In Part I of this article I discussed the building of a 1/48 Spitfire and a 1/72 Defiant which had been commissioned by a friend. In Part II, I will conclude with the construction of a Liberator GR. VI, again for the same friend but as a gift for another uncle. The uncle was a gunner with 111 Operational Training Unit (RAF) Coastal Command, in the World War II. The goal, therefore, was to recreate one of the airplanes that he would have flown during his time in the service. It was a goal that would both enjoyable and painful to achieve.

The kit to be used in this project would be the 1/72 Academy B-24J Liberator. The Liberator GR. VI is essentially a B-24J with an extendible radar in place of the belly turret. The kit features recessed panel lines, basic interior details in the cockpit, bomb bay, and waist positions, and comes in a grey plastic. While basically a good all round kit, there is some flash to deal with and the odd minor fit problem, though neither pose too great a hazard. The fuselage comes in four pieces; left and right main body and left and right nose sections. Follow the kit instructions and glue up each complete left and right side before sealing up the fuselage halves. Because this kit is one in a series of B-24 kits, it was missing some parts to do a Coastal Command aircraft. Firstly there are no pitot tubes included, contrary to the box art, and there is no radar dome. Fortunately, I was able to acquire the section of sprue for the PB4Y-1 Liberator which contained both of the pieces I needed; problem solved. From there, the kit was built straight out of the box.

As mentioned, there are couple of minor fit problems. The plug which contains the radar dome does not fit snugly into the fuselage bottom, leaving a rather large gap to be filled. The waist gun mounts, which are assembled with the interior floor, do not line up evenly with their corresponding notches in the waist windows. The forward and rear turrets are molded in two clear plastic halves, leaving a seam line visible when completed, though this can be somewhat camouflaged with paint. Other parts went together well, like the wings which when built up essentially "snapped" into place.

With the kit built up, agony settled in. I had spent a fair bit of time researching this project so that I could reproduce a model faithful to the original. My digging revealed to me that Liberators which served with Coastal Command wore at least three distinctly different paint jobs, but I could not find a sources that said 111 OTU aircraft wore a particular one. After much soul searching and advice from others, I went with white sides and undersides, and RAF Ocean Grey on top, both colors coming from the MM line of paints. The reasons for this decision are several, but I won’t go into detail here. Let’s say I believed it to be the "best fit" and anyone who wants further information on it can contact me directly. The decals were bits from various sources, while I made the aircraft letter codes and serials on my laser printer.

As for the base, I used the same technique as I did in Part I of this series. You may note that in the photos, the model is resting on its tail. As the instructions state, you do need to include nose weight to keep the aircraft on its gear. My model was going to be glued down to the base on delivery so I didn’t bother with the ballast.

This was an enjoyable build for me, taking about 39 hours to complete (I never said I was fast). I think, though, that I enjoyed the research I did more than the actual building of the model. The more I read, the more I discovered, like why some Liberator GR. VI aircraft were bare metal, and why others appear to have no pitot tubes. I would recommend doing a "period" piece if only to get into the books and get the old brain cells working. As for the gentleman for whom this kit was destined for, well I am told that when he received "his" airplane, his "eyes lit up like a child with a new puppy." It’s nice to know that a hobby in which I derive pleasure from has made someone else equally happy.

Academy 1/72 B-24J Liberator

Aero Master RAF Late War Fighter Roundels #48-244

EnviroTex Lite

Flecto Varathane Elite: Diamond Wood Stain

Massimo