21st Century TBF Avenger (Bunker Hill)
Ron Blehm
21st Century’s TBF Avenger has been praised by many as their finest aircraft produced. After receiving my Bunker Hill TBF Avenger, I can see why so many collectors treasure this model.
The first thing that strikes you while unpacking this beast is the shear size of the Avenger. The packaging is poorly designed and not suitable to hold such a large model, causing paint damage to the left wing of mine and a broken propeller blade. With a length of 27†and a wingspan of 36â€, it can be intimidating to handle. The Avenger includes 1 pilot, 1 radioman, 1 turret gunner, and 1 torpedo. The Special Edition Flight 19 Avengers also include an alien figure with exception of the flight leader.
External Detail:
The list of moving features that 21st Century Toys incorporated into the TBF Avenger is impressive.
The pilot’s cockpit windows slide open individually, but only offer a small opening to cram him into his seat. The bubble turret spins 360 degrees and gun/seat elevates to shoot above enemies. The glass dome removes completely, allowing easy access to insert the gunner.
The radioman has his own access hatch on the right side fuselage with plenty of room to move around. His gun raises and lowers.
The control surfaces are movable including ailerons, flaps, elevators and rudder. There is a minor issue here do to the simple hinged nature of the control surfaces that causes them to be loose and tend to droop. The propeller spins, wheels raise/lower and the wings fold for carrier storage.
The folding wing is a complex design that requires the wheels to be down in a locked position, a triangular panel to be opened on the underside of the wings and both hands to complete. The wings have swivel joints that lock into place, securing the wing in open or closed positions and additional tabs to keep the rear of the wings lined up. This system was executed extremely well, much better than the bbi Hellcat, but the 36†wingspan is enormous and causes a bit of wing droop. Lastly, the belly bomb bay doors open to reveal the removable torpedo stored safely inside.
Internal Detail:
21st Century took the time to add internal details that can only be seen with a bright light and a crooked neck.
When you open the radio operator’s hatch, his belly gun is immediately noticeable, but if you look towards the cockpit, you can see the radio equipment tucked about 4†inside. You can also see a sliver of this by looking down thru the cockpit, but most of it is hidden from this angle.
The bubble turret has plenty of 3D detail, but it is all painted green and looks a bit bland. The actual cockpit is pretty standard with its array of gauges, nothing that pops out and makes you say wow, but good enough to be satisfying.
The bomb bay is huge. The doors do not fold in half like the real plane, but in my opinion, including that would make them too fragile. I personally prefer rugged construction over hyper detail if it means I won’t break my toy straight out of the box. There are plenty of molded features in the bomb bay, but once again it is solid green.
Paint Detail:
The Bunker Hill TBF Avenger has an attractive paint job and is the only version with a Pacific WWII theme. The Tampo printing is done well on most of the model, but the US stars on the rear of the fuselage are crooked and have fuzzy edges.
The lack of weathering on 21st Century models is fine for the factory fresh look, but leaves much to be desired when sitting next to a bbi plane.
Unfortunately, my Avenger had white scratches on the left wing where the bottom of the right wing rubbed it during shipping.
Construction Quality:
The TBF Avenger is well constructed, especially for a 21st Century bird. There is still brittle plastic on detail areas and items like the pilots window are hard to slide. As with most 21st Century planes, the rear elevators are floppy and don’t stay at a level angle well.
The highlight of the Avenger is the folding wings. Bbi showed us with the Hellcat how not to do it, but 21st Century nailed it with a complex rotating hinge that locks into both positions. A lightweight plastic was used on the outer wings to compensate for their massive size and allow them to fold. Even with this weight reduction, the wings do not hold the proper dihedral angle.
The Verdict
The TBF Avenger is a massive plane with the most moving parts I have seen yet. The fact it has individual compartments for the three man crew, including a rotating bubble turret, easily makes this the most complex bird out there today. It does have its flaws, but these are minor enough to be overlooked and even forgotten when this behemoth is in your hands.
Exterior Detail: A
Interior Detail: B
Paint Detail: C
Construction: B+
Overall: A
Ron Blehm
21st Century’s TBF Avenger has been praised by many as their finest aircraft produced. After receiving my Bunker Hill TBF Avenger, I can see why so many collectors treasure this model.
The first thing that strikes you while unpacking this beast is the shear size of the Avenger. The packaging is poorly designed and not suitable to hold such a large model, causing paint damage to the left wing of mine and a broken propeller blade. With a length of 27†and a wingspan of 36â€, it can be intimidating to handle. The Avenger includes 1 pilot, 1 radioman, 1 turret gunner, and 1 torpedo. The Special Edition Flight 19 Avengers also include an alien figure with exception of the flight leader.
External Detail:
The list of moving features that 21st Century Toys incorporated into the TBF Avenger is impressive.
The pilot’s cockpit windows slide open individually, but only offer a small opening to cram him into his seat. The bubble turret spins 360 degrees and gun/seat elevates to shoot above enemies. The glass dome removes completely, allowing easy access to insert the gunner.
The radioman has his own access hatch on the right side fuselage with plenty of room to move around. His gun raises and lowers.
The control surfaces are movable including ailerons, flaps, elevators and rudder. There is a minor issue here do to the simple hinged nature of the control surfaces that causes them to be loose and tend to droop. The propeller spins, wheels raise/lower and the wings fold for carrier storage.
The folding wing is a complex design that requires the wheels to be down in a locked position, a triangular panel to be opened on the underside of the wings and both hands to complete. The wings have swivel joints that lock into place, securing the wing in open or closed positions and additional tabs to keep the rear of the wings lined up. This system was executed extremely well, much better than the bbi Hellcat, but the 36†wingspan is enormous and causes a bit of wing droop. Lastly, the belly bomb bay doors open to reveal the removable torpedo stored safely inside.
Internal Detail:
21st Century took the time to add internal details that can only be seen with a bright light and a crooked neck.
When you open the radio operator’s hatch, his belly gun is immediately noticeable, but if you look towards the cockpit, you can see the radio equipment tucked about 4†inside. You can also see a sliver of this by looking down thru the cockpit, but most of it is hidden from this angle.
The bubble turret has plenty of 3D detail, but it is all painted green and looks a bit bland. The actual cockpit is pretty standard with its array of gauges, nothing that pops out and makes you say wow, but good enough to be satisfying.
The bomb bay is huge. The doors do not fold in half like the real plane, but in my opinion, including that would make them too fragile. I personally prefer rugged construction over hyper detail if it means I won’t break my toy straight out of the box. There are plenty of molded features in the bomb bay, but once again it is solid green.
Paint Detail:
The Bunker Hill TBF Avenger has an attractive paint job and is the only version with a Pacific WWII theme. The Tampo printing is done well on most of the model, but the US stars on the rear of the fuselage are crooked and have fuzzy edges.
The lack of weathering on 21st Century models is fine for the factory fresh look, but leaves much to be desired when sitting next to a bbi plane.
Unfortunately, my Avenger had white scratches on the left wing where the bottom of the right wing rubbed it during shipping.
Construction Quality:
The TBF Avenger is well constructed, especially for a 21st Century bird. There is still brittle plastic on detail areas and items like the pilots window are hard to slide. As with most 21st Century planes, the rear elevators are floppy and don’t stay at a level angle well.
The highlight of the Avenger is the folding wings. Bbi showed us with the Hellcat how not to do it, but 21st Century nailed it with a complex rotating hinge that locks into both positions. A lightweight plastic was used on the outer wings to compensate for their massive size and allow them to fold. Even with this weight reduction, the wings do not hold the proper dihedral angle.
The Verdict
The TBF Avenger is a massive plane with the most moving parts I have seen yet. The fact it has individual compartments for the three man crew, including a rotating bubble turret, easily makes this the most complex bird out there today. It does have its flaws, but these are minor enough to be overlooked and even forgotten when this behemoth is in your hands.
Exterior Detail: A
Interior Detail: B
Paint Detail: C
Construction: B+
Overall: A
Was thisone some type of exclusiev, because I never saw it at retail. Great review though. One interesting thing to note to anybody lookign for the atlantic one, the white has airbrushed shading with grey(the same color as the grey used on the top half of the fuselage) but none on the grey, which looks a little odd.
