Thai Paperworks TBF 3U Avenger enlarged to 1/87

[Burning Beard]

As the title says this model has been enlarged to 1/87. The kit went together very nicely with the exception of the turret which seems to be too tall. I cut the opening for it a little deeper on the sides but as you can see it still extends above the rest of the canopy and it should be the same height. It was a fun little kit to build and everything lined up very nicely.

The colors are a bit off, in that for some reason my printer makes them darker on card stock than it does on regular paper. I don't know if this is just occurring in Corel (had to import the model there to enlarge the pieces to fit the page) or if it does it general.

Mike

[airdave]

Obviously the wing insignia is incorrectly positioned
but I don't think its supposed to have red bar stripes on the wings
and plain white stripes on the fuselage...?

I'm not finding yellow winged versions other than Target Tugs or in Forestry service (firefighting).

The bands on the wings are supposed to be red (and a little more inboard)...are they red?

The blue matches the insignia blue as it should, but you are right...it does seem too dark.

You imported the model file into Corel?...cmyk or rgb?
and then outputted in what format?
And then printed in what format?

I've had this problem when not paying attention to maintain the same formats.
But I also know you know Corel fairly well.

yes, colours print differently on white paper, as opposed to white cardstock
...but its because of the transparency of paper (in my experience).

[Burning Beard]

I noticed that the insignia seemingly misplaced on the wings, I think they should be more centered and not parallel to the front of the wing. I notice the red stripe thing also.

I think this must have been some sort of special use bird used after the war, I noticed that it doesn't have the lower rear windows aft of the bomb bay.

Other than that I just liked color combination,


About the printer issue, what I did was import the pdf to Corel, I don't remember converting the bitmap type. I just chopped into two pieces and fit that to two pages and printed straight from there.

Mike

[MichaelS]

The beauty of paper kits. It costs hardly nothing to play around with the settings and then print a test. I suggest you use Google to search for images before committing the kits to paper. I have seen similar post war Avengers doing USN Reserve duty.

[airdave]

google? whats that?
Beard...you heard of this? goggle?

is it some special place we can use for research of paper models, graphic design and other related things?
that would have come in handy over the last 10 years of designing paper models.
I don't know how I made it this far. lol
wow...thanks for that valuable info.

You make it seem like I am new to this researching historical subjects thing?
I think we've been doing it long enough to know how to use google. LOL
anything else I need to know?
maybe you want me to give me advice on using Coreldraw correctly?

hashtag..."not in the mood for this today"

[MichaelS]

airdave,

My comments were not directed to you. I fail to understand why your snide and demeaning comments are constantly ballowed here on what is otherwise a very friendly place. In future please refrain from making comments on any of my posts on this forum.

Michael Stanley

[rickstef]

Beard,

When you printed the aircraft, did you select a different print quality setting, like High or Best, or did you have it at the default setting? I have noticed that sometimes the increase in quality will make the print look richer/saturated.
That is one area i would look at when you print your next model

Rick

[Burning Beard]

It was printed at normal quality.

I think I fooled around with this one a little to try to swap out the colors (using color replacer).

I will pay closer attention the next time I do this sort of thing . I really wasn't to concerned about it because it is just for my own use and not for a competition any where.

Mike

[airdave]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

airdave,
My comments were not directed to you. I fail to understand why your snide and demeaning comments are constantly ballowed here on what is otherwise a very friendly place. In future please refrain from making comments on any of my posts on this forum.
Michael Stanley

Your comments were not person specific and there were only two people commenting in this thread about the same thing.
So I think your post was directed at the both of us.

You are constantly inferring by your comments that I (and others) are new to this hobby.
Making it seem like we all can't get by without your input.
And I am tired of it.

Input is great...but suggesting to two people who have been in the graphics, printing, artwork, design and paper model world for decades that we should use google before....
well, its just pointless and disrespectful in my opinion.

But thats just you kissing ass or talking down to people who have been here a long time.

Kind of like the way you tried to tell me how I should share my Free Birthday models.
or how you bitched about my Editorials that are tied into the release of MY free Koolwheelz models.
You got your free models...didn't you?!
Was it really that hard to get the models YOU wanted ...for free?
Was it really that painful for you?
Remember what you said...about members who act priveleged and entitled?

And no Michael...I will not refrain from making comments anywhere.
Once again...no matter what you think...you are not in charge here.

[Don Boose]

The colors and insignia look odd, but I think it is possible that Nobi’s markings are correct (I have no insights into the variations in perceived colors). I presume he had images and other material to base his model on, and perhaps he will weigh in to tell us.

The “U” pefix tail codes were assigned to USN fleet utility squadrons in 1946. UA-UI tail codes were assigned to VU-1 through 7. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._N...ft_Tail_Codes]

The 3U models of the Avenger continued in service through the 1940s and into the 1950s, after the 1947 insignia change, so the red bars in the national insignia are probably correct. The aircraft were used for liaison and target-towing duties, hence the high-visibility yellow wings and red wing stripes.

Most of these aircraft were modified to have the turret removed, but it is possible that some aircraft retained their turrets.

UE was the tail code for VU-5. I have not been able to find an image of Mike’s aircraft, but at the Warbird Information Exchange I did find a B/W photograph of BuNo 6932 (Number 35) of VU-4, and color images of a TBM-3U and a TBM-3E in the same colors (but slightly different national insignia) as Mike’s model of Hawkman's repaint of Nobi‘s kit (below). []Warbird Information Exchange • View topic - TBM-3W the "Ugly Avenger" ...

Wings Pallette has color drawings of two TBM 3Us []ÏÀËÈÒÐÀ ÊÐÛËÀ - Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger - ÑØÀ.

All these images show variation in the location of stars and squadron markings. Most of them are oversized, not undersized, but it does not seem impossible to me for there to have been at least one example of an Avenger 3U with a turret and with the odd placement and size of wing insignia as on the aircraft Nobi modeled, Hawkman repainted, and Mike built to be correct. It was PROBABLY a TBM-3U rather than a TBM-3U, but I can’t say for sure.

Unfortunately, the VU-5 aircraft page does not include any images of TBF/TBMs [https://www.vpnavy.com/vu5_aircraft.html]

Needless to say, this is based on some quick checking of secondary sources and Internet sites, not detailed primary research. So my remarks are very tentative and I hope someone can weigh in with more definitive info one way or the other.

Don

Added later: I wrote this before I saw Hawkman's post explaining the size and placement of the national insignia.