ThomasProbert Posted June 1, 2020 Posted June 1, 2020 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: IMG_0197 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr IMG_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: IMG_0195 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr Following by it all slotting together rather nicely into a very sturdy box-structure: IMG_0200 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr IMG_0201 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr All that only took a couple of hours in total - lovely! Take care all,Tom 14
BlrwestSiR Posted June 1, 2020 Posted June 1, 2020 This should be lots of fun to following along with. Carl 6
Bomber_County Posted June 1, 2020 Posted June 1, 2020 Also looking forward to this, really tempting to hit the buy button on a big 4 engine job...........get behind me devil.......... 6
1to1scale Posted June 1, 2020 Posted June 1, 2020 I will be following, the major challenge you will have is to get enough nose weight in there. I suggest using lead sheet under the cockpit floor, and any place you can stash it! As I remember HB says you will need 200gm, that’s nearly half a pound, and add 10% to be safe, so 9 oz total. Here is what I did, but another person did use lead sheet instead and was able to get a little more weight in there, a total of 220gm. 9
harv Posted June 1, 2020 Posted June 1, 2020 Nice to see one of these built. Will follow along....harv 5
ThomasProbert Posted February 21, 2021 Author Posted February 21, 2021 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! Sadly, most of it disappears when the fuselage halves are joined, but at least I know it's there! Joining the fuselage halves will be the next job - hopefully progress will be a bit quicker from now on... Tom 8 1
Jeff Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 What a ton of work, man that looks good, your painting is so exacting, and flawless , Thomas.... 5
DocRob Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 This is a gorgeous looking interior, which oozes the lots of work, which have gone into, out of every pore. Will there be some weathering too? Cheers Rob 6
Jeff Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 All this, plus the Shack, AND the DC8, you are a busy man, Thomas... I love it ! 4
Peterpools Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 Jeff Wonderful progress and looking mighty good. Speed isn't what is important but rather enjoying time spent at the bench with the B-24. Keep 'em comin Peter 5
ThomasProbert Posted February 21, 2021 Author Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, DocRob said: This is a gorgeous looking interior, which oozes the lots of work, which have gone into, out of every pore. Will there be some weathering too? Cheers Rob Thanks, Rob. I've added a few chips and scuffs here and there, but I won't add much more. I'm a 'less is more' type of chap when it comes to weathering - I can't stand the 'it's been parked in Davis-Monthan for the last 60 years ' look! 45 minutes ago, Jeff said: All this, plus the Shack, AND the DC8, you are a busy man, Thomas... I love it ! Don't forget the 1/32nd Sunderland, 1/48th B-52 and the numerous other projects, too! 1 minute ago, Peterpools said: Jeff Wonderful progress and looking mighty good. Speed isn't what is important but rather enjoying time spent at the bench with the B-24. Keep 'em comin Peter Those, Peter, are true words of wisdom! 6
Kaireckstadt Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 On 6/1/2020 at 6:04 PM, harv said: Nice to see one of these built. Will follow along....harv Me too! Will become an interesting build! 5
ThomasProbert Posted February 27, 2021 Author Posted February 27, 2021 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: Next up is attaching the underside of the nacelles and getting the wings finished off. Regards to all, Tom 8
GusMac Posted February 27, 2021 Posted February 27, 2021 Looks great Tom. For a kit that got so much hate when it came out, it looks like it builds well and it looks like a Liberator to me. 6
Peterpools Posted February 28, 2021 Posted February 28, 2021 Tom Mighty nice progress on the B-24 and looking forward to each update. Keep 'em comin Peter 4 1
BlrwestSiR Posted February 28, 2021 Posted February 28, 2021 Looks great Tom. I'm curious about the fuselage seams. Is the plane primed already and that's where you've sanded it back or is it the opposite? Carl 3
ThomasProbert Posted February 28, 2021 Author Posted February 28, 2021 8 hours ago, GusMac said: Looks great Tom. For a kit that got so much hate when it came out, it looks like it builds well and it looks like a Liberator to me. It does indeed build well - at least so far. The wing is the main area with the errors and the aerofoil shape is clearly off, but as you say you wouldn’t mistake it for anything else and that’s fine by me! 3 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said: Looks great Tom. I'm curious about the fuselage seams. Is the plane primed already and that's where you've sanded it back or is it the opposite? Carl The white areas are matt white paint - I always do this after giving the joints a quick sanding. It helps smooth the surface and reduces micro scratches before primer etc. 4
ThomasProbert Posted October 21, 2021 Author Posted October 21, 2021 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: Undersides: 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: I now need to finish off the cockpit and nose interior before adding the final transparencies and she gets a splash of paint: Until next time, Tom 7 2
harv Posted October 21, 2021 Posted October 21, 2021 Really glad to see this back. Looks great !.....harv 4
BlrwestSiR Posted October 21, 2021 Posted October 21, 2021 Looks great Tom. I've been fiddling with my B-24J kit so your update is nice and timely. Quick question for you on the interior. Was the later J still in the dark dull green or did they switch to interior green? Carl 2
ThomasProbert Posted October 21, 2021 Author Posted October 21, 2021 38 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said: Looks great Tom. I've been fiddling with my B-24J kit so your update is nice and timely. Quick question for you on the interior. Was the later J still in the dark dull green or did they switch to interior green? Carl Carl, I’m pretty sure interior green was never used on the B-24. Flight deck and nose were dark dull green and the bomb bays and rear fuselage remained natural metal - on natural metal B-24s. If you’re doing a camouflaged J-model, the interior of the bomb bay would most likely be neutral grey. However, the B-24 was manufactured at so many different plants and in such great numbers, there will be lots of variation and it’s difficult to apply a hard and fast rule to a particular model at a particular moment in time. Tom 3 1
BlrwestSiR Posted October 21, 2021 Posted October 21, 2021 Tom, Thanks for the info. Just to make it more difficult, I'm doing an RCAF GR VI in Coastal Command colours. Carl 2
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