Flyingfortress Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 This is going to St Leonard en Beauce, France to be placed in a memorial display during the 70th Anniversary of Victory Day. The model is to honor the crew of Star Valley, a B-24 that crashed near that village. The lone survivor was hidden but later captured by the Germans. The villagers erected a dedication to the plane and the crew and each year holds a memorial. The daughter of the lone survivor asked me to build a model that she and her family will hand carry to France where the model will be displayed in the village historical museum. Sadly, the wings could not be attached so as to make transport easier. The wings will be attached upon arrival. The kit itself was an absolute nightmare. Pretty much the entire kit was warped and nearly nothing fit. From 3 feet away, it looks alright. A French TV magazine will be producing a 30 minute show about the plane, the crew, the village memorial and the model. I hope I'm able to obtain a DVD of the show. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
_Spark_Vark_ Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Looks awesome! You cant even tell that the kit was a nightmare! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) I must say ol' man; your airbrushing is exquisite. No liberator has ever looked better...maybe you should dirty it up, make it look like it just got back from Ploesti . Edited April 26, 2014 by #1 Greywolf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 A really excellent Museum build. Clean & neat as it should be. My one question is how will the wings be attached, as I'm assuming that this is a permanent display. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flyingfortress Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Hi Joel, the wings will be attached as per the kits instructions. The original plan was to build the model completely, fabricate a box and have UPS ship it over. But customs became an issues and out of fear of them damaging the model, it was decided to hand carry her in a small box. Hopefully that will go without any problems. She's clean for just the reason you mentioned, it's going into a museum and the daughter of the lone survivor was very specific about the plane being clean being it was shot down on its eighth mission. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 By kit instructions, they're going to glue the surfaces together? What happens if they get glue on the painted surfaces? Do the wings fit correctly, or will there be gaps? And what about the correct and same Dihedral angles? I'm assuming that they will have an experienced plastic modeler do this for them. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flyingfortress Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 By kit instructions, they're going to glue the surfaces together? What happens if they get glue on the painted surfaces? Do the wings fit correctly, or will there be gaps? And what about the correct and same Dihedral angles? I'm assuming that they will have an experienced plastic modeler do this for them. Joel The wings are already assembled, all that's needed is inserting the "spars" into the fuselage. As for correct dihedral, I doubt anyone will be measuring. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Thanks. I really didn't know whether or not there were spars or that they had to butt glue the two surfaces. As long as the two dihedrals are close, there shouldn't be an issue, especially with the use of locating spars. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flyingfortress Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Thanks. I really didn't know whether or not there were spars or that they had to butt glue the two surfaces. As long as the two dihedrals are close, there shouldn't be an issue, especially with the use of locating spars. Joel No problem. This is the 5th Libby I've built and if this is like the others, glue won't even be needed being the fit is so tight. That being said, the daughter of the lone survivor has a son who is an engineer, a husband who was a factory machinist and one of the French villagers is a wood carver. I'm thinking they'll make it fit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lodni_k Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Very cool! My father was a B-24 crewman in the South Pacific - tail & belly gunner (he was barely 5 ft tall!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.