Promodeler 1/48 B-24D Liberator

PROMODELER 1:48 B-24D LIBERATOR

Reviewer: James Garnett (jgarners@aol.com)
Kit Review submitted: November 2000

Aircraft:
The Consolidated B-24 started life as the Model 32 when it first flew at the end of 1939. It was then produced in more numbers than any other American aircraft at the time topping nearly 18,500 examples. The B-24 was extensively used in every theatre of operation during the war, including Pacific, Mediterranean and Europe. Possessing good handling, considerable structural strength and enormous versatility the type was used as a bomber, maritime reconnaissance and transport plane. Perhaps the Liberator's most famous single exploit was a daylight raid against the Romanian oilfields at Ploesti, when 174 aircraft took off, 54 were lost and only 33 were flyable. The B-24 played second fiddle to the more glamorous B-17 but they were faster, had a longer range and were able to carry a better payload. The B-24 was deployed in service by its principal users USA, Australia, Britain and Canada.

The Kit:
Released under the ProModeler banner here in the USA it is essentially the local distributed reboxing of the same kit from Revell-Monogram. It comes with bagged light grey injected molded plastic plus brass etched fret and some extra details for the higher price tag (like weighted wheels, ground crew figures, bomb loading tractor etc). As with all these ProModeler upgraded kits, you also get a decent instruction booklet which has more in it than a short novel! The brass etched contains some useful detailing stuff, including belt buckles, engine 'plumbing' straps, bomb fuses, instrument panel framework, ammunition belts and gun sights. Panel lines are raised on the kit with etched control surfaces. Clear parts cover the windscreen, turrets and greenhouse nose section - which contained an ugly seam mark that needed sanding and dipped into Krystal Kleer. The rear turret is not correct for this D version - and you can immediately pick this out in the instruction booklet (double checking reference material confirmed this fact also), there is a vacform replacement part available from an aftermarket source - sorry but maker has slipped my mind

Instructions:
Instructions are provided in the form of a booklet, those who are familiar with Promodeler kits will have a fair idea what this encompasses. It is a comprehensive booklet with pictures, assembly steps, painting guides, history and the usual stuff.

Construction:
The cockpit gets a fairly good fit out here as with most of the interior - although once the fuselage is closed you will be hard pressed seeing much of your dedicated work! The brass etched fret provides some detailing for the cockpit like the instrument panel framework (a decal is provided for instrumentation) and harnesses. I spray painted the internal body of the Liberator in interior green, you also can spend a bit of time detailing the bombardier and waist gunner stations. I spent a fair bit of time doing up my interior and it is an exercise in frustration. Only the dedicated need put in the effort! ;)

Wings attach okay to the fuselage as do the tailplanes but there are gaps at the roots of both areas that require filling, especially in front of the tailplanes. Engine cowling subassembly onto the wings also resulted in a problematic fit and is also larger than the area it attaches to. Sanding was needed to lessen the size difference and the join lines also needed attention. The exhaust vents on the rear of the engines are molded close, you may want to drill these out for better effect. I forwent adding the vacform rear turret, and instead used the one in the kit. This resulted in a nasty seam line between the two halves of the turret that needed some dedicated attention with Krystal Kleer and sanding. In hindsight, for both accuracy and ease of use, I should have got the vacform replacement. The belly plate that replaces the hole for the turret on other B-24 models was an exercise in frustration. It did not match the size of the area supplied in the kit and needed filing, filling and sanding. Be very careful when attaching the nose glazing - while I found it fitted okay, you need to bear in mind the position of the gun and take this into account before affixing. I carefully ensured the gun was placed correctly before affixing the glazing.

Other than that the rest of the construction process including the solid undercarriage (don't forget some very liberal nose weight!) went together quite well. You are also given a crew access ladder at the rear of the aircraft to help desist tail sitting.

For stores you can use the eight bombs that are provided in the kit, and as touched on above there are brass-etched parts for the fuses. Bombs are on the crude side a little, especially their fins, and could do with a bit of trimming and such by the modeler to be more realistic. The kit does allow the option to have open or closed bomb bay doors.

Versions & Decals:
The decal sheet is produced by Scalemaster and provides for two examples from August 1943, Ploesti raids. They are "Teggie Ann" from the 376th BG in upper Sand and lower neutral gray; and "Suzy Q" from the 67th BG in upper Olive Drab and lower neutral gray. The decals were of very thin quality with good but not brilliant register, and conformed to the surface very well using Decalfix solution.

Accuracy:
Matches up well against reference except for the rear gunner turret, which from my library seems to be incorrect for the D-model.

Overall:
I spent a lot of time on this model and enjoyed doing it. You need to replace the couple of inaccuracies talked about in the review above, namely rear turret, but otherwise it produces a convincing replica of the B-24D which I would happily recommend to the more experienced modeller, happy to put in a little bit of effort.

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