The Little World

I nearly was.

Not with the Sword model kit. This is a good one. With the Royal Canadian Navy – for their re-christening of the Grumman torpedo bomber ( Note that this is a TBM, which indicates that it was made by General Motors, rather than Grumman as a TBF – but it is the same airframe type with different bits attached ).

What did they call this very successful US navy torpedo bomber ( See the sinking of the YAMATO and MUSASHI )? They called it the Turkey.

Well, Turkey or not, they were responsible for 30-some submarine sinkings in their wartime career, so they were naturals for post-war ASW roles. The Dutch, British, French, and Canadians all used them – sometimes in pairs. This kit has a number of parts that make up to lights or radar pods for these navies – and they are well-detailed. However, the suggestion to use a pod on either side of the wing is awkward.

Why? ‘Cause there isn’t a single photo available showing the second pod mounted under the port wing of an RCN aircraft. I did turn up one of the Dutch TBM with just this mount, and I suspect the parts are in the kit so that it can be issued as a Dutch variant. They are a great temptation, as the streamlined pod with clear front is spectacular…but I’ll put it into the spares box against the time when I might find real evidence of it on a Canadian aircraft.

The other part of the problem for this plane is the tail hook. Some pictures show it emerging from the tail cone – but the box art and instructions show an under-tail streamlined housing. I have a clear Google picture of just this aircraft in flight with a housing there…

However, the kit moulders have provided a good hook and no housing…So it is back into the spares box for a teardrop blister than can be cut open to hold the hook. A small move, but not a Czechmate…