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I've put the finishing touches to this 1/32nd scale B-24 over the Bank Holiday weekend and took advantage of some spring sunshine to take some pictures of the completed model outside in natural light. I've been working on this on and off for a year or so, and it has been the ideal project to pick up and do a bit to as and when I felt like it. This model doesn't get the best press but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. You can spend a fortune on after-market improvements if you wish, but other than some seat belts, resin wheels and gun barrels, this is how it comes in the box. The interior is crammed with detail and took a long time to complete - excellent value for your money when you compare it to the price of the other 1/32nd 'heavies' on the market. Fit was excellent throughout and the only filler used was to deal with a small gap along the underside of the nose where, I believe, I hadn't got the interior aligned as perfectly as I could. The turrets, however, are a weak point of the kit. It's been well documented that the rear turret (and forward turret on the J-version) have a very visible seam right down the middle. Aftermarket replacements are currently sold out so instead I used the kit rear turret and painted the mating surfaces black before gluing and this has made the unsightly join a little less conspicuous. For some reason Hobby Boss put heavy framing on the upper turret which doesn't exist on any B-24 turret I've seen, so this was sanded off and the dome given a good polish so it now better represents the Martin turret fitted to this model of Liberator. I didn't want to risk putting the colossal amount of nose weight into this as I was using the kit's plastic landing gear (which is perfectly strong enough to cope with the weight of the 'un-weighted' model) so I made a tail strut as was so often put in place when B-24s are parked on the ground. The kit doesn't come with the most inspiring of schemes for an olive drab B-24, so I did a bit of research on 'Satan's Angels' and painted the model to represent this aircraft as it would have looked in the autumn of 1943 with the group insignia on the tail and the short-lived red surround to the stars and bars. This aircraft was actually written off in a landing accident at Lympne in Kent, when the nose wheel collapsed and it ended up in a ditch on 13th November of that year. I used Kits World national insignia as well as the Profimodeller stencil set. All in all a very enjoyable build, and if you want a large 1/32nd bomber that doesn't break the bank but still gives you plenty of detail, I thoroughly recommend this kit. All the best, Tom Consolidated B-24D Liberator, 'Satan's Angels' of the 328th Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Group, based at Hardwick, Suffolk, Autumn 1943.

As has been noted, Jim at the 453BG Museum at Old Buckenham in Norfolk was exceptionally kind to our forum-buddies @Procopius and @Cookenbacher during their last (but hopefully not their last) visit to the UK, so I was very pleased to be asked if I would contribute a build for the museum. I chose to do a couple of B-24D's, because I like the Liberator and haven't built one since the Airfix kit many, many years ago. Jim was having a bit of trouble sourcing kits for this (again, as noted elsewhere on this very forum Liberator kits are taking on the mythic qualities of hen's teeth), but I happened across a batch of part-started Hasegawa Libs which I snagged from ebay and Jim has given the green light and will provide markings for the aircraft he would like done - I don't know which particular aircraft he has in mind beyond that one is from the 44th BG and one from the 93rd. I don't usually buy started kits, but the good news is that whoever started them has done a good job of the parts they have assembled, the downside is that most of the parts are off the sprues and I suspect I shall spend as much time rooting through boxes and bags as I will actually sticking stuff together and painting it. Also, the cockpit interiors have been assembled (but mercifully unpainted) which will make painting them a bit of an exercise Here's one: The others are in amongst here: While I was finishing my last build, I ordered in some aftermarket: I don't think Jim has a specific completion date in mind, so if fortune allows I may build a couple of B-24H's afterwards depending also on how much fun the Hasegawa kit is to build Cheers, Stew

Hello All, My interpretation of a 354 Sqn RAF Liberator that carried an all Australian crew. OOB. Interesting to note the different colour saturation between indoor under Fluoro lighting and late evening light. Happy to take questions. Ian

Joining you with this Liberator. For which I've acquired decals for 2 of the dwarf aircraft, that participated in the Ploetsi raid. Desert scheme, I'm not full certain which aircraft I'll build yet. Here are the parts. This one cost me £10 at Yate in 2010. It was still bagged, but as you can see - I've started the interior decorating.

My entry into this group build is an old 1/48 Revell B-24 D kit that has been in the stash for a while. I originally bought it to build for a book club meeting when we discussed the book “Unbroken” in 2010. I was going to go all out for the build and bought several Eduard sets, the cockpit interior, the front interior, the middle interior, the bombay, the exterior and surface panels. I had started with the tractor and then life got in the way. When life let up, the book club meeting was only a week away and there was no way I could finish this build in a week so the kit got set aside until now. Since the only thing that was built out of the kit was the tractor, I think this qualifies as less than 25% built. The kit’s interior isn’t bad as is, especially given its age. With all of the Eduard sets, most of this interior detail will have to be sanded off. I started off with the cockpit interior set and began building. And I got a bit carried away and forgot to take pictures of the process. So, here are the end results of the cockpit interior for the instrument panel, the center panel, the cockpit floor, seats and windshield panel. Now the complicated part becomes apparent, I got multiple detail sets, plus the original kit parts which means I have 7 sets of instructions that need to be integrated to make sure everything gets put in its place before the fuselage halves are put together. The name of the game is to test fit and make sure everything is in place and will fit together. Once the Eduard panels are placed on the cockpit floor, test fitting begins. The one thing I like about Revell kits is they are usually designed for a positive fit of parts. There are all sorts of pegs that lock this cockpit floor in place. Unfortunately, most of these pegs will be cut out when the different Eduard panels are put in place. I traced the outline of the floor onto the fuselage half to make sure I get it aligned after I get rid of the placement pegs. Now it is time to start hacking up this kit and start putting the various Eduard sets in place. Most of the sets just require grinding off the kit detail, but the bombay set requires removal of parts. Since this will be the most intrusive action on the fuselage halves, this is done first. The center section of the bombay is removed to enhance its detail. The PE parts are folded into place And then the kit plastic is added to the PE and it is placed aside to dry. After the parts dry, the center seam created by the plastic parts will have to be cleaned up while retaining the navigation light detail. Next up the different panels and additions to the right side fuselage are tackled. I start with the middle bulkhead and the parts to go onto it. The PE is then bent into shape. And it is attached to the bulkhead. Part of the PE is the doors for the hatch opening in the bulkhead. I did not attach them as I am unsure if I want to put the doors on closed or open. And, to be honest, I have no idea what they would look like in the open position; so some research is necessary. After the parts dry, some paint will be applied. Next up the right side fuselage interior will get the cockpit upgrade, the front interior upgrade, the middle interior upgrade and the bombay upgrade. Various areas of the fuselage interior are sanded smooth to accept the Eduard panels along with the removal of some injection marks. Then the panels are put in place at the front of the fuselage Before the furthest panel can be placed, the side window had to be installed and taped over so the interior color can be applied prior to the various boxes being put in place. The first set of boxes and knick knacks are attached to the cockpit portion. The parts for the front panel are folded and painted. And then put in place. The same goes for a bulkhead that fits in front of the instrument panel. And these are then put in place The nose section is folded into place The different parts for the nose section are gathered for assembly And then they are folded into their respective shapes The boxes are prepped for assembly with paint While the paint dries on the boxes, another one of the interior sections is prepped with the base interior paint. There are 3 machine guns that go in the nose section. The kit gun is first modified by cutting off the barrel and attached a piece of PE that has been rolled into a cylinder. I don’t know about others, but rolling a cylinder is not as easy as it is portrayed in the Eduard instructions. Anyway, all the parts that are to be added to the kit guns is assembled. Then they are folded, rolled and conformed prior to assembly. Once assembled, the enhanced Eduard piece is compared to the kit piece after painting and some weathering. Given the pain it is to modify the kit guns and frankly the degree of improvement over the stock kit gun, it just does not seem worth the effort. The bang for the buck is not there. Am I wrong or is this just my warped opinion gone haywire? It is now late, the paint is drying on some parts so I am stopping here. There is still way more PE to be put in place as the bombay has just been started and the middle interior has not even been touched. As always, all comments are welcome.

Hi mates, I started this project as part of the BM Obsolete Kit Group Build, but was not able to finish in time for today's deadline. So I've moved the build thread over here so I can continue posting future updates (such as today's). Now that it's no longer part of the group build, let's consider it a photo essay of one man's dark journey into the depths of insanity. The kit itself was released in 1965 when the young Master Navy Bird was a mere pip of a lad, just ten years old: I remember my brother building this kit (in its B-24D guise) and then promptly blowing it up with firecrackers. Ah, the joys of youth! I bought this kit at a recent club meeting for a mere $1.00 USD, and thought it would be perfect for the group build. But before you go any further...please read the first part of the WIP thread here. If you don't, then you won't know what's inside this little beastie! And there are a LOT of goodies inside! This weekend's progress was not as much as I'd like, but wifey and daughter seem to think there are other kinds of building that I should be doing, like trees and decorations and wrapping and cookies. Oh, and snow removal...arghhh. For those who've been following along, you'll recall that the vacuform canopy and nose glazing (which were designed for the Hasegawa kit) do not fit the old Revell kit. I'm therefore going to use the kit parts even though they're a wee bit on the thick side. The most troublesome part, though, is that the nose glazing had some guide hole pockets moulded on the inside, and they're not hidden by any framing. I sanded them off, and while I was at it I also sanded as much of the inside as I could. I started with 400 grit, advanced through 2,000 grit and then switched over to Micro Mesh and went up to 12,000. The nose glazing then got two coats of Future and the difference was amazing. I could actually see through it, and the residual distortion is caused by the curves, and there's not much I can do about that. The canopy on the right had not been sanded, polished, or dipped in Future yet, and I was hoping for a better before and after effect. The photo does not do this justice! In order to be able to see at least some of the new cockpit, I decided to open the windows on the canopy. I used my razor saw, following guides made by a scribing tool. I plan on using clear sheet styrene to put the rear window back in, and also for the sliding front window. After cutting the windows out, I sanded, went to town with the Micro Mesh and dipped in Future. Back to the nose glazing - it seems the typical front armament for the sub hunters consisted of two Brownings mounted in the forward position, one high and one low. The cheek guns are not installed in the reference photos that I have. And since I made the nose glazing so nice and clear, those forward guns are going to be nice and visible. I added two resin gun stocks to the inside of the nose, and I'll add the gun barrel and cooling jackets later (since they protrude out the front, and I'd rather only break them off a minimum number of times)! I then added the ammo belts, and bent them into a shape that simulated their normal "droop" from the ammo box to the breech. The ammo belts are from the Eduard PE interior set, and are hard enough to fold into the U-shaped cross section, let alone get them into this shape. But they look really cool... Next I began the dual of the day - masking the nose. I'm not sure why, but Eduard doesn't offer die-cut masks for the 1965 Revell Liberator kit. They're missing a huge market of $1.00 kits lurking in attics across the globe. So out came the trusty Tamiya tape, my old Mark 1 eyeballs, some extensive trial and error, a lot of cursing, and at the end of the day she was masked. I then glued the nose onto the front of the old bird, and you know what? It almost looks like it belongs there. I had to add some framing that Revell forgot. You may notice that I also added the tail assembly from a few nights ago. In addition, I've temporarily mounted the engine/cowlings since I want them in place when I paint the fuselage. They're tacked in with white glue. Since this plane will have the USN tri-colour scheme, the cowlings get all three colours and it's important that the demarcation lines match the nacelles. I'll do the detail painting of the engine faces after I remove the cowlings, as it will be easier to handle. The nose isn't a perfect fit, so my next job will be to get out the filler (I'll probably use wall filler, or spackling compound). Before I tackle blending the nose into the fuselage, I painted the nose Interior Green, which is the colour that the inside of the framing should be. If I didn't do this now, and waited until after the blending, then it's possible that the colour of the filler would be visible through the nose glazing (looking through to the opposite side). And that would just be a horrible thing. That's where she sits right now. I've put the first application of wall filler down, and I'm waiting for that to dry. Then I suppose I will have to go back to work tomorrow morning. Oh drat. Cheers, Bill

Hi mates, Does anyone have an idea of the proper routing or placement of the aerial wires on the PB4Y-1 Liberator? There is a strong possibly this is the same as a B-24D. I believe there is a wire from each fin, but not sure where they lead to. Also, I've seen some B-24D profiles that show what looks like an aerial wire, mounted on very short stand-offs on the underside, in-between the bomb bay. It looks to be about the length of one of the "garage doors." What is this and is it appropriate for the PB4Y-1? Any assistance is appreciated! Cheers, Bill