Hey all. I was asked by a history teacher friend of mine to build him a Battle of Midway Torpedo-8 TBF-1 Avenger, a shelf sitter for his office. I have a lead on a KMC conversion kit with the correct cowl, but what I’m lacking are some decal options. Does anyone know of any AM decals out there for the Midway Avenger?
which scale?
as far as i remember 1/48 TBF-1C from hobby boss have decals for VT-8 painting scheme in the box
Oh, right. 1/48. Using an Accurate Miniatures from the stash.
I don’t think Torpedo 8 had TBFs at Mtdway. I believe they flew Douglas TBD .
follow wikipedia:
Torpedo 8 was the first squadron equipped with Grumman’s new TBF-1 Avenger"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT-8
I know, that wiki is not the best reference, but…
about decals… I’ve checked Montex for masks and Techmod for decals, but i didn’t find painting for Midway period.
BTW, I’ve found some information, that KMC converion is not best fitted to the Accu kit. Maybe you should thing about HB kit- you will get proper version of the pae with decals which are you lookng for. simple solution…
VT-8 was the first operational squadron to receive Avengers (TBF-1), the first 6 were ferried to Midway (Eastern Is.), arriving just days before the battle.On June 4th All 6 were sorited for attacks on the approaching Japanese. They didn’t fare much better than their squadron mates, flying TBD’s from the deck of USS Hornet.
In the ensuing battle, 5 of the 6 Avengers were shot down by fighters or AA, the lone survivor (8-T-1), was severely damaged and made a “wheels up” landing back at Midway. The pilot, Ens. Albert K. Earnest, suffered a minor wound from shrapnel. His radioman/tunnel gunner, RM2/c H.H Ferrier, suffered a non-fatal head wound, and his turret gunner, AMM3/c J.D. Manning, was killed in the attack. According to the “After Action Report”, none of the attacking Avengers scored a hit on an enemy ship during the attack.
We all know what happened to the remainder of the squadron who flew TBD’ s from the Hornet
I recommend “A Dawn Like Thunder” by Robert Mrazek, if you’re interested in reading about VT-8 (detached), and the squadron’s subsequent history in the Guadalcanal campaign. It is a well-written book, and a great story.
By that time, the aircraft had very generic markings. I was able to get away with building 2 of the old Monogram TBFs as Torpedo 8 birds in the Guadalcanal campaing, using the basic star roundels and black numerals for the aircraft numbers.
Best regards,
Brad
Here’s a couple pics of the “lone survivor” from this web sites. [url]http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/mid-4a.htm[/iurl]
Yellowhammer decals made a set for this specific aircraft. Also, if you have one of the old Monogram TBD kits, you can swipe the 8-T-1 markings from that decal sheet… One other change you will need to make for an initial production TBF aside from the cowl is the small window aft of the wing. It was a different shape if you are gonna be totally precise about the conversion backdating.
It’s funny that “A Dawn Like Thunder” was what sparked this whole build request. I had just finished the book and was giving it to my friend when he asked if I could build him the Avenger With regards to the KMC conversion kit, what are the issues? The conversion kit is sure cheaper than buying a new kit from Hobbyboss.
The Hobbyboss kit would need to be backdated as well. It is not an early model Avenger.
…as did the Monogram kit [:D], it’s got the nose gun of the later marks. It was easy enough to fill that it and sand the spot smooth, and drill the holes for wing guns added as field kits in the Solomons campaign.
I have two more currently in the stash, one to be built as an Atlantic bird and one as a FAA Tarpon (got the domed windows for the radioman’s compartment).
Just to show that I’m not a complete masochist - I do have the AM kit in my stash, too [;)]