Minicraft Warbird Series Model Kit. 1/72 scale. Skill level 2.
The last of the mass-produced Liberator bombers was the “M” version. A total of 2,593 planes were produced and Ford Motor Company build 1,677 of them. This version differed from the earlier types by its more slanted bomb aimer’s panel, bulged navigator side windows and a lighter tail turret. A later version, the B-24N was cancelled just after the war, but a modification of it, the US Navy PB4Y-2 was produced was served the Navy in patrol squadrons for several years. B24’s were withdrawn from service at the end of the war and nearly all were scrapped.
Many of the American aircrews serving during World War II painted inspirational artwork on the noses of their aircraft. This model faithfully reproduces “Mama Foo Foo”, a B-24M-15-CO, serial 4442094, of the 374th Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, with the 14th Air force. She served in the China-Burma-India Theatre of Operations.
The 374th Bomb Squadron heavy bombardment unit served from May 1943 to May 1945 and received two Distinguished Unit Citations fro combat in the Western Pacific. In the last months of the war, the 374th moved from Kwanghan, China, to Rupsi, India, where copilot Fred Hardy is credited with naming and painting “Mama Foo Foo” in preparation for the Squadron’s return to the United States.