discussion Airfix B24 H Liberator 1/72

[Andy T]

I've been dying to get my hands on this so with a few projects out of the way I popped the cork



Plenty of crisply moulded plastic in the box:







So far everything has fitted together perfectly, but as with the Gannet I did recently, getting enough weight upfront is going to be a challenge. I'm not sure what substance Airfix are using but there was no way I was getting the required 30g into this section, even using lead shot, with liquid gravity to fill the voids between them



Lead strip in this area didn't get near the required 25g either



So I've been adding shot &
strip to every hidden open area I can. It's detracted from the fun a little but now that the cockpit and forward crew areas are finished, I've seen a few other nooks where I can add a bit more without it being too noticeable




So here we are at the moment. The nose & cockpit section is separate from the main fuselage and I've started masking up for painting the rear sections. There's plenty of debate around the actual colours but I'm sticking with the Airfix suggestions

 

[Jim R]

Great choice of subject Andy. These WW2 heavy bombers were certainly brutish looking. You're off to a good start. Cockpit looks nice. As for the nose weight, I've had similar problems and to overcome it I pin the front wheel to the base. No good if you don't intend to display on a base though :rolling:

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Jim. From a build I've seen online, Airfix have included a crew access ladder at the rear which can act as a prop to keep the tail up, if all else fails.

 

[Andy T]

Interior is now finished, ready for the fuselage to be closed up, hiding the vast majority of it forever!



Ah well, at least I (or we) know it's there :tears-of-joy:

 

[Andy T]

I think I've fixed the nose weight issue. I've partially filled the front gear bay with lead shot, leaving room for the gear itself to fit of course.

It's not ideal as it would be visible with the model upside down, but unless you're a perfectionist or competitor, I can't see that being a problem. If I had the motivation I could hide it with card, but it's good enough for me



I've still left the rear access hatch out for now, just in case I still haven't added enough and need to use the aforementioned ladder as a prop.

 

[boatman]

HI Andy lovin this lib build an you are doin a great job an yes pity all the detail you have put inside wont be seen but as you say you say you know its inside as it made me a bit up set when i think it was on the world at war to see the libs flyin over germany an i think one of the planes flyin overhead dropped its bombs early an you see the i think the bomb hit the planes wing right near the fusalage an then the wing brakes off an those poor crew members bombed by their own side was bad but i may be mistaken on this but thats what it looks like to me an i think they did more missions in the war than the B17 BUT again i may be wrong but that picture has always stuck in my mind when the liberators were shown
BUT LOVELY MODELIN at its best
chrisb

 

[Jim R]

Nice looking interior. Glad the nose weight is sorted - hopefully.

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

Superb work on the Libby - that is an excellent interior. Can the waist gun positions be displayed open?

 

[Waspie]

Nice Andy, Liberator always reminds me of my teenage years when I built one. (Don't think I even thought about paint back then!!)

 

[Andy T]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it so far.

Superb work on the Libby - that is an excellent interior. Can the waist gun positions be displayed open?

Yes, the side doors can be posed open with the guns poking out.

There are a few other options too, landing gear up or down, same with the flaps, and the underside ball turret can be posed either deployed or retracted into the fuselage.

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it so far.


Yes, the side doors can be posed open with the guns poking out.

There are a few other options too, landing gear up or down, same with the flaps, and the underside ball turret can be posed either deployed or retracted into the fuselage.

Cool - thanks Andy!

 

[Tworrs]

Looking great Andy, yes it is a pity that all your excellent interior work will be hidden.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks Garry

I've got a bit more done to this despite not having much bench time all week. I'm happy with the weight now I think. With the tail assembly in place it balances perfectly on the forward wing spar. Since the gear mounts behind this I'm sure I've cracked it.



After sorting out the main seams I'd inevitably lost some detail. I've seen a couple of videos where they've just ignored this but I wanted to do better. So I've rescribed various panel lines and hatches, used a rivet tool where needed, and I've also replaced the two round panels above the crew area, and the three "pips" near the tail (whatever they are) with punched out plasticard.



The wings slide over these two spars and nestle into a notch on the fuselage. The fit is so good that I may well paint the wings off to make it more manageable and fit them at the end.





The engines have been assembled and fitted to the wing. Masking was going to be a problem so I used a trick I've done in the past, I covered the engine in clear plastic before fitting the cowls. Once painting is finished I can pick the plastic out with tweezers






I'm now making a start on the turrets, some of which are pretty complex, with some painting needed, then partial assembly, more painting, then final assembly and paint!

 

[Guest]

Hi Andy , looking good as usual on your builds.
That wing certainly was a good fit.

 

[Guest]

Good idea with the clear plastic!

 

[Jim R]

Good progress. Neat rescribing. Always a bit awkward rescribing over curves. Is your rivet tool one of those little wheel things with spikes?
Clever idea with the clear plastic.

 

[Andy T]

Thanks all :smiling3:

Is your rivet tool one of those little wheel things with spikes?

Yes, a Greenstuff world one, with 4 different types of spiked disc.

 

[rtfoe]

Lovely work done Andy. Liked the idea of the clear plastic. Masking the turret glazing is something I normally don't look forward to but would like to see how you do it and perhaps learn an easier method.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Bit late to this party Andy. Looking good as always. Following with interest.

 

[Andy T]

Thank you both

Lovely work done Andy. Liked the idea of the clear plastic. Masking the turret glazing is something I normally don't look forward to but would like to see how you do it and perhaps learn an easier method.

Cheers,
Wabble

I ended up brush painting the exterior of the ball turret as it seemed much easier than masking & spraying.

Here they are grouped together, assembled where I could. Luckily only two clear parts needed masking before the airbrush came out:



After spraying and a bit of detail brush work the turrets were put together, frames brush painted where required and a slightly wonky decal added to one of them:



A little bit rough in places but given their size, good enough for me :smiling3:

I didn't have a brushable colour to match the Mr Color interior green so mixed something up from AK Medium Olive Green and Neutral Grey. Pretty good match if I say so myself.