1/144 B-24D
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:48 pm
Hello all, I haven't posted in awhile. We have been seeking for a long time a decent looking 1/144 B-24D. Being spoiled by CafeReo's beautifully mastered B-24J's didn't help the situation. Hobby Master does make a nice looking rendition but they are expensive and would be a shame to change the markings on them as our intentions. We came across this one from RV-Model.com. They are very similar to Hobby Master but are not as detailed.
The wing is one piece and made of metal while the rest is plastic. We bought 2 at a very good price. The box from Japan arrived crushed. The models box's were damaged but the planes were ok. I guess seeing that this B-24D was painted up as a formation ship it gives the company a reason not to put any guns on it. Some other things we noticed were the prop's and hubs were on the thick side, the landing gear were too long, the nose glass sat incorrectly and a few other minor flaws. With taking all of this into consideration this model is still a beautiful base starting point for a decent looking "D" model.
Matching it up next to a CafeReo B-24J shows that is a very good contender as far as the overall shape fits in perfectly. The shape of the canopy and nose section is done correctly which is one of the most important things.
Keeping up with our 90th Bomb Group collection of aircraft we plan on putting this B-24 in the markings of the first "Shark mouthed" B-24 of the 320th's Squadron. It was named Moby Dick.
These are just a few of the pictures I took of the tear down and re-build of this plane. This last picture is of how it is up to this date. The inside of the fuselage had been thinned down where I opened up the windows, much weight was added for it to sit on its nose gear by itself, the landing gear was shortened to give it the proper stance, the glass was cleaned up some so it fit better against the body, antenna and nose masts were thinned to proper thickness and shape, the props and hubs were reshaped a bit, a few of the guns have been added and paint has been applied.
The wing is one piece and made of metal while the rest is plastic. We bought 2 at a very good price. The box from Japan arrived crushed. The models box's were damaged but the planes were ok. I guess seeing that this B-24D was painted up as a formation ship it gives the company a reason not to put any guns on it. Some other things we noticed were the prop's and hubs were on the thick side, the landing gear were too long, the nose glass sat incorrectly and a few other minor flaws. With taking all of this into consideration this model is still a beautiful base starting point for a decent looking "D" model.
Matching it up next to a CafeReo B-24J shows that is a very good contender as far as the overall shape fits in perfectly. The shape of the canopy and nose section is done correctly which is one of the most important things.
Keeping up with our 90th Bomb Group collection of aircraft we plan on putting this B-24 in the markings of the first "Shark mouthed" B-24 of the 320th's Squadron. It was named Moby Dick.
These are just a few of the pictures I took of the tear down and re-build of this plane. This last picture is of how it is up to this date. The inside of the fuselage had been thinned down where I opened up the windows, much weight was added for it to sit on its nose gear by itself, the landing gear was shortened to give it the proper stance, the glass was cleaned up some so it fit better against the body, antenna and nose masts were thinned to proper thickness and shape, the props and hubs were reshaped a bit, a few of the guns have been added and paint has been applied.
