Academy B-24 info needed

I'm not sure what you hope to gain by doing that. The engines and cowlings would still be wrong.

The Academy kit has fine recessed panel lines, much like a new Hasegawa kit.

Why not just get a set of correct cowlings/engines from Ron's Resins and use the Matchbox wings? Meteor Productions lists them at

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.

Al Superczynski wrote:

via email.

That makes sense. I guess. ;-p

Except that no kits have the correct cowlings for a Privateer. Moot point since that's not what you're up to.

What's wrong with the cowls anyway?

Al Superczynski wrote:

via email.

The Matchbox Privateer's cowls are just B-24 cowls rotated 90 degrees. They're entirely the wrong shape.

Here are a few detail shots of our Privateer:

Hey! Kos's real ones are the wrong shape too! What's it got, R-2600s?

Kos wrote:

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.

Bill Shuey

Why 1820s? I thought 2600s were the choice for firebombers.

William H. Shuey wrote:

Bill Shuey

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.

Bill Shuey

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.

kos

I checked...Bill is right on the money. They are 1830-94s - unsupercharged. If anyone is interested in detail photos, drop me a line.

Kos

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?

Kos wrote:

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?

snipped-for-privacy@AdiespamOL.com wrote:

Well, the placard in front of the aircraft states that they are unturbocharged:

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:

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