1/72 B-17B '10'

[hacker]

l have the same kit and planning on doing it once l get my research done. Tons of info on the later models but the B is a harder nut to crack. Right now l am trying to find more info on the rear guns. Seeing you got those tear drop blisters you can see a lot of the interior.

 

 

So far this is the best l can do at the moment but l keep looking. l believe there is a B model being restored but not sure if it is that or the D. l will have to find some updates somewhere. Also be aware that all Academy B-17 wings need shimming to get the correct dihedral as the kit one is too high and you need to lower it to the correct position

 

hacker

 

Hacker

Edited November 9, 2018 by hacker

[Thom216]

I'm hoping I can see at least some of what I'm putting in. If not, then when I get around to the Academy C/D kits I'll just slap the fuse sides together!😁

 

That is a nice pic of the gun blister. I found another from the 229 in '35 that's taken from further back.

 

 

Another from the rear looking forward, or so it looks.

 

An a close up from the outside.

 

From here you can see the gun tracks are closed up, as well as the drooped elevators. The blisters also have far less framing than the earlier models.  Also a good shot of the tail lights.

 

The belly blister. Awkward position, that.

 

And looking forward in a C, with the unique floor arrangement because of the bathtub.

 

And are you sure about the floor plan? I was basing my decision to split the flight deck based on these two pics.

The caption from the site states this as an 'early shark tail.' It has the old yokes and the split deck, as you can see the floor drop down under the seats.

''

 

And this showing the armament layout of the B with the early blisters, but also showing the drop in the flight deck floor.

 

As to the early 17 under restoration, that would be 'the Swoose,' at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

 

Edited November 10, 2018 by Thom216

[stevej60]

Some superb work going on here Thom I'mliking it a lot!

[Thom216]

On 11/11/2018 at 3:50 PM, stevej60 said:

Some superb work going on here Thom I'mliking it a lot!

Thank you very much! Again, most of it probably won't be seen and I'll probably give myself a little slap atop the head when I'm done, but just in case right?!

 

As for now, my slow build pace continues. I made another fire extinguisher for the rear bulkhead and mounted it into place.

 

This pic is just before the lintel snapped off and had to be replaced...

 

And I have to give props to Ol' Scrapiron, without whom I would not have tried putting handles on the radio gear and ammo boxes. Thank you!

 

 

I've had to replace a couple of those handles already, as my thick fingers are tending to bulldoze into the radio room whenever I pick it up!

 

I then started to build the rear floor. From the pics it looks like a split level with a 'bridge' going along the side passing the belly gun position.

Here I wish I had pics of the B model's interior, as what I've built is definitely more indicative of the C model, just with a blister position rather than the tub.

 

And pretty much done with the floor here.

 

Just test fitted here to see how it'll go.

 

Next up is the guns. As well as some PE replacement barrels, I need to mount them as well as creating the hardware to do that. In the waist positions, they rest in gimbles inside the bubbles. so I'll try to mount them similarly there. Or try to fake the look of the gimbles and mount them as instructed. Top and bottom will be tucked into recesses. Or at least with the bottom gun, made to look like it's tucked in, as there is no room in there without some major surgery for the whole gun.

 

Then I'll be back into the cockpit, and hopefully with the PE seats in hand as they are still in the mail...

 

Still moving along and hoping to get to painting the interior soon!

 

Thom

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Thom216

[Hewy]

Smashing job , Fine detailing in there thom, it'll be a great shame to zip it up

[modelling minion]

Yet more excellent scratch-building Thom.

Anybody building one of the early B-17's could do a lot worse than recreating the work that you have done here, and I plan to do one myself in the future.

Truly excellent work mate.

[DJJunis]

Dude this is just fantastic. Really great modelling!

All the Best!

Don

[Thom216]

21 hours ago, Hewy said:

Smashing job , Fine detailing in there thom, it'll be a great shame to zip it up

 

10 hours ago, modelling minion said:

Yet more excellent scratch-building Thom.

Anybody building one of the early B-17's could do a lot worse than recreating the work that you have done here, and I plan to do one myself in the future.

Truly excellent work mate.

 

2 hours ago, DJJunis said:

Dude this is just fantastic. Really great modelling!

All the Best!

Don

Thanks a lot guys! I really appreciate it. It's like a shot in the arm to keep the momentum up, and tell myself not to have another half-build under the table!🙃

Edited November 16, 2018 by Thom216

[Ol' Scrapiron]

Don't even joke about not finishing it--- the work you're doing looks so good it would be an absolute crime to not see her through. 

 

Too bad there's not a clear fuselage option for you to really show off all that scratch work.

 

[Canso65]

Wow, you have done some incredible scratch building Thom. 

 

She is looking amazing!

 

Rob

[Thom216]

Thank you Scrapiron and Canso! It's getting there!

 

So, it would appear that my weekly update is here, and with a little more work to show. Not so much, but some...

 

First is the waist guns, I had bought some small retainer rings from the local Agway to serve as the gimble/mount for the guns themselves. I also needed them to be a little higher and outward a little more, so I cut off the mounting rods and replaced them with bendable metal pins. The rings themselves can be glued against the mounting pins inside the plastic bubbles, so with the metal pins there will be three points of gluing contact to keep the guns in place. Of course they'll be stowed and not sticking out at all - and of course while I was test fitting with the glazings I got an idea of how much will be seen through them. The answer? Not much...😂 I think people will be able to define shapes if no real detail. But I have the pics for proof of what's inside!

Back to the guns, a small strip of plastic serves as a little more framing, and nubs off the end of a styrene rod serve for the ammo cans on either side of the brass barrel. I haven't put on the cooling jackets yet. So, pics...

 

Unfortunately, I had the flash on and it washed some detail out.

 

Just needs some paint on those.

 

With that most of the interior is done, except for the cockpit. For that, I'm still awaiting the PE seats. So, with the interior on temp hold, I moved to the wings and started opening the inlets for the turbochargers.

 

I'll box those in and then go onto the gear bays to put some detail into there. And if the seats have yet to arrive, I'll go to the engines!

 

Model on!

 

 

 

 

[DJJunis]

Thom,

Looking great! The intakes on the new Airfix kit are a chore to fill and clean up...like having 8 jet intakes to mess with.

Hope you can do some sheet plastic magic to avoid this to a point on this one.

 

Keep Calm and Model On!

 

All the Best!

Don

[Thom216]

Yeah, onto clean up - and inevitable need for repair...

 

When looking at the opening straight on, there is a ridge of plastic at the bottom that looks like a little wall from the front. So I chucked a small grinder into the old dremel and started thinning the plastic just inside the openings.

 

And of course, a little buck in the dremel and it grinds out more than you want before you can blink. It took a little chunk out of the bottom of one hole. I just cut the hole to the engraved line and will replace it with a bit of styrene.

 

Like so...

 

There was another as well, a much smaller 'nick' that I think a PPP can be used to fill it. I just hope it works. I've had two squeeze tubes of Perfect Plastic Putty. The first was almost all dry before I even opened it. The second, this one, was fine the first two uses, but now it seems that the putty is coming out already half dry. So it's not sticking as it should. Hopefully, this will harden and stick, but I'm assuming that it'll flake off the first time I try and sand it back to shape.

 

Model on!

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Thom216

[Thom216]

Alright the cockpit seats arrived today! I don't recall buying two sets from the same shop, but as luck would have it there are two, so I don't have to wait for the other one.

And then I promptly lost the resin seats for one of them...😡 I'll find them at some point, who knows when... But I'm not aching over it, as the aftermarket seats almost exactly match the Academy seats that I already cut down, so win-win!😁

 

 

The ones with the pegs in the last pic are the kit seats. They'll be in the back... The whole thing is pretty nice, with good PE and belts. I'll just have to be careful putting it all together so I don't end up crushing them.

 

Model on!

 

[Thom216]

I'm back! What, you thought I was lost to the wilds of America..? No, just lost the mojo for a bit, but after a quick spray of some parts, it has come back.

Some real nice progress made in the Build in the meantime, and now I have to catch up!😁

 

First thing was spraying all the interior parts with Tamiya Nato Black, then masking those to leave them as nonskid. An aluminum coat followed, which didn't turn out all too smooth. I think I needed to add more thinner to the paint, but it's alright for what's there. Then dark green was sprayed for the radio room and cockpit walls and the nose office. The rest was finished up by brush. It is a little rough in places, but it's not going to be a cutaway!😉

 

Pics!

 

 

Don't strain your eyes reading the journal!

 

 

And I've started adding PE and also the resin oxygen bottles. Not too sure of where they go, but I figured some would look good and not hurt at all.

 

 

Still need to finish the PE, add the cooling jackets to the guns and do the seat.

 

Model on!

[vppelt68]

Oh another masterpiece interior! You sacrificed some Meccanos for the perforated beams then? And those ventral and dorsal mg slide mounts, all scratchbuilt?  V-P

[Jabba]

Just caught up with this one, and the amount of detail that you have researched and put into this model is absolutely superb, especially the scratch building inside the rear part of the fuselage.

[Ol' Scrapiron]

Fantastic stuff there. I keep reminding myself that your super clean 1/72nd build is substantially smaller than my 1/48th project. You make everything look so precise and effortless -- a real jewel in the making!

[TonyW]

You mention the model not being a cutaway, it seems such a shame to cover up all that incredible detailing.

 

Looking at the journal on the Radio Room table, I instantly thought of this 1944 booklet...

 

 

... it's funny how your eyes can play tricks on you! 😁

 

Tony.

 

 

[DJJunis]

Thom,

That is excellent modeling...really well done!

Love all the little "lived in " touches.

All the Best!

Don

[Thom216]

18 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Oh another masterpiece interior! You sacrificed some Meccanos for the perforated beams then? And those ventral and dorsal mg slide mounts, all scratchbuilt?  V-P

Is it a shame that I had to look up Meccanos..? 🙃 But no, just plastic and a drill bit. And yes, except for the guns themselves, all cut or bent plastic.

18 hours ago, Jabba said:

Just caught up with this one, and the amount of detail that you have researched and put into this model is absolutely superb, especially the scratch building inside the rear part of the fuselage.

 

18 hours ago, Ol' Scrapiron said:

Fantastic stuff there. I keep reminding myself that your super clean 1/72nd build is substantially smaller than my 1/48th project. You make everything look so precise and effortless -- a real jewel in the making!

Thanks a lot!

16 hours ago, TonyW said:

You mention the model not being a cutaway, it seems such a shame to cover up all that incredible detailing.

 

Looking at the journal on the Radio Room table, I instantly thought of this 1944 booklet...

 

... it's funny how your eyes can play tricks on you! 😁

 

Tony.

 

It will be. But I have the pics to remember it all by! And if it wasn't courting a temporal calamity by putting a book from '44 on a plane from the late 30s, I would see about painting the top book with that cover.

3 hours ago, DJJunis said:

Thom,

That is excellent modeling...really well done!

Love all the little "lived in " touches.

All the Best!

Don

Thank you very much!

 

Now if I can just keep from stalling again...

[modelling minion]

Hi Thom, any more progress on your excellent Fortress?

[Thom216]

I stalled again!🙃 I've been 'close to closing up' for two weeks.

 

Don't think I'll finish it, at least not in the GB. I keep doing a little work here and there, but nothing to get the ball rolling with any concerted speed.

 

If not in this GB, then I'll make a build thread in Work In Progress Aircraft.

 

Thom

[Ol' Scrapiron]

Whether you finish by the extended deadline or not, I hope your mojo will return and we'll get a chance to see your Fortress reach the finish line. It is such fantastic interior work -- both in the aftermarket PE and your scratch work -- that it would be a crime not to see her through.

 

I know I looked for reasons to procrastinate on gluing the fuselage halves together, but once that part was done I really felt relieved. Now I have it set on a board laid out on the floor (the assembled plane is too big for the workbench) and I just lay on the floor to look at it from the vantage point of a 2-inch ground crew.

 

I'm sure everyone would agree -- please don't let your project find its way to the dreaded Shelf of Doom.

Watch the old 1942 "Air Force" to get the early Fortress juices flowing again!

Edited January 16, 2019 by Ol' Scrapiron

[Thom216]

My mojo is trickling along!😉

 

I got a little bit done today. The PE in the cockpit is done and the seats are attached. I also started putting in the glass, which was nice step cause that means I'm closer to closing it up, but those sections are just bad! Most of them have central distortions that makes me wish there was an after market glass option. But they are going in.

 

With the seats, I know the decals are in the wrong place. I put them down too low, but it is what it is.

 

As you can see, I did a mix of PE and decals.

 

Then they were loaded up, which showed me that I put the seat mounts a lil too close to the dash! The pilots would be scrunched in there!

 

 

And the other seats are also in, sans belts as I don't have any more. I might use some cut tape to fake them. You can also see the finished upper gun.

 

 

And the bottom one through the opening.

 

 

Next was the bubbles on either side. I'm glad I realized I was test-fitting the belly bubble first!

 

 

Then the waist guns were loaded up. I used clear gator glue to secure it the inside of the bubble and CA on the post.

 

 

And from the outside. I'm real happy at how clear the view is in at least in seeing the gun. The rest, not so much...😒

 

 

I'm going to keep knocking away at this, as we must nurture the modeling mojo if we wish it to live!

 

I'm going to mask the windows before I put the fuselage together, just in case I push one in. The ones that bridge the seam are going to be the toughest as I must do them before the fuse goes together, but it's doable.  Then I'l need to move back to the wings and the engines and the gear and the paint and the...

 

🙂