1/32 Hobbyboss B-24D Liberator

[ghodges]

 

Finished this one up today. This is a pretty good kit, that certainly looks like a Liberator when done. The Davis Wing contour on the top of the wings at the root is missing; which is odd because they got the offset leading edges of elevators and rudders correct! The fit over all is good, except for the fit of the gear bays in the wings, which are too thick and require significant thinning to close the wings up. The ailerons and flaps are designed to be trapped when building the wings, but the hinges can be clipped so they can be added later. The kit has over 20 sprues and LOTS of heavy sprue connections and nubs on the parts. You'll need a very good set of nippers and #11 blades to trim all of the parts. Also, many of the connectors run OVER onto the gluing surfaces, making for extra trimming to make parts fit properly.

There two other significant engineering anomalies to work around. The first is to clip the top off of the stem from the nose gear fork so it can be added later in the build. The other is the need to clip two big pins inside the wings (top and bottom) so that the wings can be built and then slid OVER the wing spar. The instructions would have you build the wings around the spar making for a massive assembly to handle for much of the build. Doing this mod allows the fuselage and wings to be assembled and painted separately, which eases things greatly. The fit of the wings to the fuselage is very good, by the way!

The kit has plastic landing gear, which appear to be robust enough to support the model. However, Aercraft Models makes brass replacement gear and would be a better idea over time. The weakest area of the kit is the rubber tires, which fit their hubs horribly. I heartily recommend the Eduard resin tires if you build this kit!

The detailing is good throughout, except for the radio room and the nose. The radio room only has 2 small windows, and the details aren't missed there. The lack of detailing in the nose is baffling. The instructions only show a seat and an ammo box, even though a Norden bomb sight IS in the kit (along with some other "J" parts); and do NOT tell you to add it. I built up a structure for the sight and added extra kit parts to at least detail the nose area.

Here are some in progress pics with comments to better illustrate....

I used tape tabs to mark the numerous sprues, making it much easier to find them during the build...

The kit cockpit deck is good. I cut the kit decal and used it on the main instrument panel. The blue throttle handles are PE parts, which are easier to apply if they're cut apart.

This shows the upper nose gear installed on the nose gear floor. Cutting off the very top of the stem to the nose gear fork/mud guard allows it to be slid in later.

Typical waist area detailing...

This shows how much grinding/trimming I had to do to make the gear bays fit. You can also see the 2 large pins/sockets that need to be removed to allow the assembled wings to fit over the wing spar.

This shows how I first installed the bomb sight (rebuilt a higher support structure later) and the kit parts I added to detail out the nose.

I weighted the model with lead fishing sinkers that could be smashed flat/shaped to fit. You can also see the full bomb load added into the well detailed bomb bay.

The kit glass is very clear with sharp framing that allows masks to be cut on them using Tamiya tape and a NEW #11 blade (wore out 5!). The turrets are well detailed, though the interior parts for the rear turret need some trimming to get it to close. It also has an unsightly seam on the top center that I hid with a bogus center line frame.

Enough in progress pics.... on to the completed model

 

Gil 

!

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by ghodges

[ghodges]

The model was painted with Tamiya rattle can Deck Tan topside and Neutral Gray underneath. The top side was then heavily post shaded with Tamiya lacquer Light Sand, and a "mist" coat of Tamiya lacquer Deck Tan was applied to tone it back down. Tamiya rattle can Gloss was used before applying the kit decals, which are quite good. That said, it did take a new bottle of Solvaset and some patience to get the fuselage roundels to suck down over the waist window wind guards. I panel lines were done with pencil, which was then smeared with a wet finger for weathering. MIG brown pigments were applied in the same way for more weathering, along with some selected silver chipping. Tamiya rattle can Flat sealed everything.

This thing is HUGE.... tough to get good pics of it overall, so please excuse the background stuff!

Comments, critiques, and questions welcome!

 

Gil 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by ghodges

[ShutterAce]

It looks massive! Well done.

[Mark Deliduka]

Gil! I am speechless! I ha a difficult enough time doing a 1/48 scale commission build of a B-24; this is overwhelming in the quality!

Tape tabs on the sprues... I GOTTA  remember that!

I know what you went through to get pics; I had the same  trouble trying to shoot pics of my An-124!

[66Foxtrot]

Well, that’s gorgeous!

[Bradley25mm]

Gil,

       Most impressive indeed!!. That is one beautiful build. Congratulations 

Chris

[johneaton]

Super, Gil!

[Stikpusher]

Bravo!!! That is one magnificent looking big bird! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Now I am most curious as how you will display this fine looking build. 🤔

[ghodges]

It actually fits in my newest display case!  

 

Gil 

[StuartMont]

That is one beautiful impressive model.  Congratulations on the display case as well.

I do have a beginner question about the panel lines.  Can you be a bit more explicit about your choice of method?  I read that you used a pencil and you make it sound so simple.  How long did it take you to finish the lines?

Stuart

[ghodges]

It is simple, but it IS tedious! I used a .5 mechanical pencil to go over every panel line with light to medium pressure. If you make a stray mark out of the panel line, it can be erased with a CLEAN eraser (a dirty eraser tip can be used for smudges!). I'm guessing it took the better part of an hour to go over all of the lines, top and bottom. I used 2-3 passes on "hinge" lines to make them darker. I then wet my finger and dragged it over the surfaces in the direction of airflow and gravity to smear the graphite for weathering. The easy thing about this method is that if a smear is too intense or dark, you can use a damp paper towel to lessen it or remove it completely and start over. Your fingertip will get dirty, so watch where and what you grab after starting this, but then your dirty finger can be used by itself as you go along to make streaks! I used the same method to apply some MIG dark brown pigment to further weather the surfaces. I did all of this after applying the flat coat, and then did another lighter flat coat to seal it all.

Personally, I've had trouble with being able to remove washes as completely as needed, especially when trying to get a  more factory fresh finish. I've found that regular pencil and colored pencils often give me more control and are neater, though they take a bit longer to do.

Gil 

Edited December 28, 2022 by ghodges

[StuartMont]

Thanks for the detail Gil.  I assume this won’t work well when applying coats with a brush? 

Stuart

[ghodges]

I don't know, as I don't brush coat top colors or clear coats. Perhaps if you only brushed one surface at a time so it stays level while drying so it couldn't run?

 

Gil 

[StuartMont]

Hopefully an irrelevant question once I finally get an airbrush.

Thanks Gil.

[ghodges]

If you can get them, I highly recommend the spray cans of Tamiya paints and clear coats. They spray better than other hobby brands and they caused no problems over the pencil panel lines. They also dry fast and hard.

 

Gil 

[StuartMont]

I do have some Tamiya spray paint and primer that I bought for the P-38.  I’ll do that one next.

One more question - how deep is your display case to fit that bomber?

Stuart

[ghodges]

It's about 3ft deep..... and though the B-24 fits in it, there's less than a 1/4" clearance where the wingtip and vertical fin almost touch the case. I built it to fit my 1/48 bombers and transports, not 1/32 behemoth bombers. I just lucked out in that!

 

Gil 

[albymoore]

Wow, what a beast of a model! Your B-24 looks awesome, Gil! The finish is especially impressive.

Cheers,

Albert

[Mark Deliduka]

That is awesome how you lucked out. Couldn't have worked out better if you planned it. I wish I had the space for such large showcases; I'll just have to keep hanging mine on the ceiling...

 

 

Keep them coming Gil!

[VMF211]

WOW! Great job as usual Gil but 1/32???? Must be enough plastic in that to make a whole squadron of 72nd B-24's!! 😁

[ghodges]

Tried to take some more "professional" pics of the B-24D, since it's size makes it hard to get a seamless background. Here a few, for what their worth....

Gil 

[Mark Deliduka]

These are fantastic new pics. However, I'm getting flashbacks to my 1/48 scale commission build!

 

 

That is a good thing by the way....

[Bradley25mm]

Bigger is better. She turned out amazing Gil.

 

Chris

[snelson]

Nice work!  Another screw-up HB made was to give the top turret full framework a-la the Sperry turret on the B-17 (Monogram mad the same mistake on the old Monogram 1/48 kit.)  The B-24 used a Martin upper turret, which had no actual framework, just some clear reinforcing strips glued to the inside of the dome. 

SN