1:72 B-24D Bomb Bay detail set for Airfix

The bomb bay the Liberator carried first

The Consolidated B-24D was the first Liberator built in series, and its most conspicuous feature was a pair of deep bomb bays divided by a narrow catwalk. The doors did not open outwards but ran up guide rails along the sides of the fuselage like the roller shutter of a shop. The solution came about so that open doors would not slow the aircraft over the target. It was precisely machines of this version that flew from Libya at treetop height in August 1943 against the refineries at Ploiesti in Romania, which to this day is one of the hardest raids in the history of bomber aviation.

The set opens this space up even at a small scale. It holds photo-etched bulkheads and the beams the bombs are hung on, a walk-through catwalk with non-slip texture, small control rods and the latticework of the side walls. Thanks to the thin metal, the roller doors can be folded into the rolled-up position, which reveals the whole interior.

What to watch out for: the inner walls of the fuselage have to be thinned down by sanding before fitting, otherwise the assembly will not close once the halves are glued. It works well to finish and paint the whole interior before the fuselage is glued.

Painting the interior tends to be simpler with this type than expected. The supporting structure stayed in a protective shade from the factory and got dirty mainly through use, so a base color, a dark wash into the corners and a dry brush on the edges will do. The detail then stands out even under the glass of a display case.

An open bomb bay is striking on a four-engined machine even without a base, because the model gains a view inside which otherwise stays hidden. It works particularly well on machines shown prepared for departure.