Stupidly, I started the Biff, this is one dreadful kit, so far flash pinholes bad fits lack of detail, out of scale, it has got it all. It is so bad I am going to try a couple of experiments on it




Not worth using after market stuff I will build OOB, brush painted, to sure about rigging yet. I you look closely you might see the copyright date inside the left fuselage side near the nose - 1957! this kit is 55 years old, no wonder the quality is so poor

Making tiny bits of progress on the Kingfisher. Got the crew and the interior bits in place, got the rear canopies installed. Once I got the fixed portion of the forward canopy in places, I find out that there's a wedge shaped gap between the sliding and fixed portion of the glass..... I'm goint to try to glue a .040 shim to the front and then sande it to fit. Wish me luck.

LOL at the Biff- when I made this first in the early 1960s it was 'state of the art' - shows the improvements in moulding technology since then!

In common with most of the builds here, I bet it looks better finished than you think........

I think it might look ok from a distance but you won't have to stand too close to see the wrong shape, thickness and position of the Scarff ring and the legless pilots. I think this is one of the oldest moulds still produced from the Airfix catalogue, maybe I should be more respectful. BTW I first built this in the mid sixties, we must be a similar age

Andrew, it definitely looks like an old kit and obviously it is. It will be interesting to see what a good paint job can do. Enjoy the nostalgia and the trip down memory lane.

I remember building the Airfix multipose figures in my childhood. It is a fun to revisit it again and do the same pose again with the same snub nosed MP40. My painting has improved significantly though - I hope

Greetings everyone, I'm an 11th hour entrant to the group build. I will finish it by the closing date. It's the Airfix TBM Avenger. Here's my start date proof.........

Will have some work-n-progress pics soon. Bill

WOW, I've got that one in the stash too. It may become the donor for my P-61 stand...

One of my favourite Airfix kits, I haven't seen one for years

Yeak Mark, it's an oldie. I was going to also do a P-61, but the one I picked up is missing all the clear parts...Boo HOO. It did come with a bonus decal sheet with 5 different markings on it.
The Avenger will be a good build. Planning on making an in-flight diorama with it dropping a torpedo. Best laid plans of mice and modelers. Good luck with the Black Widow. Bill
@Andrew, it should be a lot of FUN....Good Luck with the
Biff build. Bill

I don't recall if the torpedo bay doors open or not...

My Black Widow is missing the LG, the tanks and any underwing stores. I'm going to build it gear up and mount it on the TBM's stand...

I was able to contact Airfix for the missing canopy parts on my Kingfisher (same box series as your TBM). The had them available and sent them to me for free. They did ask for L3 shipping and handling. Not a bad deal.

Mark, Nope, the doors are shut, I'm cutting them open, installing a torpedo bay, and fixing the doors to an open position....plus a few more interior augmentations...most of which won't be seen when the canopy goes on...but I'll know they are there. Lots of FUN!
Also, my Black Widow kit won't get built due to the missing clear parts, if you like I could send you any replacement parts you may need. Let me know. My email is.........
[email protected]
Take it easy, Bill.

Thanks Bill. I'm liking the idea of the gear up presentation. As far as I can tell the only other missing part is the pilot. Looks like they left me a Navy pilot vs an Army one. Between the paint the the glass, I don't think it'll be noticeable.

I found my Airfix TBM, the bay doors are molded closed. but with trench lines that should be easy to use for cutting it open. IIRC, someone had a torpedo bay PE set for the Academy TBM. Good luck with it.

Scant evidence of progress on my Kingfisher:




I had to add a shim to the front of the front canopy to fill the gap between the two pieces.

Looks like your little floater is coming along, Mark.

Mine is coming very slowly:





Next step would be the landing gear. This is in as crappy shape as the rest of the planes parts:



Then again, someone has already mentioned, "Ah! Thats Airfix for you".

@Mark, that's fine, let me know if you change your mind. The Kingfisher is coming along fine.
@Ben, Good Luck with the landing gear...they look rough.
I've got some WIP shots of the Avenger...added some interior detail and worked on the crew. Pics..........


Thanks for checking it out, more to follow. Bill

Wow Bill, that's quite a make over on the gunners, mine have single blobs of plastic for hands. Tell us more.

Fuselage rework is looking good too.

I'm changing my mind on the P-61, will contact you off line.

Well, got the wings on. As suggested somewhere on these pages, I used a set of Legos as a jig to hold it all aligned while the glue sets.

Is that an experimental US Navy camouflage meant to disguise it as a Ventura?

More like a ham handed attempt to delete it in a hurry.

How about this?



Tried to delete the Ventura (VP Campaign), delete is a two step process and I only gor the first one done 8 hours ago.

Okay guys a couple more in progress shots of my Bv141, I made a bit of a mistake by gluing the bomb carriers in place with out thinking about the fact that there were decals that needed to go on first! So out with my trusty scalpel and cut the decals so I could put them in place. A little trial and error but it worked in the end, more or less. Canopies are on and I've ordered the express mask I need to mask the off as the framing around them is a little indistinct and the mask will help me figure what's framing and whats not ..... hopefully!

A Bv141! I remember building that and the Fw189 together many years ago. I would love to fly it, the handling must have been really strange. Nice build btw, certainly better than I did all those years ago

I don't believe that I've ever seen that kit actually built. It's certainly unusually eye-catching.

@ Andrew: Thanks Andrew I too built it more years ago than I bare to contemplate and this time around it certainly looks better! Last time it was just glued together with heaps of Humbrol liquid cement, the interior wasn't painted and the exterior was painted with a brush and the result was .... well to be honest pretty damn good or so I thought as an 10 year old.

@Jesssica: I must admit to having a soft spot for the more ..... unusual ...... aircraft and this asymmetrical design certainly qualifies! It's one of the aircraft I'd most like to see in 1/48 scale..... China? Are you listening? LOL I also have a soft spot for anything with twin booms as well and there are a few unusual ones of those in the German files! (I have a Bv138 to build at some point)

HiPM did it in 1999 and re-issued it in 2003. Inside the box.

Hello everyone.
@Mark, the build is coming along nicely.
@Chris, the Bv141 is wild looking...strange, but Cool.
Update on the Avenger. Some pics................



Up next is paint and decals. Comments are welcomed.
Thanks for viewing, Bill.