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Consolidated B-24 Liberator Question, Nose Gear Doors


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I have both the Monogram B-24D and the B-24J in 1/48 scale.  The instructions on either one are not clear as to weather the nose gear doors retract up into the fuselage or are on the outside of the fuselage when the  nose gear is down.  I have two of the Squadron Signal B-24 books but didn't see anything about this.  I have two questions.

 

Does the B-24D nose gear go on the outside or inside?

 

Does the B-24J nose gear go on the outside or inside?

 

Thank You in advance.

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Short answer: D-model opened inward, H-model and later opened outward.  As I recall, they had to redesign the nosewheel doors to accommodate the ammo feeds for the nose turret. 

 

As is normal with all things B-24, it's not quite that simple.  There was a "transitional phase" when there were some turret-nose Liberators that still had inward-opening doors. 

 

SN

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10 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

Not quite, the options present the inner or outer door skin, which also means a colour option. That's why I need to know.

The revell of germany instructions seem to show the doors sliding up, with the interior green showing. 
image.thumb.png.5ddc3e2eb11c238e8fc77dfbdab4ce42.png
 

sean

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Here are some photos of the nosewheel well of the sole surviving B-24D, the "Strawberry B***h" at the USAF Museum (taken by Karl Hauffe, I believe sometime in the early 1980s.)  

 

The first shows the open nosegear door at the bottom of the photo (the object with two rows of holes.)  The doors lifted up and then moved over to the side, rather than being a simple hinge.  The whole area appears to be painted mostly Zinc Chromate Yellow, but I suspect this may have been sprayed on during her 1959 refurbishment.  I suspect the area was originally mostly unpainted aluminum with some parts painted Dull Dark Green (you can see that color visible on many parts.)

 

The next shot is looking aft.  That's the aft end of the door on the right, with the nosewheel on the left.

 

The last is looking forward from the bomb bay.  The noswheel well is visible at the top of the photo. 

 

I'm also including an interesting photo I found online.  There were two completely different types of nosewheel door.  You can see the earlier inward-opening type on the far left, while the rest are the later outward-opening type.

 

Cheers!

 

Steve

 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/5FZ9t3t.jpg[/img]

Pic-16.jpg

Pic-21.jpg

Pic-22.jpg

B-24_Nose_Gear_Doors-724x388.jpg

Edited by Steve N
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