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1/48 Monogram B-29 as RAF Washington B.1 *Finished!*


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Cheers Mark - I might be able to salvage the masks by sticking them to something clean and smooth like plasticard or something. It's worth the effort to get the glazing right.

Al

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Does look tricky Al good idea with sticking the mask to card, what about glass or a mirror ?

Good job with the scribing looks 100% better, look forward to seeing this come together.

Guy

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Thanks guys (F4u and Spookytooth).

I went with Mark's idea, just masked the whole area and sanded back. Putty applied, and I walked away!

Consoled myself with the engine interiors:

tn_DSCN5037

I'll get cracking on those engine faces tomorrow. Also should be the first bit of PE from the Eduard set.

Al

Edited by Alan P
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Thanks for the update. Up until now I have been afraid to try the panel line re scribing for fear that if I sanded off the raised lines I would not be able to see where to scribe in the recessed lines. I guess that I should conquer my fears and try it. Bob H.

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Thanks again guys.,

On 14/04/2016 at 1:57 PM, Thom216 said:

I guess for others who might build this kit, would a wedge of plastic at the very front of the fuselage join be enough to widen the sides in order to match the width of the glazing..?

I think that might be counterproductive as it will deform the frame for the nose cone part. It's easier to do as i have done - glue the canopy in place and apply pressure to the front corners until the glue sets. Any remaining step can be puttied and sanded smooth:

tn_DSCN5038
On 14/04/2016 at 7:32 PM, Bob Henry said:

Thanks for the update. Up until now I have been afraid to try the panel line re scribing for fear that if I sanded off the raised lines I would not be able to see where to scribe in the recessed lines. I guess that I should conquer my fears and try it. Bob H.

The advantage of the Monogram silver plastic is if you sand off a raised panel line, the line remains as a darker colour line on the plastic, making rescribing it very simple!

As the putty was drying, I started on the gun turrets. First I removed the 20mm cannon mount from the rear turret ball:

tn_DSCN5040

I drilled out the gaping hole which was left, well, gaping.

tn_DSCN5041

Next, I added some simple internal structure and the 50cal gun carriers in place.

The actual turret is filled with electrical connections and ammo belts, but I decided not to add all that detail for such an unobtrusive part. This detail is enough for me!

First bit of metaliser paint applied:

tn_DSCN5043

The cowls will be hard to mask and paint once the cylinder faces are installed. I noticed that the cowl forward edge is a slightly darker colour than the rest of the nacelle, so I used Mr Color Stainless and buffed to a shine.

Here are the painted and unpainted for comparison:

tn_DSCN5044

And all four finished so far:

tn_DSCN5046

Looks good enough for a start.

Al

Edited by Alan P
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Thanks Bob.

Still progressing slowly - loads of niggly little jobs to do to prep for major assembly.

tn_DSCN5057

These tiny spider webs are the ignition leads for the engine faces. One of those nerve-racking jobs cutting them from the fret! Ready for painting, though I do not know which colour...yet.

Some good news - canopy is faired in, seams eliminated, and most of the scratches polished out.

tn_DSCN5058

In the end, I went for the zero option of just sanding all over. I used various grades of abrasive (sponges, wet n dry and micromesh) from 200 to 12000 plus polishing compound to get all the scratches out - I can still see some but I'm afraid of going over it again in case I can't come back from it! Now I can mask it all up, although some moisture did get inside when I washed it down just now. Hmmm. :hmmm:

I have a clear day today, so let's see how far I can get.

Cheers,

Al

Edited by Alan P
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That's a lot of work to use all of those steps in polishing the canopy but the results are definitely worth it. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the finished build. Bob H.

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Nice work with the canopy Alan hopefully the moisture will disperse and the engine faces will look great once the ignition harness is fitted and painted. I think the harness is a dark grey.

Guy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you guys, and welcome to the build Tony!

The cold snap put the brakes on this a bit, but I've had a good crack at it over the past two days. First, the wingtip nav lights went on:

tn_DSCN5059

An old and a new trick for me: painted the mounting with buffable Mr Metal Color aluminium and polished it up. Fitted a bulb (more on that in a minute), then the kit transparent part and faired it all in with putty and sanded it all flush. Polished it up and it's ready for masking. The new bit was using an amber lens light bulb inside. When the transparent part is painted clear red or green, the amber picks up the colour but gives a slight contrast, which is better than using plain clear lenses.

Had to get rid of this protuberance - it might be specific to the nuclear-armed Enola Gay, but it isn't on my particular Washington.

tn_DSCN5060

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And it's gone! Nice neat job using dremel and then files/sanding.

Moving on to the turrets. These have been giving me a bit of a headache actually.

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Front top turret cleaned up, but hard to fit the movable part (which will be fixed) and there are lots of gaps.

Each turret comes with this sort of bucket, which clips into the fuselage hole and allows it to turn. It looks nothing like the actual turret assembly.

tn_DSCN5063

So I chopped it up and cleaned the part, then cut some aluminium litho plate to size.

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Used a riveting tool to make some riveted strips on a piece of wine-bottle foil

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Then stuck the strips on the new turret assembly.

tn_DSCN5066

Not totally accurate, but a lot better. (The moveable bit is just blutacked in, yes, it's upside down!)

I painted the turret structure interior green to match the rest of the cockpit. It should be visible through the front cockpit glazing.

tn_DSCN5067

The other turrets will have no interiors at all, I'm just fixing them to the turret mounts. I had to file down everything completely flush or they don't fit.

tn_DSCN5079

Lots of gaps which will need filling, probably using CA glue and accelerator. The kit is missing one of the gun mantlets so i just made and shaped a plug from Milliput.

Getting there!

Al

Edited by Alan P
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Back to the engines now:

tn_DSCN5069

Cylinders painted with Mr Metal Color Dark Iron and buffed to a shine. I did the carrier a lighter grey to provide better contrast. Ignition cables are black/Dark grey with copper effects.

Here they are with the cables folded into place:

tn_DSCN5070

And in situ:

tn_DSCN5072

I'll definitely take that as a result! Not much will be visible, as usual, once the props are fitted.

Did some more work on the canopy, as part of the nose join split while I was adding the panel lines and rivets :doh: More on that later! I also invested in the Eduard masking set for this kit as I am just about cross-eyed from cutting my own masks.

Hopefully will be able to put this all together soon - then I'll get started on the photoetch stuff and maybe one day I'll be ready for the first coat of primer!

Cheers, Al

Edited by Alan P
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Thanks Simon.

Getting there Al, a bit annoying when parts are not there?

Still there is always a way around it, i.e. scratch build.

:goodjob::goodjob::goodjob:

Simon.

Yep! It was a second hand kit given free of charge, so i can't complain about a bit of DIY!

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Noooiiiceee...!!! Such an incredible work ya're doin' with this kit, Alan. Whut a shame 'bout the Squadron vac-form canopy replacement not fittin.'

I've been givin' thought to the possibility of gettin' the vac-form canopy as well in order to replace the kit one. Isn't there any way to make it fit...?

By thunder how many times have I heard that !...sometimes she's referring to the models as well....

:shutup:Bwahahahahahaha...!!! :rofl: Y'know, Melchie; that's whut ya get for havin' been married to a rugger lady. :bleh: Always crack me up, mate.

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