AIRFIX 1/72 B-24H Liberator "Corky"

Consolidated B-24H Liberator - New Tooling in 2024

Plastic kit, instruction sheet, paint guide and decal sheet.

The second of America's great four-engined heavy bombers of the Second World War, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator began development after the Army Air Corps approached the company to build B-17 Flying Fortresses. Unimpressed at the prospect, Consolidated proposed that they could design and produce their own bomber in the same time it would take them to establish production lines, and it would be better than a Flying Fortress. 

When their XB-24 prototype took to the air on 29th December 1939, it was a very different-looking aeroplane to the B-17 Flying Fortress, with its shoulder-mounted thin wings, deep, yet narrow fuselage and twin-boom tail, it had a maritime aircraft appearance about it. Following its eventual USAAF introduction in 1941, the B-24 Liberator was produced in vast quantities, serving in every theatre during the Second World War, and making a vital contribution to the Allied War effort. 

The introduction of the 'H' model addressed the aircraft's vulnerability to frontal attack, something enemy fighter pilots had been exploiting since the B-24's introduction. This variant was the first to be manufactured with an electrically operated Emerson A-15 nose turret but also had around 50 other modifications to make the Liberator a more combat-effective aircraft. 

This was also the first variant to truly take advantage of America's capacity for mass production and it was claimed that Ford could produce Liberators faster than the USAAF could process them into service. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator became the most heavily produced four-engined bomber in the history of warfare and America's most produced aircraft of the Second World War. Quite simply, the B-24 was flown by more men, carried more bombs over greater distances and destroyed more targets than any other bomber in the history of aviation.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American strategic bomber and heavy transport and patrol aircraft from the Second World War. The B-24 was a full metal high-wing high-wing aircraft with four Pratt-Whitney R1830-65 engines, each 1,200 HP, placed in the nacelles on the wings. It was characterized by a very large wingspan, which for the first time in a mass-produced machine used the so-called Davis' lobe. Davis's lobe was an elongated wing, tapering at the end of its outline, and a small chord. Such a construction of the wings primarily allowed them to be used as fuel tanks as well as provided excellent flight properties. The first flight of the prototype took place on December 29, 1939, and serial production for the USAAF started in early 1942. During the war, a dozen or so types of B-24 bombers were created, of which the D, G and J models were the most widely produced. The B-24 was used both in Europe and on the Pacific Ocean. He took part in all major air and ground operations of the Allied forces (including the bombing of Ploiesti, the bombing offensive over Germany, and the Normandy landings). Polish airmen also fought on it from September 1943. During the war, over 18,000 units of this bomber were built. Technical data: Maximum speed: 467 km / h, operating ceiling 8534 m, radius of action with bomb load: 3450 km, armament: fixed - 10 Browning machine guns cal. 12.7 mm, suspended - up to 7200 kg of bombs.