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Hello! My next build is the fantastic looking Eduard "Riders in the Sky" Coastal Command Liberator. There are 13 (!) options for different schemes and I've decided to model the Mk. V, BZ755 as I like its clean lines and the two-tone camouflage on the uppers: First impression of the kit when you open the box is that there is a lot of plastic! As I'm sure lots of you know, Eduard have re-boxed a Hasegawa kit and added in some extra sprues to build up a GR Mk. III or V. The exterior detail of the kit is lovely with subtle, recessed panel lines and rivets all over. Inside is a bit varied, the bomb-bay detail looks good but cockpit and front gunner / bomb aimer position are pretty bare, there's also no detail in the front wheel bay. After checking out some previous builds on here and watching some walkarounds on youtube (of US B-24s admittedly) I've come up with an initial plan of action which will address the main areas which I think will make a difference: - Add detail to the cockpit and bomb aimer position, e.g. framework on the walls, some cabling, scratchbuilt bits and bobs basically. I might pose it with the cockpit windows open so a bit more can be seen - Do something about the front wheelbay, probably scratch built from plasticard - Add Eduard photoetch to the bomb bay, along with new resin bomb bay doors - Improve the rear crew compartment with framing on the walls, resin oxygen bottles and scratch made ammo boxes, etc - I'll display it with the hatches open so we can see a bit of what is going on inside - Resin wheels, engines and turbochargers Extra goodies arrived yesterday along with some paints so I can get started on the interior: I've started with the cockpit, taking off the blocks for the seats to sit on (I'll replace these with something later) and adding some plausible looking detail with aluminium tape. I've also removed a load of plastic from the panel which goes in front of the cockpit as this appears to have a bin a frame rather than a bulkhead. Thanks for taking a look, any hints or warnings greatly appreciated, and yep, I know I've got to find somewhere to stash a load of weight so it isn't a tail sitter: tungsten shot from my father in law's shotgun cartridge usually does the trick! I'm afraid my builds usually take ages so relax and put your feet up if you want to follow along. Cheers, Sam

US B-24 Heavy Bomber (mPLANE-006) Meng Kids via Creative Models The B-24 was a major player in the US bombing offensive during WWII, and although it had its flaws, it was both well-loved by its crews and although it is overshadowed by the Lancaster and its compatriot B-17, it is well-liked in the modelling community with a special place in my heart for no apparent reason. The Kit This is a new tool from the appealing and fun Meng Kids range, which are scale-free and rather out-of-proportion, enough to send someone who holds dimensional accuracy above all else into an apoplectic rage. Those of us with a bit more balanced perspective find them a bit cute and silly, and whether they appeal to you, your kids or your sense of fun, they're pretty cool. I'm one of those that only like some of them such as the Lanc and the He.177 Greif we reviewed some years back, but this one is right in my wheel-house. They're dead simple to build quickly and should appeal to anyone over the suggested age of 14, requiring no glue or paint unless you want to go a bit semi-serious and build them to last with a realistic paint-job that enhances their silly shape. They arrive in a chunky end-opening box with all the parts in a single bag and the clear parts wrapped in a self-cling film. The five upper parts are moulded in olive green, the two underside parts are in grey and the rest of the parts are held on one black sprue. The clear parts are clear of course, and there is a small sheet of decals included in their own bag. The instructions are printed on the underside of the box, and the painting/decaling guide is found on the side. All the parts fit together using friction-fit towers and pins, or by being held in place by other parts, and you can leave it self-coloured just by removing the sprue gates from the parts and making good. Construction begins with the fuselage lower that is in two parts and before you clamp them down you need to put the clear lower nose and rear turret glazing in place in the grey underside, and add the green bombs then the black waist and rear guns. The upper fuselage has the tops of the wings moulded in and it has the cockpit glazing, the upper turret and guns plus the D/F loop added before it is placed on the grey lower wings, trapping the props and their tapering bosses inside the engine cowlings. Before the two assemblies can be joined the front turret and guns are fitted and at the rear the H-tail slots in place over the rear turret. The final parts include the main gear with separate legs and wheels, the single piece nose wheel and the belly turret with its guns, and that's everything! You may have noticed from the pictures that the bomb bay is moulded open with the tambour doors rolled up the side of the fuselage exposing the stubby little bombs you fitted earlier. Markings Taking the easiest route to complete the model just needs a dash of water to apply the decals. If you're going to paint any or all of the model though, there are paint names on the diagrams as well as numbers for each of the decals. You can also go the whole hog and paint the fuselage and wings olive green and grey with a wavy demarcation between top and bottom as shown on the diagrams below. That's totally optional of course, so just make sure you're having fun whichever route you choose. Conclusion I'm one of those folks that is only interested in a cartoonish kit if it's a subject I'm fond of, so this one hits my spot. I can see the broader appeal of collecting them, and they all seem a lot of fun. I can guarantee that they're not in scale, the wing and fuselage lengths are all wrong, and there's a lot of simplified detail… but then that's the whole point. Catch one while you can, as they're selling fast! Scroll down a few posts to see my quick build of this little kit Very highly recommended with fun in mind. Review sample courtesy of

My build of the Airfix 1/72 Consolidated B-24J Liberator (05006-3) "The Dragon and His Tail" decals for B24J Liberator 44-40973, 64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group, August 1945 came from Xtradecal Set X72082. It was built for the ATF 15th Anniversary GB. Not my finest ever build but an enjoyable one nevertheless as it was more of an exercise in nostalgia than hyper-modelling. Apart from some added detail in the wheel wells and aftermarket decals it was an OOB build. BTW, the wings, cowlings, tailplanes, front and rear turrets are not fixed in place as the plane is going into storage, probably never to be seen again! Dave

Hobby Boss is to release in 2018-2019 two 1/32nd B-24 kits - ref. 83211 - Consolidated B-24J Liberator - ref. 83212 - Consolidated B-24D Liberator Source: https://www.facebook.com/TrumpeterModel/photos/ms.c.eJxFkdGRRTEIQjvaUVGj~;Te2czHmfTJROJhWQVhLnOo~_8tefdtVWg5Zdbfm9F3w0kOaR0Xr1Eeo4d16KWnu0VY~;~;zjfol3cewjzrmwcbHpfV~;vmlYPMP5yN3nzxp6w8M3~;I6~_Vt9~_3Bf8~_5bkz~_xPDH5uvk6~;rr~_ciZv74Wk3~_vv8b37735GHom9j7P~;4y~;6xet7gv20lof3anl8xXdcPyTvW~_8~;qumHWp7J0~;wHK7NkWQ~-~-.bps.a.910352652456662.1073742118.103526326472636/910353465789914/?type=3&theater V.P.

Hi mates! I've finally finished a project that I originally started as part of the Obsolete Kit Group Build. The kit I chose is the old (and very obsolete) kit from Revell USA of the PB4Y-1 Liberator in glorious 1:72 scale. This kit first saw light of day in 1965, and I can remember my brothers and I building this (and blowing it up) several times in my errant youth. To pay for such past injustice, I was sentenced in my adulthood to think this would be an easy, quick project. Yikes! Project: Consolidated PB4Y-1 (B-24D) Liberator Kit: Revell Kit H-205 (1965) Scale: 1:72 (The Only Scale That Matters) Decals: Iliad Design Sub-Hunting Liberators No. 72001 Decals: Aviaeology B-24/PB4Y-1 Stencils No. AOD72S01 Resin: CMK B-24D Cockpit Set No. 7234 Resin: Quickboost Liberator Antisubmarine Radar No. 72170 Resin: Quickboost B-24 Propellers No. 72329 Resin: Quickboost B-24 Oxygen Cylinders No. 72319 Resin: CMK B-17 Waist Gunners Detail Set No. 7205 (used for the 0.50 Brownings) Resin: True Details B-24/PB4Y Wheel Set No. 72016 Photoetch: Eduard Big Ed B-24D Set No. 7252 Paint: Tamiya XF-2 Flat White, Gunze H54 Non-specular Sea Blue, Gunze H56 Intermediate Blue, Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, Gunze H95 Smoke Grey, Alclad Klear Kote Flat Weathering: Pastel chalks Swearing: Loud and often Improvements/Corrections Removed all rivets; re-scribed all panel lines (they were already engraved, but inconsistent - not sure I improved it!) Replaced kit flight deck and nose gunner/bombardier station with CMK resin set and details from Eduard PE set Added all guns (resin stock and PE cooling jackets) and equipped with PE ammo belts Eduard PE colour seat belts in all stations Added port cheek window (not in kit) Scratchbuilt front landing gear structure from plastic rod and PE Main landing gear wells made from Eduard PE Scratchbuilt entire waist gunners area including fuselage structural members, floor, and gun supports Waist gunners area detailed with PE and resin oxygen cylinders PE ammo belts realistically draped from overhead ammo box into waist guns Added relief tube to port waist gun area (really!) All guns have PE gunsight (and I no longer have any eyesight!) 83 grams added up front to prevent tail-sitter! Waist gunners window panels made from film sandwiched in PE pieces Modified engine housings so propeller would be in correct position; replaced kit props with Quickboost resin Replaced wheels and tyres with True Details set (had to make the resin tyres not look flat) Added main landing gear retraction strut; detailed all landing gear with PE brake lines and oleo scissors Added radome in place of belly turret Scratchbuilt interior of top and tail turrets; replace kit clear parts with vacuform Replaced kit canopy with vacuform; added bulged side windows; added vacuform astrodome Replaced Fowler flap actuators and posed flaps in landing position Lowered elevators slightly; posed ailerons in off-neutral position Added PE deflectors forward of waist gunner windows Used decals to represent tunnel gun windows (because I forgot to put holes in the fuselage!) Added radial panel lines on both sides of each vertical tail with pencil Weathering by post-shading with paint and pastels; chipping on props with silver pencil Gear doors from Eduard PE Scratchbuilt forward pitot probes from styrene stock and hypo needles Added all antennae: Marker Beacon (underside of bomb bay catwalk), Command, Liaison, ADF, Sense, and one more that I have no idea what it is! 0.005" Nitinol wire used for aerials. Elapsed time: Approximately five months (too freaking long!) You can find all the details in two WIP threads, Part One in the Group Build, and Part Two in the normal WIP section. On with the pictures! I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed this crazy obsolete kit build! A few in-progress shots: Cheers, Bill

B-24 Wheel (632145 & 632149 for Hobby Boss) 1:32 Eduard Brassin Hobby Boss’s big-scale B-24 is a massive kit, and with massive kits come massive wheels with massive seams round them. Not any more! Eduard have created two sets of replacement resin wheels for the Big Liberator, substituting those annoying seams for a small contact patch pour stub and some exceptional detail. There are two sets as mentioned, one in a thin Brassin cardboard box, the other in a fat one for no reason that I can divine, but not to worry – it’s all recyclable and a lot better for the environment than the old clamshell boxes, and easier to stack too. B-24 Wheels – 8-spoke Front Wheel (632145) This set contains three wheels and a separate hub with eight spokes to it as you’d expect. There is also a mudguard for the nose wheel with a ribbed framework and a small flat-spot where it fits to the nose leg, and a full set of masks (not pictured) for painting the hubs with a perfect demarcation. The main wheels are handed monolithic parts with moulded-in hubs, while the nose wheel has a separate cap, which you will need to remove the flash from the interstices between the spokes before you glue things together. B-24 Wheels – 9-spoke Front Wheel (632149) This is ostensibly the same set as above, but with a 9-spoke hub cap instead, which will be useful if your chosen decal subject flew with a higher spoke-count. Construction is the same, just one extra gap between the spokes to clear flash from. Conclusion Take care with the correct handing of the wheels, and other than that they are a drop-in replacement that adds a huge amount of detail as well as a very slight sag to the tyres, inferring weight to the model. The masks are always welcome to ease painting. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I offer this for RFI ...Another 'Lockdown' project i completed. This is the old tooled Airfix 'Sharkmouth' which i dedided to do OOB as the 445th BG from Tibbenham in Norfolk.. Hope you like it? The photos are not the best and probably hide a multitude of 'sins' lol and i took them at my WFH station.( Apologies ) Hand painted with Humbrol Enamels . I love the Lib as a plane wish there was a new Airfix 1:48 tooling for this! I did post these pics on another recent Liberator thread but actually this is where i should have put them..

B-24 Photo-Etch Update Sets (for Hobby Boss) 1:32 Eduard If you didn't see the release of the massive 1:32 Consolidated B-24J Liberator from Hobby Boss earlier this year, where were you? We reviewed it here, and we'll wait for you while you go and have a look. Eduard's new range of sets are now here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's larger Photo-Etch (PE) sets, they arrive in a flat resealable ziplok package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Bomb Bay (32440) This is a big kit, so get used to the fact that the frets are big too. This set comes on one large fret dedicated to structure that is missed out from the kit, and will probably be used in conjunction with the bomb bay racks below. Each end of the bay is heavily modified with new skins to the bulkheads, additional stiffening beams along the floor, plus a host of other small parts, pulleys, even some equipment boxes. Bomb Racks (32441) This set contains a single large fret with additional details for the kit bombs, and of course the large ladder-shaped racks that hold those bombs ready for deployment. These are highly detailed and will be a much better replacement to the simplified kit parts. Undercarriage (32437) The big bays of the Liberator are quite visible due to their size and the shoulder-mounted wing, so any detail is easily seen. This set is based on two frets, and includes mirror-image parts to detail the bays with many skins to replace the chunkier moulded-in kit detail, plus the visible portions of the wing's structure itself. Large ribs are added in addition to the kit ribs, which give the bays much more visual interest. The gear legs don't escape, with small tie-down lugs added at the base of each leg, and an optional hub cap that fits over the detailed wheel hubs that were often worn in service by these chunky warriors. Engines (32438) The Liberator was powered by four P&W Twin Wasp engines, with the kit portraying them as back and front banks either side of a bulkhead to prevent a see-through cowling. Detail is adequate for a brief glimpse, but a little more detail is provided in this set, especially at the rear of the nacelles where there are missing details, including a splitter panel and a boxed-in screen that protrudes at an angle from the hollow rear of each nacelle. You'll need to remove the moulded-in version of this beforehand, but the resulting difference is substantial. Small flaps on the sides of the plate allow easy attachment of the assembly to the nacelle halves. Around the supercharger part there are some additional detail parts added around the recess, plus a protective flip-open cover for the exhausts and more wiring harnesses for the rear piston bank. Big Ed Set (BIG33103) The Bomb Bay, Bomb Racks and Undercarriage sets are also available in the Big Ed set with a discount that will assist anyone vacillating over whether to get all three or not. Review sample courtesy of

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

Didn't see this one coming: https://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/data/8wm201jteuwrebynljq7.html

B-24 Instrument Panel Upgrade (PE32 LIB for Hobby Boss) 1:32 Airscale You'll probably all have heard of Airscale and their product range to help modellers that like to detail their cockpits in the shape of instrument dial decals, Photo-Etch (PE) parts and so forth, and if you've ever seen Peter's work, you'll also know that he's a perfectionist who always seems to be happy, which is a nice combination. The set arrives in a ziplok bag with a card insert in the front, instructions on the back, a fret of thick gauge Photo-Etch (PE) brass with a nickel plating, a sheet of instrument decals on a black background covered in a sheet of translucent protective paper. There is also a small sheet of transparent acetate for you to add actual lenses if you're so minded. Each decal is printed with an individual carrier film, but cutting them closely is recommended to remove as much of the clear overhang as possible in order to ease fitting the decal onto its backing. The main panel is built up in order (back to front) from the featureless backing piece, the decal sheet the optional clear acetate glazing, then the front heavily etched panel, which has bezels, fasteners and recesses etched in for realism. On top of this are placed the steering column panels, and the Direction Finding, Throttle Quadrant and Oxygen sub-panels are all built up in the same way. You will need to trim the acetate (if using it) to accept the kit knobs and levers, and of course the throttle quadrant won't need any acetate, but it will require your attention due to the forest of levers sprouting from the grooves. The decals are printed by our friends at Fantasy Printshop, so quality, registration, colour density and sharpness are all good. Conclusion I've used Peter's decals a number of times over the years, and they're brilliant. Although it's a drop-in replacement for the kit panel, the set will take some effort to put together, and careful painting is a must, with a completed example shown on the rear of the instructions to prove that Peter uses his own products. You'll also find painting guidance notes under that picture, which is great news. Is the effort worth it? Absolutely and unequivocally yes! Extremely highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of Peter at

Liberator GR Mk.VI Update Set & Wheels 1:72 Eduard for Eduard Kit Eduard now bring us a couple of updates for the new Liberator Mk.IV kit, Update Set (73647) This package includes pre-painted details for the crew compartment and fills in some of the details on the flight deck that were not covered by the etch provided with the kit. Details are provided for radio and other electronic equipment, as well as rudder pedals, ammunition hoppers and belts for the machine guns, as well as cooling sleeves for the gun barrels. Wheels Set This contains a full set of replacement set of wheels and the mud guard on the front gear leg. Masks are included for painting (not shown). Review samples courtesy of

Eduard is to rebox in 2017 with the appropriate add-ons the Hasegawa's 1/72nd B-24 liberator kit as Coastal Command GR.Mk.V. The Coastal Command's Liberators are iconic symbol for the Czech Units fightings alongside RAF. As for the recent Eduard's Mil Mi-24, this kit will be provided with a book on the type. Sources: http://www.72news.eu/2016/09/eduard-consolidated-b24-liberator-gr-v.html http://pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=78501&sid=2fed11272508b70cc053fe34bdf286c4&start=645 V.P.

Resin and Photo Etch Detail Sets for Eduard/Hasegawa B-24 Liberator 1:72 Eduard Hasegawa's Liberator is easily the best kit of the type available in 1:72 scale. It is more modern and more precisely engineered than the ageing Minicraft/Academy kit and streets ahead of Airfix's venerable offering. It's selection by Eduard as the basis for their recent 'Riders in the Sky' limited edition Coastal Command release was very welcome indeed, particularly so given than Eduard's previous Liberator releases were based on the aforementioned Minicraft kit. Alongside the kit, Eduard have released a predictably comprehensive range of resin and photo etched goodies to further enhance the superlative kit. B-24 Engines (672171) This set includes four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp turbo-supercharged radial engines. Despite the imposingly large box, the engines themselves are very simple. Each unit comprises the 14 cylinder engine, plus a separately cast magneto, as well as photo etched details for the ignition wiring. The casting is up to the usual Eduard standard and the end result will be superior to anything that could be achieved with injection moulded plastic. B-24 Bomb Bay Rocket Projector (672177) This impressive set provides the 3 inch rockets used with some Coastal Command Liberators, as well as the associated projector racks. The structural parts, as well as the rockets themselves, are cast from resin while photo etched brass provides a supporting role in the form of additional details for the rocket exhausts, ignition wiring, cross-braces etc. The set isn't as complex as it first seems, but the rockets are very fragile and particular care will need to be taken when removing them from their casting blocks. B-24 Bomb Bay Doors (672183) This simple set includes replacement bomb bay doors, as well as cogs for the door open/close mechanism. The parts are well cast and will offer a modest upgrade over the plastic parts provided with the kit. This set makes a good companion to the rocket set detailed above, but would clearly be of no interest if you intend to finish your model with the bomb bay doors closed! British 250lb Depth Charges (672172) Another simple set, this one provides six Mark VIII 250lb depth charges of the type used by Coastal Command on the Liberator. Each depth charge is a solid resin part, which must simply be painted Dark Green and have the included decals applied. Once complete, they will add a nice finishing touch to your Coastal Command Liberator. B-24 Wheels (672170) This set is intended as a like-for-like swap for the kit wheels. A choice of two different nose wheels are provided, as well as main wheels with optional resin and photo etched wheel hubs. As is the norm for a set of this type from Eduard, pre-cut masks are also provided to aid painting. These wheels, with their realistic tyre treads, offer a significant upgrade over the kit parts. B-24 Turbochargers (672178) The Twin Wasp used in the Liberator employed a turbocharger to supply compressed air to a mechanical supercharger. These turbochargers are one-piece items that offer a simple enhancement to the kit parts. They are well cast and nicely detailed, but you will need to carve away the plastic equivalents, which in the case of the Hasegawa kit, are partly moulded into the middle section of the engine cowling. The end result should be worth it, however. Liberator GR Mk.V upgrade set(73627) The only non-resin set on offer, this package includes pre-painted details for the crew compartment and fills in some of the details on the flight deck that were not covered by the etch provided with the kit. Details are provided for radio and other electronic equipment, as well as rudder pedals, ammunition hoppers and belts for the machine guns, as well as cooling sleeves for the gun barrels. Conclusion Eduard can hardly be accused of shyness when it comes to providing aftermarket for one of their marquee releases of the past 12 months. While some might think the banquet of resin on offer to be rather over the top, one is not obliged to use the whole lot. Instead, one is free to pick and choose according to taste and the perceived value of each addition. Personally I would start with the excellent resin wheels and go from there. What cannot be denied is the quality of the items on offer, with each offering considerable enhancement over the plastic equivalents (where relevant). Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Liberator GR Mk.V BIGSIN SET (SIN67213) 1:72 Eduard BIGSIN for Eduard Kit Eduard now bring us a BIGSIN Set for the 1/72 B-24. These sets work out better for the wallet than buying all the sets as separates. Engine Set This set gives us complete one part engine castings with a PE wiring harness and other PE details Supercharger Set This is a set of drop in superchargers which are prominent on the aircraft. Some minor surgery is needed on the kit parts. Wheels Set This contains a full set of replacement set of wheels and the mud guard on the front gear leg. Masks are included for painting (not shown). Bomb Bay Doors This contains a full set of open bomb bay doors. These were unique on the B-24 the way they slid up the fuselage. Depth Charges This is a set of 6 British 250lb depth charges, complete with a small sheet of decals. Bomb Bay Rocket Projector Unique to the Coastal Command Liberators was a set if 16 60lb rockets mounted in a projector which fitted into the bomb bay. This is a comprehensive set in resin & PE which includes all 16 rockets. This BIGSIN Set is recommended if you want to goto town on your Liberator. Review samples courtesy of

B-24 Liberator BIGSIN SET (SIN67212) 1:72 Eduard BIGED for Eduard/Hasegawa Kit Eduard now bring us a BIGSIN Set for the 1/72 B-24. These sets work out better for the wallet than buying all the sets as separates. Engine Set This set gives us complete one part engine castings with a PE wiring harness and other PE details Supercharger Set This is a set of drop in superchargers which are prominent on the aircraft. Some minor surgery is needed on the kit parts. Wheels Set This contains a full set of replacement set of wheels and the mud guard on the front leg. Masks are included for painting (not shown). Bomb Bay Doors This contains a full set of open bomb bay doors. These were unique on the B-24 the way they slid up the fuselage. This BIGSIN Set is recommended if you want to goto town on your Liberator Review samples courtesy of

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me? My Uncle flew with 59 Squadron on Liberators from 1944-46. I have a picture of him with a Liberator with nose-art that I want to model. It is a Liberator V with a kicking donkey on the left side nose. I have bought the Eduard Overtrees and believe that it's either the first Liberator he flew with 59 - FL944 'G' - or the one he flew on his first operational sortie - BZ712 'D'. I could be wrong though and it's just one that was parked up and they wanted a picture! Pictures of 59 Squadron Libs seem really rare (Even on Lorenzo's great website which seems to be down at the moment) and any help or other pictures would be really appreciated. I have tried displaying the image here from both Photobucket and Flikr, and read the guides but it either doesn't show or I just get a red box, arghh! This is the link that should work though - https://www.flickr.com/photos/53460050@N03/27082037827/in/dateposted-public/ Thanks. Bob.

Most Coastal Command Liberator fans will be familiar with the stub wing rocket installation on Liberator GR.III/Vs whereby 4 rockets were fitted to stub wings on the lower fuselage under the cockpit (Installation Type C is the official term I believe) as here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235015564-coastal-command-liberators/ Less well known however is the retractable bomb bay, 16 rocket, installation (4 on rails plus another 12 reloads in the bomb bay on racks). The few available photos I’ve seen were taken on the ground with the rails hanging out of the after bomb bay. These apparently hinged sideways (2 each side of the bomb bay. These were used by the likes of 59 and 311 squadrons and 1 (Coastal) OTU. There is an illustration of the set up here:- http://i.imgur.com/zkLLoKI.jpg 311 squadron had 10 of the former and 27 of the latter type pass through their hands between late 1943 and late 1944 according to “B-24 Liberator in RAF Coastal Command Service with focus on Aircraft of No 311 (Czech) Squadron RAF”. Interestingly the stub wing set up appears on later serial numbers from about September 1943 but the earlier serials seem to have been retro-fitted with the bomb bay installation from late 1943 to Spring 1944 usually after some squadron use. These conversions were carried out by Scottish Aviation Ltd at Prestwick. Until now I’ve seen no detail of the internal arrangements for this, just the rails hanging out of the bomb bay. I’ve now come across a website offering various Liberator aftermarket parts to be available in the next few months including a bomb bay rocket set. Any one heard of them / used them before? http://slist.amiami.com/top/search/list?s_keywords=liberator&submit=Search&pagemax=40 Is this an Eduard production? It concerns me that the illustrations all come with a health warning “This is a temporary image and is different from the actual product”. If the internal arrangements shown in the model are accurate then reloading would mean at least 2 poor souls entering the bomb bay and lugging 3in rockets around in the freezing cold while the aircraft was no doubt moving around considerably in bumpy conditions at low level (presumably after the aircraft was out of gunnery range of its intended target). Not exactly a fun occupation!

I would like to bring to your attention a new Fonthill Media book: RAF LIBERATORS OVER BURMA, subtitled FLYING WITH 159 SQUADRON, by Bill Kirkness DFM and myself. The hardcover edition is 224 pages, with 53 black-and-white photographs. Please be mindful that the main title happens to be the subtitle of another Fonthill book, B-24 BRIDGE BUSTERS, by Colin Pateman. A synopsis can be found on most bookseller sites, such as fonthillmedia.com and amazon.co.uk. (Of these two, only the Fonthill site has the correct cover, where authorship is '...and Matt Poole'. Same cover, otherwise.) This book is the heartfelt, and at times heartrending, offering of a thoughtful and dedicated ‘everyman’ – just a bloke from Horsforth, near Leeds. As a wireless operator/air gunner, he was fortunate to survive a tour of 32 ops (including his harrowing last op, which ended in a crash), unlike some of his crewmates and others with whom he trained and flew, and about whom he wrote. For modellers, specifically, there are photos of: >>A colourised (cover) and black & white shot of a Mk VI Liberator taking off >>A burned-out Wellington in Malta >>Two photos of pranged Mk II Liberators >>A nice shot of engine repairs on a Mk II Liberator >>A shot from the outer port wing of a Mk II Liberator wing, looking towards the fuselage >>An interior shot of a beam gunner manning his .303-inch guns on a Mk II Liberator >>One shot showing men in front of the No.2 engine and another showing the forward fuselage, both the same Mk III Liberator >>A photo from the outside showing the .5-in port beam gun protruding from an open hatch >>Armourers ‘bombing up’ a Liberator (from the bomb trolley) >>A pranged Mk III Liberator >>Close-up nose art shots >>A taxying Mk III Liberator >>A crew portrait in front of a Mk VI Liberator >>A view of engine fitters working on a Mk VI Liberator’s No.2 engine >>A forward fuselage view of another Mk III Liberator with nose art, and >>A pranged Mk VI Liberator. The written descriptions of the different model Liberators could be of use to modellers, as well. EDIT: Incidentally, Bill's skipper on his tour and in Liberator training back in the UK was John Gauntlett (4th from the left on the cover). John's second tour on Liberators started with 159 Squadron again before finishing with 99 Squadron. His 159 Sqn Liberator from that second tour, KH283, was the subject of a limited edition 1/72 scale Eduard kit, now out of production. Cheers, Matt

Hello and thanks for your interest, this is my 1/72 Hasegawa B-24J, representing "The Shack" of 458th Bomb Group, 754th Squadron. The model was built using aftermarket parts from Eduard, CMK, Aires, True Details, Scale Aircraft Conversions and Decals from Sky Models Italy. This beast fought me for over 18 months. Most work went into the paint job. It was painted with Alclad lacquers, which require a perfectly smooth surface preparation. Due to the massive weight (90g) I chose to use metal landing gear from Scale Aircraft Conversions. Photographs by Wolfgang Rabel of IGM Cars & Bikes. ... and here is how it all started.... lots of aftermarket items, lots of motivation and optimism! Cockpit interior: Interior detailling underway: Fuselage halves before closing up: Cockpit again: A lot of weight went into the foward area of the fuselage to prevent a tail-sitter: Model primed Gloss Black (Tamiya14) in preparation for Alclad paints: Paint issues all along the way, of course all my own fault: Making the mask for the code letter "E": Final bits and pieces.... Glad I finished this, even if it took some time and a lot of Patience. But have a look here - there's already a "roll-out" queue on my workbench: Thanks for lookin'. See you next time! Best wishes from Vienna Roman

Consolidated B-24 Liberator, B-24J 44-44175 Bungay Buckaroo at Pima Air & Space Museum, pics thanks to Mike. B-24M 44-51228 Dugan at The Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Pic thanks to Mark Mills.

Here is my latest one I just finished. Built for my brother in law as a present for his 40th birthday. He's obsessed with Warsaw Uprising of '44 so I've decided to make him B-24 Liberator from 1586 Special Duty Flight - a Polish squadron delivering supplies for the fighting Warsaw in August and September '44 from Brindisi, Italy. Front of the plane is a little inaccurate as the Liberators from that squadron didn't have front guns but I kinda liked this side window and the guns so I've kept them. Again, some Photoshop work to blend the diorama with the background photo. Thanks for viewing. Hope you like it (and him too).

Just a quick question for you folks out there that have (or have built) one of Hasegawa's B-24J offerings. I've done some Interwebs searching and it seems like, but I'm not certain, that in the B-24J boxing there are ample parts to support a B-24D creation - mainly via Hasegawa's engineering of the forward clear nose section of the fuselage. Can anyone confirm this? The intent, is to create a GR V (Canada) by adding the relative aftermarket bits and bobs (Dumbo Radome, Leigh Light, etc.) As always, any/all input is welcome. Cheers, Dave

Hi Guys, As the Co-host I will start with putting my stuff on this GB. It is the 1/48 Monogram B-24J Liberator. With a few extra's. I have got a set gun barrels from Quickboost witch is original for the B-17G, but I think it will fit without any trouble. I also have 3 extra decal sheets. I still haven't decided totally on witch scheme I will use. The model was a second handed one and was already started. I have managed to losen a few parts from each other. The only part I didn't touch was one of the wings. It was glued firmely and would brake if I used to much force. I have also done some rescribing of the model recently. It may not be totally correct but will in the end give a better look after painting and a wash. The model was also in a box with a B-24D so I don't have a picture of the top of the box. It was a great surprise to see two kits in one box and that for just 25 euro's!!!! Here are the pictures of what is in the box. the sidepicture of the box it came with. the content. the sprues, or what was left of it. The glassing was twice in the box for the B-24J. the lose parts (also partialy because of the rescribing). Also the cockpit was already painted. Don't worry about this I will re-paint this durring the build and try to enhance it. and the building manual. and the decals from the kit with the quickboost set. And the after market decals I have. My preference go to "Sweeter Gal" from the 93th BG. And some of the reference material I have. Cheers,

On April 14 1945, on a dark and foggy morning, a Consolidated B-24H Liberator named the 'Hookem Cow' took off from Horsham St. Faith in Norfolk and headed for France. Shortly after take-off the number 2 engine caught fire and the plane struggled to maintain altitude. Near the village of Hainford it hit a power line and crashed, killing 5 of the crew and injuring the remaining two. The 'Hookem Cow' belonged to the 458th Bomb Group, 754th squadron of the USAAF. The men killed in action were the last of their unit to lose their lives in the air war over Europe. During the past two years I have lived in Hainford, unaware of the fate of the 'Hookem Cow'. I did know that East Anglia used to be home to what the locals still call 'the friendly invasion', the deployment of thousands of Americans to quiet Norfolk and Suffolk to risk their lives over occupied Europe. Many of the airfields are still around. I've used the basis of the ‘Hookem Cow’ many times myself; it’s now known as Norwich International Airport. Many of the concrete bomber dispersals are still there, and you see them passing by your airliner window on your way to or from the runway. The place must have looked quite different all those years ago. Being a modeller, I often thought about building some of the planes that used to be based here, but somehow I didn’t get round to it. So when I read in the parish news that there was to be a memorial erected in the village hall to remember the crew of this plane, it all came together. This was a great opportunity to do something for the village my wife and I love so much, to share my enthusiasm for model building with others, to build something with a story behind it and to make a contribution to a memorial which honors some of the men that paid the ultimate price for our freedom. I wrote to the editor, offering to build a model of the 'Hookem Cow' to be displayed next to the memorial. She kindly put me in touch with Ed and Kevin, the chairman and treasurer of the village hall, and we discussed the project. They were very enthusiastic and in turn pointed me toward the man whose initiative this was, Trevor Hewitt. It turned out that I lived not a mile away from one of the most wonderful aviation museums I've ever visited, the New Farm Aviation Heritage Collection, which Trevor runs. I met him at the museum and I was stunned to see the vast collection of items he had collected over the years from aircraft that had crashed in the area, as well as many other great memorabilia and aviation items. If you are ever in the area, please visit! Trevor provided me with lots of information on the 'Hookem Cow', and combined with my own internet research and some really useful comments from the folks here on Britmodeller in a number of B-24 topics that I temporarily hijacked, the project was underway. As is often the case when you start doing research, you find out that things are not as clear cut as you'd hoped. First of all, there were of course no decal sets available that covered the 'Hookem Cow'. The plane had nose art on both sides, but luckily, some good photographic material was available. I sent this off to my father, who has expanded his modelling hobby by creating his own custom decals. Being as enthusiastic about the project as I was, he wasted no time to reproduce the nose art and other 'Cow'-specific decals for me. The second challenge was that the 'Hookem Cow' was a Ford-built B-24H, and the nose section is not available in model form as far as I could determine. I was going to use the Academy B-24J kit, which I already had in my stash, but this kit omitted the bulged navigator windows, the slanted bombardiers window and the correct A-15 front turret. Since I had the kit earmarked for another build anyway, I decided to shell out the cash for the Hasegawa B-24 as its replacement in the stash - this kit has the bulged windows and an additional A-15 turret, which I both pilfered from the box. This solved two out of three issues. The most difficult one was the slanted window. I decided to try plunge moulding for the first time to make this, using the standard vertical-ending window as the mould, so this was faired in using some filler and superglue, and I made about a dozen casts using some clear plastic sheet from Squadron intended for this purpose. The results were a bit mixed, most of the casts came out rather cloudy, but I selected the best one and cut it to shape. To make the Hasegawa turret fit the kit, a lot of excess material from both the turret and the nose area needed to be removed, in fact almost all of it without actually cutting it away completely. The Ford 'S curve' in the nose I made with a file in about two minutes - though this was after I made it in the wrong place first and had to fill the hole with plastic card, CA glue and sand it back to normal! The rest of the kit is a relatively straightforward build; wings benefit from some thinning at the trailing edges, and the nacelle areas on the wing parts require some filler. The panel lines at the top of the fuselage don't line up at all and require rescribing. The horizontal tail surface has major gaps with the fuselage on the underside, but it's easily filled. I used Eduard masks for the Academy glazing and Montex masks for the Hasegawa clear parts. After priming the kit with Tamiya fine primer, I sprayed it with Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminum from a rattle can. I like the finish this gives but it does require a coat of Future before masking it and doing other areas like the anti-glare, de-icer boots and moving surfaces. I used a combination of the printed Cow-specific decals, which worked great, and the generic Hasegawa decals which, though they are the newer kind, didn’t budge even after applying DACO medium setting solution. A coat of Future sealed everything in. Before I fit the fuselage halves together, I had filed out two holes in the bottom and glued in two nuts; Trevor had told me the kit was to be presented in a wooden display case, and would have to hang on the wall vertically. I drilled holes in the base plate, and used two long bolts to secure the plane to it, adding pieces of dark green-sprayed plastic tubing to hide the threads. This worked out very well and it is invisible due to the way the kit is presented. I managed to finish the kit the night before the unveiling of the memorial. We fitted it into a very nice and solid display case and it was installed between the two main cases of the memorial; one containing parts of the plane and metal items from the crew's equipment, and the other containing photographs of the crew. I really like the way Trevor designed the memorial; the parts are carefully selected and despite their small size bring the plane and its crew back to life. The ceremony itself was quite impressive; there was a huge turnout and the village hall was full. After a reading of accounts of the accident from surviving crew members, a letter was read from one of their family members back in the States. The names of the crew were read out, followed by the poem 'Epic of the 458th'. After the memorial was blessed and prayers were said, a number of floral tributes were laid, followed by The Exhortation and the Kohima Address. I had not experienced a ceremony such as this before, and I found it quite moving. I think it’s very important to remember the loss of these men’s lives, who fought for our liberty so long ago. We should never forget what happened, and memorials such as this in places that are used by everyone and are seen daily help us doing that. I’m very grateful to Trevor, Kevin and Ed to allow me to be a part of this. I hope I'll have another opportunity to do it again somewhere.