goes...

There is a little bit of a back story here, I will do my best to keep it short so s not to bore you, a LONG while ago Tony Jones ( TJTX) was asking for information on TBM Avengers that were converted to air tankers.... I happened to have a fair bit of info, so I offered up what I had, I sent Tony a number of detailed photos, I have in my collection that I got from Mario, the Chief Engineer at Forest Protection, in New Brunswick Canada. Mario was super generous with information. So when Tony got the pics and info for his 1/32 scale conversion, he was a very happy boy. So as a thank you he sent me as a gift a 1/48 scale Accurate Minitatures TBM Avenger so I could do my idea of a conversion to a tanker.  As it turned out, I believe Tony gave the project to our Ernie, as Tony was so busy with his own 1:1 aircraft build and his new little girl, I called Cubby.

So with the kit in hand and what I had for information, I tucked in............... but as usual, life got in the way, ageing parents, losing 3 of them, then getting the last one into care , a house sale , a move, well you get the picture... the kit languished on the shelf half done, so a couple weeks ago I got back to it..... in the end , it turned out 'OK', but not to the level of talent I see here, regularly. I am over all pleased with the final result..... so the conversion is, of course to have the rear turret removed , ( easy, just leave it in the box ) and access a rear canopy section.... I got the rear canopy section from Mike Belcher, who makes an EXCELLENT 1/48 Scale TBM Royal Canadian Navy conversion, so it is basically a copy of the rear part of that conversion.... the decals came from Andrew and Above and Below Graffics, here in Victoria B.C.  I scratch built the tank from the detailed photos and info from my friend at FPL, Mario. I used, Eduard masks and their photo etched cockpit set with belts, and Quick Boost resin exhaust etc... MM enamel paints through out....

So, here we go, I hope it passes muster with you guys, I think it is kind of cool and something not seen everyday, thanks for looking guys....

Jeff, only just seen this, amazing modelling and a build to be proud of………

[Jeff]

1 minute ago, Bomber_County said:

Jeff, only just seen this, amazing modelling and a build to be proud of………

Thanks Phil. You are too kind. It was a lot of fun and definitely a little different and I miss them flying over my house .

[seiran01]

Beautiful job on this build!

[Jeff]

1 hour ago, seiran01 said:

Beautiful job on this build!

Thank you so much

Jeff

[DocRob]

Somehow, I missed your splendid build, Jeff. Must have been some brain distortion through Christmas induced alcohol consumption .
Anyway, I like TBM´s a lot and your conversion is an absolute beauty. The colorful scheme is well chosen and nearly makes an elegant plane out of the chubby airframe. 

Cheers Rob

[Jeff]

Thanks Rob , coming from you that is very high praise ! And a little brain distortion once in a while is a good thing. 🤭🍺🥃 I’m really happy you like the conversion. It was fun and brought back memories of the early ‘70’s when these birds were the front line of air tankers here in British Columbia. They were so cool. 

[KUROK]

Interesting conversion.  These are different and fun to see!