Martin B-26B-55-MA Marauder
9th USAAF, 394th BG (Medium), 585th BS
RAF Boreham, RAF Holmsley South, UK, March 1943 – March 1944
95 missions
Adaptation of the Airfix Martin B-26C Marauder, kit nr. 4015 (1/72)
Decals by Kits World and Airfix (only the walkways, couldn’t cure the silvering…)
Display: Airbase tarmac sheet, WWII Medium Bomber 1:72, Noy’s Miniatures
Cheers,
Jan
Cool! My grandfather helped build these during the war…
Very nice finish!
Please refresh my memory on the early versions of the B-16 and the length of the wings and size of the vertical stabilizer–did you have to modify this kit, or is the aircraft from the later blocks, when the wing and stabilizer were modified? I only ask, because I have the Monogram kit, and I’ll have to perform some kind of surgery to back-date it to one of the B-26s at Midway.
The A-series and the early B-series had shorter wings and a tailfin that was 0.50 meter shorter. Also, the reargunb position was different as well as the enginecowlings.as you can see here:
Are you using the 1/72 Snaptite B-4 or 1/48 B-55? The B-55 is the later long wing/tall fin version. The C model is basically the same as the B model, only built at Omaha. The block numbers generally ran 10 behind the Baltimore B series, so a B-55 is the same as a C-45. If IIRC,the long wing started at block B-10. James Muri and Collins of the 22nd BG had original short wing B-26’s, and the rear glass was removed from the aircraft to give the gunner a wider field of fire. Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of Flight Museum has an original (no A prefix, with 200 built) B-26 which was one of 4 that went down in Jan. 42 in British Columbia on their way to Alaska, and recovered in 72.
I used the Airfix 1/72 kit. I want to build an early B-version, the one my parents as teenagers saw belly land on may 17 1943. That was a B-26b-4 (b/n41-7999, reg: DR*W “Chickasaw Chief”). I can’t find any other kits than those of Valom, but they miss the dome behind the cockpit and have the escape hatch instead. But they do have the shorter wings and tail fin.
Very nicely done! I always liked the B-26
Excellent Marauder! Well done!
That’s a really nice piece of work… particularly since it is 1/72… Thanks for posting it. Bob
Beautiful build, especially in 1/72. I have a Monogram 1/48 in process that will never be that nice. That is interesting, I do not think I have ever seen the rear bomb bay open, let along in use. Did the kit come that way, or did you modify it?
Hi Wolf, thanks for replying to this topic. And yes: Airfix offers this option, so I decided to open them to make it look a bit more interesting. In 1943/1944 (beforte D-day) the second bomb bay was used as the Marauders only attacked the Dutch, Belgian and french coastal cities, harbours and Luftwaffe bases and german fortifications there. So they didn’t have to take much gas with them. After the invasion things changed. Not only had the Marauder to fly over a longer distance over enemy territory, it also was used now in a tactical role to support the Allied troops. So a large fuel tank was placed in the second bomb bay, which made it possible to to fly further was a lighter bomb load but with much more effect.
Cheers,
Jan
Thanks for the info on the specific bird you modeled.
Yes, for mine, I have to modify the tail and shorten the wings, and modify the air intakes on the cowls as well. Yes, and modify the tail gunner’s position. The B-26s at Midway were early-lot -B’s, if I’m not mistaken.
The four Midway B-26’s are protoype B-26’s of the original 201 order straight off the drawing board. They did not have suffixes, and are definitely not B models. Kermit Weeks’ B-26, the MAPS B-26, and the Hill AFB B-26 are of the same protoype order. 1st Lt. Jim Muri’s aircraft was FY 1940 serial, 40-1391. Following 22nd BG practice, the rear plexiglass over the tail was removed to give the gunner a wider field of fire. Check Wiki’s article on Muri as it shows a photo of the tail with the cover removed before they went into combat at Midway.
For a 1/48 B-26, you can use Lone Star Models’ conversion kit for a short wing B-26 at $50. For a 1/72 B-26, from my research, everyone says that the Monogram Snaptite wins hands down over the Valom kits for accuracy.
Yep, it’s on my list for the project [;)]