1/72 Mach 2 TBM-3W AEW Guppy

by Ryan Cameron

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This is my build of a Royal Canadian Navy AEW "Guppy" Avenger.  I have wanted to add the Guppy to my RCN collection after seeing a few pictures.  A quick search on the net and I found that Mach 2 made the Guppy, so after a couple of weeks I had one from the UK.  I knew that the Mach 2 kit was a limited run kit, so I was not expecting much, but I was still a little disappointed when I opened the box. The main parts had a rough texture and all the detail parts were buried in a ton of flash.  After looking at the kit I realized the parts were very similar to the Academy kit sitting in my stash.  I compared the 2 kits and realized that Mach 2 used the Academy kit as a basis for their version of the Guppy.  I know that the Academy kit is not the best, but boy did it look like a Tamiyagawa compared to the Mach 2.  I ended up using only the fuselage from the Mach 2 kit.  I cleaned up the fuselage and replaced the grab handles and steps with wire.  All the parts fit together pretty good, despite they were from different kits. I scratchbuilt the wheelwells as they were open and added a spare resin seat and other details to the cockpit. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

After the making the cockpit look a little descent, I wanted to at least see a little of it.  I thought about opening up the canopy, but decided not too and clean it up instead.  The canopy was very thick and not very clear.  I dipped it Future and glued it to the  fuselage.  I filled the gaps and proceeded to sand all the frames off and polish it up so at least you can see through it.  After a quick coat of primer, it was ready for the Light Sea Grey/Dark Sea Grey used by the RCN in the 50's.  I used Eduard Express Mask for the canopy framing.  The markings were a combination of some Arrow Graphics RCN Roundels and all  lettering/ numbers were done using my computer.  I finally had a Guppy and now sits beside my Dark Sea Blue as delivered to the RCN Avenger.  If and when(please soon) Belcher Bits puts out a 72nd version of his wonderful  1/48 RCN conversion, I can complete my Avenger group.

Thanks for looking...Cheers

Ryan 

Photos and text © by Ryan Cameron