Hobby Boss 1/32nd B-24D Liberator

[tomprobert]

I've put the finishing touches to this 1/32nd scale B-24 over the Bank Holiday weekend and took advantage of some spring sunshine to take some pictures of the completed model outside in natural light. I've been working on this on and off for a year or so, and it has been the ideal project to pick up and do a bit to as and when I felt like it. 

 

This model doesn't get the best press but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. You can spend a fortune on after-market improvements if you wish, but other than some seat belts, resin wheels and gun barrels, this is how it comes in the box. The interior is crammed with detail and took a long time to complete - excellent value for your money when you compare it to the price of the other 1/32nd 'heavies' on the market. Fit was excellent throughout and the only filler used was to deal with a small gap along the underside of the nose where, I believe, I hadn't got the interior aligned as perfectly as I could.

 

The turrets, however, are a weak point of the kit. It's been well documented that the rear turret (and forward turret on the J-version) have a very visible seam right down the middle. Aftermarket replacements are currently sold out so instead I used the kit rear turret and painted the mating surfaces black before gluing and this has made the unsightly join a little less conspicuous. For some reason Hobby Boss put heavy framing on the upper turret which doesn't exist on any B-24 turret I've seen, so this was sanded off and the dome given a good polish so it now better represents the Martin turret fitted to this model of Liberator. 

 

I didn't want to risk putting the colossal amount of nose weight into this as I was using the kit's plastic landing gear (which is perfectly strong enough to cope with the weight of the 'un-weighted' model) so I made a tail strut as was so often put in place when B-24s are parked on the ground. 

 

The kit doesn't come with the most inspiring of schemes for an olive drab B-24, so I did a bit of research on 'Satan's Angels' and painted the model to represent this aircraft as it would have looked in the autumn of 1943 with the group insignia on the tail and the short-lived red surround to the stars and bars. This aircraft was actually written off in a landing accident at Lympne in Kent, when the nose wheel collapsed and it ended up in a ditch on 13th November of that year. I used Kits World national insignia as well as the Profimodeller stencil set. 

 

All in all a very enjoyable build, and if you want a large 1/32nd bomber that doesn't break the bank but still gives you plenty of detail, I thoroughly recommend this kit.

 

All the best,

Tom

Consolidated B-24D Liberator, 'Satan's Anglels' of the 328th Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Group, based at Hardwick, Suffolk, Autumn 1943.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4 by tomprobert

[aircommando130]

That's a great looking D model Tom! It does get some bad publicity, but it looks

like a Liberator when done. I have that same kit with some aftermarket parts as 

well. Want to build mine up as a Carpetbagger black liberator. 

Great job! 

 

Cheers...Ron

[Citadelgrad]

Thats a GREAT looking Liberator, Tom.  I havent seen any of the heavies built up without a fortune in aftermarket and usually MAJOR surgery.  This looks great. I still dont have the room for such a beast, but thats really a nice result.  

[LSP_Kevin]

Terrific work as always, Tom!

 

Kev

[Greif8]

Outstanding work Tom!

 

Ernest

[dennismcc]

That looks great, I was sorely tempted by this kit when it came out but I had to pass as I have nowhere to put it once it is built.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[MikeMaben]

[Martin Kubis]

Very nice and clean job....great Liberator there.

[tomprobert]

16 hours ago, aircommando130 said:

That's a great looking D model Tom! It does get some bad publicity, but it looks

like a Liberator when done. I have that same kit with some aftermarket parts as 

well. Want to build mine up as a Carpetbagger black liberator. 

Great job! 

 

Cheers...Ron

I agree Ron, there are some errors but you wouldn’t mistake it for anything else that’s for sure. And a Careptbagger would be a very interesting model - get cracking!

 

11 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

Tom,

What a wonderful  looking B-14 D Liberator. 

She looks SPLENDID. 

STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS  build.

Bravo.

 

Many thanks @MARU5137

 

10 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Thats a GREAT looking Liberator, Tom.  I havent seen any of the heavies built up without a fortune in aftermarket and usually MAJOR surgery.  This looks great. I still dont have the room for such a beast, but thats really a nice result.  

There’s loads of aftermarket available for this kit but other than the wheels, which are rubber and too big, I personally don’t think much else is needed. I usually put aftermarket seat belts in but other than that I rarely buy additional parts for kits as suddenly your budget has trebled!

 

10 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Terrific work as always, Tom!

 

Kev

Much appreciated, Kev!

 

1 hour ago, Greif8 said:

Outstanding work Tom!

 

Ernest

Thanks, Ernest. 
 

26 minutes ago, dennismcc said:

That looks great, I was sorely tempted by this kit when it came out but I had to pass as I have nowhere to put it once it is built.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Thanks, Dennis. I think, with a few tweaks, you could modify the main spar and have the wings detachable so storage would be less of a concern. 
 

22 minutes ago, MikeMaben said:

Thank you, Mike!

10 minutes ago, Martin Kubis said:

Very nice and clean job....great Liberator there.

Thanks, Martin. 

[dodgem37]

That's a nice build.  Good show, Tom.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[easixpedro]

Oh my! Where have you been hiding this?! She’s a beaut! Makes me want to pull mine out and put her on top of the to build pile…

 

Thanks for sharing!

Peter

[brahman104]

Beautiful work Tom! I'm really looking forward to having a go at this one some day. It's funny, that as much as I couldn't unsee the B-17 nose shape and found it utterly offensive, I can quite happily not even notice the wing shape on the B-24.......

 

Funny what one finds important isn't it?

 

Loving your work as always!

 

Craig

 

[Iain]

Lovely build Tom!

 

Iain

[tomprobert]

7 hours ago, brahman104 said:

Beautiful work Tom! I'm really looking forward to having a go at this one some day. It's funny, that as much as I couldn't unsee the B-17 nose shape and found it utterly offensive, I can quite happily not even notice the wing shape on the B-24.......

 

Funny what one finds important isn't it?

 

Loving your work as always!

 

Craig

 

Thanks, Craig - appreciated! 

 

I know what you mean about the wing aerofoil shape - I did consider having a go at improving it but the work involved was too much as I was building this as an alternative for the more complex projects I have on the go and therefore would risk getting bogged down. I don't find it detracts from the model too much, and for some reason I think the OD paint helps disguise it somewhat - perhaps metal schemes cause the light to reflect in a way that makes it more noticeable. Full respect to those who have the skills (and balls!) to correct it, but that was not for me!

 

Tom

[Cicciuzzo]

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