Exhausted Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) And I wanted to know if the main landing gear tires were flush with the wing or if they protruded evenly with the bump plate to the rear or the tire. If anyone has a reference on this I would greatly appreciate it so I can get on with the bird accurately. So far I have only found Alan Purusram's B-24J as a reference, but a reference of an actual plane, or at least some dimensions on how much it should stick out would greatly assist me. Also, I would like to know about the gear doors. It looks like Alan just used the box doors and did no modification on them. If this is correct then great, but if now then I would like to see the real ones too. Edited April 9, 2012 by Exhausted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I don't have precise measurements, but the wheels did protrude slightly from the wing..the fairing was an effort to streamline things a bit. I've read that Mr. Davis, who came up with the Liberator's signature low-drag airfoil, was horrified by the landing gear arrangements, which negated much of the wing's advantage. Here's a nice pic that gives a good idea of what the gear looks like in the "up" position. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Exhausted Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Nice, thanks. I see there are no gear doors on the nacelles, but on Alan's models he has the doors bent slightly down as the reach the tire. Since I can't make those quite out on the B+W photo you shared, do you have any other references? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 The tire/wheel did stand proud of the lower surface, hence the fairing aft of it. Not sure what you mean about the doors. The strut doors lie flat with the surface of the wing, and there are no doors covering the slots in the nacelle. That last photo is pretty clear from what I can see... Note the red painted fuel tank access points under the wing roots as well. Nice pic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Factory fresh J-1-FO W/ 3pc lower nose and enclosed waist , still retaining full S curve yet no integral bomb scans of the J-10-FO/DT. Compare to illustration discussed last week and the faults should be obvious. Though partially obstructed, the J would be expected to have the taller dome top turret which the NMF H-FO lacked in their A-3D of early GFE. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 (edited) Note factory fresh how window arrangements differ from combat configurations starting circa 6-8 mos earlier and prevalent in early combat H series thru modification programs home and abroard. This demonstrates how the block method limitations as an ID method must be explained in a larger logistical context to be meaningful and presented without confusion. Edited April 10, 2012 by Phil marchese Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Exhausted Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 I'm making a D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 You will need to configure the cheek guns and pitot tube location for nearly all combat D deployed overseas after Halverson and Berenton Detachments in the early months of 1942. Begining with the 98 Bg in June and BOLERO the cheek guns required the relocation of the pitot mast. I don t recall any issue of the Revell kit so configured. The subject of the Revell kit was a Halverson Project plane. I was addressing the picture. Excuse the hijacking. Of course the D have a whole other set of theater specific mods that also precede factory block changes by considerable amounts of time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Exhausted Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 (edited) I'm doing the stock decal option of the 328th BS out of Hardwick in 1943. I'm not all that serious of a history buff to get every window just right, as long as it falls within a D within 6 months either way of the time period. But what are the cheek gun and pitot tube modifications that you mean? WWII was just so short so anything other then radical change doesn't really stand out to me. Thanks everyone for your help so far. I would like to keep this thread active so anyone with further pictures can post the areas of interest for my project. Thanks community!!! Edited April 10, 2012 by Exhausted Quote Link to post Share on other sites
don f Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Returning back the original topic, this model is almost correct. The covers attached to the struts should be flush with surface of the lower when the gear is retracted. The tires and wheels did not retract completely into the wing. The wheels and tires protruded from the wing about the same height as the large fairing behind the MLG wheel well. If you have FAOW #54: B-24 Liberator, pages 4 & 5 have a color image of the B-24J "All American" taken in flight from about the 11:00 level position in reference to "All American". The aircraft is banking away from the photographer providing a clear view of the underside of the wings. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 The kit has a snap up locking trap in the wing which works well and aligns the doors flush and the wells properly. So the mains should be built per instructions. The nose wheel has a slight snap mold in the counterbalance yet the male/female doors were a Revell invention to keep the wheel from retracting. If you. Omits all nose wheel parts substitute a straight bi-sect score in a single sheet to cover the wheel well. The pitots rais up and behind the the navigator's windows. The port cheek is a through a port in a window fore the nav window reacihing the nose framing. Straboard gun is in the nose framing. The raised pitot mast give the D series the Hookem' horns" appearance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Not sure how Revell instructs the installation of the topturret in your issue. It was never designed to trap. In the turret opening but rather the rings were to trap on cams inside the fus. Walls below the turret. A further improvement is to cut the clear ring lip ~ mm above to separate the dome. Cement the clear ring to the turret base and trap this on the cams. The pinions, guns and can be added late in assembly. The base of the now separate dome can be sanded to reduce the hight but must still clear the pinions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B24RESEARCHER Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Don, An FYI for you about "Dragon...". As a 5AF aircraft it underwent the appropriate HAD (Hawaiian Air Depot) belly turret mod and the ball was removed, replaced by the hand-held twin .50cal mounting. If you go to this link http://www.b24bestweb.com/dragonandhistail3.htm and look directly below the fuselage insignia you will see the windows (dark strip) that were part of this mod. Sorry for the off-topic post, but your photo of the model reminded me of this common error and I thought I'd clarify it with some visible evidence. Alan Griffith Copyrighted forever under no law known to man but claimed nonetheless....wink wink nudge nudge Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 If you go to the latter part of the C-109 String there is a good example of a NWA B-24D cheeck gun mod used only port side. This window is very common onD-1 thru. D-20 from San Diego that did not get routed thru. Fort Worth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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