1/144 B-24J Tubarao 491st BG

[dirkpitt289]

I found this Academy minicraft B-24j Liberator at a modeling show this weekend for a whopping $2.50. Its one of many 1/144 scale models I've recently added to my stash and now the first to be built.

I decided to make it a little different then the others I've seen by making it into the Assembly ship Tubarao (The third Assembly ship) of the 491st Bomb Group. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to use the decals from the kit or paint them on. From what i can tell the Tubarao had a few more stripes on the fuselage section then this kit has. Of course the only actual pictures I've found are of the nose. I can find nothing of the rest of the aircraft other then drawings and concepts. If I do decide to go that way I can see this project stalling midway as other project start dates approach. The other issue will of course be making the mouth and name for the nose. Any input as to the best method for me to approach this is welcome.

The Model

The Real Tubarao

Computer generated concept

I started by slapping on some interior color. Right off the bat I went rogue. The directions called for black and I went with Interior Green. What a rebel I am.

After the paint dried I assembled the fuselage and wings.

before i put together the fuselage I stuffed the nose full of plumbers putty. It seems to be enough but you never know. I have bad luck when it comes to adding nose weight.

Wings in place

More craziness. I decided to cut the engine cowl flaps

Applying the aluminum paint.

That's it for now. Time to check on my Red Sox. Till next time.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Tony Hill]

Very nice start. I always liked the unconventional look of the B24.

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Dirk. I think I might have a colour photo, and a profile of this kite. If I haven't posted anything within the next couple of days, remind me!

 

[Wayne Little]

Great work Dirk, looks like your going to have some fun with that nose art.

There is a book around all about Assembly Ships, Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth, may help if you can get it.

Atelier Kecay: Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Great work Dirk, looks like your going to have some fun with that nose art.

There is a book around all about Assembly Ships, Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth, may help if you can get it.

Atelier Kecay: Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth

I think I've seen that book but it runs somewhere around $80.
Then again with my fascination with the subject I should probably invest in it. I have a B-17 in the stash which I plan to turn into either the Spotted Cow or Birmingham Blitzkrieg. I also purchased the B-24 kit Minirva.

 

[javlin]

Very interesting paint scheme Dirk should look neat when finished.Cheers

 

[T Bolt]

Nice work Dirk! I never could work in that small a scale.

 

[Airframes]

Here you go - knewIi had a pic of it. This is from Roger Freeman's 'Mighty Eighth in Colour.'

 

[dirkpitt289]

Time to get back to Tubarao. After I let it sufficiently dry (Silver seems to take longer to fully cure) and after reading about the decals I decided to toss them out and paint them on.

Masked off the areas I don't want to have painted

Yellow applied

Masks in place

Applied Testors Beret Green

Next I turned to the 4 Pratt Whitney R-1830 turbo supercharger radial engines

Unmasking

Engines in place

Thanks for looking.

 

[T Bolt]

Some pretty intensive masking there Dirk. Looks great!

 

[Wayne Little]

Impressed Dirk..Bl**dy good work on the masking job mate!

 

[Airframes]

Excellent job Dirk, very well done!

 

[B-17engineer]

Nice job Dirk...

 

[Wildcat]

Great stuff Dirk!

 

[Lucke.stz]

Really nice ! I´m curious about the history of this aricraft, tubarão is shark in portuguese...

Great work DirK

 

[Peebs]

Hey Dirk, nice job so far...

the 'computer generated concept' pic is awesome.... something you did yourself??

cheers
pete

 

[dirkpitt289]

Hey Dirk, nice job so far...

the 'computer generated concept' pic is awesome.... something you did yourself??

cheers
pete

Pete, no I'm not that skilled to make something like that myself. I found this picture and many others on a forum somewhere when I was researching the Assembly ships. If you need the link let me know and I will try to find it for you. I also copied all the photos for future reference should I not be able to find the site again so if there is a specific aircraft you are looking for I night have it. Original photos of these birds are rather hard to come by.

 

[dirkpitt289]

After a long hiatus I've finally got myself to a place where I can get back to this one.

Here are the decals. I found out that another company MPM build a Profile series which was a kit and 3 different options for the finish. One was a B-24 with the Tubarao scheme. I gave the decals to a friend and he played with the colors a bit and reduced them down to the correct size.

More to come.

Thanks for looking

 

[JohnAnthony]

Well now there's a nifty little build! I love the idea of finding a throw-away kit for dirt cheap and making something beautiful out of it. That looks great, kudos!