1/72 Eduard B-24J USAAF w/Australian crew lost 28-08-44

[N4521U]

Well I have started another one. I swear I will not post another till I finish these four, Merlin's Magic P-51D start to finish, Brewster unofficial GB, Yak-1b aces GB, and this one.



The story behind this one is it was piloted by Stuart H. Davidson, WO and second in command. Part of the list of Davidson flown AC I have found, and my second Davidson AC. My first was the Typhoon in the Commonwealth GB. Sleepy Time Gal had an all Australian crew with an AIF observer. I have found a transcript of the last messages received.

Summary:
On the night of 28 October 1944 Liberator 42-110120 of 530 Sqn, 380 Bomb Group USAAF, 5th Air Force, failed to return from a mission to Macassar, NEI. The aircraft took off from Darwin at 1751 hours, manned by a RAAF crew of eleven. The following sequence of messages was received by Ops room No 380 (B) Group :
281420Z No 3 out, Position 06.25S 120.50E course 120deg true.
281555Z 2 engines out, posn 0800S 123.35E.
281628Z Not likely to reach base. No 4 giving trouble. Preparing to ditch.
Darwin obtained a bearing of 340deg at 281604Z. Search ships and 4 B24’s immediately began search, and B24’s, B25’s and Catalinas on subsequent days were unable to locate missing aircraft or crew.

[Crimea_River]

Interesting Bill. Looking forward to it.

[N4521U]

In this post I am showing the motor, I was kind of dared to "wire" them up. In the second photo I hope you can see the little dimples in front of the cylinders. I drilled a hole the size of my wire for the push rod tubes, cut a length of wire, dropped it into the hole and lifted it to match the rocker arm cover on the cylinder head. Easy peasy, took not time at all. Mybe 0 minutes each!

[N4521U]

The cowls are a little dodgy. The intakes are not consistent at all. I will have to do some "carving" to get them to look a little alike as best I can. The insides of the are pretty ruff as well. Cleaned up the gear legs and the turbos.

[N4521U]

Done some unnecessary work on the tail feathers as well. All my mold and casting stuff has been contaminated so I have had to resort to surgery. Hinges on the rudders and elevators. *Oh and my little hole drilling jig for the elevator hinge holes! Had to move one of the trim actuators to the "other" side as the actuators were both on the port sides of the rudders. Makes sense they should be interchangeable. PE stuff at the waist gunners stations. Just them that gets the green paint. Instrument panel is done. PE stuff in the wheel wells. And then the flaps. Cut them off the bottom part of the wing, they are Fowler type. Trimmed a square rod tapering it from one end and wedged it between the upper and lower wing halves. I will have to add some thickness to the flap and ribs in the hole. What can I say, they will be down, as will the elevators and the rudders offset. Call me silly.

Finishing off the flaps now, it may take a few days.

[N4521U]

Now I'm wondering why I did This!!!!!! No one in their right mind...
Gear leg just looked dodgy. So I cut the bl**dy thing off and replaced it with some PVC rod.
Now I gotta figure out how to put the rings around it and hope the super glue holds the weight of the plane!!!!!!!

[Wurger]

[Airframes]

Great stuff Bill, and should be a cracker when done !
BTW, you mentioned elsewhere you needed props - Hannant's have just received stock of a set from Quikboost, at approx £6 including the assembly tool.
Meanwhile, here's a few pics I took at Duxford which might be of use.
NOTE: The red 'ring' on the main gear oleos is a safety lock, to prevent the oleo compressing if pressure is lost, and would not normally be seen in operational use unless the aircraft was to be parked for some time.

[N4521U]

Thems some awesome pictures. Thanks for that. Don't know how much of those details I can conjure up, but will give some a shot!

[N4521U]

[QUOTE=Airframes;813465]BTW, you mentioned elsewhere you needed props - Hannant's have just received stock of a set from Quikboost, at approx £6 including the assembly tool.QUOTE]

To be posted to Oz I have to buy a bazillion dollars worth of stuff. My supplier in Adelaide says he can get them, a couple of bucks more but I have time for them seeing it's not a timed build. Thanks for the heads up tho, I do appreciate it heaps.

The gear legs are fitting pretty good, I am happy. I might try some vinyl for the rings on the legs.

[Airframes]

Bill, those red safety locks are only used for long-term storage (as in museums, or maybe at a Maintenance Unit during WW2, if the kite was there for a long time.). They would not normally be used on a Squadron when the aircraft was at dispersal, the shiny oleo would be visible.

[N4521U]

Dry fit the tail section. I'm happy! Painted the wheels and nose gear. Next time I post I will have the interior of the fuselage painted interior green.

But for now a break from this one and on to my Aces Yak-1b since it finally showed up.

[Wurger]

Good work.

[Airframes]

I agree.

[Wayne Little]

Great work Bill, looking good mate!