Trumpeter 1/32 TMB-3 Avenger

[BarryW]

More progress to report
Fuselage sides painted just need detail painting and weathering.
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Internal subs painted, some weathered and ready for installation, some to finish off.
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A quick shot of the main fuselage internals.
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Some more subs under way
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[BarryW]

As you can see there is an awful lot of 'innards' to go in this model...
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The good news is that it all fits perfectly. You do need to go slowly joining the fuselage halves though. Keep test fitting and checking to make sure everything is in place. If something does not fit quite right then it will not be the model, it will be you, so check it and work out what you did wrong and correct it before the final fit. In my case I found a small gap between the firewall and fuselage half on one side. I did not try to force it but razor sawed two engine mounts on one side, these are thick strong pieces. The thickness of the razor saw was enough and the engine sprang into place. I wanted to keep some play and did not cement the engine mounts back together as there is enough plastic to join the firewall to fuselage with a strong enough join to secure the structural integrity of the model. You can see the engine mounts between the firewall and bulkhead where they wont be seen, there are two on each side.

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Abover, test fitted ready to 'tac' some Mr Cement S in places along the seam. I did find a need to hold the sides together more securly with a clamp however.
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You can see a casualty of the repeated test fitting, a bomb got knocked off its mount. I will superglue that back in place tonight after I have removed the clamp and tape after which I will run Mr S Cement along all the seams before sanding.

[Guest]

Wow!

[Tim Marlow]

That interior is really full....loads of detail in this one, hard to believe it’s a single engined plane....great work Barry

[colin m]

Nice job, looking great.

[BarryW]

I removed the tape and ran Mr S Cement down the fuselage seam. Tonight I will be sanding and doing a little filling.
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I then got on with the engine cowl with some p.e.
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The tail rudder is made to be inserted before you join the fuselage halves. But it has a very prominent mast on top and if I did that it would not last 5 minutes.
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The answer is simple, cut off the location 'swivel' pin from the bottom.
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Then, later perhaps after painting, I will be able to simply glue the piece into place, mast intact...
Dry fitted to check...
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I will be starting the wings tonight when I have finished working on the seam.

I am taking this slowly as this was an area that gave me issues on my last build of one of these.
The wing hinge mechanism is fragile and I will not use it. I will be cementing the wings open and I will need to make sure the wing join is strong. I anticipate the use of plastic card but I will need to do a fair bit of test fitting to get it right.

[BarryW]

Some updates on progress with the wings.
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Some of the 'subs' being built up. No problems or issues with these.

I need to get a good strong join between inner and out wing sections so I am using plastic card.
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Joined...
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I decided to strengthen the join further with more strips.
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I will hopefully post more tomorrow.

[Ian M]

This is looking very good Barry.

[BarryW]

A few more progress shots.

The wing main structures are done apart from some surface treatments/sanding etc. I will also need to attach some pe detailing.
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The main undercart assembly done, to be painted before finishing.
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I have to say that this is a nice and strong assembly, no worries about fitting this.

Tailplanes
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I am also getting on with some stores assembly, trimming and sanding. A fair bit more of that to do tonight.
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[wotan]

Barry

I am very impressed with your builds. I must say you were certainly part of my motivation to have a go at an aircraft myself. Watching carefully to pick up all the tips I can.

John

[Guest]

Great work. It's nice to see the interior layout of one of these beasts too.
Really nice job so far.

[scottie3158]

Barry,
This is progressing nicely, it is one of the few aircraft that would tempt me to the dark side of making wingy things.

[BarryW]

Thanks John and everyone else.
I spent an hour last night on the rocket fins, sanding and thinning them down. Still not finished. I will post when I get a chance.
Also did a bit of work on the wings, still a lot more to do.
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On the left after sanding, on the right before. I am not sure just how well you can appreciate the 'thinning' in the photo, it does look more pronounced on the piece. Ideally I should thin it down a bit more but it increases the risk of damaging the part and I dont want to get into replacing then fins with plastic card. After sanding they do look a lot better and it has been worth the work.

[colin m]

After sanding they do look a lot better and it has been worth the work.

I totally agree. Sometimes, the individual 'bit' of detail isn't really noticeable, but it all adds to the overall effect.

[BarryW]

Working on the wing detailing pe.
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Good progress being made overall.