Eduard B-24J Liberator Upgrade Sets (for Hobby Boss) 1:48

[Mike]

B-24J Liberator Upgrade Sets (for Hobby Boss)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

We reviewed the first batch of Eduard upgrade sets for the new Hobby Boss Liberator, which you can see here – do come back though, as these sets are fun too.  Now the second tranche has arrived, and there’s even more detail.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail in the usual modular manner.  Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point.  As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between.

 

 

Nose & Radio Compartment (491451)

Two frets are included, one nickel-plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass.  A complete set of detail parts for the Norden bomb sight, and new box in the front of the bomb aimer’s compartment, and a huge quantity of other equipment boxes dotted around the nose compartment are included, some using kit parts as the base for a new pre-painted front, but many are missing from the kit, and are folded up from PE then faced with a pre-painted front to increase the detail.

 

 

Moving into the centre fuselage section, a control panel is upgraded with pre-painted PE parts, adding a circular device over a shallow circle on the base part on the port side, and fitting a regulator to two nearby oxygen bottles.  The radio compartment is substantially upgraded with a new PE floor that also includes a short wall with corrugations etched-in, narrowing the compartment floor and then filling the gap between it and the fuselage sides with more PE parts.  A table is given an angled support underneath, adding a small slatted shelf near the hatch, then building up the radio gear, replacing the front with a pre-painted surface, and fitting a grab handle on the side, installing it under one of the tables.  The floor hatchway is surrounded by more PE, adding dials to a box mounted on the wall near the hatch, and creating a new radio box with pre-painted face on the table, plus another tapering box with a circular screen that is sat on a PE riser platform, rolling a circular glare-shield for around the screen.  An Elsan (or comparable) toilet is rolled up from PE, with a seat and top cover, then it is inserted into a surround, which is also made from PE parts and installed next to the radio table – who’d be a radio man on long trips?  Another shallow box is folded up and has a shallow surround folded to retain a 4mm length of 2mm diameter rod in the centre from your own supplies.  It looks like a massive toilet roll holder, but other than its location next to the toilet, I’m almost certain that’s not its real purpose.  The forward bulkhead of the radio compartment has a pair of equipment boxes stacked against it, faced with pre-painted fronts, and a grab handle top and bottom of each one.  A small piece of PE is fixed to the top of the radio operator’s seat’s mounting beam, and the final part returns to the bomb aimer’s position, adding a windscreen wiper to it on the outside.

 

 

 

Undercarriage (481140)

This larger bare brass set contains some important enhancements, starting with a replacement for the tail-bumper, folding a lightened strut that is held at an angle by the kit’s actuator.  The nose gear bay doors have their lightening holes filled, and a new PE surface added with the holes replicated, plus a hinge part, one set for each door, plus a narrow PE strip that links them together so they move in unison.  The main gear legs have the chunky tie-down lugs removed from the lower ends, replacing them with new PE parts that have a peg to slot into a 0.3mm hole that is drilled into the legs where the old eyes were.  The wheel hubs are covered with flat PE hub caps, and the raised area on the outer bay has a curved detail skin glued to the vertical surface.

 

 

The main gear bays have their rear wall detail removed, to be covered later with a more detailed skin, while the front wall has a pair of folded-up PE boxes added, but not before the outboard wall is also stripped of detail and has a new skin and additional framework laid over the top.  Two stringers that fall within the bays are totally stripped of their detail on one side and half way on the other, adding new skins and raised framework once the work is done, which includes filling the lightening holes, possibly using sections of suitably sized styrene rod as the instructions suggest.  Take care to position the framework parts carefully, as there are large number of them, plus tops for the thicker areas, which will need to be bent to conform to the contours of the kit parts.  A small rib section joins the two stringers together near the centre, and it doesn’t escape the upgrades, adding details to the top and both sides, adding a small part to the face, and a lug to the top.  All this work goes on in both bays in mirror image, creating a huge improvement to the level of detail within.

 

 

 

Bomb Bay (481141)

This large bare brass set contains a major upgrade to the detail inside, starting with the rear bulkhead, which has a skin laid over the bland plastic, adding deep vertical ribs to the surface, plus a pair of cog-like parts below a set of rollers in a former, which are made up over three steps in a scrap diagram nearby.  The kit C-beams applied to the roof are replaced by more in-scale beams folded from single parts, but it’s not clear whether the kit cross-members are needed or not.  The bulkhead under the radio room has raised detail removed before it is skinned with a new PE detail part, adding four vertical beams to each side of the hatch, two replacement plates, additional boxes, cogs, and a header to the hatch, then detailing the roof with a PE skin and beams that are folded up from PE, one of which has four tiny cross-braces glued into the C-shaped recess, using lines etched into the parts as a guide.  A winch with end-plates is folded up and attached to one roof section, then the wall section above is skinned and similarly detailed with beams and brackets on each side, comprising several parts each.  The central support beam within the bay is detailed with more cogs, and a new equipment box on a palette is folded up to replace part T40, and fitted within the diagonals as per the scrap diagram.  The fuselage sides have plenty of detail moulded-in, and the last parts of the PE set are three circular parts per side on stand-off brackets that look similar to a wristwatch.

 

 

 

 

Bomb Racks (481142)

This brass set is larger than the others, and is in a larger package that is otherwise similar.  Bomb Bay and Bomb Racks sounds similar, but this set has a specialised remit, starting with three-part bomb carriers with shackles, two-part spinners for each of the bombs, and a replacement set of tail fins that are each folded from a single part.  A spinner has its blades twisted before it is glued to the nose of each bomb, and a lifting lug is folded and replaces the moulded-in lug that each bomb carries.

 

 

The forward bomb racks are handed, and should be marked accordingly before they are fitted into the bay, while the rear racks are both identical.  The build process is broadly similar however, consisting of a half-etched rear plate, the ladders folded to shape, a detail skin for the ‘rungs’ with a central insert, and small details that are inserted into the outer vertical surfaces of the racks on both sides.  A scrap diagram shows the correct layout and layering of the parts from above, then once completed, the four racks are fixed between the bay roof and bottom centre rail instead of the kit parts.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The detail added with these sets and the other will result in an incredible interior, and if coupled with the first batch, the exterior too.  You might not need or want them all, but the choice is wide and entirely up to you.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of