Technique - Packing a Model for Shipping

 

For many years now, I have been building models on commission to customer requirements. My work is almost exclusively on behalf of somebody else - which is just as well as I would never have the facility to store and display the over 300 items I have already built. At least I get to keep the photographs!

But this does come with one challenge that is not something that most modellers have to contend with. How on earth do you pack up and dispatch the finished model, which in most cases is a very delicate item, to a customer who may be the other side of the world, without it getting destroyed, or at least seriously damaged, at the hands of a merciless (or at least thoughtless) courier who hasn't spent many hours and days of their time working on it and thus doesn't have any investment in seeing it delivered in one piece.

I have had a number of enquiries recently about how I ship my models. Let me state up front that where possible, I do try to agree a personal handover/collection with my customer to eliminate the risk. But of course, this only works if they are relatively nearby and a mutual meeting can be arranged. For the majority of my builds this is not an option, indeed in my time I have shipped to literally all corners of the globe and continue to do so.

In the early days, my packing methodologies were a little hit and miss, it took me some time to settle on a method that I have now been using for many years. And I am pleased to report that it has proven highly successful, with a (virtually) unblemished record. But I can state with confidence that on the rare occasion anything has broken, it has always been very minor and simple for the customer to fix. It would be an arrogance to assume that any method is infallible, especially if the package receives unduly harsh treatment. But what I am about to describe does appear to reliably protect my models from being bounced around in a van, flung in and out of an aircraft, and undoubtedly encountering the odd bout of high altitude turbulence as well.

Packing any delicate item safely involves two key elements. Firstly to ensure sufficient protection from external shock waves reaching the model, and secondly to ensure that those which do, do not cause a differential stress across joints or weak points in the model that may result in breakage. The first is basically a matter of as much depth of shock absorbing material around the model as possible and the second is about ensuring that the model is contained in a medium that tightly envelops it in all nooks and crannies to stop it bending. You can't stop a shock reaching the model, but when it does it is important that the whole model moves together as a result, and thus isn't stressed.

There is another, conflicting factor however. Couriers generally charge their services based on a "volumetric weight" which has little to do with the actual weight of the package, but is basically related to it's overall volume (i.e. size). So keeping the package size down whilst still maintaining sufficient protection is important - especially these days when international shipping is so expensive. 

So, on to the detail! For the purposes of this example, I have used an aircraft model (which make up the majority of my builds) in this case a 1/32 scale Tamiya Mosquito (see the original build here). The basic methodology does, however, apply just as well to pretty much any subject matter.

Point of note. Try to ensure a few days delay before packing a model after completing it. The varnish/paint coats may appear and feel perfectly dry but even "quick drying" finishes do need days to properly cure. Packing a model soon after applying a finish coat could be dangerous and result in irreversible damage to the finish, especially since en-route it could be subject to extremes of temperature and humidity.

The first task is to prepare the model itself. This involves using soft tack masking tape to secure any loose, movable or particularly weak areas, such as removable canopies, cowlings, props etc. Next fill any small nooks (e.g. wheel bays, bomb bays) with soft tissue paper - this is important as I will be using packing beads later which will be a real pain to remove from these areas when extracting.

The next task is to find (or create) a strong cardboard box that is just large enough to contain the model, and constructing a flat base board (usually from 3 or more sheets of double ply cardboard glued together) that fits neatly into the bottom of it. This is the board on which the model will be secured. Nipping a corner off this board will assist in placing it in the box. 

Mounting the model on this board is achieved by using foam pillars (I buy in large bags of offcuts for this purpose) cut to size and glued to the board. These pillars should support the model in three or more places, carefully avoiding protrusions. With an aircraft model, this is usually one pillar under each wing and under the fuselage near the tail (or under the tail itself) and for larger models, one under the nose as well if possible and anywhere else that feel appropriate to securely support the model. The pillars should be high enough to ensure the undercarriage (which is usually one of the breakage risks) is lifted off the base board, indeed there should be no direct contact between the base board and any part of the model except via the foam pillars. Once you are happy with the structure of the foam pillars, set the model aside and glue them in position on the base board. 

The model will need to be strapped down on the pillars and so make appropriate holes in the base board through which you can thread some string for as many "straps" as you deem appropriate. Again, one associated with each foam pillar is ideal, if possible. Thread the straps through the appropriate holes before placing the model, makes life a lot easier! I use folded tissue paper to protect the model surface from the string.

It is important to keep the string reasonably taught in order that the model is held securely. If, as I often find, once you've tied it, if it seems a bit loose, you can tuck a piece of foam under the knot - you can see this on the nose in the photo above. You should now have a securely attached model ready to be put in the box.

I place a single layer of foam packing peanuts in the bottom of the box and place the model base board on top of those. This is also a good moment, if necessary, to trim the height of the box down to suit the model and keep the shipping fees down. Just allow a few cm clearance above the highest point of the model.

The next task is to construct vertical cardboard "walls" around the model where there is space. These are taped to the inside walls of the main box and serve as protection again vertical crush pressure. Note in the photo below I have already filled the resulting "pockets" with foam peanuts.

What happens next is the messy bit. Fill the whole box with micro poly beads. These are widely available and are often sold as "bean bag filler". They are small beads of expanded polystyrene that weigh next to nothing but will, with a gentle shaking, fill every remaining air space and completely envelop the model.

These micro beads are the work of the devil in terms of getting everywhere if you are not careful, and this is also the reason I make sure to plug areas on the model from where they may not be easy to extract later. It is worth placing a sheet of card or bubble wrap across the top of the beads at this stage to help avoid a complete snowstorm when the box is opened. Then seal up the box, using plenty of packing tape around all edges and corners to ensure there is no escape for those beads.

The final part of the packing process is to place the box inside a larger one, packed in with foam peanuts. This "double boxing" is critical and again, you need to work out a compromise between sufficient protection and not making the package so large it costs too much to ship.

This photo is for demonstration purposes, you need to complete the filling with the foam peanuts right up to the brim. Once the outer box is sealed up, the package is ready to go. As an added precaution appealing to the tender mercies of the courier, I also liberally apply "This way up" and "Fragile" stickers to the outer box before shipping.

As you can see, packing up the model can be a fairly complex project in its own right, but it is worth it. For me, having spent so much time and care putting the model together, and for the customer, having paid me to do so, the model deserves all the protection it can get.

Unpacking the other end also requires a little care. It would be a shame if the model survives it's journey only to be damaged by careless extraction. My advice to my customer is that once you have extracted the inner box, choose a contained location to open it where you can control those packing beads. A couple have told me they actually unpack it in the bathtub! For smaller packages, a large binbag can be used but gentleness and care are the main tools to use. The beads need to be carefully poured out of the box to expose the model. It can be tipped up for this, the model is secure in the box. Once the model is exposed, the string straps need to be carefully snipped using sharp scissors and the model can then be lifted off the the base board. It's then just a matter of carefully removing any tape and picking out any residual packing beads. But importantly, none of the packing should be discarded until the recipient is sure that all parts of the model are accounted for. If anything has broken off in transit, it will be in there somewhere!

So there you have it, this is how I ship my models all over the world and as I said, whilst it can be a bit of a pain to put into practice, I have very rarely had any breakages, and even those have been minor ones.

Choosing a courier is also a factor. Even all this effort will not protect against severe abuse. It is well known that some of the "cheaper" companies do NOT treat their packages well, a quick Google will soon reveal some scary videos. And in this game, it's not like I can just quickly send out another one. I will give a shout out to Fedex, whom I use for all international shipping. They are not always the cheapest but they have always been the best at delivering my models on time and in good condition and their tracking is comprehensive. You can also pay extra for insurance, up to you. Personally I don't because I have never had a write off and it can be very expensive. But if a customer requested it, it's an option. Other carriers are available of course but this is my experience. All I would say is DO NOT use regular post - just don't.

I hope this has been an interesting read whether or not you have any need to make use of it. And if so, may all your models land safely.

www.bowemodels.com

Deans Marine 1/96 HMS Amethyst built as HMS Ibis

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This commission came in 2024 from a customer whose great grandfather served on HMS Ibis and tragically died when she was sunk by an Italian torpedo off Algiers in 1942. I was a little cautious about taking it on at first, given that 1/350 is the largest ship scale I've attempted in the past. There is a kit from AJM of Ibis in 1/700 but that would not provide the imposing model required. So the best option was to start with another Black Swan class sloop and go from there. But as we shall see, not much of the original kit would remain in the finished model.

Deans Marine provide a pretty extensive range of ship kits in 1/96 scale, primarily aimed at the radio control market, and any criticism of the kit that follows (and there is some) should be seen within that context, ie the kit was not originally designed to produce a museum quality static model but something that could be buzzed around on the local boating pond. The kit itself consists of a fibre glass hull, several sheets of laser cut plastic for the superstructure, a handful of vac form parts and a fairly extensive number of moulded resin and metal details. However, my job was to turn it into a model to rival my other ship output and I knew from the outset that this was going to take some work.

Ibis - port view

Amethyst (made famous through the Yangtse Incident in 1949) was one of the "modified" Black Swan class sloops that significantly updated the class specification from 1940 onwards, whereas the subject of this build, Ibis, was one of the originals. So my first task was some extensive research to identify what would need to be changed. To aid in my quest, I invested in the rather excellent book "Black Swan Class Sloops" by Les Brown which contains fully detailed plans for a number of the original and modified class vessels and much other information.

Ibis - Starboard View

Unfortunately, however, it doesn't cover Ibis which barely gets a mention. Indeed, there are only a handful of (rather grainy) photos of Ibis in existence (of which I now know pretty much every pixel). So, my complete reference for building Ibis consisted of 3 old photos, the instruction manual from the AJM kit (I suspect there is a fair bit of guesswork in that too) and a handful of attempts by other modellers to recreate her - likewise probably from fairly shaky references.  But I also had detailed plans for Amethyst and a number of other Black Swan Sloops from the aforementioned book to use when in doubt, and with those in arm and a touch of educated guesswork and artistic licence I set forth on my mission.

Bracing the hull

The first task was to prepare the fibreglass hull. The hull itself is probably the best part of the DM kit, very nicely moulded and fortunately without cut portholes, just "bumps". This was useful as the porthole layout for Amethyst is very different to Ibis so I sanded off the kit bumps and re-drilled. The hull also needed sanding down around the top to make it level and square and this was quite a task as fibreglass is not the nicest material to work with. I also had to alter the shape of the gunwhale "drop" as the kit part is too steep and short. It should be noted at this point that one of the differences between the early and "modified" black swans was that the beam was slightly larger on the modifieds (such as Amethyst). I calculated that this amounted to about 3.5mm out of 120mm so after much careful thought, planning, and considering all options - I decided not to worry about it. 

Hull painted

But given the size (the hull is almost a metre long) wooden braces were needed to stiffen everything up and a fair bit of work was needed on the kit deck pieces to get them to fit neatly. I will say at this point that the laser cut sheet pieces in the kit are not quite as square, consistent and well fitting as one may wish for in general, but much of it required replacing or modifying anyway. The whole hull also required a good scouring and priming before being painted. You will have seen that Ibis sported a rather "interesting" paint scheme unique to herself and this took quite some time to get right.

Using plans from "Flamingo" to adjust
 the kit plastic

The DM kit provides a number of sheets of laser cut plastic from which the main superstructure elements are to be constructed. This is a bit of a shock to the system for a modeller used to injection moulded kits where it's largely already done for you, and it's not a particularly friendly way to put the housings together. But although it took some effort, in this instance it was beneficial since so much of the required structure for Ibis differed significantly from Amethyst and so this "IKEA" approach to building allowed me to effectively start from the ground up. By my reckoning, the closest plan I had to Ibis was "Flamingo" (although still some notable differences) and so this was where I went when in doubt.

Signal deck and bridge

Not much of the cut plastic provided in the kit got through without heavy modification as a result, if it was used at all. I found myself scratch building a lot of parts from the edges of existing kit sheets or those of my own from stock. The forward signal deck area was one area that matched reasonably well (although not perfectly) but the bridge superstructure on Ibis differed considerably from Amethyst particularly at the rear and so I effectively threw away the Amethyst plans and built it up from scratch. The rear deck structure broadly followed Amethyst's shape but the Bofors platform, searchlight platform and galley house were all built from scratch. 

Main superstructure elements all constructed

The funnel came directly from the vac form sheets provided by DM, but another key feature of Ibis (and other earlier Black Swans) compared with Amethyst was the foremast. The modifieds all had a lattice mast and this is provided in photo etch form in the DM kit. However Ibis et al all carried the earlier style (and taller) tripod mast. This, I scratch built from brass rods. And so now all main superstructure elements were done, albeit in carcass form.

Planking added to the decks

Now it was time to start on some details. The next command decision that needed to be made was whether Ibis had wooden decking. Pretty much impossible to determine, but the decision was made easy by my customer deciding that he would like it anyway. So I managed to get hold of some 3mm strips of veneer from the ever helpful Cornwall Model Boats designed for this very purpose. I chopped them up into 3cm lengths and yes, I spent much tedious time gluing each one individually down to create the decking. Extremely mind numbing work but the end result is, I hope you agree, worth it. 

Two of the DM kit doors vs
my scratch built replacements.

The next detail I wished to add were the superstructure doors and this is probably the time to address, and get out of the way, the biggest elephant in the room with regard to the DM kit. The quality of the resin castings provided that cover many of the desired ships details and fittings is just awful. Sorry, but there it is. The problem is not their design, which on the whole looks reasonably well executed, it's just they literally full of holes (bubbles) and extremely rough. Also the resin itself is weirdly sticky and unpleasant to work with. The doors are a prime example and I ended up scratch building my own from plasticard and spare photo etch. Indeed the same happened for the vast majority of the castings that I would have liked to use. Very few DM castings made it into the final model and those that did are full of filler and sanded to death. The photo etch provided by DM is, however, pretty decent. And although I had to purchase an extra sheet to cover what I needed, their railings were used throughout.

Once I had added the doors and a handful of other details, it was time to paint up the superstructure and fix it permanently in place. This was a surprisingly tricky and frustrating business, getting the "interesting" camouflage pattern to line up properly and match the reference photos as closely as possible. But after a bit of trial and error and a few "repaints" here and there I got it to within an acceptable state.

I decided next to tackle the main 4 inch guns. DM provide vac form gun housings, resin mounts and cast metal barrels. The barrels were just about usable, although they needed a lot of cleaning up. The mounts were not good at all, but I decided to tidy them up as best I could and use them because they aren't very visible inside the housings. The housings are OK, possibly a little too rounded but close enough, but they did need a bit of "dressing up" in order to get a reasonable level of visible detail and authenticity. Once painted up and installed Ibis started to take on her true character so this was a fairly pleasing stage.

My scratch built quad pom pom alongside
the abandoned Battlecraft resin octuple.

With the main guns done, if you will indulge me, the next bit of the project was my proudest moment of this whole build. Uniquely amongst her class (as far as I can tell), Ibis featured a quad pom pom on the stern deck. I knew this when I took the project on, and had my eye on procuring one in 1/96 from Shapeways Marketplace. Many of you will know what happened there! Shapeways went belly up just as I wanted to place my order. Hours of searching yielded no alternative from anywhere. So I took the brave (for me) decision to scratch build my own. Historically I have always avoided scratch building other than for very simple pieces, which a quad pom pom is not. I'd much rather pay for somebody else's efforts.  I even purchased a resin octuple pom pom in 1/96 from Battlecraft in the hope it could be modified. But it didn't take long to decide that was beyond hope. But necessity combined with a new found zeal for testing out my scratch work (brought on by this project) forced my hand and I rummaged in my drawers for bits of spare plastic, etch and rod, and a couple of late night sessions later I had something I was genuinely proud of. Simple pleasures. Although I am now seriously considering joining the herd and investing in a 3D printer which would have been the logical solution.

Scratch built gun director
and DM resin version

Depth charge work

More scratch building to come. The cast metal DM depth charge racks were just about salvageable with a bit of effort, but the depth charges themselves had to be replaced with scratch built versions from plastic tubing. Likewise the throwers were provided as cast metal, which I did use but their cradles were wrecked and they needed platforms so I fixed all that with etch and plastic. Similarly, the gun director resin supplied by DM was "tired and emotional" and also not suitable for Ibis anyway (didn't look quite right for Amethyst either to be honest). So more scratch work using my new found skills!

Main searchlight

Aerial support frame

After I had fixed the main deck railings in place she was really starting to look the part. Not far to go now. Ibis didn't have a main mast as such, just a rather unusual looking aerial support frame which I scratch built from plastic rods. I also invested in a set of brass Oelikons from RB Model, which are cheap and excellent. OK, they are 1/100 scale but you wouldn't know if I hadn't said that. DM provided a couple in the kit but, guess what, not up to my exacting standards! I also scratch built the main searchlight. DM provided a couple of  small ones which worked fine for the bridge but Ibis needed a big 36" job so out came the spares drawer again. Fixing up and painting the whalers, Carley's and dinghies took a little more effort than I had anticipated, especially getting everything to fit correctly on the deck. And to add some interest and detail to the railing section, I scratch built about 55 awning stanchions and sprayed them around the decks. Many modellers don't bother with them but I think they do add a lot of interest to a model, especially in this large scale. Finally, in terms of fittings, the anchors, chains and winch (one of the DM castings that was almost OK) went on the bow. Also the many lockers, bridge furniture, voice pipes and similar bits and pieces were put in place, salvaging from the DM castings where possible, but scratch building for the most part.

Paper ensign

I then spent a fair bit of time weathering the model. Multiple techniques were used, but my main efforts were to add some streaking and rust drips (done with pastels and oil washes) around the hull and  superstructure sides, and also to make sure all the detail got a good grime wash to bring it out. And the last major task was the rigging. I've always dreaded that process in ship modelling. Not only is it very fiddly but often you have to use your own initiative and educated guesswork as to where all the wires go as references are usually not clear enough. But I have to say in 1/96 scale the actual task is rather less fiddly than in the smaller scales. I used Infini nylon rigging throughout, and a slightly thinner gauge for the flag lines. I also made up an ensign for the stern staff from paper. You can bang on as much as you like about using "real fabric" flags etc but in scale I've always found good old paper is easiest, glued in two layers it can be rumpled in the wind and to my eye looks as good as you will get.

And so I think I've pretty much covered the main points of this epic project - there was, of course, much involved that I haven't bothered to bore you with but what is above are the main points of interest. It took about 6 months overall, but I should point out that it was very much a background project for most of the time whilst I worked on other models. This has been unlike anything I've attempted before, both in terms of it's scale, difficulty of reference, and sheer amount of scratch work and modification. But all the more satisfying as a result. An achievement I shall be pleased to look back on for many years to come. I hope you enjoy the photos of the finished article below.

As a postscript, let me say the following. I may appear to have been fairly critical about some aspects of the Deans Marine Amethyst kit in this article. DM provide a comprehensive range of large scale kits primarily directed at the radio control market, not the critical eye of a neurotic static showpiece modeller such as myself who is used to having everything "just so" ready to put together. So whilst I would urge them to achieve a quick win by looking at the quality control of their castings, otherwise they very successfully fill a popular niche in the modelling industry and I commend them for it. This project could not have been accomplished without their efforts.

You can see the full set of progress photos here.

Revell 1/48 B-24D Liberator built as an RAF Liberator B. MkII

 www.bowemodels.com

One of the best aspects of this job is the opportunity to build models that mean something special to a customer. I was approached by a customer in Canada whose great uncle, Warrant Officer Class II Thomas Edward Lavallee (R/117397), was shot down and sadly died over Bari, Italy on a mission to disrupt German/Italian shipping, flying in RAF Liberator II AL565 on April 27, 1943. Could I build a model of his aircraft?

Liberators in RAF service are not a particularly well covered topic, and reference data and photos are hard to come by. After a bit of research, my initial reaction was to turn down the opportunity because there are no kits out there of the Liberator II and generally I don't go in for a lot of kit bashing. However the personal connection was so compelling I persisted.

As said, data is hard to find but basically the Liberator II (sometimes called the LB-30) descended from the Liberator I which was basically a B-24A tweaked for the RAF. There is quite a helpful link here if you wish to know more. But back to the build. The closest generally available Liberator version in kit form to a Liberator II is the B-24D, but there are a fair few fundamental kit changes needed to even come close. I compiled the following list:

•  All engine cowlings and housings to be rounded instead of oval. 
• Removal of superchargers and addition of forward stub exhausts.
• Move dorsal turret in line with trailing edge of wings, and replace with Boulton Paul Type A turret with four .303 Brownings.
• Replace tail turret with a Boulton Paul Type E Turret with four .303 Brownings.
• Blank waist gun windows and replace with small gun ports, each with two .303 Brownings.
• Change Hamilton props to Curtiss shape with longer spinner.
• Single .303 Browning in nose glass (optional).
• Add single belly .303 Browning (optional).
• Shrink and move nose pitots to half way down the side.
• Replace nose astrodome with flat clear panel and create new one behind cockpit.

This may seem a small list to you scratch builders, but to me that's a pretty big job (especially the engine housings). And the preferred scale of 1/48 also meant that I was landed with the venerable old Monogram mould (now Revell) from the 70s. I have built this before (in J version) and to be fair it's not a bad kit at all, as long as you are OK with raised panel lines (which I am). 

I first spent a lot of time researching and gathering photos of the Liberator II, to be honest there isn't a lot out there, and much of it is contradictory and ambiguous. So using what I had and making a handful of educated guesses in some areas, the build was under way. I am mostly focusing on the Liberator II specific changes for the purposes of this article, this kit is exhaustively reviewed elsewhere.

So I blanked out the waist gun windows and created the small single portal and barrel holes needed for the offset FN-55 Browning mounts used on this aircraft, and also blanked the dorsal turret hole behind the cockpit, and cut a new one in line with the wing training edges, which is one of the more obvious differences between the Liberator II and the B-24D. Although not Liberator II specific, I did go to the trouble of installing the excellent Eduard bomb bay etch set for the B-24, I can't be 100% sure if it is all exactly correct for the Liberator II but there is no reason to believe it isn't.

And so on to the major kitbash element, the engine housings. The B-24D had oval shaped engine cowlings and housings in order to accommodate the superchargers. The Liberator II had round housings because there was no supercharger. And so I had to find some way of changing the shape and removing the supercharger mouldings. Much looking around was done to see if anything could be borrowed from another kit or after market parts in order to help do this but all to no avail. I finally came to the conclusion that I was on my own. 

So my solution was to remove a 5mm strip from the centreline of the nacelles and move the inboard half outward which resulted in pretty much a perfect round shape, but of course left some serious filling work inboard of the housing. Fortunately this solution also removed the bulk of the supercharger mouldings from the kit parts. Now, I may as a result have the engines a couple of mm more outboard than they should be but to my eye it's not noticeable and given that they overlap with the undercarriage structure there was no other practical solution. Measuring up against reference photos however I seem to have got it just about right.

I used card and Milliput to fill in the gaps and holes and spent an inordinate amount of time sanding and shaping until I was happy with the result. Of course the actual engine parts needed  reshaping to fit the new housings but that was not too difficult. Fortunately the Liberator II used the same (almost) Twin Wasp radials as the B-24D so no worries there.

The dorsal turret used by the Liberator II was a Boulton Paul type A, it looks very different to the one found on the B-24D. No such turret exists in the aftermarket so my only option was to purchase one of the new Airfix 1/48 BP Defiant kits and steal the turret from that. What was not so easy was the tail turret. There is no Type E turret anywhere in 1/48 unless you count the Fonderie 1/48 Halifax kit which has become such an icon of awfulness that it goes for insane money on Ebay. So I stole the rear turret from an old Tamiya Lancaster kit and spent a couple of days re-shaping, glazing, buffing, and scratch building the Browning mounts until I had something that broadly resembles the Type E in the dark with the light behind it.

One of the final significant alterations was to the propellers. The B-24D kit comes with "paddle" style props which look nothing like the Curtiss Electric ones used on the Liberator II. And once again, the aftermarket was no help whatsoever. So I had to set to with the sanding sticks until I had them shaped to pass for the CE props. I also scratch built the longer spinners they needed. In addition, the Liberator II appeared to have distinctive spinner back plates not seen on American Liberators  so I cut these from plasticard. 

Other alterations worth mentioning include building the gun mount structure inside the nose glass, although I opted not to install the nose Browning - nor in the belly (although I did create the ports) since no photos I have seen show them installed. I also created aerial pillars behind the inboard engine housings to support aerial wire to the tails, something unique to British Liberators as far as I can tell. I trimmed down the kit pitots and replaced the probe itself with brass wire, these were then installed on the sides of the nose rather than the top - another Liberator II feature. The exhausts were created from plastic tubing filed down for realism and installed in holes cut in the outside of the engine cowling.

Decals were sourced from spares - fortunately the Liberator II was more or less bereft of stencils and what markings it it has are RAF staples easily stolen from other decal sheets, including the AL565 lettering which I managed to cut and shut from existing 1/48 Lancaster sheets.

So, that just about covers the key bits worth knowing about. It's been quite an adventure for me, not being one used to so much kit alteration. But I am proud to end up with what is surely a unique model. A number of modellers have painted B-24 kits in RAF colours (can work for a Liberator III or later) but I can find no other examples of the Liberator II having been built, certainly with any attention to accuracy. And I hope it serves as a fitting memorial to W/O Lavallee and his crew.

Full photos of the finished article below, and you can see my full progress photos here.