It was a few years back when I was researching building a B-24 model that I came to realize that to do a totally accurate B-24, one had to really know their stuff. There was a myriad of differences in terms of turrets used, window size and type as well as other small things like the direction of the retraction of the nose gear doors. Little did I realize that this is only the tip of the iceberg with planes manufactured by Consolidated as well as those built by Ford being so different in their parts that units operating planes made by both manufacturers had to pretty well have two parts chains. Many of the seemingly same parts were not interchangeable. As the title suggests, it is quite a maze and one that no one had been able to successfully master.

That has now all changed. Author Alan Griffith has done a herculean task of rounding up documents and photographs to put together the complex puzzle of which aircraft was equipped with what in terms of things like nose turrets, tail turrets, upper fuselage turrets, lower turrets (or lack of), and side gun openings. This also includes a bewildering number of modifications to navigator and bombardier windows as well as smaller details such as tail bumpers/wheels, pitot tube mounts, and nose gear doors. Add to that differences in windscreens and the length of engine nacelles in late B-24s and you can see that things are not as simple as they might seem.

Early in the war, particularly in the Pacific where the B-24 was the defacto heavy bomber until the B-29 showed up, combat with the Japanese showed the need for changes. Most of these changes were made at Air Depots in Hawaii and Australia as well as some in the US prior to modifications being introduced on production lines. The biggie was the nose turret. Japanese fighters always attacked from the front and from below as that is where there was the least chance of getting hit by return fire. While the B-24 had a turret in the belly, it was not all that effective and often removed and replaced with what was essentially a twin gun Scarff ring. In the nose, a tail turret was grafted on as an experiment. While it greatly improved defensive protection, it also cramped up the navigator's position. An unexpected benefit is that it decreased the tail heaviness of the B-24 and improved performance! More improvements were made in Pacific B-24s by eliminating the tail turret and putting in a pair of hand held .50s in an open housing.

This was the beginning of the many mods and updates made to these planes. I'd tell you more, but that would sort of ruin the fun of discovering much of this by reading the book.  

Some of the major sections of the book are on the modifications done by the various Air Depots, This then goes into what are titled 'Fiddly Bits', those windows and canopy glazing I mentioned earlier. Then there is a look at North American produced B-24Gs, Ford produced B-24Hs (by the way, Ford was so efficient at producing B-24s that the supply far outstripped the ability of the USAAF to absorb the new builds), and sections on the B-24J, B-24L and B-24Ms. Privateers are not covered and will be in another volume.

There are appendices on Paint recognition features (complete with diagrams), B-24 Serials, Known Air Depot mods, the never built B-24'Zwilling', Bomb bay door structure, Experimental turrets, and a section on the B-24N.

The book is simply crammed with photos used to illustrate the various mods as well as excellent drawings that highlight what has been changed. I have included a sample section of one page to show what I mean.

MMP has a deserved reputation for providing superbly researched and usable books that are a delight for both the enthusiast and modeler. This one has raised that bar another notch in terms of the amount of research done and the sheer wealth of information that has been provided. It is an absolute must have for any modeler and a book that gets my highest recommendation. You need to get this one before it sells out.

March 2012