Problem with Revell 1:48 B24. Any suggestions please?

No suggestions, but with the one side being wayyyyyyyy to short and the panel lines being off, I'd send that pic to Revell in a heartbeat and see what happens.......

You solution will probably be the way out, and fixing the other issues as you put it in and fill/sand/rescribe.  Not good quality control on the molds for that one.

Remove ALL the alignment pins on both sides of the kit. Align everything up and apply tape is a few spots to hold the kit in an aligned state. Then, carefully use extra thin glue to bond the halves. Make sure you DON'T let the glue hit the tape. Skip those spots till it's dry, then remove the tape and do those areas. Your kit will align very well and you will be happier with the results. You don't need those pins to put it together. Many times they cause more problems anyway. Just do away with them.

BK

Wow the parts are just too way off. I agree with GH and contact Revell and see what they say.

The only other way would be to carefully cut following one of the raised panel lines to shorten just a tad the length of the section which is quite a tedious surgery.

JohnnyK

 

I started building the 1:48 Revell B24 and noticed an alignment issue with the two fuselage halves at the astrodome frame. The frames of the astrodome do not align by a lot! Does anyone have a suggestion for fixing this? I think that I will need to cut the entire frame off and fabricate a new frame.

 

 

 

 

If what I see is actually the way it is, then I have seen this before and corrected it by that means. Sometimes you just have to aligne and fit in sections, taping it in areas that don't want to co-operate, then glue when the fit is proper.

Welders do "spot welds" when assembling, meaning they place a weld, then move on a short distance and place another, progressing along until the unit is together and fitting well. Then they go around and complete the welding process, between the spot welds.

You can do the same once the fit is good, place spots of glue joints along the seam lines, let it sit to cure, come back to remove the tape and complete the glue process.

Hope it makes sense to you, and that it may help. Good luck with it.

Patrick

Patrick and BK

 viewing the picture on my phone which has a small screen and what I see is that the alignment at the front windshield area looks correct but the right side looks to be a tad longer on the top. If that is the  case, i don't think removing the pins will help. Looks like the bottom of the fuse lines up correctly which makes my suggestion of shortening the area not good. Look where the nose turret sits and it looks even to me.

Thanks for the suggestions. The entire fuselage is in alaignment except at the very front, and only on the top. Look at the two following photos. In the top photo, the cockpit opening and the top turret opening are in alaignment. The astrodome opening is out of alaignment.  the second photo is a picture of the front landing gear opening. That opening is in alaignment but the astrodome opening is out of wack. Something happened to the mold at the top front of the fuselage. I will send photos to Revell. They have always come through for me. Yikes, this kit has a LOT of flash. The worst I have ever seen. Revell needs some new molds.

plasticjunkie

Patrick and BK

 

 viewing the picture on my phone which has a small screen and what I see is that the alignment at the front windshield area looks correct but the right side looks to be a tad longer on the top. If that is the  case, i don't think removing the pins will help. Looks like the bottom of the fuse lines up correctly which makes my suggestion of shortening the area not good. Look where the nose turret sits and it looks even to me.

 

plasticjunkie

Patrick and BK

 

 viewing the picture on my phone which has a small screen and what I see is that the alignment at the front windshield area looks correct but the right side looks to be a tad longer on the top. If that is the  case, i don't think removing the pins will help. Looks like the bottom of the fuse lines up correctly which makes my suggestion of shortening the area not good. Look where the nose turret sits and it looks even to me.

 

plasticjunkie

Patrick and BK

 

 viewing the picture on my phone which has a small screen and what I see is that the alignment at the front windshield area looks correct but the right side looks to be a tad longer on the top. If that is the  case, i don't think removing the pins will help. Looks like the bottom of the fuse lines up correctly which makes my suggestion of shortening the area not good. Look where the nose turret sits and it looks even to me.

 

I'll be curious to see what R/M says, if anything. One thing is certain, the customers shouldn't be plagued with these fit issues.

Patrick

The very first pic looks like it gets worse as it goes forward, but that might be the angle.  the top down pic shows about the same difference all along from the front lip of the pit to the nose.  Getting rid of the pins there and just forcing that section of seam may work as long as it doesn't screw up the canopy fit.  Just might have to try that with everything else taped up and see how it looks.

Looking at the top view pic, I can see nearly all the issue is on the forward fuselage. It actually begins at the windscreen and appears to worsen moving forward. Aside from Revell getting you another kit, I would remove the pins just on the front from the windscreen forward and only on the top. Then I would push the left side forward and pull the right side rearward.

I think most of your problems will go away doing that. Then some careful seam filling and sanding and it would disappear completely. I had a similar issue on my B-17 and worked it out in that manner. You can't see that it ever existed now. Good luck. Welcome to modeling older kits.

BK

JK

it sucks when this happens to the consumer as Patrick said. Please let us know what happens either way.

I'd contact Revell, tell them the problem and give them the box number and the sprue numbers of the two fuesage halves and they ought to send you the replacements.  A few years back I had a warp wing assemby on their EA-6B Prowler and Revell replaced it and it only took about 8-10 days to get it.

I don't think any amount of pushing and shoving is going to fix that!  If Revell doesn't send you new replacement parts that do not have that problem, or if the replacement parts have the same problem, then I would suggest doing some surgery.

Two methods:

Either you can sand off the nose ring off, even the hole up and create a new ring out of plastic tube or card and fix it with some sanding that way.  This leaves the mis-matched panel line on the fuselage, however.

The other is to cut the right fuselage half at the mis-matched panel line using a razor saw or x-acto knife.  Then you can sand the end down until you get the two halves aligning.  This method may mean you will have to lengthen the bottom front of the right fuselage a bit as it will now be too short.  This will have the advantage of fixing the mis-matched panel line, but creating a slight problem on the bottom (some putty or card should fix that).

Hope you get this sorted out!

Gary

The main wing on my F86 was also warped. I sent Revell a photo of the problem and they sent me a replacement pronto.

Here is my suggestion: 

Hi !

     Having worked in the plastics field I can truly say this is a common problem among ships too ! The plastic will relax in weird ways if exposedd to too much heat while in storage .That could be an attic or a plane in a box at the top of the stack in a warehouse . Either way contact Revell and see what they say .    Tanker - Builder       P.S.    Did you buy it used -You know an old sealed kit from someone ?

There is a photo in the attached review that shows a similar misalignment in the dome.  

http://modelkitsreview.com/revell-148-consolidated-b-24d-liberator/

I'd either:

Get a replacement from the manufacturer and hope that it's ok.

Hide the problem with filler (if I was in a hurry).

Sand the whole thing flush and rebuild it with tube stock. 

Cut the fuselage, align the dome, repair the fuselage (as was mentioned above).

I also like SubarooMike's suggestion.

 

 Johnny, this does not seem to be an unsurmountable problem. If I were doing it, to make it right file off the ring, true up the hole, and make a new ring. Be sure you dry fit the dome as you rebuild! To make it "good enough" shave the inner ring with a blade/file and fill the outer ring with putty and sand unto they are in alignment. Several months ago I received some replacement parts from Revel after eight weeks.

Plastic stock and putty will work. Don't think getting another kit will help. I thought this problem was was only one of the many faults of the Revell 24 kit. 

I would then take it back to HL and get a refund or exchange it for another if they have one then check it there to see if it aligns.

The quality of the RM re-issues (their newer tool kits are superb) since their move to China has progressively gotten worse. The plastic is softer, warps easier, and the molding quality has suffered. 3 examples I can point to are the newest releases of their F-86, Me-262 (it's nose turns out being more putty than plastic) and the F-5E.

You can file a report with Revell, and they will probably send you a new fuselage half. Their customer service is still 1st class

Ok, I have this kit in my stash. I just bought it about two months ago. This is what mine looks like.

I've looked it over closely and I can attest this is fixable. Like I stated earlier, remove the pins and move the right side back and 95% of this will go away. The rest can be handled with a bit of careful sanding. This is not an Earth shattering, kit ending issue, it is very fixable. There is nothing Revell can do to fix this other than refunding you money, it's just how the molds are coming out. I'd say all of them now look like this. Pull those pins and press on.

BK

Yes, yes, yes!!! All fixed!! Thank you BrandonK. I removed the locating pin nearest the astrodome and easily pushed back the right side of the fuselage. I can easily fix the issue at the cockpit with a little sanding.

Thanks again.

The top looks ok but what about the bottom where the turret sits?

On my kit the top only need moved, the bottom located with the pins like it should.

BK

JohnnyK

Yes, yes, yes!!! All fixed!! Thank you BrandonK. I removed the locating pin nearest the astrodome and easily pushed back the right side of the fuselage. I can easily fix the issue at the cockpit with a little sanding.

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

BK

does the B-24j model have the same problem?

seastallion53

does the B-24j model have the same problem?

 

I think it will be a hit and miss on something like this. It's possible to find one here and there but not all of them.