Jump to content

HobbyBoss' 1/32nd B-24D Liberator


Recommended Posts

Greetings all,

 

This rather large box somehow appeared on my doorstep this week - how these things happen I shall never understand...

 

I love the 8th Air Force and the B-17 and B-24 in particular, so decided to have a go at the recent HobbyBoss release of the B-24, or the 'crate the B-17 was delivered in' if you spoke a B-17 crew. Not very fair really, especially when you consider it could fly farther, faster and with a greater bombload than the Fort. The kit looks fairly simple in places as has been discussed at length elsewhere, but that's just what I'm after at the moment - something nice and straightforward but with an imposing end product. We shall see...

 

Customary box shots:

 

49958998988_e900d86c8f_z.jpgIMG_0197 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49958998928_04b3288c94_z.jpgIMG_0199 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

And progress so far... I thought I'd ignore the instructions and start with the main undercarriage bays. First up was a spraying of aluminium and a grey Flory wash to bring out some of the lovely detailing:

 

49958999113_cd28e4b1fb_z.jpgIMG_0195 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Following by it all slotting together rather nicely into a very sturdy box-structure:

 

49958999283_90843db5fe_z.jpgIMG_0200 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49959776447_1457a2f752_z.jpgIMG_0201 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

All that only took a couple of hours in total - lovely!

 

Take care all,

Tom

 

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, tomprobert said:

how these things happen I shall never understand...

Never happens to me. I shall write a letter to the management. Where are my crayons?

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, tomprobert said:

how these things happen I shall never understand...

I too try to convince my other half thusly.

 

all I can say is at that scale it will be about the same size as my entire collection when it’s built :) 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking forward to this,....I`ve just finished pre painting the interior of my 1/32nd B-24J,..... which I`m doing as an RAF 100 Group aircraft. A B-24D would look great in Coastal colours,...... but looking forward to your USAAF model,

Cheers

          Tony

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

It's been a while since I updated this thread but that's how long it's taken me to finish the interior of this monster! I've been working on it on and off and in between other builds to be fair, but there's lots of detail painting needed and plenty to keep the builder quiet even out of the box:

 

50966153342_6431e7ce08_z.jpgDSC_0038 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966153652_098ab906c5_z.jpgDSC_0035 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966048161_f5d7dfecf2_z.jpgDSC_0030 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50965340553_89701aa144_z.jpgDSC_0029 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50965340668_a4a19f0a93_z.jpgDSC_0028 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50965341283_0f49ca4a23_z.jpgDSC_0024 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966155242_5443fa4741_z.jpgDSC_0019 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966155482_8a42524c80_z.jpgDSC_0017 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966050316_91de88244c_z.jpgDSC_0015 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50966050716_cbac51705e_z.jpgDSC_0044 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Sadly, most of it disappears when the fuselage halves are joined, but at least I know it's there!

 

50965342873_b802979a23_z.jpgDSC_0008 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Joining the fuselage halves will be the next job - hopefully progress will be a bit quicker from now on...

 

Tom

  • Like 22
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • tomprobert changed the title to HobbyBoss' 1/32nd B-24D Liberator

I'm tagging along with this one if you don't mind.

I've got the J version lying about somewhere and will need tips and help.

The internals look gorgeous.

 

35 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

Looks amazing! It must be HUGE!? 

It's a tad on the large side.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not into WW2 aircraft but this looks amazing and that's the best box art I have seen in a very long time. I'll be watching this. I'm assuming the fit is good as it's HobbyBoss?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AliGauld said:

I'm tagging along with this one if you don't mind.

I've got the J version lying about somewhere and will need tips and help.

The internals look gorgeous.

 

It's a tad on the large side.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Many thanks, Alistair - and I'll be sure to pass on any tips where I can.

 

2 hours ago, Deano353 said:

I'm not into WW2 aircraft but this looks amazing and that's the best box art I have seen in a very long time. I'll be watching this. I'm assuming the fit is good as it's HobbyBoss?

Fit isn't bad, but the tolerances in the fuselage are very tight indeed. I think I may have to give the bulkheads a gentle shave before joining the fuselage halves together.

 

2 hours ago, mick b said:

Very neat progress Tom, could you have something in one of your future pics to size compare? Cheers

 

Mike

Will do, Mike - next time I have the camera out I'll snap something alongside for you...

 

Tom

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Excellent work, Thomas! 👏 The painting is superb.

Thank you - it took a while with all the various bits and bobs!

 

6 minutes ago, amos brierley said:

Coming along very nicely, tidy bomb load.      😋

The Lib could carry a fair old bit - in the bay of this model there's 6,000lb by my calculations...

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Evening all,

 

This week I've been working on mating the fuselage halves as well as the wings which are now attached to the fuselage. The fit is excellent the huge spar gives a very positive and strong join - there is no flex at all in the wings and everything is nice and rigid which is most reassuring considering the size of the thing.

 

As usual, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

 

50986080352_386dfe7642_z.jpgDSC_0066 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50985973011_55b7ce5104_z.jpgDSC_0046 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50986080017_db511a83b8_z.jpgDSC_0050 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50985972766_083f940ed2_z.jpgDSC_0051 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

50985266018_33fb869c34_z.jpgDSC_0056 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

On 2/21/2021 at 4:10 PM, mick b said:

Very neat progress Tom, could you have something in one of your future pics to size compare? Cheers

 

Mike

 

Here we are, Mike - a 1/72nd Spit as a size comparison...

 

50986079162_a78df14633_z.jpgDSC_0062 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Next up is attaching the underside of the nacelles and getting the wings finished off.

 

Regards to all, 

Tom

Edited by tomprobert
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

It's been a while since I updated this thread but work is continuing in the background on the big B-24D.

 

Since last time, I've painted the engines and installed the nacelles onto the wings:

 

DSC_0330

 

DSC_0321

 

Undersides:

 

DSC_0334

 

DSC_0332

 

The tail assembly has also been completed and added - along with the rear turret. The unsightly join has been minimised with painting the mating surfaces black before joining and although not perfect, it's certainly better than simply sticking the parts together. I've also added the 2nd Air Division white circle on the tail which will be masked before the OD goes on:

 

DSC_0324

 

I now need to finish off the cockpit and nose interior before adding the final transparencies and she gets a splash of paint:

 

DSC_0328

 

Until next time,

Tom

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, phildagreek said:

Looks good & big! Are you using decals from out of the box?

I’ll be using the kit’s nose art for Satan’s Angels but in its later guise with the large squadron identifier on the tail and red surround to the star and bar. I’ve done a bit research on this aircraft and it survived until November 1943 when it was written off in a landing accident so had the later insignia which should make it a bit more interesting on the eye. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...