Beginnings of my 1:144 aircraft fleet

[Epap]

Bombs away!

[Epap]

Again:

[Epap]

After a crash:

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A view from below:

[Epap]

And the side:

[Epap]

Last one:

[aferguson]

most all those pics are of later model B-24's, Epap. Most of them J's with redesigned nose.

The pic i posted of the model is of a D, which is what the HM model represents. And to my eye, the bulge of the model pic doors matches the bulge of the HM doors.

So i am theorizing that in early b-24 models the bomb bay door protruded, as in the HM model and the model pic i posted but in later models, like your pictures show, they were reworked to be more flush. In fact the roll desktop type were very flush, to keep speed up over the terget.

The only reason i am considering a HM B-24 is to have open bomb doors, so their gaff won't bother me. But i think it's pretty poor of them to execute it that way, for those who would prefer closed bomb bay doors.

[aferguson]

Epap......does the HM B-24 come with a ball turret that fits into the belly, to represent the turret in lowered position?

[Epap]

No ball turret, I'm sorry to say.

[aferguson]

hm...well early model D's didnt have them so we'll pretend that HM's Lib is one of those (and maybe it is) since they don't even have the ball turret molded in retracted position. Early D's used a tunnel gun in the belly instead.

Here's a bit more info:

The B-24D introduced Belly turrets with the Non Manned periscopic sighted Bendix Turret like those of the early B-25 Mitchell and the B-17E Fortress. at the 287th Unit it reverted to an open hatch and tunnelgun firing downwards and to the rear.

The Late D models (somehwere around 1,000th unit)then were fitted with Manned Sperry Ball Turrets for the rest of Production.

[aferguson]

Here's an extremely impressive model of a Ploesti B-24D. Note the thinness of the bomb doors (so HM got it wrong) and the fuel tanks in the front of the bomb bay. Also the dark blue grey colour, rather than light grey of HM's (there is some discrepency as to what colour the undersides were, however).

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47751/th ... +Liberator

Note HM should have painted the open bomb doors grey, but didnt i guess so they wouldn't stand out more. Would have been nice if they'd had the waste gun positions open.

This is not a great model. It's more like a fancy painted Altaya quality model.

[aferguson]

Just made a cool discovery. CORGI - THE AVIATION ARCHIVE - 49507 is a 1/144 set featuring Doublas Bader's spitfire and Stanford Tuck's hurricane. Tuck's is Battle of Britain time period, and Bader's is just after BoB. Models look decent from pics i examined, although the canopies are painted on, not clear.

Still these are the only early war spitfires and hurricanes available in 1/144, other than model kits (or Bandai's awful mk 1 spitfire).

Typical price for this set is about $35 shipped, so about $17.50 per plane. Not bad i guess. Definitely worth it to me.

[Dauntless]

So the 1:144 Corgi Spitfire and Hurricane set, the Spit is different from the Fighting Machines in scale? I've also seen the Spitfire BF 109 set too.

The bombay doors being in the up position on the HM B-24D, yet not being the underside color is a conundrum.
At least you don't have to worry about that with the PB4Y B-24, it's all white underneath and up the sides.

[aferguson]

really the only choice on the HM Liberator is to display it with bomb doors open and paint the doors the underside colour. The Altaya B-24's are pretty good and they have the doors closed if one prefers that way.

Yes, to my surprise the spitfire and hurricane in the set i mentioned above are smaller in scale than the Fighting machines versions and are 1/144. Can't say the same for the spitfire/109 set as i haven't bothered to check it out.

[Dauntless]

Yeah, and the Altaya B-24J is surprisingly a good model too. A lot less money, though getting harder to find these days. Got both of them. They do need some minor code 3 mods though like painting some of the side windows.




Really though, models this size one has to expect some exaggeration of details, and though I think it wasn't a good idea to make these bombay doors open, it's something I can live with.
Some of those pics Epap shared, particularly the last two you can see the bombay doors clearly like they almost do bulge out, though not as much as the HM model. It's all in what you can live with for the money spent I guess.
The one to buy without having to paint those doors is the latest "Grey Ghost" release then.

I saw another 1:144 set with a B-17, P-51 and P-47, the two fighters have the painted cockpits like you described in the other set, clearly different then the Fighting Machines offerings, which didn't have the P-47 I do believe.

[Dauntless]

Hey guys, there's been a lull in 1:144 activity here lately, but while browsing ebay for 1:144 deals I came across this new F-Toys Wing Kit Collection Vol. 12 that's coming out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/F-Toys-Wing-Kit ... 1e7d055195

[aferguson]

doh! and i just bought an avioni x val and kate.

this looks like nearly a reissue of one of F Toys first series but i think some of the paint schmes might be different. My understanding was this series was supposed to be all Japanese fighter aces, so they must have changed it; or the seller is really wrong with his pictures...lol.

Edit: this is indeed a re release of the Zeroes, Kates and Vals and are indeed new paint schemes Also the green Val is a later model with different cowl and spinner, nice touch.

[Dauntless]

Some pre-orders are already available.
http://www.hlj.com/product/fts60163/Gsh
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10234780

That guy selling his has outrageous shipping and I noticed he's keeping the 10th secret plane. Be interesting to see what those are.

Yeah think I'm up for this release. The only 1:144 Zero I have is the X-Plus, so that's ok.
The later model Val looks cool.

Still would like the Avioni X Val and Kate though.

[aferguson]

when i first heard about this series, there was supposed to be a total of 12 planes. So i think there is a special of each one. No idea what schemes have been chosen. Unless i'm wrong, the zero's are a type 21, type 22 and type 52; they're all different versions anyway.

I'm going to sell my Avioni Val and Kate, as long as i can recover my money. The F toys ones will be nearly as good, to my old eyes anyway...lol.

[Dauntless]

I hope there's twelve, that'd be an outstanding value. Three different Zero variants is good. I forgot I have a few 21stC Zeroes too, but compared to others they're just background planes.

You should be able to get your $ back on those Avioni X planes. Most of what I see on ebay the sellers are on crack if they think those prices will fly.

I dunno, just bought a 1:72 Skymax Val from Aikens for $38. The Tan one is getting thin out there in retail land so I figured better get one before there's none available. Amazingly beautiful they are.

[aferguson]

woohoo...i just discovered that Konami had made a UFO and Interceptor a few years ago. They are about 1/144 scale and i just bought the pair for a 'good' price of about $55 shipped. Not bad considering the UFO's alone go for about $50 now and a good price on an Interceptor is $25. Loved that show when i was a kid.

[cjg476]

Well I picked up 3 corgis. B-29 esso express, b-17 sentimental journey and b-17 bit o lace. I like the b-29, it's neat and something different. The b-17s arent perfect but are a welcome addition. Got all three for thirty a piece.

[jlspec]

Antbody know anything about Mononofu Boford Sora Vintage Aircraft? I got an e-mail from an e-bay vendor that had these. Not sure of the scale but they had both WWI and WWII planes

[[CAT]CplSlade]

Looking at the length of the P-51 given in one of the ebay listings they seem to be about 1/128th scale, more or less.

[Epap]

And they are rather bad when it comes to the shape of the planes, as well.