DaveyGair

This is creeping up on us and I've been thinking (always a bad idea!), I may have another crack at an AFV instead of my usual, and preferred, Wingy-Thingy(my previous two AFV featured GB's never got finished). This time it'll be something on wheels, an IBG 1/35th Marmon Herrington MkII Armoured Car, with figures! This is just a maybe mind and subject to change! Davey.

Years ago I started a Rareplanes Firebrand and a Falcon Models 1/48th LA-5, but never finished them. For what it's worth I used a Stanley knife, always with new, sharp blades, to cut the puts out, I found it just a bit sturdier and easier to cut through the plastic. Good luck. Davey.

Bit more done. Forgot, I had to add an astrodome to the nose so have been making some modifications I've also been starting to tackle the overdone main wing dihedral. I decided to glue on the lower wing halves, adding some plasticard fillets to drop the angle. I also added the main wheel gear legs, which you have to do anyway before adding the top halves, to make sure they were going to be set correctly. There is some flex in the wings, and when I add the upper halves, holding them against the root with tape across the full span, the dihedral will look better.... I think . This isn't scientifically done, I'm just comparing it to drawings on the net, on my ipad. The tailplanes are a nice fit, hardly any filler required. Tailgun position also added, used superglue which has affected the plastic, hope it doesn't look too bad on the glazed areas!

Great news, I was trying to finish 'Hettie' by next weekend but was struggling, but this has taken the pressure off now! All Hail Emperor Enzo! Davey.

Nice to see you back getting on with this build, had another look back over the previous pages of this build, I'm still as amazed by the work you've put into this, crack on mate! Davey.

A bit more done, started on the resin QB engines, cowlings and props. Much removal off casting plugs on the engines and back plates which have to be glued together. The cowlings had difficult (for me!) to remove casting plugs inside the front of the cowl itself, to preserve the rounded edge, but found it difficult to blend in a round smooth edge. 12 separate blades to assemble, a jig is supplied to do this, got to take care to remove the blades and the hubs, the detail is superb on the hubs and can be broken off quite easily when handling, as I found out! Photo's are a bit blurred, the auto focus on my camera has packed in and I'm not an expert at photography! Davey.

Looks Ok to me V-P, maybe another coat and it'll be spot on. Davey.

Quick update, have added the blanking plates into one of the fuselage halves, then sprayed with aluminium. Joined the fuselage halves and started sorting a couple of minor join faults. The lower blanking plate had 'sunk' a bit so building up with filler. Also noticed the starboard waist gunner's window had dislodged, so had to get it out.... good job I had left off the radio room upper glazing! The bomb-bay doors weren't a good fit, but maybe just my poor modelling! , so will need some tidying up. Busy sorting the wings, and tail gunner's position, which is made up of separate clear halves. More to come, but don't know if I'll get this done in time. Davey.

Wow! Superb results, she looks fantastic. I was thinking about the wings on my 'Hettie' build and maybe would try the 'add before joining fuselage halves' route. It may also help with the 'cure the excessive Dihedral on Academy B-17's' thing! Davey.

Bashing on with this, as previously mentioned not going to attempt scratch building the radio compartment, so, with all the glazing installed the fuselage is ready to close up. Anyone adding the Eduard detail set, be aware that the throttle/engine control quadrant fouls the seats, so remove the seat tabs and install them after fitting the etch part. It makes a tight squeeze when installing the cockpit though. The fuselage halves look as though they will fit together very nicely, with minimal filler if any at all (famous last words!)

Well, there you go, that's what it is! So another modification to look at. Enough waffle and on with the modelling! Davey.

Yeah, notice the other black 'aerial' under the two rear most front side windows (would be interesting to know if this was on both sides). Also in all three photo's what looks like a reverse blade type aerial as well, unless a B-17 expert can identify it? Here's a link which shows a page from the book on CC Fortresses, the middle photo is of a 251 Sqn Hudson and Fortress, no upper or lower turret. When clicking on the photo asks to log into site though. Also, I can't find out how I got to see some other pages of the book! https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/415034921884974469/?lp=true Davey.

Hi Robert, a bit more delving found a couple of close-ups of 'Bess' and 'Hettie', 'Hettie' definitely doesn't have an upper turret in this shot, 'Bess' is unclear. https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/view.php?uid=226205 In my searching I came across some pages from the book mentioned and it seems that 251 (MET) Sqn aircraft had the upper and lower turrets removed, but clearly retained the tail guns. It is also mentioned that the upper nose glazing, either side of the astro-dome, was plated over. Hope this helps. Davey.

Erm, COUGH! COUGH! …… and me, sir! Having a bit of 'Modellers Block' at the moment, but should be fine by 2020! Davey.

Whilst looking on the net for more photo's of CC Fortress's, and having another look at the only shot of 'Hettie' I have found, I noticed she hasn't got an upper turret! See here on this link https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/view.php?uid=226205 I continued to try to find photo's of 251 (MET) Sqn machines, and I came across some pages from the book by Robert M. Stitt, of which I don't have a copy. There were a couple of shots of 251 Sqn machines which show both no lower or upper turret, unfortunately not 'Hettie', but I'm now going with the fact that these all had them removed for the role they were employed for. The pictures show they still retained rear guns. Interestingly, the book describes the two upper nose windows were 'plated over', so will incorporate all of this in my model. Watch this space. Davey.