Hawkgrove

Looks good, appreciate the feedback. No weight will be just fine.

I'm working on an old MPC (Airfix) Kingfisher, I'm modeling it as the floatplane. I have looked over numerous builds of this model on the internet for tips and ideas. The one thing I didn't see was if anyone needed to add weight to the center pontoon in order for it to sit on the two main trolly wheels and small rear wheel correctly. When I built a Jo-Han Japanese Rufe floatplane I added weight to the front of the main pontoon for it to sit correctly. For those of you who have built this version of the Kingfisher does it display okay without added weight? Thanks for any suggestions.

There was a painting done by Domenic DeNardo called 'The Assault on the Damn Yankee". It shows the Damn Yankee in red with white outline and there is an odd looking yellow duck to the rear and just below the windows. But the spinner caps just look silver, based on your suggestions and the photo I'm going with white.

I'm in the process of modeling the Damn Yankee, I was inspired when I saw the documentary Above and Beyond (2014). I've found some photos of the aircraft on 384thbombgroup.com site. Only black and white but I swear the propeller domes look white which seems unusual for all the photos I've searched on B17's. For any of you experts, do they look white in the photo? They certainly don't shine like natural metal. Suggestions for color?

Thank you both for your help and suggestions. Before retiring last year we had a large color laser printer at my workplace. The color from that always appeared sharper and more vivid than on my home inkjet. I know they make decal paper for laser printers, would those images have more color and be less transparent or is having the white undercoating the key to my issue? Thanks again for sharing your experience.

I've returned to modeling and have made some custom decals on clear inkjet decal paper purchased from Hobby Lobby. It's the same size as the old Testors paper they carried, 8.5x5.5. Once made I seal them with clear acrylic spray fixative. Its worked okay for some smaller decals like instrument panels and most recently I made black U.S. ARMY letters for under the wings of a B-24. They look pretty good on the neutral gray. I then tried to make the yellow serial numbers for the tail and large yellow numerals for the side. They look perfect on the decal sheet with the white background but once I put them on the olive upper surface of the model they basically disappear. They almost look opaque. Question, am I doing something wrong, is the inkjet paper not correct for what I'm doing? If I use white paper I would have to trim the letter precisely and the numerals on the tail are about 2/16 high. Do I need to find a color laser printer instead, would that be a darker ink? I had to buy some Techmod yellow letter decals and they work great but I've planned to make some nose art with yellow in it for another project. Suggestions?

Thanks 72modeler, couldn't open the image but googled the aircraft specifics you sent and think this might be the view. It is a good clear shot of the port and bracing.

Thank you Snafu, thats the direction I was leaning. The academy kit comes with two different plexiglass noses and I can experiment on one first. I also see you have flat glass covering the astrodome, I was wondering if that was another variation other than the dome glass. When I look at the picture of the Damn Yankee I see the dome lip on the nose but not a clear dome so I assume it might be flat glass. Good information, I'm still learning.

Thanks, this is all helpful. The best photo I can find of the Damn Yankee is my top one and its hard to see if it has the support framework. From most photos I've seen it looks like the trapedoidal mount visible in the picture always has the support rods so I'll assume the Damn Yankee has the same. I went with the Academy over the Revell because Academy had the navigator dome, wasn't paying attention to the nose gun option. I'll display it parked but will make the mistake of having the guns installed, still like how that looks. Does anyone know if the Squadron Crystal Clear Canopy vacuform replacements for the B-17F (9175) have the nose with the gun mount option? I've tried to find some more detailed pictures of whats included in the package and it appears to have two different nose domes, just can't see what the details on them are. Thanks again.

I've gotten back into modeling since retiring a year ago. After seeing the documentary Above and Beyond, the story of the Damn Yankee B-17F and the fate of the captan and crew I decided I have to model that aircraft. I purchased the Academy B-17F kit which appears the closest to the aircraft. I'll replace the wheels with Armory Models weighted wheels and a combination of decals that I'll create and use some after market sheets. I'll also scratch build the radio room which is lacking in the Academy kit, even though it won't be seen I enjoy adding details. My biggest question is the nose gun in the front plexiglass. Has anyone ever kit bashed that into an existing dome or is there an aftermarket one I haven't found yet? I've attached a picture of the Damn Yankee with the nose gun visible and one from another B-17 that looks similar. Any additional information on this type of gun port and modeling it would be greatly appreciated.