tonyot Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 (edited) Hiya Folks, I`ve had an early RAF Liberator planned for a while and this Group Build has provided the impetus for me to grab the bits from the loft and get on with it. The early Libs had circular shaped cowlings rather than the oval shape which became standard on later versions so for this I grabbed the Magna resin conversion for the transport Mk.II which provides new wings and engines for the Academy B-24D kit. It also provides the faired in nose and tail positions which I`ll be using on another Academy kit and the Curtiss Electric propellers are from the old Aeroclub range; Here are some of the Academy Liberator kit parts which I pre painted a while ago, the wings will of course not be used this time; Here are the excellent DK Decals (72017) which provide some excellent options including AL550; The left over nose and tail fairings which will come in useful for a Liberator transport version later on. The mid upper turret will come from a Revell Halifax kit and the tail turret from a scrapped Airfix Halibag. The conversion kit provides a blanking plate and astrodome to cover the forward mid upper turret position in the Academy kit. JI`m looking forward to getting cracking on this one, Cheers for now, Tony Edited August 25, 2015 by tonyot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 thats what i call conversion set... good luck Tony, i m sure it ll look great after you finish it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) Look`s a fair old job there Tony , good luck and welcome to the group Les Edited August 1, 2015 by wellzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 (edited) Cheers lads, Here are some pics from the IWM showing some Salbani based Liberator Mk.II`s, note the circular engine cowlings and British 4 gun Boulton Paul mid upper turret; And here is an update, first the wing stubs need to be sawn off; The basic interior has been fitted although I`ll be adding some seat belts and things. The resin plug has been fitted into the mid upper position with a hole in the middle for an astrodome and the position for the 4 gun Boulton Paul turret has been marked off ready to be opened up; The rear turret will be coming from this unfortunate Halifax,........it fell from the shelf and the Matchbox fuselage literally shattered,.......the wings might end up on a Revell kit at some point! Cheers for now, Tony Edited August 1, 2015 by tonyot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Hi tony this is modeling but not as l know it but looking good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 That will be a good looking project. I am very interested on how this well go. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Hiya Folks, Here is the latest update,......first of all the wings have had the stub ends sawn off,....note the filler where I slipped with the blade,...and the rear surface of the engines have been sanded back, ready to fit onto the wings; The interior of the fuselage has had some lead air rifle pellets super glued into place under the flight deck for nose weight; And the interior has been tidied up with a spray of Humbrol Grass Green from a rattle can; The waist gun positions are in the process of being converted to the style used on the Mk.II, The the central window has been attached using super glue as it will simply form a solid area of the hatch and sanded flush while the gun opening has been cut out and had a piece of scrap plastic added as a backing. Also seen here is the nose section which has had the clear side gun glazing fitted and filled using super glue before sanding this flush too as it was not present on this variant; Last of all the round moulding flaws in the fins were filled in; Tonight I`ll attach the engines to the wings and maybe start to paint them as they can be fitted towards the end of construction. As well as this if I have time I`ll have a go at adding some extra detail to the interior before closing the fuselage halves and adding the nose, Cheers for now, Tony PS- I forgot to say that I`ve begun to open up the mid upper gun position too and the mounting for the astrodome on the nose was sanded away and the opening squared off for the window found on this variant! PPS- I`m struggling with decent views of the waist gun position to determine what the window looked like and whether the air deflectors were fitted to the Mk.II or not, so if anybody can help I`d be really grateful. Edited August 4, 2015 by tonyot 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Coming on very nice Tony Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Coming on very nice Tony Les Cheers Les, Slow but sure,......its coming together slowly! Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Hiya Folks, Another update,.........after priming the resin wings using a black rattle can it became obvious that the parts had been converted from a set of Academy wings as the recesses under the nacelles for the turbo chargers on the later versions were still visible where they had been filled in and there were similar marks on the wings around the outside of the cowlings where the original wider conical shaped cowlings had been, so these were sanded flat; The Mk.II`s had air intakes in the leading edge of the wings so I`ll have to look into how I can reproduce these. Also painted were the engines; After this the interior was given a bit more detail starting with some internal ribbing using plastic strip; Then some more details were added including a plastic card Navigators table and some black boxes and things from the scrap box and scrap resin pouring blocks were fitted, using photos of the real aircraft as a rough guide; Since taking the photos the fuselage halves have been closed and it is now set aside to dry, All the best for now, Tony Edited August 5, 2015 by tonyot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Like your work on the office ,she`s looking good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) Cheers Les, Here is the update from the stuff that I did last night,.....the model finally looks like a Lib!; I was going to leave the wings off until after painting but the fit wasn`t brilliant and some filler was needed so I`ve done it now instead! The nose/cockpit section did not want to fit together and match the width of the main fuselage so a spreader bar was made from scrap sprue; The BP rear turret does not fit onto the opening designed for the later US turret and using photos as reference a cut out was made in the rear wall and the base was built up using a left over part from the Italeri Stirling. This had some sections of scrap plastic added below the lip and filler was applied over the top to fair it in, so I`ll be sanding this down to size later. The photo also shows the finished waist gun position with the window cut out and having seen the old Halifax rear turret close up in the photo it definitely needs some tlc; Last of all the circular covers for the engines were sanded to shape, had a hole drilled in them and were attached to the engine fronts. The white metal Curtiss propellers were sanded to remove the mould lines and plastic rod was fitted into the engines for mounting the props onto. So that is is,.......just a massive sanding session to look forward to next! The black painted fins are only mounted temporarily and will be left off until after the main airframe is painted, Cheers for now, Tony PS- It is getting rather heavy now too! PPS- I meant to say that the mid upper turret comes from a Special Hobby Baltimore as I coundn`t find a left over Halifax one! Edited August 6, 2015 by tonyot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Looking very good Tony , looking forward to the paint job Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Cheers again Les, Following the sanding session I applied some paint and found a few flaws which needed additional filling and sanding and now I`m applying a coat of Tamiya rattle can semi gloss black to the model. I`ll then mask off the upper surface ready for the DE/DG camouflage which will be applied by brush. I`ve hit a snag however and that is the rear turret from the Airfix Halifax,......it has vanished!! It isn`t in the box where it was living and I`ve scoured the floor but to no avail,.......so along with a Hurricane propeller which has also gone walkabout that is the second major part which has gone in 2 weeks,.....I`m totally baffled!! Cheers for now, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 nice work Tony, a lot of fitting with the conversion parts but it is totaly worth the effort, keep it going sad to hear about the uggly gnome stoling your rear turret, hope it pops up somewhere soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 That is some nice work. Can't wait to see it with some paint on. I hope you find your parts back before the end of the build. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Hi Tony, thanks for pointing me in the dircetion of the GB. Lots of good work going on there. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Hall Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 She seems to be carrying a lot of lamp shades and bowls under the radio operator's compartment! (Just joking. Of course it's ballast. Any idea how much weight needs to be added?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 Cheers Folks, Well the stash of contraband lamp shades and wash bowls have been secreted inside the fuselage for good now! Painting has continued from the rattle can black as the upper surfaces have been masked off and the Dark Earth and Dark Green camouflage has been applied by brush using Polly Scale acrylics,.....I may need to apply one more coat of green though? Here is the model on the Air-Britain RAF Liberators book which includes a photo of AL550; And here is the progress so far,.....still need to add the yellow wing tips to the props and the missing tail turret has still not been found yet! Cheers for now, Tony 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 My Tony, you have been busy the past few days. That wasted trip to Blackpool must have really wound you up? She's looking splendid. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 She is looking good nice work Tony Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 (edited) Cheers fella`s, here is another update,.....the masking tape has been removed and gloss varnish applied ready for the decals. Some touch up paintwork was required and some still needs to be done! Having still not found the missing rear turret I`ve had a go at making one from the Falcon vacuformed set; Hopefully the decals will go on tonight, Cheers, Tony Edited August 12, 2015 by tonyot 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 (edited) Hiya Folks, Another update,......I put the fins and decals on this morning and I`ve managed to build the Falcon vacuformed rear turret but it doesn`t fit properly yet as I`d built up the rear fuselage using the Airfix Halifax turret which is still missing; I was hoping to get it done before the weekend but I`ll probably leave it as it is until next week now as we`ve something on that will keep me busy, Cheers for now, Tony EDIT- No it isn`t fitted with a MAD Boom that looks like a sanding stick,.....the stick is acting as a spacer to try to widen the rear fuselage for the new turret. Also, the metal propellers are just loosely fitted for now. Edited August 13, 2015 by tonyot 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 That is realy looking nice Tony. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Very tasty Tony, she's come together very quickly. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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