Howdy All,

I did a search, and couldn't find a category for one of the most magnificent warbirds of the Second World War. So, I thought I'd start one!

Yeah, yeah, ....I know. The B-17 Flying Fortress is the hands-down winner of the overall popularity contest. (And I am a huge fan of it as well. ) But, the Liberator is one of the "hardest working planes in war-business!" Very much like the British Lancaster. Definitely a member of the class of 'under-represented' AC heroes of the War......IMHO.

So. To begin this thread I want to share with all of you my purchase today of the re-released 1/48th scale version of this historic warbird!
To begin, not only is the box big, but upon opening it I was extremely pleased to find that the model itself is massive. The fuselage measurement is over 42 cm wlong, and the wingspan is almost 70 cm wide!
(just what these 1.75 prescription eyes need ).
I also bought recently the Accurate Miniature's 1/48th scale B-25B 'Mitchell' bomber and have plans for it too.

Since I have been 'away' from the AC side for some time, I was wondering if anyone had any great sites I might peruse to research my 'big' lady?
TIA.

Tread.

Hi Tread. Here is a site I use when looking for info on both aircraft and aircraft kits. A search of "B-24" on the sites will bring up a lot of "walk-around" pics.

Aircraft Resource Center

And here's one of a B-24 undergoing restoration, with a lot of pics of the interior.
B-24 Restoration

And, another site with a lot of general info and pics.
Virtual display B-24


Man, a 1/48 scale B-24! Make sure the door to your modeling room is wide enough to get that baby out when your done!

:-) :-)

Cheers,
Mike

I have the b-25 mitchell somewhere deep in my closet, I just need some inspiration to build the beast, how about a wwII bomber group build? who else has a huge bomber kit awaiting for that hard to come inspiration?

Hello Tread!
I to am a big Bomber fan. That is mostly all I build anymore. The B-24 Liberator is right there at the top of my list! I have a bunch of them in my stash to build. Naturaly I to would prefer to build them in 1/48 scale. But to satisfy my needs I had to drop down to 1/72 scale to find all of the variations that I needed. I even have the Navy Liberators, the sub hunters.
Here is 3 websites that might get your juices flowing!

http://www.b24.net/
http://www.acepilots.com/planes/

http://www.b24.mach3ww.com/
HTH,

Garry

Just picked up the 1/48 Revell B-24 Liberator last week... and a Sqaudron "In Action" book. Just need to finish my Hasegawa AH-64A Apache.... before I can start her.

Thanks for starting this Tread I have this beast and am plucking up the courage to start re-scribing it. It's down off the shelf and I keep opening the box, but no movement yet. This thread maybe just what I need to get started :-)
Mal

hey guys iam aslo a bomber fan.
i love the b-17 thats my fav.
the b-24 is a cool air plane,
my friend built this plane when we where teen agers.
and its still hanging in his room lol,
we should have a bomber campian that would be cool

Thanks Bob, thats a great site! Plenty of info for us Bomber nuts!

Cheers Amego,

Garry

WAY TO GO!!!!
My Father was a radio Operator/Nose turret gunner on a B-24
The crew consisted of 2 sets of brothers.One pair were twins.
There is a B-24 webring,google that.
Of course I have built the Monogram B-24(J) and adjusted the deatils to make it look like my father's plane, Lil' Butch.
I also have the B-24D which has been re released agian.I wish Monogram would retool the nose and tail turrets on the J version.Or,if Accurate Minitures would honor the 18,888 that were built,and do one in their quality.
Oh,and I paid for a ride a few years ago, on the Collings Foundation's B-24.

Howdy fellas!

to TankCarl: Oh sweeeeeeeeeet TankCarl! Nice job on that 24, so from the tail markings I assume your Father was in the 459th Bomber Group? (closest I could find).

Since you've already built this beautiful bird, any input on the build itself? The kit I have is the 'D' model (as Babva was so kind to show in the picture), and has the greenhouse (?) nose. You've obviously built the 'J' model....how hard was the conversion?

to mj: Thx much for the links, they will come in mighty handy. And I have a sliding window in my modeling room, so if need be, I can take out both sliders to get it out of the room!

to DRAGONSLAIN: (there I go, feeling like I'm yelling again!) Which B-25 do you have? Revell has one, as does Accurate Miniatures.

to garry: Really?....goes to show, I always think of you as a 'swabbie', not a 'flyboy'......fancy that. Good news though. And since you prefer to build the larger scales in ships (at least that's the rumour), why are you sticking with the 1/72nd scale? You need to remember, that Hobby Lobby is due for an internet '50% off sale' here pretty soon, which means, even in the worst case scenario, you would be paying only $15.00 for a 1/48th scale Liberator!!........yeah.....something to think about......huh?

to Babva: Thx for the pic (already mentioned it ), and please, when you start your Liberator, just make sure you share your in-progress pics....O.K.?
Thx.

to Holdfast: (there's that "East Midlands' guy again... ) Glad to hear you've got this baby! And if this thread is all you need to get started, well, give me a wee bit and I'll see if I can't throw some 'heat' at this thread! Cause all I'm hearing is there's some unrequited 'Bomber-Love' out there!

to tazz: So, you're a B-17 fan huh? Well, I'm sure we all have a warm place in our hearts for that historic, and media friendly warbird. As I'm sure it is with most Bomber aficionado's, there are so many great aircraft, that it's hard to not love 'em all! So, I appreciate your 'openess' to the Liberator as a devoted compatriot to the 'Fortress'.

and to dustoff: Man, I love that link!!......so, you got any Bombers waiting in the wings there Petty Officer Second Class??

Thx fellas,

Tread.

Tread,
Well,there was (is) a Koster Aero conversion that is available to go from a D to a J.But if you have paitience,wait for the inevitable reissue of the J.If you need a J or nose turreted version,in 1/72 Academy / Minicraft has released many variants.
With your D you can do the Polesti raiders from 1943.You may need A/M decals.
With that large greenhouse nose,deatailing of the area behind the glass is a must.THe better book for pictures is,Detail and scale.Among others.
The minimum detail needed would be ammo belts going to each gun,and a tiny shelf style table for the navigator.
There are a lot of generic detailing thinmgs that go for any Liberator,when you start your build,give me a heads up,and I will point them out.

As for my Father's unit in the war:
15th Air Force. 304th Bomb Wing. 459th Bomb group. 759th Squadron.
The white diamond shape was the designator for the 304th.
The green 4 leaf clover was the design for the 759th sqdn.

My Fathers crew completed their missions and made it home,no one killed on the aircraft,and no one wounded.
Well,there was the incident during the Atlantic crossing from Belem to North Africa,something about a monkey,an open waist window,and no parachute.....
As for the Aircraft,Lil Butch took off ,with 4 engines running,and returned with 4 engines running everytime.

Got my dad through the War!

Mighty glad to hear that!

Tread,

And thx much for the kind offer of help....when I take on the wee beastie, I will indeed give ya a hollar!

Ok I have the revell B-25 mitchell, not the accurate miniatures. the revell kit looks OK, which one is better?