B24H Liberator "Taylor Maid" Finished

[neil5208]

Pilots seats are fitted. I must remember to add the control wheels before I close the fuselage.

Started work on the gaps on the engine nacelles.

A bit more testing with the AK True Metals paste, the vertical tail planes where sprayed and polished as before and I then tried a panel line wash the one on the right using black weathering powder mixed with water. Not the result I was hoping for but it taken dull the shine back and given it a dirty look as opposed the clean look on the left.

[stevehnz]

Nice going on this. I've just caught up on the thread, some very useful info against the day I build mine. Thanks.

Steve.

[neil5208]

Started assembling the engine nacelles today but notice that each cowling has sink marks to varying degrees and that the panel line are a bit iffy so this looks like it won't be a quick job to sort out. Starting to wish I'd stumped up the extra £20 for the Hasegawa kit

[neil5208]

I left this one to one side for a bit but pulled it out of the drawer yesterday and prepared to one wing I had ready for paint, first primed and then a coat of Tamiya X1 Gloss Black. Then masked off the de-icing boots along the leading edge. Maskol was used on the engine nacelles.

Sprayed the AK Paste

I left this an hour and then buffed the leading edge and engines. I had read that you couldn't touch up the AK Paste but I had to respray the trailing edge due to finger prints with no issues.

[neil5208]

The second wing has been painted the same as the first, once its been  buffed I will give it a coat of Future floor polish to protect the wax paste and hopefully get the wing decals on next week.

[neil5208]

Both wing have had a coat of Future floor polish (sadly the last I had) but this has taken the shine off a lot but looks much better than what I have achieved with XF16 on the previous NMF kits I've done. The surface is very smooth and the decals, Printscale and Aviaeology  have gone on very well.

For anyone that has not used Aviaeology decals they are excellent, the text is about 1mm for the fuel filler one shown.

 

[neil5208]

Finally dragged the B24 out of its drawer last night, joined the fuselage halves and finished off the wing decals so these have been bagged to protect them.

The nose will need some careful manipulation as it is glued to get rid of the warp

 

[neil5208]

Finally got back from Wales and got some work done on the B24, filled and sanded the fuselage joint, added the cockpit canopy and the horizontal tail plane. Still needs some more clear parts fitted and masked before the primer can go on. Also test fitted the wings.

[rob85]

Glad you went back to this otherwise I might have missed it! Brilliant work so far, the wings are looking great with paint and decals on.

 

Rob

[neil5208]

Once I got the top side to a good standard I bonded the bomb bay doors in place, obviously these weren't designed to in the closed position.

Some sanding and filler later...

I got to this

Before spending any more time sanding I added the belly turret cover plate, another piece that needed manipulation to fit any where near close.

At the nose I had to add a 1mm plastic shim between the fuselage sections to get it wide enough to match the clear part.

Once the belly turret cover has been glued all the way round I can continue the sanding to shape, I say sanding but I have been using the largest 10" metal. Much more aggressive than the little one I usually use

 

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by neil5208

[neil5208]

Front lower clear part has been fitted and you can see that the fuselage needed the 1mm shim added.

Started work on the belly turret cover by using 0.75mm plastic card inserted in the large gaps and then some filler.

And after 20mins with my selection of files and sand paper I had this.

Another round of filling and sanding, then some re-scribing up next.

[neil5208]

So many sanding and polishing sessions later I thought I'd got rid of all seam lines so I masked and sprayed the anti glare panel on the nose in preparation for spraying gloss black ready for the aluminium.

Left this overnight and sprayed Tamiya X1 Gloss Black but the seam was glaringly obvious so the 600 paper came out again.

Also sprayed the tail planes as well, Tamiya XF2 and XF4

Some more polishing on the fuselage and another shot of gloss black and hopefully I can move on.

[Thom216]

You could have popped an extra 20 for the Hasegawa, but would you have had as much fun as taming this beast..?

If those wings are any indication, she's going to turn out great. Keep up the good work.

[neil5208]

7 hours ago, Thom216 said:

You could have popped an extra 20 for the Hasegawa, but would you have had as much fun as taming this beast..?

If those wings are any indication, she's going to turn out great. Keep up the good work.

I have wished many times that I bought the Hasegawa kit but the only one I could find in the UK at the time was nearly 3 times what I paid for this one.

[AdrianMF]

It is looking super. The extra filling and sanding is really paying off. Love all the extra detail too, and I hope it will be visible in the final result!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Volksjager]

Just caught up on this build and I have to say I am impressed. The bodywork looks great & I am keen to see how it turns out with a coat of aluminium. 

[neil5208]

Proceeded with the tail plane decals but as with most Print Scale decals the first one rolled up and ripped so I lost one of the serial numbers. "No problem" I thought I've got US serial number decals, purchased the Techmod US set a while back but the closest size is smaller and finer than the Print scale ones so if any one says anything one side was applied at a later date.

More successful was the seam repair so another coat of Gloss Black was applied and I was happy enough to do the underside as well.

This morning the underside was masked ready for spraying and the wheels were assembled and sprayed Tamiya Nato Black.

Its a bit cold in the room I use for modelling so I cant spray the AK paste until thee radiators been on for a while.

[gingerbob]

Just skimmed through this thread- it makes the 1/48 Monogram I'm contemplating (admittedly with little conviction) seem a walk in the park!

 

Looks promising... (yours, I mean)

 

bob

[RaceAddict]

Can't wait to see the finished product... I love pinup noseart!

[Thom216]

I paint in the attic space and it needs to be prewarmed with a space heater. Still kinda chilly unless it runs all day. Just have to make sure I unplug it when I'm done.😅

[neil5208]

Sprayed the AK paste onto the fuselage in 3 stages as the white spirit that the paste is dissolved in runs easily, but I've got a better result than I did on the wings. I'll leave the paste for a few days to harden before removing the masking.

 

[neil5208]

I left the fuselage for 2 days in the airing cupboard to let the paste harden, gave it a rub over with a polishing cloth and sealed with Tamiya Gloss Clear last night so I could start the decal this morning as I have a day at home waiting for a repair on my back door. This morning I applied the first of the large nose decals, the pin up art work and the  camel "hump" markings. Both proved why Print Scale has such a poor reputation as nether was easy to remove from the backing paper and onto the model. I choose these because I want to do an aircraft that had the "hump" markings due to the way the CBI (China/Burma/India) based air force had to be self sufficient supplying its self with fuel, bombs, spares etc by using the B24 to fly over the Himalayas at a rate of 3 supply flight to each bombing mission flown.

I tried to match the uneven way the black undersides were applied

Nose art and hump markings

Hopefully get most of the decals done today so I can get another clear layer on.

[neil5208]

Continued with the decals and painted the undercarriage as well but my camera battery died before I could take pictures of those. Surprising how a few decal change the way the model looks.

Need to get the turrets assembled and painted soon

[Paramedic]

Damn, looking good! B-24s are really cool plane.. Well done so far!

 

And I REALLY liked that other one - Stripped for Action..

[neil5208]

Last of the Printscale decals on and moved onto the Aviaeology stencils.

Undercarriage doors and rear hatch sprayed gloss black, props masked and yellow tips also sprayed.