Monogram 1/48th SAAF Liberator

Obviously I love the Lancaster and Halifax being a Brit, but the B24 has to be the finest looking US bomber of all time

Looking forward to this one!

Ditto that Steve. It even looks British. 

Very interesting build Ian.

One issue with the Monogram B-24 is the seam in both the nose and rear turrets, which runs up and down where there is no panel line. Impossible to fill so rather than going through the obstacle, I will cheat and go around the obstacle by doing this, which was not uncommon in the hot sun in the Med. 



FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY 

Holy Moly. At 1/48 this is going to be a big bird.

Yes sir, I'm watching, this is going to be rather large

I have a small update on the South African Liberator. Tentative plan right now is to build "Little Queen II", from SAAF 31 Squadron. This will be a later model B-24J which came from the Consolidated plant at Fort Worth. She was then designated as a Liberator VI and transferred to the RAF. The A/C was then serialized as "Q" KG967 and put on the roster of SAAF 31 Squadron. The plane was later lost 09.30.1944 during a raid on San Benedetto where she was struck by lightning and exploded in mid-air with total loss of the crew. As mentioned before, unless you have an old Koster Turret set, the kit turrets are not useable because of the clear seam. I will be depicting the plane with tarps over the turrets which was common to reduce heat and damage on the ground. KG967 has the Emerson nose turret and since it will be covered this will be a great place to put nose weight. As luck would have it, I found a lead bird egg sinker that fit perfectly like it was made for it. I secured it with modeling clay and then glued the halves together. Even though it will be covered, I will still remove the seam because I don't want anything showing through the tarp. I started on the cockpit and got the instrument panel painted. I also added tape harnesses and buckles to the crew seats. I used Euro I Green from Vallejo for the dark "Bronze Green" that was used on late model Liberator interiors. Most RAF and SAAF Libs had the ball turret removed to save weight so I made a sheet stock piece to cover the former ball turret housing. I am going to depict the plane with the bomb bay doors shut because it would take too much time and scratch building to make this area look right so the doors have been glued on. I also started work on the waist gun station and the back 2/3 of the interior has been done in Vallejo Aluminum. That's all for now, gents!


FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY

Thanks, Pete!

Thanks, Ian.