Glad to have you with us Dan and looking forward to seeing your pics of the B-24. TY for posting the interesting background as well.

Thats a good a reason as any for building a subject, look forward to seeing your pics.

Welcome aboard!  I look forward to your WIP (Work in progress).

Toshi

That's awesome that you're doing this for your family members. Please keep us posted. 

Ok...so here is progress so far on the B-24.  I started about a month ago on all of this.  Lots and lots of reading on this forum and other sites plus YouTube videos have helped me learn many techniques.  Now it's just a matter of practicing these techniques.  I am currently using Testors enamels and some Model Master enamels, mineral spirits for thinning, and a Paasche H airbrush. 

The cockpit was handpainted with brushes because I thought that it would be too small for my AB.  I have learned after a month that this is not the case and I can see how brushing flat areas such as the cockpit flooring can be more difficult to look even.  Also, I had never used an AB before and I was afraid to start using it so I decided to hand paint first. Looking back, I wish I would have used the AB.  I also used drybrushing for the first time on the instrument panels and on the seats. 

When I first started building, I had not thought about seams at all, which you can clearly see on the bombardier seat.  I should have smoothed that out and other places too, but now I know to look for this on the next model!

Useing an airbrush can be a bit scary at first, but once you get the hang of it, you won't look back. Always a good idea to practice of some scrap pieces. And its all a learning process how ever long we have been modelling. You have made a good start, and nice job on the dry brushing.

Bish

Useing an airbrush can be a bit scary at first, but once you get the hang of it, you won't look back. Always a good idea to practice of some scrap pieces. And its all a learning process how ever long we have been modelling. You have made a good start, and nice job on the dry brushing.

 

Thanks! I have since started using the AB and it does get easier every time.  The Paasche H is easy to use and clean once I learned the process.  I have more progress pictures to post later, some of which show airbrushing.

welcome aboard. you are in the right place .so far so good and more pics please

Hi, Dan, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on this build, it's a great choice, for a great reason!

Yeah, my great uncles were the same way about talking about their service in WWII.  Well, they did like to tell the funny stories, like, "Remember that time we got busted and were stuck on KP for the weekend..."  Of course, they were all mostly young men, boys, really, and they wanted to get on with their lives, when they got back.  But yeah, it's important today to collect the stories as best we can, as they all pass on.

Regarding painting, your cockpit looks pretty good to my eye.  I'll second the other post, that it takes practice to work with an airbrush.  But I'll add, there's no reason to do just one or the other, unless you have a preference.  I do tend to use the airbrush to do areas, like the outer wing or fuselage surface, and a paintbrush for small areas and details.

If I'm going to use a paintbrush to do an area, however, I think of two things:  Use a relatively broad brush, and thin the paint well and apply multiple coats.  That allows you to apply the color and get a consistent finish, like spraying the paint would do.  I've had the most success doing this, using acrylic paints, like Tamiya's, thinned with Tamiya's proprietary acrylic thinner, or with water or isopropyl with other brands' acrylics (Andrea, Vallejo, craft store acrylics).  Keeping it thin helps avoid leaving brush marks.

Anyway, I think your interior looks good, I like the chipping and wear, too.  I look forward to your next installment!

Best regards,

Brad

Not too bad, not too bad at all! I think I can see the numbers on the backs of the pilot and co-pilot's seats, just a few swipes with a sanding stick will take stuff like that off. No big deal, I doubt you'll be able to see the seat backs when the fusilage is assembled. 

The Paasche H is a good brush, you might want to buy another later on for detail work but it's fine for now. I dropped mine multiple times on a concrete basement floor and it still works fine, I swear you could run over the thing with a truck without any real damage. 

You can just airbrush stuff like the interior zinc chromate and then use your paint brush for detail painting. Not that different from painting it all with a brush. 

Thanks Gamera! And I welcome constructive criticism... So please feel welcome to point out mistakes and ideas for improvement. 

You can use the USAF Museum's B-24D as a guide.  It has been semi-conserved as there are places where they slathered the interior with interior green.  They have a 360 interior view.  The 1/48 RM D kit has one flaw in it.  The front gear doors on up to H's and some J's, IIRC, opened upward, not downward as presently represented in the kit.  Can you post your prototype's serial number as it would be interesting to see what block it is, and where it was built.

My uncle was a ball turret gunner on one.  Gives me shudders just to think about that

richs26

You can use the USAF Museum's B-24D as a guide.  It has been semi-conserved as there are places where they slathered the interior with interior green.  They have a 360 interior view.  The 1/48 RM D kit has one flaw in it.  The front gear doors on up to H's and some J's, IIRC, opened upward, not downward as presently represented in the kit.  Can you post your prototype's serial number as it would be interesting to see what block it is, and where it was built.

 

I recently got to go to a Wings of Freedom Tour which showcases a P51, B-25, B-17, and a B-24J.  They let us walk through the B-17 and B-24, and it was awesome! I took lots of pictures for the B-24 build and future builds. I took note of the variations in panel lines and colors as far as weathering is concerned.  Later tonight I will post some pics of them and also the rest of the pics I have of my progress so far. 

Daniel!!!!
WELCOME, Brother!  Just wait till you get a load of the talented, generous, awesome people who inhabit FSM! 
They're an INCREDIBLE resource.....research, skills, techniques.....mate, I've learned SO MUCH from these people!  And I'm loving every minute of it.

Welcome, mate!  We're all here to help.

Welcome to the forums!  Very cool that your subjects have some deeper meaning to them!  One tip I'd give ya for the airbrush is to buy a ton of lower end Revell/Monogram kits and practice your techniques on them.  The clearance section of your local hobby store is a great place to pick up cheap kits to practice on.  Even if they are missing parts you can still advance your techniques in a way that won't ruin a build that means a lot to you - or make a build become frustrating/reduce your morale.  I can't tell you how many revellogram kits I never finished because something went wrong with a technique that I thought I could do didn't work out but in the end it was the best thing that happened to me because by the time I was spending money on higher end kits I had the techniques I wanted to use down pat.  And if you get stuck or lost or just need help you can always do what I do and bother the guys on here constantly!! : )

Great job so far on your Liberator! 

Ok, here is the inside of the fuselage.  I did this about three weeks ago, and it was my first use of an airbrush.  I did not have a "green chromate" color so I added flat green to zinc chromate and got the desired color.  The pictures make the green appear a little brighter than what it really looks.  I thinned the enamel 1 to 1 with mineral spirits.  With all the airbrushing I've done so far, the 1/1 ratio seems to work really well with Testors enamels.  I also have my compressor set to about 20 PSI.

I decided to use the inside of the fuselage for experimentation and practice because not much of it will be seen when it's complete.  I took the advice of a million different modelers that seem to love Pledge Floor Care Finish...aka Future...to gloss the inside of the fuselage to prep for a wash.  The Future went on nice and sprayed through my AB with ease.  I'm not sure if I didn't have a thick enough Future coat or if I didn't let it dry long enough, but I had some trouble with the wash.  I figured my base coat is enamel, the Future is acrylic, so an enamel wash would be ok as long as I don't rub through the Future coat.  Well the enamel wash did not flow like I thought it would.  And when I tried to clean up the excess, I rubbed through the Future coat and got into the base layer.  It was pretty minimal base layer damage, and you probably can't see it in the pic below. Overall it turned out ok, but I'm glad this was the inside and not the outside.  Any advice on washes from you guys would be helpful.  I have black enamel, black watercolor, black acrylic, and burnt umber artist oil...so I have options for washes but need some direction.

Here are the bombs.  Once again, I realize that I should have sanded and/or puttied (is puttied a word?) the seams on the bombs to make them look cleaner...alas they are finished and I will do better next time.  I airbrushed Model Masters Olive Drab to paint them and used Tamiya maksing tape to make the yellow stripe.  I like the Tamiya maksing tape...it made pretty sharp lines and peeled off easy without taking the paint off.

I also painted the tips of the propellers while I had the yellow in the AB.  AARRRGGG I just now see the seams on the propellers too...I'm starting to notice stuff just making these posts and it's driving me nuts!

Here is the completed inside of the fuselage.  I had to do some sanding and cutting to get some of the pieces to fit right.  From reading about other models and different brands, I'm starting to realize that older Revell molds can be a pain to fit together compared to other brands.  So far this is true with the B-24.  I dipped all the clear parts and canopies in Future and used elmers glue to put the little windows in the fuselage.

I've found the most important thing about gloss coating and washes is the set up time.  I've used Model Master Clear Acryl to seal paint and then used oil and enamel washes over it without issues (although I would NOT recommend it).  You want at least 2 coats of clear before you start doing washes.  If you're clear coating with acrylics you can wait 4 hours between coats and allow a full day (24 hours) between the last coat and the start of washing.  If using glosscote (lacquer) I always allow 24 hours between coats; same with the rattle cans of clear coat (enamel and lacquer).

Another tip I'd give you is to consider effects before washing.  An example would be sludge wash vs pin wash.  On WWII era birds that were sortied frequently I usually do sludge washes with chipping on top because they tended to be beat to crap, whereas with a modern aircraft that isn't subject to overuse and poor field maintenance I use a pin wash with only minor chipping (if any).  Interior washes are subject to the same kind of thing.  Older planes get more drybrushing and heavier washes, newer planes get less.

As for colors, I like a mix of black and brown oils (ratio is about 2 pt brown to 1 pt black) for washes mixed with mineral spirits.  Thats kind of the standard but you'll want to vary the color ratios based on what colors they're going over and what effect you want to achieve.

My last tip would be to not limit yourself to aircraft.  I frequently build armor, ships, and helos and the techniques used on armor will sometimes have a lesson you can apply to your aircraft, sometimes weathering salt streaks on a ship will lead you to producing better streaking effects on a tank, and making tires on a humvee look dusty with sand from an OIF or OEF deployment might help you to dust up your tires on a Stuka deployed to North Africa.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg, and if you're like me you'll find yourself foregoing tv time to watch Youtube videos on building better models.  The wormhole is deep my friend, but its a fun ride down.

I'd also add that you're doing a fantastic job for your first build.  Your liberator is putting the one I built a few years ago to shame!!

harp.ta

I'd also add that you're doing a fantastic job for your first build.  Your liberator is putting the one I built a few years ago to shame!!

 

Thanks for all the advice, and the build is what it is because of this forum and YouTube. Half of my build time is pausing to look something up!  Plus a little patience goes a long ways, and I've messed up enough stuff in my life getting into too much of a hurry.

okietwisterdan

Here are the bombs.  Once again, I realize that I should have sanded and/or puttied (is puttied a word?) the seams on the bombs to make them look cleaner...alas they are finished and I will do better next time.  I airbrushed Model Masters Olive Drab to paint them and used Tamiya maksing tape to make the yellow stripe.  I like the Tamiya maksing tape...it made pretty sharp lines and peeled off easy without taking the paint off.

I also painted the tips of the propellers while I had the yellow in the AB.  AARRRGGG I just now see the seams on the propellers too...I'm starting to notice stuff just making these posts and it's driving me nuts!

 

Bombs are always a pain, don't kick yourself too much.  You kinda gotta sand the crap out of em, then I like to use some thinned mr surfacer, sand again, then prime and paint.  Another trick I've started using for ordinance is to paint them chromate yellow underneath, then airbrush some hairspray over it, let it set up for about 15 minutes, then paint over that with an acrylic olive drab.  Give that another 15 minutes or so then chip em up with a stipple brush and add a couple scratches with a toothpick.  That exposes the yellow underneath and gives them the beat up effect you see so commonly on ordinance from that era.

It also allows you to see how the yellow looks painted on - and if you notice lines you dont like you can sand em down re-putty them and paint the yellow again without feeling like you have to start all over again.  Using an insignia yellow color for the yellow lines and prop tips also looks good, IMO.

I've heard of this hairspray trick, but yet to try it myself.  Sounds cool

okietwisterdan

I've heard of this hairspray trick, but yet to try it myself.  Sounds cool

 

They end up looking like this:

So I glued the fuselage together a week ago...

This kit does not like to fit.  I used Tamiya putty to fill in seams, but I haven't sanded yet. That's gonna be fun...I tried dry fitting it together, but I don't think I could have sanded myself out of this.  It's just that bad. 

Tamiya lacquer thinner will get the putty off while retaining the raised detail.  Just tip a q-tip in and then rub back and forth across the seam.  Sometimes you have to wet it a little, let it sit for a minute, then start rubbing.  You probably won't be able to get around sanding altogether but it's useful technique around areas where you want to keep the detail.