B-24 Rivet line drawings, etc?

[fubar57]

I am planning on building one of OD planes from the Ililad Design decal sheet, "Camouflaged B-29's". It really is a beautiful sheet, I hope the decals work as good as they look. I like the like the tonal variation you can create with OD, and colors like yellow and red really pop against OD too. I am leaning towards either "Old Battler" or "Hump Happy Pappy" but only time will tell. I have attached a picture of the instruction sheet for those decals to give you an idea of what the planes look like.

Built this one using the Monogram 1:48 B-29 kit. I don't know how many times I threatened to turn it into landfill due to fit issues.

 

[ThomasP]

Be sure to see if it glides well before you trash it.

 

[jgreiner]

It's great that you have a display case, I build them, take some pictures and then pack them up in totes or specially made boxes. I pulll them out for contests and then pack them away again. At least I keep the dust off of them this way.
I agree, Monogram and their bombers during the 1970's and 80's were such good times. Like you I have a stash, three B-17's (one is the HK Models), no B-24's I have the new B-24J by Hobby Boss on pre-order from Andy's Hobby. He previewed it yesterday on his Youtube Channel Andy Previews Hobby Boss 1/48 B-24J . I love the B-24 so as soon as I finished my build of "The Squaw/Sleepy" I started on "The Blue Streak" and I wouldn't be surprised if I tore into this J kit right after to build "Sunshine".
I have a hard time following on this particular site, but I would love to follow your build of your B-29 when you begin. It is such a good kit except for the canopy fit. I have posted a couple pictures of "The Squaw/Sleepy". I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, but have hopes to improve with "The Blue Streak" build.

Man, that's NICE!!! Love the desert "pink". Do tell what you used. Such a difficult color to replicate and from the pics, it looks outstanding!
Waaaaait a doggone minute......Hobby Boss is releasing a 1/48 B-24J? Jeez Louise.....depending on how stupid the price will be (and it'll probably be pretty stupid), I'll still build my Monogram kits I have on hand and then see about spending too much on that kit!

It might be a few months before I start the B-29 actually. I have 5 kits right now "in progress" and 4 more next in line BUT I could move the B-29 ahead of them. I agree about the canopy fit and do remember that causing me to create some new words decades ago but my skill set has also improved a ton since then so I'm pretty confident I can make it work. Hell, you know darn well after building any of the Monogram 4 (or 2) engine kits from that era, you get pretty damn good at conquering shitty fit! Plus, those oversized rivets on the B-29 main canopy (the kit) are destined to get sanded off. That alone should improve the fit!

Again.....gorgeous builds and thank you for sharing the pics!!

*EDIT* Just watched the preview vid for the HB B-24J. Lots of good AND bad things as far as I'm concerned.
Plusses - A roof to the bomb bay. The Monogram kit is *very* wrong in pretty much every way regarding the bomb bay. I scratch built a roof to hide the wing spar(s) which helped a LOT.
I believe it has posable flaps?
Nice BUT not 100% accurate panel lines and rivets. While they DO look good, just because they're there doesn't mean they're correct.....which they're not.
Main wheel bays are a nice touch. The Monogram wheel bays are not that great but then again, who in the hell sees them?!
Overall, the interior looks pretty nice (oxygen bottles and overall details) but again........you simply do NOT see 90% of it once you glue the fuselage halves together so in reality, the 50 yr old Monogram kit would pass the test.

Minuses - Turret clear parts. Yeah, the old, moldy Monogram turrets are the same. Molded in halves, leaving a seam that's impossible to hide. I made mine look like a frame. Only a B-24 purist would notice but here we are in 2024 and Hobby Boss STILL molds them in halves? You gotta be freaking kidding me.
Rubber wheels.... Yeah.....'nuff said. NOT a fan and whilst I'm ranting, Andy seems like a genuinely nice guy but for the love of gawd......get someone who KNOWS aircraft and particularly the B-24 to do an "in box" review. He failed to show the tread pattern on the tires. I'd imagine they're wrong, but yeah.....
He also painfully "fluffs" over parts, etc. that he simply has no idea what they are. Maybe it's just late and I'm grumpy but c'mon man.....

Overall, I honestly think I'll pass. With a little extra work (scribing, riveting and doing a roof for the bomb bay) I really don't see this kit being a helluva lot better than the 50+ yr old Monogram kit. Kinda disappointing actually.....

Birdman, what you say??

So $150 retail and $120 preorder price. Man, I don't know...

 

[luftwaffe.birdman]

Man, that's NICE!!! Love the desert "pink". Do tell what you used. Such a difficult color to replicate and from the pics, it looks outstanding!
Waaaaait a doggone minute......Hobby Boss is releasing a 1/48 B-24J? Jeez Louise.....depending on how stupid the price will be (and it'll probably be pretty stupid), I'll still build my Monogram kits I have on hand and then see about spending too much on that kit!

It might be a few months before I start the B-29 actually. I have 5 kits right now "in progress" and 4 more next in line BUT I could move the B-29 ahead of them. I agree about the canopy fit and do remember that causing me to create some new words decades ago but my skill set has also improved a ton since then so I'm pretty confident I can make it work. Hell, you know darn well after building any of the Monogram 4 (or 2) engine kits from that era, you get pretty damn good at conquering shitty fit! Plus, those oversized rivets on the B-29 main canopy (the kit) are destined to get sanded off. That alone should improve the fit!

Again.....gorgeous builds and thank you for sharing the pics!!

*EDIT* Just watched the preview vid for the HB B-24J. Lots of good AND bad things as far as I'm concerned.
Plusses - A roof to the bomb bay. The Monogram kit is *very* wrong in pretty much every way regarding the bomb bay. I scratch built a roof to hide the wing spar(s) which helped a LOT.
I believe it has posable flaps?
Nice BUT not 100% accurate panel lines and rivets. While they DO look good, just because they're there doesn't mean they're correct.....which they're not.
Main wheel bays are a nice touch. The Monogram wheel bays are not that great but then again, who in the hell sees them?!
Overall, the interior looks pretty nice (oxygen bottles and overall details) but again........you simply do NOT see 90% of it once you glue the fuselage halves together so in reality, the 50 yr old Monogram kit would pass the test.

Minuses - Turret clear parts. Yeah, the old, moldy Monogram turrets are the same. Molded in halves, leaving a seam that's impossible to hide. I made mine look like a frame. Only a B-24 purist would notice but here we are in 2024 and Hobby Boss STILL molds them in halves? You gotta be freaking kidding me.
Rubber wheels.... Yeah.....'nuff said. NOT a fan and whilst I'm ranting, Andy seems like a genuinely nice guy but for the love of gawd......get someone who KNOWS aircraft and particularly the B-24 to do an "in box" review. He failed to show the tread pattern on the tires. I'd imagine they're wrong, but yeah.....
He also painfully "fluffs" over parts, etc. that he simply has no idea what they are. Maybe it's just late and I'm grumpy but c'mon man.....

Overall, I honestly think I'll pass. With a little extra work (scribing, riveting and doing a roof for the bomb bay) I really don't see this kit being a helluva lot better than the 50+ yr old Monogram kit. Kinda disappointing actually.....

Birdman, what you say??

So $150 retail and $120 preorder price. Man, I don't know...

Thanks for the kind words on my B-24D "The Squaw/Sleepy". I worked a lot on trying to get the right color. I did trial sprayouts and have inserted a picture of the preliminary trials. In the end I used a mix of about 60/40-70/30 of Tamiya Lacquer LP30 (LIght Sand) and Mr.Hobby/Mr.Color Lacquer C112 (Character Flesh - which is very pink). I eyeballed the mix ratios so that every mix was a little different to give me variation throughout the painting process. I had fun with it for sure.

I watched the video and like you was both happy and disappointed. Not being a 100% rivet counter I like the rivets and panel lines, and will save me many hours of work. It looks like they did a pretty good job with the general shape and seem to have corrected the wing issue they had with their 1/32 kit. I was disappointed with the molding of the turrets, but like that they at least have an interior. You would think with the molding technology they would have done better. I think Monogram to this day did some of the best one piece engine fronts and think that the Hobby Boss engines look bad. I also think they got the Nacelle fronts wrong but they are not terrible. Lastly, why in the hell would you put rubber wheels on a model. Luckily I have a very very nice set of resin wheels from Armory Models.

I like the interior of the kit, I enjoy building that up and like you think the Bomb Bay is a very nice improvement as are it appears the Bomb Bay Doors. I also like the full wheel wells as I took the time to put a resin kit in the wheel wells of both my latest B-24 builds. (Yeah I know who sees them right?)

So in the end I put in my pre-order with Andy and am anxiously awaiting delivery. I sold my last Monogram B-24J to help offset the cost and will make the most of the Hobby Boss kit. Like all its not perfect but it will be different and probably my last B-24 unless someone says commission. I have 3 - B-17 and B-25's, 2 - B-29's, 1 - B-26 Marauder on Pre-Order, 1 - A/B-26, 2 - A20's, 1 - He177 Grief.... No sense going on...I have more kits than I will build and wanted to try the new molding of the B-24. By the way over on Scalemates it is posted that the Hobby Boss has already started on the B-24D version. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to tell someone to spend about half as much and enjoy the Monogram kit. If you keep in touch and start another Monogram Kit let me know. I 3D print an interior for the rear turret. It actually fits pretty good and since you cut the bottom off to get it to fit you don't have to intall the turret with the tail surface. Which makes it easier to paint both the turret and the plane. I will print you up a couple sets and you can put a full interior at least in the rear turret.

I do hope you keep in touch, I really would like to follow your build of the B-29. I do my build blogs over on a site called iModeler. If you like you can review both my B-24 builds there by following the two links.

1/48th Monogram "The Blue Streak" Build

1/48th Monogram "Sleepy/The Squaw" Build

Hope to see you over there, and follow your build here.

 

[Airframes]

Nice !
I like that turret interior. I'm just hoping that the Koster turret kit eventually arrives, having been wrongly addressed and returned (from the UK) to the seller in the US.

 

[Wurger]

 

[jgreiner]

Egads! 3-D printing!!! You're a FAR better (and brave) man than I.
The city airport in my town has a project for young (actually old too) people to get involved in aviation and specifically building/repairing aircraft. It's pretty amazing to see. Some VERY talented craftsmen at work there. One of the things they're starting to do is 3-D print various parts, etc. I'm just a simple guy I guess because that stuff is WAY above my pay grade! If you're even remotely handy with one of those contraptions, we need to talk....lol