Simon Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 (edited) Hello everyone This is my first WiP post, so wish me luck. I picked up a Minicraft B-24J from a 'well-known online auction site', and am going to make it as Liberator VI KH408 'Lady X' of 159 Squadron in the Far East in 1945. I've bought some aftermarket stuff from Hannants, some RAF marking courtesy of Airfix, so off we go... The kit was described as started, and the insides were painted a rather iffy green, so first job is to get rid of that: I used Hannants Purisol, which works a treat, but smells absolutely foul, so it's best to do it either outside, or with a window wide open! Once that's done, a coat of primer covered up the mess, and it's time to add some detail for the waist area. I'll be making it with the waist gunners' windows open, so might as well go for it: The bulkheads fit just behind the rearmost vertical rib, and the walkway sits on the horizontal section of this. More soon... Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Nice start...don't forget to pack the front with plenty of weight as when completed, that B24 will be a real tail sitter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Simon, COOL!!! WOW this is going to quite a build I think..NICE START. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 No pressure then Houston... I'm ordering some split shot fishing weights for the nose. Normally I use nuts and bolts, but space looks like it may be at a premium. I did see a photo online showing a real B-24 with an ammo crate stuck under the tail bumper, so that may an option if all else fails... Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Looking forwards to your progress Simon, nice start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Nice start looking forward to following this Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Crikey, thats great scratching, especially considering its 1:72 K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Nice start...don't forget to pack the front with plenty of weight as when completed, that B24 will be a real tail sitter! I only needed about 83g for my PB4Y-1. Since yours is a B-24J you won't need that much, as you can get the weight closer to the nose! Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 The interesting markings and your neat workmanship thus far bode well for a very entertaining build. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 The interesting markings and your neat workmanship thus far bode well for a very entertaining build. Martin Thanks Martin - the nose art should be an interesting challenge: http://www.rquirk.com/159files/Carty/Lady%20X.jpg Haven't made up my mind whether to do it as a computer-generated decal, or freehand paint it onto decal sheet yet...gulp! Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 (edited) A quick update for today: I've made a bomb bay roof, as the kit simply has an enormous cavity all the way to the top of the fuselage: The area on the RH side (towards the aircraft's front) has a double curve/bulge to it, which isn't obvious in the photo. Waist gunners' floor area, and ball turret surround - again, this area is pretty sparse in the kit: Thank god for Evergreen corrugated plastic card! More soon, once my airbrush starts playing nicely again... Regards Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Superb scratchbuilding! Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanja #66 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Great scratching, very clean and precise... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 (edited) A few more bits to update. Lesson for today - measure twice, cut once. The aperture in the floor section for the ball turret didn't match the corresponding one in the fuselage Easily fixed: And some paint makes it look less bare: The green is an 'it's my own invention' job - Humbrol 116 with bits of black, yellow, olive drab, dark earth - I've no idea what exactly, but it looks right-ish. Silver is Chainmail from the Citadel Paints range. I'm busy with the frame for the ball turret, and hopefully get the waist gunners' floor section in soon. I've used whole pack of Evergreen 100 .010" x .020" strip on the rear fuselage and bomb bay so far...! Regards Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 I've used whole pack of Evergreen 100 .010" x .020" strip on the rear fuselage and bomb bay so far...! And it's been worth every strip! Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Great progress! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 (edited) Latest update, now the Easter hols are over... Starting to flesh out the waist gunners' area: This includes the first use of aftermarket bits and bobs - the Quickboost oxygen tanks, which are really quite impressive. And adding some detail to the bomb bay - some pipes (which are over scale, but give the right impression), and the distinctive cross members : I'll be removing the lower rail, and replacing it with a scratch-built section. Next job is the mounting for the ball turret: The ring section is the back of a 1/48 Revell Eurofighters jet exhaust - isn't it great when the right size part can be found in the spares box! More soon, hopefully! Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.P. Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Liking it!!!!! Great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Great progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) More progress to report. I've attached the two forward sections of the fuselage to their respective fuselage halves. The joints are simple butt-joints, which aren't exactly ideal (no locating pins), so I added some tabs to the inside of the fuselage halves, taped the two halves of the nose section together, and glued them: It's all held together with rubber bands, which are courtesy of the Post Office and Marks & Sparks £1.00 bunches of daffodils! They needed a bit of fiddling, as the profiles of the nose section don't exactly match the profiles of the fuselage halves, which is really helpful... And here's the progress on the bomb bay: Bomb racks are almost ready, as well as the cross braces and walkway. I've also amended the ammo boxes for the waist guns - they didn't look right, and also they're angled outwards at the rear end. I've started adding the smaller green oxygen bottles too: While I'm waiting for the glue on the fuselage sections to dry, I'll be getting on with the ball turret and starting on the cockpit. Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 I am loving the scratch building that is going on with this build, right up my street! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) On with the cockpit, and I'm a little confused. I've got Eduard's 72191 set for the Minicraft B-24J, and there's a bulkhead just behind the pilot seats. According to the instructions, the bulkhead (part number 2) sits at the rear of the floor level of the pilot seats: But if it goes where Eduard say to, it's too far forward. So, presumably I need to extend the floor level backwards to make the bulkhead sit in the right place, indicated by the red vertical indicated here in my little schematic: I assume the bulkhead is vertical, and not slanted backwards? Is that right? Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Boyd Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 On with the cockpit, and I'm a little confused. I've got Eduard's 72191 set for the Minicraft B-24J, and there's a bulkhead just behind the pilot seats. According to the instructions, the bulkhead (part number 2) sits at the rear of the floor level of the pilot seats: But if it goes where Eduard say to, it's too far forward. So, presumably I need to extend the floor level backwards to make the bulkhead sit in the right place, indicated by the red vertical indicated here in my little schematic: I assume the bulkhead is vertical, and not slanted backwards? Is that right? Simon Simon, From what limited information I can find (an old cutaway which appears to have been widely published), it seems as though there may in fact have been two bulkheads - one that is slanted backwards (ala the Eduard instructions), which meets at the top of the fuselage with a second, straight vertical bulkhead. So you might not actually have to extend the flight deck backwards... Byron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Thanks Byron. I've seen the cutaway you mean, I think, and it does seem to show a slanted bulkhead in front of the vertical one. I've dug out a load of photos from online, it it looks like there is a wide rib that follows the slanting panel line where the nose joins the main fuselage. From the photos , it looks to be about 6 or 8 inches wide, so maybe this is what it depicted in the cutaway. You can just see it on the left-hand side of this photo: http://acesflyinghigh.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_3902-1024x683.jpg It also looks like the lower section of the rear bulkhead slants forward to meet the front rib about halfway up, but as always, I can't find a photo that conclusively shows this. That would mean the floor need to be extended backwards, but not by as much as I thought: Oddly, Eduard don't include this new bulkhead in the photo-etch in their re-boxing of the Academy/Minicraft kits. Anyway, enough thinking out loud, must get on with the actual job... Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) So, Bank Holiday Monday, nowt on the telly, too cold/wet to mow the lawn, so...on with the build. I've extended the cockpit floor backwards, made a pattern for the bulkhead and wide rib sections and test fitted them in situ. Also shown here is a new floor for the radio operator's section: Needs a bit of tidying up, but should all fit fine. Simon Edited July 5, 2017 by Simon relinking images from Photobucket to Flickr 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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