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Hobby Boss 1/32 B-24J - Initial Observations


acresearcher

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I've spent a bit of time going over Jeff Verswyvel's in-box video review of the this kit over on Hyperscale as well as some additional closeup photos Jeff was kind enough to send my way, and have the following observations. Please note that these comments are based upon what I could determine from photos - not handling the plastic - and thus may be open to further discussion.

 

Turrets

While the nose Emerson and tail A6C are correct for "My Akin?" - a Block 185-CO - the nose turret is NOT correct for either "War Goddess", a Block J-105-CO, or for "Going My Way", a Block J-175-CO. Both of these aircraft had the A6C nose turret such as fitted to the tail. The Consolidated J's started mounting the Emerson nose turret beginning with Block J-185-CO. The tail turret may or may not be correct as many B-24's had the shields over the guns on the tail removed since it didn't have the draft problem of the nose.

 

The top turret just looks "wrong". It appears to have to be somewhere between the round dome top of the A3C with the glass sighting panel of the A3D. The A3D had a very distinctive rise of the top going from front to back to accommodate both better headroom and to maintain a very strict +/- 3 degree angle relationship with the later lead-computing gun sight (although this is actually more complicated than I've just stated). The A3D also did not have external metal straps the kit seems to show. Hey! It's the B-24! What did you expect?? "War Goddess" should have the older, rounded dome of the A3C, but both "My Akin ?" and "Going My Way" both mounted the A3D "High Hat". Jeff Verswyvel was kind enough to send me a photo of the turret from the side, but it still looks wrong to me, not appearing to rise high enough in the back for the A3D nor low enough for the A3B/C. Thus, the top turret in the kit may not be correct for anything.

 

Nose glass

The box art correctly shows "My Akin ?" having the slightly bulged bombardier observation window addition unique to the 15AF located between the main bombardier sighting glass on the lower front nose and the navigator's observation window. The kit's front fuselage does not have a flashed-over cutout on the inside of the fuselage for this bombardier observation window mounting and I didn't see anything on the clear parts tree that resembled these bulged windows. This would be an excellent opportunity for a vacformed window.

 

I've not taken the time to do a detailed examination of photos of the kit with the above exceptions. It is highly likely there are a number of much smaller errors, but overall it still looks like a magnificent example of the manufacturer's art.

 

Alan Griffith, author

"Consolidated Mess, Vol. I"

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If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. I will be more than happy to build one OOB as is, with maybe a bit of PE here and there. If I have to look at every kit with this amount of critique, I will never build one.

 

No disrespect to Alan, he clearly has vast amount of knowledge when it comes to the B-24, I just think sometimes we take things too far.

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i have one on order and was always praying for one, and they are bringing two! 

I will be happy to build it, but I will need a replacement turret glass from the aftermarket, the front turret has a seam right in the middle of a clear glass panel! What were they thinking with that? Im still building it, but waiting for a new turret first.

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1 hour ago, rigor said:

I agree with Gerard. On this. Funny how ppl pick things apart. Why. If it wasn't for theses companies we would be seeing. 10.000 revell corsairs Tony's. Radains. Being build boring.  I for one. Don't care about the short comings of kits. We are modelers right work the problem 

 

Why?  The answer is as plain and simple as the nose on anyone's face and has been discussed here a million times.... It all boils down to "different strokes for different folks".  If you're unfamiliar with what that means, it means what's right or acceptable for you may or may not be for someone else...and vice versa.  You cannot impose your beliefs and  methodology upon others...that's a totalitarian point of view and in my opinion, somewhat ignorant.

 

If there were no one to critique the design and/or production of things, I'd never fly in any airplane, ever again and most likely would never buy another motor vehicle.  A lot of us here like to know what's right and what's not in any given kit based on facts, not hearsay and then we, as free-thinking individuals, can choose whether or not it's worth our time and effort based on our perceived skillset to take on the challenge, live with it or just don't buy the kit.

 

My belief is that I will wait until I see what aftermarket becomes available because as of this moment, the prevalent seams on the fore and aft turrets are deal-breakers and currently well beyond my skillset to correct.  I did just purchase a 3D printer so that may change in the future....

Edited by Juggernut
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I appreciate the detail in this review. It helps to know what actually was installed on the original plane to make the scale replica perfect, even if I chose not to do all of it. Given the variations on the B-24, we would be incredibly lucky to find a kit that matches any one particular real plane. I can hope for that, but I can understand the desire to put a model up that looks sort of like a B-24 and has some fine nose art on the side (like the Zodiacs, for example). To each their own, and we can all be happy.

 

It is just amazing to see all the really large kits that are coming out now, and to realize that we don't need to build a vac form kit or scratch build one of wood in order to see the machines that our fathers and grandfathers built and fought with. My wife's father built B-24's for quite a while, then fixed just about any US Navy plane in service on a remote island for the rest of WWII. He is no longer with us, but this kit could make a good memory of him.

 

Tnarg

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Love the detailed info! Will I got that far on my build? Probably not unless I'm entering it into shows.  But I do know I will hold off building to see if the aftermarket comes out with something with more eye appeal without the seams.  Especially when it sticks out on its nose.

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1 hour ago, FunkyZeit said:

Nice info for sure.

 

Jugg, I did not see anywhere that Rigor was imposing anything upon anyone, simply voicing his opinion.

 

Justin

Maybe Koster or someone else will come to the party with some gun turrets because these are a deal breaker. The rest of the kit looks ok but we need more reviews. It has an interior but once again modellers will need to shell out for the type of detail we’re seeing in other kits. I forgot the engines...once again $ for AM parts. Apart from that yay someone made a B24!

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Given all of the variations on turret nosed Libs, I never had any expectation that the kit was going to be accurate to most of them, much less all of them.  Would have been nice if they had included the Consolidated nose turret as an option, but it is what it is.  Hopefully Eduard is working overtime to bring us PE sets, Brassin engines, guns, cockpits, and wheel sets.

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3 hours ago, FunkyZeit said:

Nice info for sure.

 

Jugg, I did not see anywhere that Rigor was imposing anything upon anyone, simply voicing his opinion.

 

Justin

 

Maybe "impose" was the wrong word; an error on my part.  Maybe I should've said something to the affect that he cannot "expect" his views to be the views of the entire population of prospective buyers of this kit.

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I’m betting on a large amount of aftermarket guys diving into this one.  Great subject and good news for those of you that will require the perfect canopies.  I’m also pretty sure there is another group of folks that just want this B-24 four engined monster hanging up over their work spaces.  For them, it will be a trill just to see it hanging there.  Maybe a couple Me 262 screaming by on invisible fishing line?  I can honestly see everyone being happy on this one.  Me?  This is too big a model for my confined space but I can’t wait to see the rest of the gangs In progress work on this subject. I love reading about the new kits and how to tackle the big obstacles that inadvertently pop up along the way and someone’s challenge to press onward.   Everyone will be enjoying this one.  

 

Carry on and let us know when you accidentally glued a couple fingers together.  I like reading about the screw ups too.

 

Most important thing is to enjoy your time with this NEW kit.  This looks to be hours of fun for a lot of you guys.  

 

Troy 

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