Hobby Boss

1/48 TBF-1C Avenger

Kit Number: 80314

Reviewed by  Dave Morrissette, IPMS# 33653

MSRP: $74.95 Kit Supplied by Hobbylink Japan: www.hlj.com Looking at the plastic in the box, I thought that this was an unusual choice of subject to produce in that there are already kits of this particular plane. That said, the kit is beautifully done with very reasonable panel lines and rivets, very clear glass, several options of weapons and an option that no other kit of this plane has -- the option to fold the wings using kit parts! So far, excellent -- there are three marking options included: Gray blue over gray from VT-8 in June 1942. Gray blue over gray from an Avenger Training Squadron in 1942. Gray over white (Atlantic Scheme) from the USS Block Island in January 1944. I went with the latter as I am a fan of the Atlantic Scheme. Options for the weapons include wing rockets, two different types of bombs, torpedoes or an extended range fuel tank for the bomb bay. Then there are the wing folds. I elected to go with 250 lb. bombs and, of course, folded wings. Construction began with the cockpit which fills the interior from front to back. Detail is excellent, needing only the addition of seat belts. The engine is built at this time and is also very detailed. The bomb bay is constructed from 17 parts and is well done. You do need to decide at this point whether to close the bomb bay doors or not. I elected to leave them open to show off the bomb bay. Construction of the gun turret is next and I really wanted to paint this separately. I assembled most of it and, if you keep the gun free to pivot, you can add the clear turret after the fuselage is closed with a little wrangling. I did this and it worked well. One point to remember: most of this detail is not going to be visible once the fuselage is closed and the cowling added.

You also have to finish the tail wheel and bulkheads to prepare the fuselage for closing. I added the sidewall detail and tail hook, and then closed the fuselage around a second spar. The first spar is part of the bomb bay/cockpit set. These two spars provide very firm support of the wing folds. The fuselage was perfect. No putty was used and the fit could not have been better. I added the horizontal stabilizers, which required almost no putty. The wings were next and come in eight pieces plus optional positionable flaps that I left up. There were some serious injector pin marks that would have dealt with had I elected to drop the flaps and the quality of the plastic would have made this easy albeit time consuming. I attached both of the inner wing parts to the fuselage and the fit was perfect with only a little fiddling. The outer wing parts were built and fit well also. I dryfit the wings with the folds and the fit was okay. The end of each outer wing panel has a hook that attached the folded wing to the tail. Again, these fit together well. One thing I checked was the fit of the wings if the builder elected not to fold them. The join was, again, almost perfect. Since the landing gear matched the underside color, I added the gear at this time also. This helped elevate the plane while its paint was drying. At this point, it was painting time. I tried to use my Black Magic mask set for the canopy and it was a definite impossibility. It just does not come close to fitting, so I masked by hand (yuck!). Using Xtracolor enamels, I preshaded with dark gray, painted the bottom white and the top and canopies dark gull gray with no issues. I looked at references and the demarcation line for the gray/white appeared to be sharp on all the pictures I saw, so I masked it. Once dry, I added the decals and they went on perfectly with no silvering after snuggling in nicely with a little coercion from some Solvaset. Another clear coat followed by a wash and wipe of watercolor medium gray and I sealed them with several passes of Dullcote.

All that was left was to add the small bits (and there are a lot). I worked from in to out; adding the canopies first then the wing fold pieces. At that time, they looked very plain, so I refered to some photos plus an old Dangerboy set and the folds are accurate for angle and the like but they were simplified. I drilled some holes, added some strip and plasticard and upgraded some. I think I could have devoted even more time to it. In the end, they were not too plain and I like them. Fit was okay. I did run a bead of Elmer’s Glue around the outside top to cover the gaps and it worked. All the windows were added and fit like a dream. I added the antennae, a little weathering and up on the shelf she went -- taking up minimal space thanks to a nice wing fold. Looking at the price, some might think this kit is a little expensive. When you consider that this kit includes the wing folds you’d pay extra to get for use with other kits, the price seems a lot more reasonable. This kit is definitely recommended and I can’t wait to get more Hobby Boss kits for the IPMS Reviewer Corps. My thanks to Scott Hards and Joseph Tsai and the fine people at Hobbylink Japan. If you haven’t ordered from them, their selection is outstanding and delivery impeccable -- highly recommended!

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