Academy 1/72 B-29 "Celestial Queen"

[SaminCam]

I must have been nice this year as Father Christmas came up trumps and delivered the 1/72 Academy B-29. I want to make it bare metal, but with the turrets and conventional bomb load, so went for the "Old Battler" version. Thanks to the discussion in the link below I've sourced the Eduard cockpit and engine etch, the canopy mask set and Kits-World decals for the "Celestial Queen" whose red tipped wings and fin particular appealed .

 

Detailing and painting the interior is one of my favourite parts of the modelling process and I was looking for a way to show this off once the model is finished. Last year I built a B-17 which was held together with small magnets and can be split right down the middle. This worked ok but I didn't fancy trying again with the larger B-29. Instead I've opted to cut away part of the fuselage around the cockpit. This cutaway section will then be held in place with small magnets but can be removed using the turret has a little handle. I decided to bite the bullet straightaway and the surgery was the first thing thing I did after opening up the box. I used a new, sharp modelling knife and scored along existing panelling lines (carefully) to make the cuts. I think the operation was a success:

 

 

The canopy piece is glued to the cut away section to allow better viewing of the cockpit and also because it helps to "jigsaw" the two parts together. I've put some filler on the cut away part and this is waiting to dry and be sanded down. I'll also fill and sand the tanker version panel lines at some point. 

 

Having made the effort to open up the cockpit my thoughts have now turned to making the interior detail look good. The etch set should help (my first go with extra etched parts) but I noticed that the floor of the cockpit is somewhat lacking in detail. I've therefore tried to use Aluminium tape plus a rivetting tool and the knurled finish on the handle of my modelling knife to give the floor some texture and interest. This will all be painted over but hopefully the patterns will come through, we'll see! I'm not going for a super accurate depiction but these type of textures at least seem plausible based on some images I hunted down online. 

 

 

I'm afraid progress will probably be fairly slow on this one but I'll try and keep the updates coming as regularly as possible. Thanks for looking in!

 

 

[neil5208]

Nice start Will follow

[Jackson Duvalier]

My first thought was that all that interior detailing will never be seen.

 

Then I saw the cabinetry aspect of the build. I'm fascinated!

[06/24]

Yep

[06/24]

@SaminCamwhat sort of aluminium tape did you use? It clearly embossed cleanly - I can see potential for the Puma I'm building plus assorted helos in the stash, albeit not with your level of skill!

[SaminCam]

3 hours ago, 06/24 said:

@SaminCamwhat sort of aluminium tape did you use? It clearly embossed cleanly - I can see potential for the Puma I'm building plus assorted helos in the stash, albeit not with your level of skill!

I "borrowed" a strip off a roll of tape from work, I'll check the make when I'm back in next week. I'll post a photo below including the "knurled" grips on the modelling knifes. I did the embossing on a hard board before taking the paper backing off - no skill required really, just press down hard! It'll be interesting to see how it looks once there's some paint on.  

[SaminCam]

 

Still work needed on the join - I might start again and try using plastic card to fill the ~0.5mm gap a bit more robustly than just filler. 

 

I've discovered this evening that PE is *quite* fiddly. I made some progress and learned a few things along the way. Gluing the four little levers on each side console was beyond me but I subbed in two bits of hypodermic tube which I think look ok. Looking at them in the photo now I might try and use a blob of PVA to give them "knobs" on the end. 

 

 

 

[Gondor44]

Think I will follow this build as I have a couple of these myself

 

Gondor

[SaminCam]

Little bit of progress on the cockpit. As you will see I'm not going for minute detail accuracy but trying to make things seem busy and interesting. The PE is super fiddly but the little leavers, instrument panels and the side consoles especially, definitely help. I'm working my way from front to back and once all the main parts have some colour on them I'll gloss varnish and weather with dry brushing and oils. I'm also going to put some cables and wires on the walls of the cockpit where things are a bit plain. 

 

 

 

 

 

[amblypygid]

Looking very nice indeed. I imagine much of the detail will be visible through the glazing.

[rob Lyttle]

I gotta confess, I can't wait to get them closed up and get on with "the plane", so I'm full of administration for what you've done so far, and your self control!

Even in 1/72, she's going to be a big bird.

[Gondor44]

The Detail & Scale books on this aircraft are a real help with cockpit detailing as well as other bit's and peices around the airframe.

 

Gondor

[SaminCam]

Cockpit is coming together slowly, I've weathered / highlighted things with a combination of drybrushing, tamiya panel liner and artists oils, all over a gloss varnish on top of the base colours. The chipping was done through to the Ally tape that went on some parts before the base coat. The back of the panel behind the pilot and co-pilot seat had no detail at all so with a bit of artistic license I added a few panels and wires. One thing to look out for if you have PE seat belts is the moulded belts in the plastic. I though they would be covered up but in fact they do show through a bit - should have sanded them off first. The ones on the pilot and co-pilot seat were particularly unpleasant so I filled them over with putty and thickened the padding on the back support.  

 

I'd like to be put a map on the navigators table - at the moment will do with some thin plastic card and paint some thing on but are there any clever tips out there (I'm in 1/72)? I'm also going to scratch build some headphones for the radio operator and perhaps a lamp for the navigator. Thanks for looking! 

 

 

 

 

[bbudde]

Hello, nice to see a  B-29 in 1:72. I'm in for that. Looks busy so far. Nice idea on the cutaway's. I would also do, if the interior fully is represented, especially with aftermarket goodies. Nice start.

[SaminCam]

Quick update on the Celestial Queen. Photo below shows the cockpit dry fitted in the fuselage. The section I've cut out gives a nice view in and it all seems to fit together pretty well. Over the last few weeks I've scratch built a lamp, radio headset, little clipboard and map which will go in the cockpit. I'm currently adding some plastic "ribs" on the inside of the body which will be visible through the bomb bay doors and should liven up the plain plastic which is there at the moment. I'll try and get some more photos up this weekend. 

 

 

[Gondor44]

Are you planning to install the upper turret's workings/drum ?

 

Gondor

[SaminCam]

Hi Gondor, I'm not quite sure yet - don't think there are any bits in the kit for it so would be scratch built and the turret is going to be on the removable piece of fuselage so won't be on display really... having said that i enjoy this fiddly stuff, so maybe I'll see what i can do?!? You'll notice as this build progresses (slowly)  that I'm making most of it up as i go along so any tips much appreciated!

[jrlx]

Excellent work on the cockpit!

 

I'll be following along, as I have the exact same kit, PE and decals to build the "Celestial Queen"

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[SaminCam]

Currently trying to make the bomb bay a bit more interesting (doors will be open) so have created some internal structure from strips of plastic card of two thicknesses. These are (hopefully) artistic but certainly not realistic so hope those of you who know the B-29 well aren't wincing too much! The second photo is dry fitted and I'm reasonably happy with the effect, certainly looks better than it did bare. I've seen photos showing wiring and control lines passing through the bomb-bay so will add something to represent these as well. Paint wise it'll get a layer of primer, my version of cockpit green and then some weathering. Next on my to do list is to get the cockpit finished, rear crew compartment painted and some weight in the nose. Onwards!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gondor44]

On 04/02/2018 at 12:05 PM, SaminCam said:

Currently trying to make the bomb bay a bit more interesting (doors will be open) so have created some internal structure from strips of plastic card of two thicknesses. These are (hopefully) artistic but certainly not realistic so hope those of you who know the B-29 well aren't wincing too much! The second photo is dry fitted and I'm reasonably happy with the effect, certainly looks better than it did bare. I've seen photos showing wiring and control lines passing through the bomb-bay so will add something to represent these as well. Paint wise it'll get a layer of primer, my version of cockpit green and then some weathering. Next on my to do list is to get the cockpit finished, rear crew compartment painted and some weight in the nose. Onwards!  

 

 

 

There is a part of the crew access tunnel that needs work. The flat area to the left of this picture should be just like the rest of the tunnel. What Academy did was to cheat a bit and produce two copies of the same part for the tunnel which had a flat area to go beneath the Astrodome. This means that a hole needs to be cut out of the flat part in the upper half of the tunnel and the lower part needs to be made round.

Gondor

[SaminCam]

Thanks Gondor, I did wonder about that as it's pretty visible through the bay doors. Will see what I can do to correct.  I'm making steady progress but not much to see atm - have nearly sorted the magnets for the cut away section and finished adding the ribs and stringers to the bomb bay.  For bomb bay colours Ive changed the plan to aluminium for the walls and cockpit green for the crew tunnel and bomb racks. I've seen various combinations of painted and not painted in photos with the restored versions seeming to be painted all over while old photos showing more bare metal, ill see how it looks once some paint goes on.

[SaminCam]

I've made some progress on the bomb bays and the photos below show both fuselage halves dry-fitted. I've added plastic card to the inside walls for ribs and stringers, created some pipework from soldering wire and cables from stretched sprue. This all got a coat of primer followed by a few coats of Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminium. Next step is to paint some details, varnish and weather. I've also got 12 of the 32 (!) bombs glued together and sanded. Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 

[SaminCam]

32 bombs stuck together and sanded, thankfully didn't need filling. They fit nicely on cocktail sticks so I made "bomb kebabs" and painted Olive drab followed by a coat of gloss varnish. Three decals supplied for each bomb so still lots more work needed to get these finished. I've masked the bomb bay walls which are going to stay bare metal while I spray the bomb racks, cockpit walls, etc, you might also notice I drilled out the hole on the bottom spar (2mm drill) which made a surprisingly big difference to how the whole thing looks. Hopefully more pics later if I can get some cockpit green sprayed on

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SaminCam]

Not too much progress to report, still working on the insides though getting nearer to closing her up. On the bomb bay I messed around with liquid mask to do some chipping - I quite like the effect but probably went a bit over the top - will remember that for next time when I do it somewhere more visible. Each bomb has three decals and they were a pain, I struggled to get the yellow rings to wrap around neatly and they just didn't want to sit flat, even with lots of Microsol. I've tried to pick the best ones to be most on show but not that happy with them, probably would have been better to mask and paint... I've also been building up the weight in the nose using tungsten shot from fiance's dad's shotgun shell (!) and araldite to glue it. I don't really know how much I need so going to pack as much as I can into the space below the cockpit. Will dry fit everything with the wings on soon and see if it'll sit nose down. I'll hopefully get a bit more done over Easter, pretty sure this is going to take me all year at this rate!

 

 

 

 

 

[SaminCam]

After seeing @Dereknf 's lovely 1/72 Airfix Enola Gay here: 

I couldn't resist a dry fitting with the wings and empennage and the good news is it seems to have enough weight in the nose to not be a tail sitter. It's also pretty huge, much bigger than anything else I've ever made, either as a kid or since I returned to the hobby 18 months ago. I've got a fair bit done this weekend and the fuselage halves are nearly ready to go together. Most of the cockpit detail is done which you can see when the bit of magnetic fuselage is removed. The bomb bay is also getting there. The oxygen tank was removed from the part in the kit which can hardly be seen in its position between the bomb bay doors. I've got five more of these to patch up; the metal straps are made from aluminium tape. One thing to watch out for if you have this kit is the fit between the first row of bombs and the crew tunnel as they initially interfered with each other and prevented the two halves from shutting properly. I ended up modifying the bombs so they sat closer to the rack and now have a smidgeon of clearance to the tunnel. The crew compartment behind the bomb bay is in place with a simple paint job and no extras as it will be very difficult to see. I just need to do the same with the tail gunner, then I think (finally) she can be zipped up.