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B-24J Liberator to PB4Y-2 Privateer conversion


bootneck

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I have wanted to do a conversion of an aircraft kit for a while, but not had the confidence to start one; or sure of which one to do.  I have eventually overcome the doubts of my abilities and decided to convert a Minicraft 1:144 B-24J Liberator into a wartime PB4Y-2 Privateer.  This will be trial and error; however, if I am successful then I intend get the Minicraft B-24D version and do another as a postwar Firebomber.  For now though, I only have a drawing for a wartime version so will start with that.

 

The donor kit will be this one:

pb4y-2_privateer_01_box-art.jpg

 

 

The drawing that I shall be using for reference will be this one:

pb4y-2_privateer_01a_ga_diagram.jpg

 

 

To help identify where to cut and the relocation of parts, I will re-draw the salient sections to 1:144 scale and print them off like this profile view:

pb4y-2_privateer_02_drawing.jpg

 

I will be happy if, at the end of this build, it at least looks like a Privateer!  :undecided:

 

Mike

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That's a pretty big conversion! Just about everything apart from the wings and undercarriage is just a leetle bit different from the Liberator, apart from all the things that are very different! I finished the Revell re-box of the Matchbox Privateer as a Coast Guard plane last year, and I came to rather like the type (from a cold-ish start) researching and building it, so I will be following your build with interest. 

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Thanks Adrian, do you have any details, drawings or images that might be of help with my build?  I have some googled images but nothing of a detailed nature.  There is a Naval Aviation series book out there but it is going for silly money; if anyone had a copy then I could do with a few scans from it.

 

My intention is to make all my mistakes on the PB4Y-2 conversion and then to do another, but this time as a Firebomber similar to the one below:

pb4y-2_privateer_01.jpg

 

As can be seen here, it has a nose shape more in similar with the B-24D Liberator.

pb4y-2_privateer_02.jpg

 

 

cheers

 

Mike

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It's time to make the cut and I think I have the right position marked out.  The original article, Airfix July 1967 p.409, recommends that the gap is filled with a piece of Obechi wood and filed to shape but, I will be using plastic strip for this purpose.

 

The cut has been made and small tabs have been glued to the inside edges of each fuselage piece.  The gap to be filled measures 17.5mm which is the size of the strip being used here

pb4y-2_privateer_03_hull_cut.jpg

 

 

The plastic strip is only 0.5mm thick, as it is intended to leave a slight depression between the kit pieces.  This will be filled with Milliput.

pb4y-2_privateer_05_hull_joined.jpg

 

So far, so good.  The next stage will be to mix some Milliput and start filling, filing and shaping.

 

Mike

 

 

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Time for a bit of filling.  I was advised to keep the Milliput wet and warm whilst applying!

pb4y-2_privateer_06_milliput_mess.jpg

 

 

That looks a bit better, although I can see it dip along the spine.

pb4y-2_privateer_07_milliput_done.jpg

 

 

A coat of magic primer shows up the uneven surfaces!

pb4y-2_privateer_08_primer_check.jpg

 

 

A little more Milliput and some sanding with wet and dry and it looks much better.

pb4y-2_privateer_09_filled_and_re-sanded

 

 

 

That's the fuselage extension completed, the next thing to do is plan where to add the side sponsons; tail fin and wings.  I have done some more work on the drawing and the fin and wings should now be ready for cutting plastic

pb4y-2_privateer_10_drawing_updated_with

 

I will probably start on the tail fin tonight and try some dry fitting.

 

cheers


Mike

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Impressive work so far on a challenging project. Good luck with it. Mind you to date it's skill that's winning and luck isn't needed yet. 

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Thanks again for the support guys, let's hope I win through with this one.

 

Following on from the drawing that was updated with the tail sections, I have cut out the fin and tailplanes.  Working with white plastic doesn't show up well though, so....

pb4y-2_privateer_11_drawing_tailfin_and_

 

 

I've given them a wash with dark grey and then cleaned them back.  The panel lines show up much clearer now. 

pb4y-2_privateer_12_drawing_tailfin_and_

 

The fins are for left and right faces and will be glued together. The tailplanes are for upper and lower and will also be glued together.  I have made the rudders and ailerons as separate pieces and these can be attached as angled and drooped if desired. 

 

The next task will be to sand the joined pieces, to clean up the joins, and then to fine tune them for fitting on the model.

 

More later.

 

Mike

 

 

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Just a thought - possibly erroneous - but could you re-use the side blisters from that Catalina you converted to a fire Bomber? I’m not sure if they are compatible but the drawings look Catalina-ish to me and it was all Consolidated engineering so feasible it’s the same basic unit...  just a thought. 

 

Great progress. I’m enjoying this and learning a lot. Awesome stuff. 

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Yes, I've measured the side blisters and they are virtually the same length, height and depth.  They just need the lower half plating over and a lateral gun port cutting into each one.  I shall have a look whether I need to make some internal decking when I cut open those areas.

You're learning a lot?  That's good 'cos I'm making this up as I go along. :rofl:

 

Mike

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You're doing very nicely Mike

I love to redo those old Airfix Mag builds in plastic as the favoured medium, or in this case Small not Medium

 

You got the front/back interface done beautifully, mind if I hitch a ride?

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14 hours ago, bootneck said:

I shall have a look whether I need to make some internal decking when I cut open those areas

If you scroll down on this page a bit you can see that the blister is actually a whole egg shape which rotated to give up and down movement, a bit like the ball turrets under a B-17.

 

Sadly I don't have any useful reference material; I made the decision early on in my build not to correct anything but just to fix the bits that were different on the Coast Guard version, so I did most of my work from about six photos found on Google!

 

The fuselage and tail surfaces turned out very nicely.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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That is an interesting photo Adrian, thank you.  I could probably make a mould of one of the glazings and cast two resin pieces from it; these could then be glued to the back of each glazing to represent the back wall.  Then cut an opening and populate it with some bits.  Obviously being 1:144 scale I wouldn't need to worry too much about that sort of detailing.

 

Mike

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Following on from AdrianMF's breaking news, about the blister being egg shaped,   I have made a small mould of the blister and done a resin cast from it. 

pb4y-2_privateer_13_blister_cast.jpg

 

Placing the glazing and resin piece together, the fit isn't bad but the two parts will need some re-shaping to get a good join.

pb4y-2_privateer_14_blister_cast.jpg

 

The cast will need to be hollowed out though, or just painted black for the background.

 

Mike

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A bit more work has been done on the fin and the tailplane.  The outer pieces have been laminated together, with blank pieces sandwiched between them, to get the required thickness. They haven't been tidied up, or the leading/trailing edged trimmed down to shape yet.

 

The pieces have been lightly tacked on to the model for a dry fit. This will show me where to build up and fill when they are glued into position.

pb4y-2_privateer_15_tail_and_fin_dry_fit

 

It all looks good to me so I will spend some time tomorrow chamfering the edges down to shape before attaching them permanently adn filling the gaps.

 

Mike

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A little bit more work done on this today.  The tailplane has been glued into place and filler added to shape. 

 

The fin has been placed loosely onto the model, to check line-up etc., before glueing.

pb4y-2_privateer_17_tail_fit.jpg

 

Another spray with the magic primer to check and it would appear that a little more padding out is needed, where the extra piece was inserted behind the cockpit.  I'll tackle that next, then a bit more fettling on the fin and glue into place.  Next phase after that should be the blister pods to shape and fit.

 

cheers


Mike

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A little more progress on this, the internal area of the blister pods have been inserted:

pb4y-2_privateer_18_blister_internal_add

 

Then the whole thing has been re-primed, goodness knows how much primer I go through; thankfully I work to 1:144 scale!

pb4y-2_privateer_19_re-primed.jpg

 

The gun blister pods, I'm sure there is a more techy name for them, have been added:

pb4y-2_privateer_20_blisters_added.jpg

 

The pods need sealing around the joins before I get to painting the frames on the glazing etc.

pb4y-2_privateer_21_blisters_added.jpg

 

Next will be to fashion some of the lumps and bumps that fit under the nose section of the fuselage.  After that, I should be able to start on the wing units.

 

Mike

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  • 11 months later...

Hello Don,

Thank you for this alert, I cannot believe that it is almost a year since I did anything on this. :doh: I wanted to get more information, by trying to obtain an affordable copy of the Naval Fighter series #93 PB4Y-2  Privateer, and so I set this aside until I had that.  I didn't manage to find a copy and the build stayed on the shelf.  Thanks for this reminder, I must dust it off and try to do more with the data I do have.

 

All the best


Mike

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