Academy 1/72nd B-24D Liberator MTO

Started by Chuck A. Villanueva · 72 · 1 year ago
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    George R Blair Jr said 2 years, 10 months ago:

    Everything is coming along nicely, Chuck (@uscusn). Great job painting the propeller tips without getting yellow over-spray on the rest of the prop. I have gotten the tip color on the rest of the prop so many times that I usually cover the entire prop with tape before I paint the tips.

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    Yann Bertholet said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Very nice Chuck (@uscusn). The bomb bay is very well done and your propellers look beautiful. I'm usually doing the other way around: painting the full piece in yellow and masking the tip before applying the black coat. But your way is much better. By doing this, you can see were will stop the black and start the yellow. Will try next project.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks Spiros, not the greatest set of props from the kit, but they will do.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks John, slowly but surely. More details to add.

    Erik, a bit more seam work than expected, Academy kits tend to fit well, but lots of parts that are not quite a good fit and needs some attention.

    George, props are usually an impulse or I have left over paint and I have props that need to be painted, so usually if I am working on another project and airbrushing black, I use the leftover paint to paint any props need to be painted. Then paint the tips later. Or if I have yellow in the brush I paint the tips and mask them off and paint the black. It depends on the moment.

    Thanks Yann, the doors have some minor alignment issues, seems like the Hase may fit a bit better.

    On the props, if I am in a situation when I have yellow in the airbrush, I will check what projects I have going that need the tips painted yellow on the props. Some may be painted black already or still virgin on the sprue not painted yet. Those I paint the prop blades halfway down yellow and then mask them off to paint black. For those already black, I mask those off and paint the tips yellow.

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    Colin Gomez said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Looking good, Chuck. I am just catching up on this build, which I somehow missed before. I like Academy kits for their normally good fit and simple engineering. You seem to be getting the most out of the kit so far with careful painting and assembly. I did the Academy P-38J in 1/48 some time ago and had no alignment issues with the twin boom , in spite the complexity of the design (and the gripes most have with the Hasegawa version). All-in-all a really fun build. As for the B-24, I have done some work on the Monogram B-24D, mainly super detailing the pit. That's another simple kit to build, for which Monogram gives you some surprisingly nice interior detail OOB. I have some quality after market decals for "The Goon". I am at the same stage with their B-17 and B-26 as well, with more ambition than time to get them done these days. Your B-24 build will be some real inspiration for me. We need to see more of the four engine heavies on this site, such handsome beasts and historically important types.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks Colin, it has been well over 30 years building any B-24 and that would be the Monogram 48th scale "J" as a teenager. The original boxing with the Shep Paine pamphlet , bomb trailer, ground crew, real cool kit with the usual challenges. In regard to the Academy P-38, I have built 2 of them the M and E variants, I also did not have any issues with the tail booms. On the Hase P-38, it is not necessarily the alignment, it just the fit is not very good. Though the Academy did require some clean up, the Hase required much more once you had the booms in place. Looking forward to your B-24D project. i am in the middle of a pair of Invaders, one from ICM and the other is the Monogram "B" gun nose version, I find the Monogram despite it's shape issues (which I don't care) a bit more fun to work on than the newer ICM kit, and no not bagging on it, it's a good kit with some issues of it's own in accuracy.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Now to work on the twin tails.

    The horizontal stab are upper and lower halves which as an assembly will be attached at the rear of the fuselage.

    Next the oval shaped rudders are trimmed. They molded as a single piece. Which makes them a bit heavy and may counter act the weight in the nose. Then attached to each side of the horizontal stab. Fit is good here just careful that they set at 90 degrees when the cement sets up.

    Then the tail assy is attached to the rear fuselage. I noticed a bit of a gap on each side where the lower portion of the stabilator should sit flushed up against the side.

    To remedy this I cut some scrap plastic to create a spreader bar and after a test fit place it within the interior of the fuselage to spread that portion of the fuselage out to meet and sit flush against the lower stab to close that gap.

    [pic 9]

    Next up, some lower details,

    More to follow.

    1 additional image. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    It's really great how it comes together, my friend @uscusn!
    Love what you did with the tailplanes underside gap.

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Hoo boy, talk about a triumph of tenacity and stubbornness over plastic! I had one of these a few years back and finally just said fuggedaboudit. It looks like you're going to come to a far different and better conclusion.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    What a nice solution, Chuck @uscusn
    Plastic can be stubborn but this time you won.
    Comes together real nice.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    This just shows the need to test fit before you commit to glue, even on a kit from a well-known manufacturer. Great save on the tail, Chuck (@uscusn). Looking forward to the paint and decals.

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    John Healy said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    You’re doing great on this, Chuck.

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    Yann Bertholet said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Very nice progress Chuck @uscusn. I like the spreader solution, and I keep it mind if I encountered the same problems. Looking forward new progress.

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    Erik Gjørup said 2 years, 9 months ago:

    Even in 1/72 it is a large kite. Beginning to look like a Liberator.

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    capt. R said 2 years, 8 months ago:

    @uscusn I read your topic carefully. Very interesting, great build! I wish to build this plane in the future. Unfortunetly don't find aftermarket decals of B-24D 31 squadron RAAF or B24-J 304 Bomberw Wing. There are fantastic story of one plane:

    https://www.historiaposzukaj.pl/wiedza,wydarzenia,858,liberator_w_gorcach.html

    Most of the crew was rescued by partisans. Today in the place where plane crashed there is monument with pieces of original plane.