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HobbyBoss' 1/32nd B-24D Liberator


tomprobert

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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:

 

49958998988_e900d86c8f_z.jpgIMG_0197 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49958998928_04b3288c94_z.jpgIMG_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:

 

49958999113_cd28e4b1fb_z.jpgIMG_0195 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Following by it all slotting together rather nicely into a very sturdy box-structure:

 

49958999283_90843db5fe_z.jpgIMG_0200 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

49959776447_1457a2f752_z.jpgIMG_0201 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

All that only took a couple of hours in total - lovely!

 

Take care all,

Tom

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9 minutes ago, Out2gtcha said:

Cant wait to see more of this one Tom!  Ive been debating on getting this one, so one of your builds of it just might push me over the edge to get one. 

 

Just do it because you know you have to - have a look in the mirror and see for yourself

how miserable look without it :whistle:

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4 hours ago, Alex said:

Good grief - that’s gonna be a huge model in 1/32.  I just looked it up on Wikipedia; B-24 has a 34 meter wingspan...

 

I make the wingspan 104.8 cm in 1/32, or 3ft 5 in.  Length 64 cm/2 ft 2 in.

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  • 8 months later...

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:

 

 

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Sadly, most of it disappears when the fuselage halves are joined, but at least I know it's there!

 

 

DSC_0008

 

Joining the fuselage halves will be the next job - hopefully progress will be a bit quicker from now on...

 

Tom

 

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  • tomprobert changed the title to HobbyBoss' 1/32nd B-24D Liberator

Thanks for the kind words, gents.

 

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:

 

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Next up is attaching the underside of the nacelles and getting the wings finished off.

 

Regards to all, 

Tom

 

Edited by tomprobert
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Forgive me if this has been covered before, but are the sides of the nose really that slab-sided?  I always thought the D model had inwardly sloping sides.  Either way, it's great work so far Tom.  Also enjoy your gigantic builds.

 

 

 

Matt 

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Great work, it is huge plane

 

I saw the rear guners windows, are you going to Paint It in olive Green camo?

 

Or sandy Brown?

 

I think you Will use 2 ir 3 Paint bottles, at least for Paint the entire camo :coolio:

 

Waiting for more

 

 

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On 2/27/2021 at 10:18 PM, scvrobeson said:

Forgive me if this has been covered before, but are the sides of the nose really that slab-sided?  I always thought the D model had inwardly sloping sides.  Either way, it's great work so far Tom.  Also enjoy your gigantic builds.

 

 

 

Matt 

Hi Matt,

 

I'm not really the correct person to ask re. accuracy as this kind of thing doesn't bother me too much. However, although the HB nose isn't perfect, it's not too bad. We're used to seeing the 1/48th Monogram kit and using this as a bench-mark, but the nose on that kit is actually too pinched, especially in the lower quarter section, when compared to the original. The Lib was known as the 'crate the B-17 was delivered in' for a very good reason!

 

On 2/28/2021 at 3:38 PM, HB252 said:

Great work, it is huge plane

 

I saw the rear guners windows, are you going to Paint It in olive Green camo?

 

Or sandy Brown?

 

I think you Will use 2 ir 3 Paint bottles, at least for Paint the entire camo :coolio:

 

Waiting for more

 

 

This is going to be done in olive drab over neutral grey - I've been doing a bit of research and 'Satan's Angels' (as supplied in the kit decals) was still on strength until the November of '43 when it was pranged in a landing accident. At this point it would have had the large bomb group insignias on the tails and right wing, as well as the star and bar in the red surround. Should make it a bit more interesting visually - that's the hope, anyway!

 

On 3/1/2021 at 3:51 AM, brahman104 said:

Great work Tom! I completely missed you posting this build. Surely an actual kit for a change will present almost no issues!

 

Looks like you've almost got it wrapped up :)

 

Craig

Thanks, Craig. 

 

This is indeed making a pleasant change and doing wonders for the mojo. It's actually a great kit fit-wise and I've not had any issues so far - great fun! Since the last update I've finished the engine nacelles and am making a start on the tail feathers - it's flying together!

 

Tom

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