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Airfix 1/72 B-24J Liberator Sharkmouth ++Finished+++


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So I decided to go big or go home this time.

 

like many of you back in the day these larger kits were birthdays or Christmas presents. I love the 4 engine bomber kits as their size alone made them really impressive, especially hung from the ceiling fighting off hoards of Messerschmitts! 

 

The B-24 was always the ugly sister to the B-17 and was a less rugged aircraft. This rather elderly Airfix kit has all the old school moving parts and suffers accordingly fit wise. Despite all that I will give it a good shot. It's not too often you see a bomber with a shark mouth after all !

 

Tfl Greg

 

 

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1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

Ooh, this should be good!

Who can resist a massive shark mouth, not me!

 

1 hour ago, Dansk said:

Yay A Liberator Sharkmouth! :penguin:

 

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

Another big bird!

 

Be aware: The tail transfers gave me loads of problems when I built one ages ago. They were as brittle as glass. The teeth gave no problems however. 

Thanks chaps, glad you approve 😎

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Well i've opened the bag and got all the bits out, and its pretty much what i expected of an old tool Airfix kit. Flash, sink holes and.....missing parts, well one missing part - half of one of the main wheels for the landing gear. So i will build it wheels up. I looked at Hannants and resin replacements will cost £7 + postage so im not going there. I also considered vac form canopies from Falcon or Signal but these were all for the Academy kit and for the price of those i'm not risking buying them to find they don't fit.

 

Bottom line - it s gonna be OOTB! 

 

As per usual work starts in the cockpit and i have used an old decal IP instead of the paper cut out from the instructions. I also added a few bits of styrene to busy up the internals, not that you will see much of it once the sides are closed up (see photos). Front gun turret has been dry fitted and i have moved the gunner forward so the guns and their brakets stick out through the gaps in the transparent part. As you will see in the photos the transparencies a very thick but on the front turret at least fits quite well, with only small gaps to deal with.

 

I have test fitted the main parts of the wings and fuselage and they are ok but there is a rather prominent step on the rear fuselage spine. Im not sure whether to fust try and slap on filler and sand it or put in stretchers to try and make the two half level....

 

So work has begun and im quite happy with what i have so far. 

 

TFL Greg

 

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Hi Greg,

 

Moulding replacement wheels/wheel halves is pretty easy using either resin or Milliput, but wheels up will be fine. As you say, AM resin wheels can be a bit expensive, and the price seems to have gone up every time I look at them.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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6 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Aren’t the wheels retractable on this kit? Seems a shame to let that missing half get in the way of a working feature ... :wicked:

 

Regards,

Adrian

You are quite right they are. It's the old school fully movable job, all wheels, turrets, props, and control surfaces.  I went down that route with the B-29, and everything flaps about when you touch it! 

 

So this time I am going for a more static result, and then I won't have to look at the hollow and empty wheel wells 😁

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I made this kit recently. It has a certain charm about it and I threw it together. The kit is 1 circa 1985 tooled one. The decals were a bit problematic..but I did a reasonable job in the end . No filler was used - didn't know such things existed at the time.  I did it as a 'tribute' model to 445th bomb group. it looks nice on the shelf and the Humbrol enamel I used #(no 155) Olive Drab -Matt D was actually more accurate than i'd imagined it would be. Looking forward to seeing your Lib completed with great interest! 

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A couple of pics of my Liberator  445th BG flying out of Tibbenham . Actor James Stewart was their Operations Officer.. 

 

WIN_20200406_09_03_34_Pro

 

WIN_20200406_09_03_44_Pro WIN_20200406_09_02_47_Pro

 

Hand painted with Humbrol Matt and semi mattEnamels. Decal affixed without the aid of anything other than the glue on the backing paper.. no filler used.. it's not perfect but I really enjoyed making it and it doesn't look that bad. 

Edited by Col Walter E Kurtz
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On 28/06/2020 at 11:28, GREG DESTEC said:

This rather elderly Airfix kit 

 

It's not " rather elderly ", it's frikkin' OLD! I first built one in '68.

 

 

 

Chris

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thanks for the kind remarks.  I'd be very happy to build another  for a group build... still like to do it in a larger scale  of course. I'd be tempted to do another 445th ship with a different block number if it was the Airfix kit.

 

Elderly..I guess it must be a early 60s tooling .  Lol... pretty much the description of me ! Lots of ill fitting parts... flashing on sprues and a seam which needs filling down the middle! Lol 

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I must say I found this rather interesting from an airfix forum suggesting Airfix retool and release a new liberator, maybe the wrong thread to do so ? And If so I apologise .. but I hope this is of interest, and provides some leads for further research on the different types developed.

 

Liberator I - B-24A, direct purchase aircraft for the RAF. (Total: 20) Considered unsuitable for combat, some rebuilt as the GR.1 and used in British anti-submarine patrol squadrons. Greenhouse nose, no dorsal turret, open tail turret.

 

Liberator B Mk II - The first combat-ready B-24. The modifications included a three-foot nose extension as well as a deeper aft fuselage and wider tailplane—there was no direct B-24 equivalent but similar to the B-24C, built to meet British specifications with British equipment and armament. Boulton Paul A dorsal turret and Boulton Paul tail turret - similar as with Halifax.

 

Liberator B Mk III - B-24D variant with single .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the nose, two in each waist position, and four in a Boulton Paul tail turret—similar to that on contemporary British heavy bombers such as the Halifax—as well as other British equipment. The Martin dorsal turret was retained. (Total: 156)

 

Liberator B Mk IIIA: Lend-Lease B-24Ds with American equipment and weapons. Consolidated A-6A tail turret, greenhouse nose and Martin dorsal turret.

 

Liberator B Mk V - B-24D modified for extra fuel capacity at the cost or armor, with the same armament fit as the Liberator Mk III.

 

Liberator GR Mk V - B-24D modified by RAF Coastal Command for the anti-submarine role with search radar and Leigh Light. Some were fitted with eight zero-length rocket launchers, four on each wing. Greenhouse nose, Martin dorsal turret and Consolidated A-6A tail turret.

 

Liberator GR Mk VI - B-24G/H/J type used as a long-range general reconnaissance aircraft by RAF Coastal Command. Those manufactured by Consolidated or North American would have Consolidated nose, bombardier glazing and A-6B nose turret. Those manufactured by Ford or Douglas would have Ford nose and bombardier glazing and Emerson nose turret. All would have Consolidated A-6A tail turret and either Martin or Consolidated dorsal turret.

 

Liberator GR Mk VIII - B-24J modified by RAF Coastal Command for the anti-submarine role. Those manufactured by Consolidated would have Consolidated nose, bombardier glazing and either Condolidated or Emerson nose turret. Those manufactured by Ford or Douglas would have Ford nose and bombardier glazing and Emerson nose turret. All would have Consolidated A-6A tail turret and either Martin or Consolidated dorsal turret.

Edited by Col Walter E Kurtz
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5 hours ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Some were fitted with eight zero-length rocket launchers, four on each wing.

Not on the wing, but on a winglet on the nose.

 

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Chris

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Well  I. don't seem to be able to find an Airfix Liberator 1:72 kit from anywhere at the moment... think it would be a great Aircraft for Airfix to revisit.. maybe in 1:48 scale? If I recall the one I made and posted pics of recently was from a shop that was closing down in 2000. There goes my group build dream I guess .. lol 

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11 hours ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Well  I. don't seem to be able to find an Airfix Liberator 1:72 kit from anywhere at the moment... think it would be a great Aircraft for Airfix to revisit.. maybe in 1:48 scale? If I recall the one I made and posted pics of recently was from a shop that was closing down in 2000. There goes my group build dream I guess .. lol 

There’s quite a few for good prices on ebay in the states.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303620687618

 

In europe they get expensive though..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/392719719967

Edited by Dansk
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Much as I am enjoying revisiting this kit I can't say I would recommend spending a lot of money getting an example. 

 

Airfix would do well if they issued a brand new tooling as B-24s are underrepresented as a type in all scales. 

 

I have been beavering away at my model and should get some progress shots posted soon.

 

Cheers Greg

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