The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was a Navy and Marine Corps World War II torpedo bomber. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw limited action during the Battle of Midway. With 9,839 being built, it became the most effective and widely used torpedo bomber of World War II, sharing credit for sinking the super battleships Yamato and Musashi and being credited for sinking 30 submarines.
The Avenger was the heaviest single-engined aircraft of World War II. To ease carrier storage concerns, Grumman designed the Avenger to use a wing-folding mechanism, intended to maximize storage space on an aircraft carrier. There were three crew members: pilot, turret gunner and radioman/bombardier/ventral gunner.
The model is from the Accurate Minatures 1:48 scale kit. I added Eduard cockpit and flaps Photo Etch (PE) details and the Eureka WW II aircraft carrier deck to display the model. The build took some patience as the instructions were more sketches than accurate drawings. I found some helpful YouTube videos to find the correct placements.
The model represents the TBM flown by LT (jg) George Bush in 1944 ("Barbara III") with VT51 off of the USS San Jacinto.