Humbrol007 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 rich, your build, when finished, should be considered the eight wonder of the world. A true piece of art. You shall be proud of yourself. :goodjob: :goodjob: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Totally insane detail, fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 An amazing display of modelling, truly inspiring for people to do more and think a bit literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Rich, On Hyperscale I found a scale B 17 you can fly in! http://www.theballybomber.com/ Also on Facebook - Ballysbomber or something like that. Worth a look Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Rich, OUTSTANDING workmanship... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warris Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Amazing work Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) *update 27/7* Hi guys - time for a quick update. I've managed to get some paint on the Fort. I got some custom masks & decals made to my specifications for a fictional machine of the 359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, 1st Air Division - 41st Combat Wing, Molesworth, England in late 1944 / early 1945. The decals and masks were made by a fella named Steve Croasdale (who posts on the large scale planes.com forums as krow113) First of all, I tackled the tail area - as I posted in my last update, I cut out large sections of the tail fin so that I could show the skin panels full of little holes - the most realistic way to do it was to have a void behind the panels. The 303rd had a distinctive tail marking, a white triangle inside a red one with the group insignia 'C'. Here are the panels painted up using the masks - as I was going to weather them by sanding, there was no need for them to be pristine. I actually managed to do all the painting in one sitting, waiting around 5 minutes for each different colour to dry. After drying, I lightly sanded the painted markings with fine grade sandpaper - here's a photo. On the left, the sanded / weathered panels for the left side. On the right, the just painted, unsanded panels for the right. I then replicated the 'shrapnel peppered' effect by punching hundreds of tiny holes through the metal, using a variety of tools. The damage on the tail goes from the left to the right - therefore panels were punched in on the left, and blown outward on the right. I then realised that I had forgotten to add the mounting pegs for the tailplane - here are the real ones seen on the 'Mary Alice' at Duxford: I used some square brass tube from the Albion Alloys range to replicate the pegs: Edited July 28, 2013 by richdlc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) This is obviously the natural metal half of the plane - but I may add some yellow primer to this area as per the real thing. I'm not sure they would even have bothered priming at this stage of the war though. Now we move on to other markings and paint - the forward half of the aircraft is older than the rear - and finished in Olive Drab. I carefully studied colour photos of the real aircraft - the finish varied widely in hue, from faded yellow to green to brown - even purple. I mixed Humbrol 155 (Olive drab) with yellow and a touch of green, and highlighted with lighter shades of the base colour. Prior to this I had undercoated the entire front end with automotive silver paint, over an undercoat of automotive grey. I then pre-shaded the panel lines with black. This was the first time I've attempted to do this properly, and I was happy with the result. I added some blotches in plain olive drab to depict flak patches & touched up areas, and also painted the left cheek gun in OD to give the effect of a replaced part. The underneath was finished in a shade of grey that looked right. The wing joins were finished in Yellow primer. I then applied the 'sanding as weathering' technique again on the front section - here are some pics. There's no other weathering here except pre-shading and sanding. Once I've applied the noseart decals and sealed them in, I'll probably weather it some more using conventional washes & drybrushing: Finally for this update, here's the national markings and the radio call letter "C' (in honour of my sister Catherine who designed the nose art) - here's the right side, with the same sanding as weathering technique. and the left side - there's only 1 more panel to attach. I need to fit the waist guns and windows before I can do that: And an overview (the top turret is obviously still masked off here) - distorted perspective at work...the fuselage is 2 feet long! That's it for now - I estimate I'm a couple of weeks away from finishing the Fortress. My custom base and case have arrived, so next up I hope to be able to show the completed model, and to have made a start on the groundwork for the diorama. Once I've bought some suitable figures we're in business! Feedback welcomed as always, Rich Edited July 28, 2013 by richdlc 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Wot can I say?? This is a work of art another build I shall be sorry to see finished!!! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Excellent work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nirvanagr Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I'm speechless....Never seen anything better than this. Please, don't finish it...!!! I want to see more and more and more!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Just caught this thread. All I can say is, well I'm speechless actually. You've shrunk a full size B-17! Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Jaw-dropping work. Realism to the nth degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 cheers guys, thanks for the nice comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Dick Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Wow Rich! I am at a loss for words! It's incredible! It just looks so real, you must be very pleased. Myself and many others are watching this like a Saturday Matinee Cliff Hanger. Just a little take on priming the bare metal part of the fuselage. I would leave it Bare, as by this point in the war very little of the B-17 was primed or painted and most of the photo's I've seen show that they went through combat that way. Just my opinion, whatever you do is all Masterpiece anyhow. When you finish this diorama, and photograph it, a lot of people are going to think it is real and not a model. That is a true testament to your skills. Well done Rich! Best regards, Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warris Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 OMG that's amazing looks so real well done Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 cheers bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthemodeller Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 (edited) I've run out of superlatives that are descriptive enough to describe this model. Brian Edited July 29, 2013 by brianthemodeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Wow, as if the aircraft itself isn't a beaut, the modelling skills here are amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowbar Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 (edited) I love the fact you ask for feedback mate... I am not worthy... Edited July 29, 2013 by Crowbar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Simply incredible. It's really coming to life now, beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybert Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Rich, the shrapnel effect with the sanding weathering effect as a combo look stunningly real.. Once starting photography I can recommend to use the Iphone, as it beats many upmarket DSLR's in lense angle flexibility with convincing field of depth for a large model.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuidoKM Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Holy guacamole! Fab build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Have to agree with all the previous post, amazing. Look forward to buying the book of the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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