Yes, this might be sacrilege, but...

[PR19_Kit]

The Rainbow is a four engine plank-wing F-84.

But it looks fabulous, even if it didn't work all that well.

[Old Wombat]

The Avro 679 Manchester always had a twin-tail design. The central fin was added because of a lack of directional stability. The fin was deleted on the Manchester IA when the size of the vertical surfaces of the tail were increased. The Manchester IA and Lancaster tails are basically the same.

The ventral turret design was as crappy as the remotely sighted Bendix and Sperry turrets used by the US. The Bendix was retractable and used on the B-25B/C/D/G, and some B-24D, but was often removed in the field because the aircrews hated it. The Sperry was used on very early B-17Es and it was replaced by the ball turret, also built by Sperry. The Sperry ball also replaced the Bendix on the B-24D.

You're absolutely correct, Jon. Old brain muddling memories.

I didn't suggest it was a good thing, just that it was a thing.