Fozzy

Thanks...and... Strictly fuselage.....I always planned it this way!😉

Thanks!.......It will be going into The Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad ,California...https://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/ Yes ...11 years ago I put the Lysander on RFI!...Time flies!......funnily enough I just recently packed it to take it back to UK! Thank you every one for all your great comments!...appreciate it!🙂

Ha ha!....and still the WING jokes keep coming!😆

Hi everyone The B-17 Flying Fortress, “Fuddy Duddy,” was used as a VIP transport in the Pacific at the end of World War II. It once carried General Dwight D. Eisenhower who later became the 34th President of the United States. In civilian life, it worked as a fire bomber and was occasionally used for motion picture filming, flying on screen in movies such as the 1962 Steve McQueen movie, “The War Lover” and the 1970 blockbuster, “Tora Tora Tora.” Here then is my replication of the fuselage and all the internal detail of the WarBird "Fuddy Duddy" B17G which is at present stationed at The Lyon Air Museum in California. I built it to 1:20 scale and from nose to tail the model measures out at 3 feet 8 inches! ...right from the start I had no intention of building the wings for this model as I wanted to concentrate on the internal detail of all the crew areas. The fuselage was constructed out of balsa wood and plastic and all the internal and external detail was built from plastic card ,wire,card ,aluminium sheets,paper and anything lying around that was useful! I designed the top part of the fuselage as a cutaway so the detail can be seen. No CAD programmes were used to build any part of this model. This project has been a big part of my life as it took me 10 years to complete!....I hope you like the photos! Thank you for taking a look! Cheers Fozzy

Thanks guys!....really appreciated you all tagging along on this epic build of mine....kind of gave me more purpose and the push I needed to get to the finishing line!......you can all stand down now!🙂 Hopefully see you all on the next build!

I just had to do it Ian!....it had been bothering me for ..........years!😧

Hi everyone This is it!...............the absolute FINAL post I will make on this 10 year project! 😀😀 After I have done this post I will put a few photos in the RFI section. In my last post I was talking about the display aspect of this model and what was the best way to display this B17G and I got a lot of good feed back from you guys!...so thanks once again for that! ....I gave it considerable thought and finally decided that the best way would be to make it as simple as possible. I didn't rip out the ball turret frame work in the end.... instead I came up with a simple idea of just placing the ball turret on a clear plastic stand (actually its a small plastic cup!)....it sort of gives it a floating kind of look!...ish!....I didn't place it underneath the fuselage because it just obscured the 9 months of work I did scratch building it! I wanted to place both bomb bay doors on so I had to be sure the fuselage sat high enough off the ground to clear the very large bomb bay doors! So to that end I had to revamp the display stands. There are 4 in total...2 on the front section and 2 at the rear. The rear section stands had to be way higher as the tail lifts up towards the rear...I built these out of reinforced balsa wood (plastic covering) and cocktail sticks! I have left an 8 inch gap between the front and rear sections so that you can peer down into the fuselage both front and back and of course as you probably know the top half of the fuselage along its entire length has viewing points to see the interior. So that is what I did......but first......something was really bothering me about the aluminum skin on the front section back to the radio room. It seemed to be a tad wrinkly here and there. I know exactly why...its because 10 years ago I constructed the front fuselage section completely in a different way to how I built the rear section 8 years down the line!......plus the joins on each section were showing through!.......no it was no good!.....I just had to re skin the front section. ............. I don't know why but I am having more difficulty posting these photos than building my entire B17!!!!🙄 Here are the display stands that I built......... You can see more photos in RFI...... So it just leaves me to say a HUGE thank you for all your input I have had over the years....even the "are you building the wings" remarks!.....I guess its time to move on now and start thinking of my next project! .....................................and No.....I'M NOT BUILDING THE WINGS! Thanks guys Cheers Fozzy

Thanks for your advice!...I will definitely look into the QR code idea!....I will also be building a frame that the ball will sit on but I'm still thinking of displaying it between the two halves rather than underneath as you will see more of the turret that way!....cheers!🙂

Cheers Richie!.....I had a lot of fun scratch building that!...seems such a long time ago now!😮

Hi Guys! Sorry for the delay in replying especially after you all have given me your thoughts on the display...but life got in the way! I really appreciate all your input and have taken it all on board!🙂 Thanks for the input!.....I have decided not to "tear out" the ball hanging structure from the fuselage as you suggested....you are right it would take away the busyness of that area!...as you say I think the ball will be displayed separately below the aperture where it lives. It will however force me to stabilize the stands I have made (or figure out a new way for the stands) if I make the fuselage sit higher off the deck to accommodate the ball turret. The major point being that I want the public to see the ball clearly! Just to let you know that I am going to be there at the museum to do the final assembly as I have family who live 40 minutes away in Warner Springs who I visit almost every year and of course I will also be visiting the Lyons Air Museum on my next trip! Cheers Ian.....I will definitely place one of the bomb doors in the open position and maybe close the other...thanks for your input! Thanks a lot Clive! Thanks Pete....the mirror idea I will have to run past the Museum....but defo food for thought! Cheers mate!....appreciate it! Thanks Adrian...will talk about the mirrors with the Museum at some point! I think you know what my response will be about the wings Simon!?!!😆😉 Thanks Brian for all your input!...I will definitely talk to the museum ref the photos....I have thousands of them of the entire build that I have obviously collected over the years! So it seems that most of you agree with each other about the display ideas and again...I want to thank you all for your input!🙂 Lots to think about ....lots to do....but I will be back with an update post of whats what! ......but first I have to do some packing as I have sold some of my models!..... Lets hope it survives the trip back to UK !!! See you on the next post! Cheers Fozzy

Great progress Richie!...I.P looks brilliant!

Hi there guys I need some input if that is at all possible!🙂 I have now finished this project and all I have to do is prepare it for display. Not as easy as it seems as there are many things I have to think about when displaying this project.....I will run them by you.... 1. This B17 will be going into a museum and the Museum is in USA. So I have the logistical nightmare of shipping it there to start with....I am in Bulgaria and I will first ship it to UK and then on to the States. 2. As it has to be shipped I won't be able to fix some of the parts together until its actually in the States ,,,where I will then put it all together.....Tail fin/guns/doors/ tail wheel/ball turret/bomb doors! 3. But first I need to give the display a trial run before packing it ready for shipping. So this is where I run my idea for display past you guys. A. First and foremost it is important for me to show as much as the interior as possible as this was main reason I built this B17 in the first place! As you are probably aware most of the top of the entire fuselage is open so that you can see down into the cockpit/bomb bay/radio room tail section etc etc. B. I have definitely decided to display it all in two sections....first section being from the plexiglass nose to the ball turret position.....and of course the rear section from there to the Cheyenne turret at the rear. C. By displaying it in two sections approx 6 inches or so apart.... you will be able to look down the fuselage open ends at more of the detail. D. I was thinking of placing the fuselage on a frame ....kind of similar to this blue frame on this B17.... E.This would mean that I would either leave off the bomb doors and display them separately or fix them closed! F. Because I have done so much detail with the Sperry ball turret I was also thinking of displaying it separately so that you can actually see into the turret rather than it being hung underneath the fuselage where all the detail will be lost.....here is a photo of what the display could look like..... G. If I did this ball turret display ..which I think I would like to do... it would mean that I would have to take out the hanging frame/ammo chutes/oxygen bottle from the fuselage ... leaving it empty all bar the walk platform around where the turret would be......I have crudely marked in red the part on my model that would be taken out on this next photo...... So OK......that is the way I think I would like to go but I would really like your opinion as what you think!....(What you think about the ball turret idea and the bomb doors!) At the end of the day of course it will be my decision but would love to hear your views! Here are quite a few photos of the finished fuselage!.....obviously before the proper display...... OK guys.....Thanks again and looking forward to your input! Cheers Fozzy

Cheers mate!....I guess I have had enough and I enjoyed your heckling over the years!😉😃

Thank you Richie...and what a lovely story about your Father!🙂

Hi guys Just a quick post showing the very last detail that I shall be doing on this B17. Of course they is still a lot more thought and scratch building to be done to finally display the model but I am going to take a bit of time out whilst I think about it! I have made a decision about the two halves of the fuselage (front section and rear section). Right from the start of this project it was important for me to show all the interior detail and the actual outer fuselage came second in the importance of this project and so to that end the two sections will be apart. I am thinking of a gap about 8 inches between the front and the rear.This will allow you peer down into the fuselage as well as seeing the detail from the missing panels in the top. I am also steering towards actually keeping the ball turret displayed on a little stand in the 8 inch gap between the two halves......I know it sounds crazy but I am also thinking of taking out the ball turret hanging frame which holds the ammo chutes from the fuselage and attaching it to the top of the turret as a complete unit. I have seen a photo of this of a turret from a B24 and I think it might work for my display but as I said I am going to take time out and think about it! In the mean time here is the last of the detail which I will do on the actual fuselage.... and that is the rear crew door. Made in the same way I built the tail turret door....here it is before painting... ...and here it is painted.... ....here's a couple of photos of the door attached to the fuselage... So that's all the internal and external scratch building done for this B17G. Of course you won't get rid of me that easy after these past 10 years!😉......I am going to try to photo the 2 fuselage sections before starting on the display work ,so I will be back soon! Cheers as always for looking in and see you on the next post! Fozzy

Hi Richie...cheers...but I personally thought you were going great guns with your engine!....keep at it mate!😉 Thanks Brian...I would like to display it in UK but traveling with it is a logistical nightmare!🙄...timing as well!...me being here in Bulgaria...shame as I am close to Telford as my Mum lives in Stafford!

Richie.....great start with this BE2c!....it's good that you have manufactured parts for the engine....but my advice (for what its worth) is to scratch build the engine along side the kit parts and copy what you see....you'll be surprised what you can achieve with a little practice!...I mean ...you started out brilliantly!...I will enjoy watching what ever you do in any case so keep up the great work!🙂

Thanks Richie!🙂....yes its off to California to go into this museum....... http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com Cheers!

Hi there This post will be all about painting and adding the markings to the rear of this fuselage. I thought that this would be the last post before i actually finish all the work on the fuselage but then I remembered that I had to make the rear crew door! I have made the rear gunners door that I will show you now. Because the door is the shape of the fuselage I had to use the bulk head formers as a template to get the shape right. I made it from plastic card and here is the inside of the door... The out side was then covered in a sheet of aluminum and a handle was made from a piece of sanded plastic sprue... Then I painted the inside of the door with interior green.... I made a couple of hinges from plastic, (covered in pieces of aluminum from a Coca Cola can to strengthen them)... and then dry fitted the completed door to the fuselage. Its now time to paint the markings on the fuselage but first I had to mask up the areas I didn't want the airbrush to cover....for some reason I hate this job of masking ....you miss a bit and the blasted spray gets it!! Before I fired up my Paasche....I spent a LOT of time marking out the USAF Insignia I needed for both sides of the fuselage. This wasn't as easy as I thought as not only did I have to get the scale correct but actually drawing out the insignia meant I had to dabble into geometry....which I totally ignored in my schooling years!....72 degrees spacing for each star point ...the bars are the radius x a half.... etc etc...luckily I found a great little page on the internet explaining how to actually draw the Insignia! I drew the insignia onto some sticky back silver paper I have...which if all goes well I can literally just place them on the fuselage! After drawing another extra insignia , I cut out the star and the bars.....sprayed the original white and then replaced the star and bars over the white as a mask for the dark blue paint!.....did you get all that??? !!! So first off....here are the green bands I sprayed that are on "Fuddy Duddy"... ....and here is the USAF insignia on the starboard side....I have to say I am pleased in how they have turned out!.... The next 6 photos show the overall completed paint scheme for the rear of this B17... It seems such a long time ago that I had the tail wheel in place!... The reason it isn't fixed at the moment is the fact that this whole model has to be transported to USA at some point and the less sticky out bits for packing the better!!...but as a reminder for myself and you guys...here it is.... Well that's it for this week! Next week some time will be the final post of this rear section showing the rear crew door that I have yet to build and a good few photos of the rear section completed! Until then ....take care and thanks for looking in! Cheers Fozzy

I do hope you weren't drinking and driving Pete!😮 Thanks Brian ...and thanks for all the encouragement you gave me to make the wings etc!🙄😉 Cheers mate!🙂 Thanks Bill....you know that you haven't got rid of me yet?....there's the doors to make!...not to mention the display set!😉

Hi there to all! OMG!😮 I really can see the finishing post now!...In this last week I have been at this B17 every day trying to move it along! Of course here in Bulgaria we are experiencing dangerous weather warnings of extreme high temperatures....like most of Europe I guess...most days 42C plus /107F...and so I had to vacate my workshop as it was far too hot in there and move into the bedroom as I have aircon there!...So I had to find an old table and take some tools from my workshop to the house (workshop is in another building from the house) and get on with the job at hand! The end result being that I have completely finished all the internal detail , joined the top and bottom halves together and managed to skin the entire rear section!....so all in all I am really pleased! Last post had me fitting the waist guns into the perspex windows but the very last detail after 10 years is to make the ammunition belts that feed the guns....so here are a few photos... The ammo belts have to be able to twist and turn from the ammo boxes to the guns so I had to scrap the belt I had previously made as they wouldn't bend without snapping in half!.....so I decided to use slivers of aluminum from a Coca Cola can to make up the shape I needed to go from the ammo boxes to the guns!....you follow me?...probably not!....so here is a photo!...... In this way I have it bent to shape before I super glue all the hundreds of rounds...(cut pieces of wire...took all afternoon!!) This next photo shows some of the rounds on the belt. All I had to do then was enclose the rounds in the belts using strips of paper which when painted will hopefully look the part! Here you see I have attached the belts to the ammo boxes and to the guns.....starting with the starboard MG Here is the port MG ....and a couple of shots looking at both Waist guns from the rear.... Now came the part that I had been dreading for months and months and that was gluing the top and bottom halves together! It had to be a strong setting glue that would be permanent and since the fuselage is constructed out of balsa wood I thought wood glue was the way to go....nope!...it's no good.....it will have to be super glue!....but I had to work fast and be accurate as if it didn't line up it would be impossible to take it apart without destroying the fuselage!.....so working from the rear to the front I super glued a few inches at a time....remembering to make sure all the internal detail was in line from the top to the bottom! Finally after a few nerve racking minutes it was complete!....all lined up and secure!... That for me was a huge worrying part of this build.....it was as well for the front section ,Bomb bay ,radio room!...still all done now! Skinning!.......I kind of enjoy it!....very slow process but if I can get it right then worth the effort! First of all I had to mark the entire fuselage with a marker of where all the rivet lines go....that took a day!....and then all the separate panels had to be cut out of a sticky back aluminum sheet used on real aircraft kindly donated by my good modelling friend Finn and marked up for rivets and then placed onto the fuselage.....here are a couple of photos I took during the process... So here we have in the next batch of photos the fuselage all skinned. To finish off the rear section , all I have to do now is spray some markings including the USAF insignias.....and that will be that! Of course I say that will be that but then its buckle down to the display ideas I'm thinking of...which will involve more scratch building! So until then....I will see you all on the next post when she's all marked up and sprayed! Cheers for looking in Fozzy

Thanks for the idea!....lots of things are running round in my mind at the moment ...so I will have to see!😉

Very impressive! ....I wouldn't have enough room to build one for my B17 !...let alone display it!😲

Ha ha!😆....you just couldn't resist could you!😉

Thanks guys!.....Build a hangar for it!!🙄