Taking the war to the Reich- Airfix B-17 style

[tomprobert]

2 hours ago, Antb said:

 

Hi Tom, 

 

thanks for the comments. 

 

I actually struggled with the colour of the green a little. The Humbrol paint chart shows a really deep dark green but some research on B-17's on the internet showed varying colours of green, so I just went with the shade Which I thought was middle of the road which for me is Vallejo Russian uniform green. Im no expert and don't profess to be so just took a punt really. Guess it didn't come in, but never mind. 

 

As for the other colours, the black and the brown, I was just following the instructions provided in the kit so no idea whether they are accurate or not. 

 

I will be doing the fuselage insides aluminium though, which is shown in the instructions for the kit. Actually, most of the steps from here on in are mainly aluminium so that seems like we're on the right path. 

 

Thank you for your comments and feedback though, it is appreciated and I shall try and get the rest of the build as right as I can however I am following the airfix instructions so who knows what might happen. 

 

Thanks again. 

 

 

 

Airfix have got their colours pretty accurate to be fair. The cockpit sidewalls are actually a canvass padding on the real aircraft, and the black floors are the rubber anti-skid mats fitted throughout. 

 

Most preserved B-17s are painted inside, and for some reason they're US Interior Green. This is for corrosion protection, but why they're interior green I don't know.

 

Many, many modellers make the mistake of using modern warbirds for reference, but very few give an accurate resource for wartime colours. I think the CAF's 'Sentimental Journey' is one of the most accurate in terms of wartime colours and is left in bare metal inside. 

 

Wheel bays will be aluminium, too. 

 

However, once the fuselage is together you won't be able to tell the shade of green anyway, especially in 1/72 scale. 

 

I look forward to your progress. 

 

Tom

[Antb]

2 hours ago, rob85 said:

A very nice start mate, looks a lovely kit, any fiddley bits that were a pain?

 

Rob

 

Yes the whole lot! Ha ha 

 

not really to be honest the pieces are small but workable. The bomb bay has some fiddly ejector marks to get rid of but so far so good. 

 

@tomprobert thank you again for the info, I am very grateful indeed. 

 

 

[Antb]

Hi guys, 

 

Managed some more time on the fortress last night and a couple of hours tonight. After completing the pit the next task was to build the bomb bay and the bombs which was easier said than done. 

 

First off off there were some nasty marks that needed to be gone, here are the bulkheads and the racks for the bombs to attach to. Look how many ejector marks there are on these pieces. Luckily some will go into the wings so we don't have to worry about them. 

 

 

 

The aluminium "frames" got a spray of Humbrol aluminium, the bombs built and painted olive drab and attached to the racks. The bomb on the centre rack to the left as you look at the photo just would not take despite me removing the paint from where the parts met and I ended up removing most of the paint forcing me to repaint the area. 

 

 

 

Whilst these were setting I attached the roof of the bomb bay to the cockpit- this was actually one of the only pieces that fitted well first time....

 

 

After some pulling and pushing the bomb bay was eventually attached to the cockpit and looked well at this point, from this angle at least. 

 

 The bombs just wouldn't allow each other to sit into position despite what the instructions said. All bombs attached to the second hole up on the racking it said. Eventually o had to just squeeze it into position and hope for the best. 

 

 

I hadnt painted all all the areas of the bombs and thought it was wise to leave the tops around the fitting points so the glue would hold onto the racking. I touched up these areas and then realised that the entire upper areas of the bombs and racking wouldn't be seen! However, I know it's painted and that's the main thing ha ha 

 

all looked good good so far, the fitting of the bomb bay had been tricky, the bombs got painted up and everything seemed fairly square so I was happy with my work.  

 

This is the view from underneath up into the bomb bay. No matter how much I tried I just couldn't get those bombs to sit right and the result is a bit of a hope for the best and it will do attitude. Not great considering I am modelling the bird in flight with the bomb bay doors open. Look a bit squashed in don't they? 

 

 

And that's where we are up to. 

 

Ive sprayed the inside of the fuselage halves in aluminium and that's currently drying. Next up the middle interior flooring, seats, desks and then the ball turret. Hopefully the paint masks will arrive early next week so I can get the ball turret masked up and painted sooner rather than later. 

 

Thanks for bearing with me guys. 

 

As usual, comments and criticism appreciated. 

 

 

 

 

[Antb]

Ok, so those bombs have been annoying me since last night. I'm really not happy with how they look. 

 

So so my plan is to remove them from the bomb bay completely, cut the mounting "fin" off each one, sand them down and paint them up. i think I should be able to tie something like fishing line around them, or stick it to the bombs, attach the other end of the line inside the bomb bay and have them falling out. 

 

Got out to look better than it does at the moment. 

[clive_t]

Very interested to see this. I acquired the same kit as a stealth purchase whilst out doing Christmas shopping (paid cash - I'm not daft! )

[Antb]

1 hour ago, clive_t said:

Very interested to see this. I acquired the same kit as a stealth purchase whilst out doing Christmas shopping (paid cash - I'm not daft! )

 

i know the feeling, I went in for some paint the day I got mine.... 

 

i am progressing with the build but just wanted to ask a quick question if anyone has the answer I'd be grateful. I'm at the stage of inserting the interior nose detail but the instructions show to insert the clear part for the waist gunners also. I know B-17's has sliding windows (I think I've seen that somewhere) so can I leave the clear parts out and just have the windows open? 

 

If not it's not a big deal I just think I'd prefer not to add the windows.

 

oh, and I've bought myself a re scribing tool too so should be fun having a go with that on this build if required. 

 

Thanks chaps 

[clive_t]

19 hours ago, Antb said:

 

oh, and I've bought myself a re scribing tool too so should be fun having a go with that on this build if required. 

 

I won't be able to contribute much in the way of 'expertise' in any of this, but one thing I can say from bitter experience is, in respect of scribing tools is - well, 2 things really:

 

1. Try and get some practice in on an old or not-too-expensive kit - I found it wasn't as easy as I thought to scribe along an existing raised panel line!

 

2. Get hold of some of that Dymo label-making tape (for embossed labels etc) and cut a piece of that to use as a blade guide. It's sticky (at the beginning at least!) so should hold on to wherever on the model you stick it, but not too sticky as to cause damage etc. It will also flex so easier to stick to wavy surfaces like wings, fuselages etc.

 

Good luck!

[Antb]

19 minutes ago, clive_t said:

I won't be able to contribute much in the way of 'expertise' in any of this, but one thing I can say from bitter experience is, in respect of scribing tools is - well, 2 things really:

 

1. Try and get some practice in on an old or not-too-expensive kit - I found it wasn't as easy as I thought to scribe along an existing raised panel line!

 

2. Get hold of some of that Dymo label-making tape (for embossed labels etc) and cut a piece of that to use as a blade guide. It's sticky (at the beginning at least!) so should hold on to wherever on the model you stick it, but not too sticky as to cause damage etc. It will also flex so easier to stick to wavy surfaces like wings, fuselages etc.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice Clive. Have never used one so if I have to for this build there will be practice, and plenty of it no doubt. 

 

On another note, the masking set arrived today and as the next stage is the ball turret it's come just in the nick of time so as not to stall the build. Having had a quick look I don't know how I'm going to get the masks off, some are practically invisibly small......

 

will post a small update shortly. 

[Antb]

With the build cracking on here's a small update. I am at the stage of almost having the internals fully completed. 

 

An overall shot shot of the fuselage sides with the internals added. I have removed the bombs from the bomb bay. 

 

 

The nose. It's had a slight wash, but didn't want to go too dark and obscure the details once the nose and glazing is on. 

 

 

A close shot of the fuselage side and the internals 

 

 

And a close view of the radio operators compartment 

 

 

As mentioned above ball turret next and then can button her up

 

more to follow over the next few days with some luck. 

[Val]

She's looking great!

[Ingo Degenhardt]

Hi,

the Airfix kit is a late B-17 and had fixed waist gunner's windows - so you can't leave them off.

I am doing this kit myself right now and asked me the same question then...no luck.

 

[Antb]

2 hours ago, Val said:

She's looking great!

Thanks Val 

 

1 hour ago, Ingo Degenhardt said:

Hi,

the Airfix kit is a late B-17 and had fixed waist gunner's windows - so you can't leave them off.

I am doing this kit myself right now and asked me the same question then...no luck.

 

 

Thank you Ingo, guess that's the windows going in then 

[Antb]

Good evening, 

 

let me start by apologising for the the amount of photos that are to follow. I want to show what a ball the ball turret was. This was probably down to something that I had done wrong but my word, it's been a struggle. Good fun but a struggle. 

 

This was the state of the ball turret once I had glued the clear pieces together and given it a coat of aluminium. It was an absolute pain to get to glue together, the ball itself comes in 3 separate pieces. 

 

Look at those gaps 

 

 

 

Drastic measures were called for so out with the filler

 

 

 

 

the purple is maskol, the masks were really small for the side pieces so I used maskol instead. The larger windows on the front have been masked using the masks. 

 

 

 

Here we are after sanding and some primer

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lumps and bumps are the Maskol which will be removed once the aircraft has been undercoated and painted aluminium or chrome, I haven't decided which yet to get the NMF. 

 

Simce I took these I have sanded down a little more so the lumps and bumps aren't quite so obvious. 

 

Here's the ball turret in position, which was a challenge in itself! 

 

 

Apologies for the amount of photos but as you can see it was a bit of a nightmare! 

 

Good news to follow.... 

[Antb]

Despite the trials and tribulations above, I have managed to get the Fort buttoned up. Nice and straight forward I was hoping, it didn't quite go like that but it was nothing drastic. A bit of filler required. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An eventful couple of days but she's coming on a treat. 

 

If you've gotten this far without nodding off I thank you for taking the time to look at my build. 

 

 

[clive_t]

Very much enjoying your progress here

[Antb]

11 hours ago, clive_t said:

Very much enjoying your progress here

 

Thanks Clive

[Christer A]

Nice steady progress there!

 

Is there no way to leave the ball turret off and install it later in the build?

The whole model will rest on it more or less, and the gun barrels will probably snap off sooner rather than later...

That was my fear when I build my Revell Fort...

[Antb]

1 hour ago, Christer A said:

Nice steady progress there!

 

Is there no way to leave the ball turret off and install it later in the build?

The whole model will rest on it more or less, and the gun barrels will probably snap off sooner rather than later...

That was my fear when I build my Revell Fort...

 

Cheers Christer

 

to be honest the whole mounting of the ball turret meant that the ball itself had to be attached before the sides were buttoned up. 

 

Attaching the ball after closing the fuselage would have meant not being able to see where the attachment fit and would have been seriously difficult to get in properly. And there's no real way to grip the turret with how far it sits in the fuselage. 

 

Im having second thoughts about the fort flying so hopefully the wheels should give some protection. 

 

Although having said that ive pushed the waist windows in by accident and can't get them in from the outside!! So no windows now. 

[Antb]

Hey guys

 

spent a little more time on the build and this is where we are up to as of this evening. 

 

I have tacked the glazing parts on to act as masking more than anything so these will be pulled off when the paint has cured, if needed. Where the nose guns sit isn't perfect but this is a clear part on both sides so I can get it sorted. 

 

Primer done now curing before gloss black and then a bright silver

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Antb

[Thom216]

A fantastic looking Gray Lady!

[rob85]

She definitely looks like a b-17 now!

 

Rob

[Josip]

But she'll look even better if you take your time and fill those gaps around nose inserts.

[Antb]

3 hours ago, Josip said:

But she'll look even better if you take your time and fill those gaps around nose inserts.

 

Thanks chaps. 

 

Josip, they are tacked on at the moment purely to act as masking, the gaps will be filled, it's on my to do list. 

[stever219]

12 minutes ago, Antb said:

 

Thanks chaps. 

 

Josip, they are tacked on at the moment purely to act as masking, the gaps will be filled, it's on my to do list. 

 

At least most of the joints align with panel joints on the real aeroplane, unlike some kits I could name!  I found that there was a little bit of free movement on my kit so my joints weren't as tidy as yours look but they didn't need much filling.

[Antb]

1 hour ago, stever219 said:

 

At least most of the joints align with panel joints on the real aeroplane, unlike some kits I could name!  I found that there was a little bit of free movement on my kit so my joints weren't as tidy as yours look but they didn't need much filling.

 

I've started the filling process... bit of a pain to get sanding due to the shapes but I will get there. Should be able to get some progress done so we can get the main colour on shortly