On 29 December 1939, the first of more than 18,000 Liberators took to the air. This remarkable aircraft was an engineering marvel, it was neither sleek nor graceful, it relied on a wing design that not only improved the Liberator’s operational range, but reduced drag as well. The long high aspect ratio Davis wing was not the only development that had amazed the Army Air Force, this new bomber also possessed tricycle landing gear, two slab-sided vertical fins/rudders, and two cavernous bomb bays that proved the Liberator was indeed a heavy bomber. 

The B-24D was the first Liberator variant put into mass production by Consolidated. The initial production B-24D was essentially similar to the B-24C and was delivered to the Army Air Corps in late January/early February 1942. 

Production B-24D engines were changed from 1,200 hp turbo-supercharged P&W twin Wasp R-1830-41 to 1,200 hp turbo-supercharged P&W R-1830-43 engines driving 11 foot 7 inch Hamilton Standard propellers. The Martin upper fuselage gun turret and Consolidated A-6A tail turret introduced on the B-24C were retained, along with the single 50 cal machine guns in the nose. 

However, beginning with the 77^th production B-24D (41-11587), the tunnel gun position was replaced with a Bendix-designed remote control power operated turret mounting a pair of .50 cal machine guns. Identical in design to the belly turret found on early B-17E Flying Fortresses, the Bendix belly turret was retractable and was aimed by a gunner sighting through a periscope. On both aircraft, gunners suffered from nausea and vertigo caused by looking through the periscope sight. After 287 B-24Ds were built, the Bendix turret was deleted, returning to the single, hand-held, .50 cal tunnel machine gun. The belly turret opening was then faired over. 

Beginning with B-24D-CO serial number 42-41164, the tunnel gun was again replaced by a belly turret, a manned Sperry ball turret, also mounting two .50 cal machine guns. This ball turret was identical in design to the one used in late B-17Es, being able to be lowered into position while in flight. The Sperry ball turret was fully retractable into the fuselage, could rotate 360 degrees, and both guns could elevate 0 through 90 degrees. A major advantage for the Liberator ball turret gunner was that the B-24 could land with the turret extended without tearing off the turret and whether or not the gunner was in it. Later in the B-24D production, the single nose .50 cal machine gun was supplemented with an additional .50 cal machine gun mounted in a ball sockets on each side of the nose glass. 

Only five months after Consolidated began building the B-24D in their main production facility in San Diego, production would also begin in the new Consolidated facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Consolidated’s new production facility at Fort Worth would begin building B-24Ds in May 1942. All 303 Fort Worth B-24Ds were built without the ball turrets but included all of the other updates in equipment and armament, such as the three-gun nose modification. In July, the Douglas/Tulsa, Oklahoma facility began to assembleB-24Ds form components supplied by Consolidated/San Diego. However, only 10 B-24Ds would be assembled at the Douglas/Tulsa plant. 

The rugged B-24 Liberator achieved fame during WW II as one of the Army Air Force’s most reliable long-range bombers. The B-24D was the first version of the Liberator to be built in large quantities, and more than 2,700 of them were produced prior to the introduction of the B-24H. Although the B-24 was often overshadowed by the highly publicized ventures of the B-17, the B-24 Liberator saw action over more operational fronts than any other bomber. 

During the service life of the Liberator, the long, deep fuselage enabled the Army Air Force to adapt the B-24 to an endless variety of wartime tasks. They served admirably, not only as bombers, but also as photo-reconnaissance aircraft, anti-submarine patrol aircraft, and as cargo planes too. Though initially deployed to the Mediterranean and Great Britain, the need for a long-range aircraft in the South Pacific caused the B-24 to become the mainstay of Allied Operations in the island campaigns. 

By 1943, the B-24 had replaced the B-17 Flying Fortress as the standard long-range heavy bomber in the South Pacific. Flown by Army and Navy aircrews, as well as British aviators, the B-24s fought valiantly until being replaced by massive waves of shiny B-29s. 

With the introduction of the ProModeler series by Revellogram, and the release of the B-24D, I had hoped to build some of the Ploesti raiders. But I couldn’t see justifying the extra $12.00(+) for a kit that just had added crewman, and a photo-etch fret. Needless to say I passed on the kit and eventually purchased one at a swap meet/contest. My interest began to peek again, and the value of the ProModeler kit just seemed to climb. Oh well, I guess I really didn’t need to build all of the famous Ploesti raiders that I had decals for. But low and behold, Revellogram has decided to release the kit under the "Monogram Classics" label. It seems that Revellogram will be releasing all of those 1/48^th scale aircraft that I/we grew up building. (Geez am I showing my age?) I purchased this "classic" kit the day it hit my local hobby shop’s shelf. 

Upon opening the sturdy cardboard box that can withstand handling by even the most disgruntled postal worker (it’s a joke, look a smiley---------à J ), the modeler will find an instruction sheet, a decal sheet, a bag containing the clear parts, 3 bags containing the 5 sprues of gray injection molded parts, and a limited edition patch. 

The instruction sheet is typical Revellogram. It is folded in half, and is made up of two sheets, for a total of eight pages. The instruction sheet contains a brief history of the B-24D, the "read before you begin" instructions, decal application instructions, a painting guide, assembly instructions for the B-24D and the tow tractor, and decal placement. The assembly instructions are a mix of the universal symbols, parts description, and detail paint call outs. Its nice to see that Revellogram has decided to change their assembly instructions from their old practice of just using the universal symbols without any text.

 The decals include markings for two B-24Ds. The first is "Moby Dick", an olive drab over gray B-24D-15-CF, serial number 41-24047, from the 90^th Bomb Group, Fifth Air Force. The second is " Strawberry Bitch", a desert pink over gray B-24D-CO-160, serial number 42-72843, from the 376^th Bomb Group, 512^th Bomb Squadron, now on display at the Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio. I could find no problems with registration or bleed-through on my decal sheet. However, the white decals may be a bit translucent and may need to be doubled. The female decal for the "Strawberry Bitch" version looks a lot more convincing than her counterpart, "Dream Girl" or "Toni C II", from the A-26 Invader kit. Although she is missing her right cornea, but any modeler can add this with a tiny speck of black paint. The inclusion of markings for SB came as a shock as it isn’t mentioned anywhere on the boxtop. As far as I know, not even Micro/Superscale carried these markings in 1/48^th scale. I know there was a Micro/Superscale sheet in 1/72^nd scale. This alone could cause this kit to sell faster than before when the word gets out. 

There is a bag containing the clear parts. I think Revellogram learned their lesson with the ProModeler line by bagging the clear parts separately. Not only does this prevent the parts from being scratched but also if a part separates itself from the sprue through handling, it won’t be lost. The clear parts are surprisingly clear and no flash was to be found. It seems that Revellogram may have cleaned up the molds prior to this release. The front gun turret is also included but not used on this variant. 

There are three bags containing the five sprues needed to build this model. It appears that maybe, just maybe, that Revellogram has/had extra moldings left over from their ProModeler line or could it just a new batch of kits? A quick comparison with the one ProModeler B-24D in my possession confirms that the moldings are the same. The "flattened" tires are there, as are the extra sprue of crewman that was included in the ProModeler release. The sprues are molded in gray plastic, as was the case with the ProModeler release. But for those of us who happened to purchase one of the original B-24Ds, back in 1983, remember that the kit was originally molded in olive drab for the major airframe components, and had one sprue of black parts that contained the props, wheels, bombs, machine guns, and tow tractor. It appears that Revellogram has cleaned up these molds also. Even though the panel lines and details are of the raised variety, there are still sharp and well defined. I could not find any flash on any of these parts either and the parts appear to be as clean as they were when first molded in 1983. 

The limited edition patch is included in this Monogram Classics kit. The patch has the Monogram symbol from the late 60s/early 70s before Monogram changed to the red, white and blue rectangle that most of us will recognize. A nice touch for the kit collector or nostalgia buff. 

A lot of modelers, well maybe a few, including myself, were disappointed when the B-24D was released in the ProModeler line as we were hoping for recessed panel lines. The increased retail price hinted that it might have been (as was the case with the poorly rescribed P-51B), but it wasn’t, thankfully. It was the same kit from 1983, except this time the kit was molded in gray, had the "flattened" tires, an extra sprue of crewman, a photo-etch fret, and a revised decal sheet. It is nice to see that Revellogram has re-released the B-24D with the modifications that were also in the ProModeler kit. Especially for those modelers who couldn’t afford the high retail price of the ProModeler kit and wanted a 1/48^th scale B-24D model. Even though you don’t get the photo-etch fret, you do get the "flattened" tires, and the extra sprue that contains the in-flight crewman, for at least $12.00 less (retail). I guess my wish came true, now I can build the Ploesti raid force and maybe even some colorful assembly ships too! Its time to go stock up on 1/48^th scale B-24D kits. Happy Modeling!