I'm thinking of doing a Matchbox Privateer with B-24 wings & engines. I have the old Airfix & Revell B-24s in my stash, & of the two, the Airfix kit's panel lines & detail would be more along the lines of the Matchbox kits. Does anyone have the Academy kit & hopefully a Privateer kit who could see how the panel lines compare? If the Academy kit's even closer than the Airfix, I might need to get one. TIA.
I started out thinking of it because I'll have most of the fuselage from the Privateer from a kitbash to make an R2Y & I already have a set of Airfix B-24 wings from a planned Japanese bomber project. Then I recalled the B-24N, which was, IIRC, sort of a B-24J with a Privateer tail, so I thought I might just build a B-24N, & of course, that leads to other thoughts. Regarding aftermarket stuff, I figure I can usually get a whole kit as cheap or cheaper & have more spare parts left over. The exception is usually Squadron canopies & Aeroclub props & odds & ends.
The original engines were Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94s of 1350 horsepower, according to Ray Wagner's "American Combat Planes". I suspect Kos' ship is a former fire bomber with Wright R-1820s substituted.
The P&W 1830-94 is kind of a rare engine and at the time there were ALOT of B-25 QECs running around, so the firebomber 4Y-2s were reengined with the R-2600 for a easy boost in horsepower. If you want to do a Privateer firebomber you need to get 4 B-25 engines and cowls.
Correct! The aircraft is a former Hawkins & Powers firebomber. I'm going out to there this afternoon, so I'll find out what engines are in there. I never paid much attention before.
So why does it have the incorrect cowls? I know the CAF's "B-24" (actually a C-87, IIRC) has plain round cowls due to whatever 1830s it uses. Like this thread's been about, incorrect cowl shape of the M'box kit, & yours sure has incorrect ones! Are you sure THAT a/c doesn't have R-2600s on it?
Diamond Lil is actually a LB-30, the 18th B-24 off the production line. The cowls are correct for that early of a plane, and the engines are R-1830s.
The PB4Y-2s that were used as firebombers were all re-engined with B-25 QECs, either R-2600-29s or -35s. We bought 2 engines from the H&P auction that are -29s, the same engine that was in the early B-25J. The only difference between the 2 engines are the carbs, -29s are a Holly carb, -35s are Bendix.
The P&W R1830-94 is supercharged, it is a single stge blower vs a 2 stage blower that was on the -92 engines. At lower altitude, the -94 can run at a higher power settings than the -92. I take care of a DC-3 that has been modified with -94s and we can fly all day at 36in manifold vs the 28in of the -92s. When the R-1830 was installed in the B-24, it had a single stage blower ( supercharger) and a exhaust driven Turbocharger. The B-17 had the same setup, except it was powered by Wright R-1820-97s.
I couldn't remember exactly what she is, but I knew she wasn't a 'real' B-24 & that those were correct cowls & engines for her, specifically. It's just funny to have someone post pics of incorrect cowls (for stock Privateers anyway) when the thread turned to correct cowls for it. :) Just curious tho, do you know why R-2600s were chosen over R-2800s, other than the fact B-25 QECs were so available? Is that the same reason most, or maybe all, PBYs were also switched from 1830s to B-25 QECs?
The key word is TURBOCHARGED, a Turbo charger is exhaust driven and usually hangs under the airplane as in the B-24, B-17, P-38, P-47. The engines themselves are SUPERCHARGED, that is built into the engine and cannot be regulated except in the case of a 2 stage blower, then you will have a high and low blower, Engines like the R-1340-AN1 in the T-6 has stock a 10:1 blower, however, it is easy to change it at overhaul to a 12:1.
the R-1830-92 has a low blower of 7.15:1, as does the -94, how ever, the power rating are different, the -92 is 1200HP at 2700RPM and 41in manifold, the -94 is 1350HP @ 2800RPM and 52in manifold, the -94 also has a 2nd stage blower of 8.47:1
Here is the Official data on the 1830s:
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the reason the R-2600 was used in the conversions were simple, there were alot of them around and they were cheap. The B-25 was in service till the 60s, so there were alot of spares around for it.
the R-2600-29 has a low blower of 7.06:1 and a high blower of 10:1 with take off power of 1700hp @ 2800RPM and 44.in manifold
again, the official data on the R-2600
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$FILE/ATTFN4QK/5. I take care of a collection of warbirds in Glendale and have the following engines to take care of: R-985, R-1340, R-1820, R-1830-92 and -94, R-2600-35, R-2800, R-3350 in C-45H, AT-6D, T-28C, C-1A, DC-3C, PBY-5A, B-25J, TBM-3E, A-26B, C-119G I am a A&P and a IA, I also have a pilots certificate.
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