Airfix 2024 Release Consolidated B-24H Liberator 1/72nd scale

The second of America's great four engined heavy bombers of the Second World War, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator actually began its development following an Army Air Corps approach for 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, one which 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 actually had something of a maritime aircraft appearance about it. Following its eventual USAAF introduction in 1941, the B-24 Liberator would go on be produced in vast quantities, serving in every theatre of war during WWII, 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 complete with an electrically operated Emerson A-15 nose turret, but also introduced 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 that the USAAF could process them into service. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator would become the most heavily produced four engined bomber in the history of warfare and America's most produced aircraft of WWII. 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.