I just picked up Minicraft’s 72 scale B-24 with the Dragon decal set included.
The sheet must be off color or something because the green in the dragons tail looks gray and it has red spots on it’s body. All the references I can find show an emerald to chromate color and I can’t find a pic of the other side of the fuselage. Does anybody know if the art was on both sides? I can only find pics of the right side of the aircraft. I’ve found several corgi pics with the art on the left side but I’d like to know for sure. Does anybody make an after market set for this aircraft?
Thanks
Email me if you want pics of the Collings Foundation bird. As far as I know, the original only had the art on one side, the right. But, I may be wrong there. CF’s is on the right.
I took a spin on that baby last summer and it was awesome!
She is a beautiful bird, I have many photos of my grandfather with her before he passed away. (he was a 24 tailgunner) But sad to say all the photos I have of her are when she was painted as the “All American”. She was painted as the Dragon a year after I took my pics, sorry. I will look around for you though.
Hey, charles! I remeber a thread a while back on this subject… can’t remember who was asking, though. You may want to do a search here in the forum. Uh, if i recall correctly, the art was on one side only… hey, can you find me a picture of the box art? i’ve always wanted to do a B-24 but i can never find one in 1/72!! [:)]
Mike Grant makes a good quality decal for this bird.
Check out his site at: http://mikegrantdesign.com/decals/Dragn.html
The B-24 Liberator site has a few pics of the original and the restored planes.
Some interesting data included with the real plane including the comments that
the artwork was only on the right side.
http://www.b24bestweb.com/Pics-D-DRA-DRAGON_K.htm
I dunno who makes markings for ‘The Dragon’ in 72nd these days; nobody, most likely. There used to be 48th sheets by Scale Master And Microscale/Superscale, and I believe both also had 72nd sheets. None of these are easy to find these days, unfortunately.
Mike Grant may be your best bet at the moment.
I’m thinking there may be new sheets for this bird on the horizon, though, as well as other 43rd BG and PTO Libs…
ZOTZ decals have announced 72nd & 48th sheets with markings for ‘Mabel’s Labels’ and ‘Net Results’. The clues provided on these sheets so far also point to the possibility of markings for ‘Queen Mae’, "The Liquidator’, ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and, my personal fave (YIPPEE!), ‘Cocktail Hour’. With these markings in the works, it’s hard to imagine ZOTZ neglecting such an in-demand subject as ‘The Dragon’.
Anyhoo, here’s some images of the original ‘Dragon’ that may be interesting, if not helpful.
Fade to Black…
D’OH! Forgot this one.
Fade to Black…
I saw that particular bomber flying into the Lakeland, FL airport about a month ago and I only saw the art on the right side.
Nice shots, Blackwolf! I have a few more I’ll have to scan in to my computer and share with you guys. “Dragon” only had the artwork on the right side of the aircraft. The Superscale decals show up at shows and on eBay occasionally. The announcement from ZOTZ has me salivating already! I’m planning on purchasing them for a project I have in mind. I’ll also check out Mike Grant as well. Thanks for the heads-up, folks.
Thanks for the replys! I finally got to reading the assembly instructions for the kit (imagine that![:O]) and they have a disclaimer that the decals are based on actual color pics of the aircraft. I compared the sheet to the color pics from Blackwolf and the red on the decal is too dark as well as the ghost grey should be be greener. The decals from Mike Grant look great and I guess I’ll use those. The tail stripes on the rudders are the next question. Are they red or blue? The kit decal is blue, Grant’s is red. Anybody know for sure?
I think I remember seeing an article in Air classics, or warbirds, and remembering the nose art on both sides. I think I still have the mag. I’ll check.
Got Mike Grant’s Decal set in the mail the other day and I wanted eveyone to know they look terrific! The colors are spot on and the registration is perfect. I still don’t know if the tail stripes are red (Grant’s) or blue (kit). I think I’ll go with Mike’s decal unless anybody knows for sure.
Thanks for all the help. I’ll post a pic when I’m done.
Right side only- There was part of the dragons tail painted on the bomb-bay doors, (so that when they opened the art wouldn’t be disrupted).