Revell B 24D Liberator 1:72 scale by Popeye the Sailor

[popeye the sailor]

as mentioned.....more has been done.  the frames are barely visible on the tail turret glass,  so I didn't bother with them.  it is assembled and ready to be added when the time comes.

questionable about the open spaces,  but this is it.  the fuselage is together now........the tape still on,  but is now removed.

the dorsal turret was trapped in the fuselage.......it's free to move,  but it's very tight {no matter}.  the nose and blue field has been touched up.....I'm working my way around the fuselage to clean it up.

 

one of the blue cowls is ready to be added to the wing.  it didn't fit very well though.......I cut out the 'flatted' sides inside,  to make them rounded.  it was cemented in place when the fit was good.

 

I tried to touch up the other one from all the bleeds,  but it is too soon.  this one here dried for a couple of days before I touched it up.   I will just have to wait till the paint is totally dry before I attempt it again.  still other things I can do though  

[Canute]

Denis, you're turning this beast of a kit into a fine rendition of an assembly bird. 👍

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Ken.......I'm impressed with it too.   definitely temps me to do another,  but of an actual plane.  I've been doing more touch ups.......I'm hoping to finish up the last cowl and get it on there.  I already made the fit adjustments......for some reason,  the inboard cowls are different,  and makes me wonder if I got the pairs backwards.  this looks to be the case,  because the inboard cowls are # 49A,  and the outboard are # 49B.   hopefully  the next  update will show the plane  together.    I do know one thing........I will not do a blue and white combination again                                                                                                        thanks to all who hit the like button..........  

[lmagna]

The further you get with the candy cane plane the more I wonder about what was going through the minds of the crews that had to paint one of these aircraft. I wonder if they had some fun doing it as it was a deviation from the everyday OD and gray of their normal everyday world.

 

It reminds me of when I returned to the US from overseas. I arrived in Oakland CA. at night and they kept us until the next morning. When we walked out the front door to walk to the bus station we were hit not only with the morning sun, but with a burst of color that was shocking at first. People wearing clothing of every imaginable color, cars of different colors, signs on buildings that had bright images and wording. Even the ground was assorted grays and blacks with yellow and white stripes. I wonder if those guys were struck the same way and overwhelmed with all of the color, or if they were just shocked at the "wrongness" of a B-24 in those colors?

 

Great job in what is appearing to be a harder than anticipated build.

[Canute]

Something that gaudy would help form up the flying units. At altitude, those dull green and gray a/c can get lost against the cloud background over East Anglia. Having some crazy painted "war weary" a/c to attract 4-6 sets of eyeballs in each plane during a rendezvous would help. i did a few (?) joinups over Germany and I had a state of the art airborne radar to help me out. Those heroes had the old Mark I, mod Zero eyeball. The ground crews probably figured the Os got into the gin supply and went a little loopy.

 

Lou, we came home to the San Francisco Bay Area; back then, in all it's psychedelic glory. It was a riot of color. The year we spent in the boonies dulled our sense of color. Out side the dull grays and greens was some orange dirt in some places around the northern Corps areas.

[CDW]

Awesome looking B-24 Denis! Love the colorful paint scheme.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks gents....the major assembly has begun    there was a bit of a mishap........the starboard wing fit a little loose,  and in getting it to seat,  the plane slipped and the nose gear broke off.  one of the gear doors got put out of joint.....but that's a minor thing.  the one grace is that since this model is tail heavy,  there won't be much weight on the nose gear when mounted on a stand { I plan on doing like I did with the B 25}.  so I'll get that fixed and continue........pictures soon!

 

thanks again for all the super kind comments!  

[popeye the sailor]

thought I'd show you all where I'm at with this project.   I trimmed a sliver fron one side of the fuselage tail and cemented on the tail section...minus the tail turret {can't see them getting broken}.   the nose bubble was added to the top of the nose,  as well as the radar bulb that sits on top too.  I still need to paint it.   the last cowl was added too.......took a bit,  but I finally got a handle on touching it up.  I think the cowl design came out rather cool  

 

these were taken before the nose bubble was added.  to be honest,  I don't know whether to salute,  or wind my watch     I figured that I had better get the repair done so I can move on.  the gear door was easy enough,  since it wasn't totally broken off.

with a small drill,  the nose gear tube was hollowed out enough to accept a brass rod.  I'll drill a hole in the stub that is still in the fuselage and cement it back in place.

I think I figured out some sort of pattern for the stars....better I think,  than to put them on willy nilly.  more soon  

 

[Old Collingwood]

She is really standing out now  - striking colour scheme Denis.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks OC........I saw that Oldmodelkits has another Warbirds kit available.........and another Pacific theater kit {which I still have}.  I'd definitely get the warbirds kit,  but I wouldn't get another of the other.......nice kit,  but not worth the price    very easy to come up with another subject.........I'm try'in very hard not to think of one!

[popeye the sailor]

I completed the nose gear repair.   this is probably the easiest repair I've made yet..........having that flat part that was so easy to drill through.   all I had to insure was the angle that the gear protruded.

 

I was hoping I could highlight the flat part in there....best I could do.   other added parts are the belly turret and the skid plate.   the skid plate is interesting.......I think they took note of the damage to the belly turret,  that B 17's received  in some of their less than perfect landings.

 

I used window maker to fill in the critical gaps.  when touched up,  I want to keep these lines,  barring these obvious gaps.   more soon  

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, popeye the sailor said:

the skid plate is interesting.......I think they took note of the damage to the belly turret,  that B 17's received  in some of their less than perfect landings.

Beautiful job on the model Dennis...  But a note: the ball turret on the B-24 retracted completely into the fuselage, the skid there was to prevent over-rotation on takeoff...  You could easily bend the tail beyond flyability if you hit it hard on a takeoff.... The skid was attached to the lower main keel of the aircraft and prevented that from happening.... Notice where it is located? it makes a perfect square with the nose wheel and main gear... equidistant from each other so the force of hitting would be taken up by the main structure of the airframe...

 

The B-17 didn't have a retractable ball turret.... The gunner entered the turret after take off.... If battle damage prevented the gunner from exiting the turret before landing, well that's some of the issues they had to face.... It did happen from time to time..... 

[mtaylor]

The skid beam also was left extended at the field according to an uncle I had who was pilot.  If the winds came up, depending on the direction, it would drop the tail.   Also if engines were removed for maintenance, or other work was being done forward or aft that would affect the balance, they would drop the skid to keep it level.

 

My uncle was a character to say the least.  He told the story how during in training, they took their B-24's out and with him flying lead, played "follow me"... loops, rolls, etc.  The factory reps had a fit.  His commander blew them off saying if they couldn't handle a little bit stunt flying, they couldn't handle combat.  It did pay off, he told us about get hitting hard with flak that flipped his plane over.  They flew back and realized they couldn't flip it back do to control surface damage.   So they all bailed out over the channel a few miles from the coast.

[popeye the sailor]

I'm fairly sure that I read that the ball on b 17's was retractable......that's how they could get in and out.  the skid appears to be in a place that would give space to the ball........that's how I figured it.  I kept the protrusion with the idea that the guns would fit into the slots...I did want to make it somewhat visible,  since there are no guns in it.   at least I was right in keeping the skid extended      I would imagine that if anything was done that would alter the balance of the plane,  they would erect a prop for the tail.  I've seen other planes with tricycle gear propped up in this manner.

 

I did do a little on her.......touched up the underside parts and painted the props.   now to go through the task of framing the cockpit and nose glass  

[Egilman]

38 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

I'm fairly sure that I read that the ball on b 17's was retractable

Both aircraft used the Sperry Ball for the belly turret... here's the info...

 

Sperry 250SH-1 (vintage Sperry pamphlet on the ball turret)

 

Sorry Brother, the B-17's flight manual also specifies the ball turret gunners access was from inside the aircraft after takeoff...

[CDW]

12 hours ago, Egilman said:

The B-17 didn't have a retractable ball turret.... The gunner entered the turret after take off.... If battle damage prevented the gunner from exiting the turret before landing, well that's some of the issues they had to face.... It did happen from time to time..... 

 

Bomber gunners had a tough way to go, particularly tail gunners. Gunners in the tail and ball turret positions often could not bail out while G forces made it impossible for them to crawl out of their positions. Seems I recall that entering or exiting the ball turret position required assistance even under normal circumstances.

[Old Collingwood]

8 hours ago, CDW said:

 

Bomber gunners had a tough way to go, particularly tail gunners. Gunners in the tail and ball turret positions often could not bail out while G forces made it impossible for them to crawl out of their positions. Seems I recall that entering or exiting the ball turret position required assistance even under normal circumstances.

My late farther was  decorated for bravery  for trying to pull a  burning tail gunner out of a rear gun position  during the war  - he got quite bad burns also  (this was after a crash landing  on the field where my dad was staioned)

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

yes...I'm aware that access into the ball turret was from the inside.......I didn't imply that it was done outside.  worded it wrong....probably.......but there were other manufacturers for these turrets.....some were introduced later.

[popeye the sailor]

I'm still working on her......I did the frames on the nose and cockpit glass with a fine brush.....and they came out looking terrible!   so I cleaned them off using brake fluid and ready to try something else.  more soon  

[popeye the sailor]

sorry for the delay,  but the glass is proving to be more of a problem than I thought.   I cleaned them off because I didn't like how they looked and did them again......but came out with the same results.   ....just too much bleed under the tape.  cleaning them up again,  I tried to do them freehand with a fine brush......started out good,  but the steady hand waned and ruined the job.  a second try gave the same results.  through all this,  I've been using brake fluid to remove the paint.......so far so good that the parts haven't been affected.  the third attempt I decided to try paint pens......bad thing is,  I only have silver.  it didn't go so well..........so I tossed them back in the brake fluid to remove the paint.  for some reason,  the paint would not come off.

  it took some doing to remove the paint.......a second try was just as bad.  I was on the verge of giving up on it,  but knowing the model wouldn't look right,  I'm going to press on.  I'll go back to the tape and hope for the best.........hard to understand.......it worked reasonably well on the other bombers.

  I started to play around with the decals.......I decided to go with the red outlined insignias,  since they were used for short period in 1943.  they would also work well with the color scheme.  I have a set with the B 25 decals......but they are 1:48......I can only get away with using two for the fuselage.  I have slammer ones for the wings from the Smithsonian kit by Lindberg { something about the sky......forget what the title of the kit was}.  the decals looked funky,  but I didn't put two and two together till I put one on the wing.........the sheet had been wet at one time and allowed to dry.  the decals were so fragile,  that lightly rubbing them would cause them to break up on the model!.  after removing that mess,  I took another pair and sprayed them with decal bonder.......see if that saves the day.  I hate to tell the admiral that I need more decals.  here are a few pictures of where I am on the model.

 

 

 

thanks all for your interest  

[Canute]

Denis, working with decals that old will be a trial. The decal bonder is about as good as you can do, short of getting new decals of more recent vintage. All you can do is keep on truckin.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Ken.......the ones on the fuselage are fairly new.  I haven't tried to put on the ones I sprayed with the bonder....I'm giving them a couple of days to cure,  so that when I dip them,  they might come off better.  then I can start playing with the stars and other decals.  

[CDW]

Denis

For your window frames, have you tried printing a small clear decal sheet in the color you want your frames, then slicing that sheet into thin strips and applying them as your frame? It's a technique that works well as long as you can color match the frame color you want. 

[Canute]

Denis, semi off topic, but if you had the urge to do a 1/48 B-24D, there is an outfit printing Operation Tidal Wave aka the Ploesti Raid decals:  http://www.hyperscale.com/2021/reviews/decals/ced48271preview_1.htm

[popeye the sailor]

Holy Cow Ken.........I love it!    I book marked the site.......might even become a new source for decals!  so far Mega Hobby has been my go to place for decals.  I'll have to read up on some of the subjects {missions}.   thanks very much!   

 

that is another idea Craig...the only chigger would be the raised detail.  air could develop beneath the edges as it dried.  I got a reminder of an old tip of using cello tape to paint them on.  I'm trying that at the moment.......slow going but when done,   that's it,  It's final.

 

I do have a bit of an update......the props have been tipped with yellow,  and as mentioned,  I'm still working with the glass.  the decals I had for the wings were a bust.......the decals were too damaged to use {all four of them}.  I had sprayed them with decal bonder before cutting them out,  and allowed them to totally dry before trying them.  I let them soak longer than I normally would,  but they would not release from the paper........they broke up under the strain of my fingers trying to move them    so I had to order a sheet that had a set on them.  I'm down to 11 parts to add to this bird...decal and finish.

 

it is funny you send that link to me Ken.......if I do another B 24,  I want it to be 1:48....1:32 would be the mother lode!  I was tempted to get another one of those Lindberg 'nose art' kit of the B 17........they are cheaper,  but I wish they had more detail.  I know I could add some with all the add on stuff I've seen,  but it would be certain to put me in hot water with the budget director.........I'm already there now as it is 

[Canute]

Denis, you're a hero redoing those old kits. The iffy fitting and raised detail are the pits. I have Soviet era jets in a box of lemons. Maybe someday I'll get back to them, but maybe I won't. I'd probably launch them into the Circular File after a certain point. The newer kits don't always require the aftermarket, but we're all guilty of racking up the bling on some of our projects. Might keep you out of the Admiral's doghouse, too. 😁

[mtaylor]

Don't trash them, Ken.   Sell them on Fleabay.  I'm surprised at some the prices for vintage kits there.  Seems no reason for it but there are collectors out there.

[Canute]

Oh, I'm not trashing them, especially if only barely started. Some kits get to a point that with the poor fit, the only thing to do is consign it to the deep. Me and a couple of the more persnickety model builders up here in the highlands always joke about coming to a train show with a CONEX container. We'd buy up all the old, crummy stuff, put it in the container and pay to take it out to sea, rather than watching the same stuff just keep changing hands every year or so. I'm talking about the junque, not the actual collectibles. I have seen ancient kits show up with low, low prices printed on the labels, selling for unbelievable prices, but those are pretty rare at our local shows. When we see these, we get them to our club fleabay dealers and get good returns for them.

[popeye the sailor]

shame to see them go to the Kraken.......keep me in mind    yea,  the bling can be interesting....sometimes though,  the bling can cost more than the kit.

 

I tried the cello tape on the cockpit glass......this is where I'm at.  at the moment.

it's not perfect,  done in the flat blue,  but it is the final try.......I think it passes muster    more soon.  thanks for the good word Ken.

[Canute]

Denis, I think you got this one. The canopy looks pretty good. 👍