TonyW Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 The arrival of an ebay cheapie Minicraft/Haswgawa B17G without decals see's me adding a set of Print Scale decals to it, to give me a go at building Lassie and her Lads. I went for the Lassie option on the sheet as I liked the look of the olive drab outer wing panels. The build will be pretty much an out the box one. A quick look at the Hasegawa mouldings shows very fine raised panel lines, a decent stab at the bomb aimers position and separate flaps as well. Here's the less than impressive box art and the decal option I'll be using. The build will run alongside the Testors box top one I have on the go already. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 5, 2018 Author Share Posted November 5, 2018 Assembly and a bit of added detailing has commenced. Everything fits just fine and it all looks like a B17 to me so far. I've added seat belts using masking tape and that's about it for the cockpit. The instrument panel detailing has just about disappeared once the fuselage halves are put together. The seat detailing is visible through the cockpit, but only just. the rear fuselage got painted dark grey and then dry brushed silver to bring out the frame work. It can be seen through the side gunners windows but only if you look for it. Props and undercarriage are painted and ready to go, likewise chin turret and turbo tubing. The engines will get a bit of very basic detailing where it shows, then it's on with a bit of masking and painting. I'm really enjoying this one so far. Tony. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Nice progress. Always weird to me to see the wings going on before the fuse is together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 7, 2018 Author Share Posted November 7, 2018 I find it easier to work on the wing roots, if they need any attention, before the plane swells to full size with both wings in the way. I also attach the wing top first, again to try to get a really good wing root joint. Any miss alignment, after then fitting the wing bottom, is easier dealt with on the underside. Work on the fuselage centre seam is the easiest part of a build for me, so I find it suits me to sort that one out once the wings are right. Years of dealing with the sometimes terrible fit of old Airfix kits led me down this path. The Hasegawa kit fits pretty much perfectly right out the box but you can't teach an old dog new tricks!! Tony. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 This B-17 is looking fantastic Tony and you've made me have a re-think on how I go about fitting the wings on old Airfix kits. I agree that it is what you can see from the outside is what matters and why the exterior painting is what makes the model. This one is shaping up to be a beauty. Enjoying this. All the best. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 Good start Tony and quick progress to,it does look a decent kit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 (edited) I need a bit of reassurance/guidance regarding the paint finish on Lassie, I hope the more knowledgeable amongst us can help. The outer wing panels on Lassie were replaced during it's life, as shown on the decal instruction sheet above. My references here don't show any pictures of Lassie, and internet searches have so far turned up nothing. If I can't turn up any concrete info, I'm going to have to go by a bit of guesswork regarding the overall look of the plane. If anyone can point me towards photo's I would appreciate the help. Here's what I'm planning at the moment. The build will be of the plane towards the end of its service life, October '44 The anti glare panels on the aircraft would probably be original to the plane, along with the panel in front of the canopy. I'm planning on fading those areas quite a bit to show a definite tan colour creeping in. The wing replacement panels I assume would have come from a written off plane and would possibly have been in storage indoors awaiting re-use. These panels may well have been more green in colour if they had been out of the weather for a while. I'm planning on painting them a darker, more green shade of olive drab. The decal guide shows natural metal undersides but wouldn't the outer wing replacements have been in neutral grey, to match the olive topsides? The decal sheet also says the plane is shown as it was in August '44, replacement panels and all. It was also one of the original planes of the 772 Bomber Squadron, 463BG, The plane was written off in October '44. From its long service life I'm assuming it would have had a very worn look towards the end. I'll be weathering the plane quite a bit in light of that. Does the above sound like it would be a fair representation of the plane? Thanks, in anticipation. Tony. Edited November 14, 2018 by TonyW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I´m afraid I can´t help you a lot... but what I´ve learned is that the central panel of outer wings might have been painted by a subcontractor in a different shade of green paint or olive drab than the other parts of the wing, just like the central part of the fin (that has often been misinterpreted in b/w pics as being red). The lower surface was most probably neutral grey. Mark Styling has drawn a profile of Lassie: https://www.markstyling.com/mto_b17s4.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Thanks for your reply. That website you listed is a bit of a gem! Tony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 15, 2018 Author Share Posted November 15, 2018 (edited) Lassie and her Lads has moved forwards quite a bit over the last day or two. A bit of masking, followed by a hit of white undercoat gave a base for the paintwork to begin, The outer wings were masked and a mix of Humbrol 30 green and 26 tan provided the first hit of colour. Once dry both colours were drybrushed singly until things looked about right. While waiting between coats of green and tan, work started on the bare metal main structure using good old Humbrol silver, scrubbed in with a broad brush to eliminate brush marks as far as possible. The yellow areas on the tail were given their first coat of base yellow and I couldn't resist decaling as soon as I could. Adding decals seems to bring a model to life somehow. Things seem to speed up a bit once the soul of the model starts to reveal itself. Pretentious nonsense?.. quite possibly, but it works for me! Weathering began with a bit of dark metalizer powder applied with a soft brush around the engine nacelles and wings. From some angles it's quite a strong effect, from others, almost a shadow. It all depends how the light hits it. There's a ton more to do yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. More as it happens. Edited November 15, 2018 by TonyW 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 Looking very good! V-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 Chip, chip, chip, bit by bit, Lassie is coming together. Lots of detail painting that hardly shows! I've added a bit of grey to the Humbrol silver used and painted panels here and there in slightly different shades to break up the expanses of bright silver. The panels show from some angles, then dissapear from others. I made a point of adding panels over some of the exhaust staining to try to show replaced damaged panelling. Lassie seems to have had a hard life and I'm trying to show that without going over the top. The outer wing panels have had a bit of wear and tear added and might get a bit more yet. Walkways have been added with permanent marker guided with a steel ruler. They need a bit of touching in here and there. I'll also need to find some detail decals for the fuel filling points and the prop blades and so on and then the clear parts need framing. I wish I had added a bit of detail into the top turret and radio room, as the inside of both are quite visible with the parts propped in place. This might be less apparent once the framing is added though. The cockpit framing has been part done and the interior is sort of visible, the seats show quite well. I've taken a peek at the Revell B17 I got at Telford. On first look, I'm very impressed. I'm more used to the old Airfix dinosaur, the Hasegawa and Academy kits seem very high tec to me! The Revell kit is just out of this world in comparison with those two. I can see me building that one after Lassie and the Testors lookalike running at the moment. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Lovely build, Tony, it must be really satisfying when the paint goes on and the detail builds up - looks fantastic to me. I'm loving this one and bursting to get started on a B-17. It will be great to see your two builds side by side when done, then you can go for the 'super-tech' Revell version! All the best. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Lassie looks lovely! One thing though, check the staining around the wing vents; as I´ve lately learned, it´s just hot air coming from them and actually the areas you too have stained are the clean ones! See Princess Pat in the link here for a nice prototype. V-P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 hour ago, vppelt68 said: Lassie looks lovely! One thing though, check the staining around the wing vents; as I´ve lately learned, it´s just hot air coming from them and actually the areas you too have stained are the clean ones! See Princess Pat in the link here for a nice prototype. V-P Thanks for the link, that's a really useful photo to follow. A fair bit of modification required on Lassie by the look of it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol' Scrapiron Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 6 hours ago, TonyW said: ... A fair bit of modification required on Lassie by the look of it! Actually, it looks like the exhaust you've added so far is fairly light. You might consider just adding "more" and making sure it is darker around/between the vents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) That's one way to sort things out, too late though. I've already gone the nuclear route and airbrushed Humbrol silver over all the existing wing staining! The finish from the airbrushing has added another shade of airframe colour to the mix, so things are starting to look suitably busy on the wings now. I'll let it all dry overnight, then start a bit of re-staining tomorrow. Edited November 20, 2018 by TonyW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 36 minutes ago, TonyW said: That's one way to sort things out, too late though. I've already gone the nuclear route and airbrushed Humbrol silver over all the existing wing staining! The finish from the airbrushing has added another shade of airframe colour to the mix, so things are starting to look suitably busy on the wings now. I'll let it all dry overnight, then start a bit of re-staining tomorrow. So the advice wasn't quick enough to restrain you from de-staining so you have to re-stain 😜 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 (edited) Department of Corrections here.... The wings have had a bit of remedial paintwork, both brush and airbrush. The flow pattern behind the wing vents has been swapped over, with the darker streaks now running from the gap between vents rather than from the vents. I've also made a start on the olive drab antiglare areas. These seem to lead a very tough life, with sunlight and oil mist playing havoc with the colouring. I'll keep drybrushing and adding washes until things look OK to me. The silver paintwork on the wings is proving difficult to work with. I don't think Humbrol silver ever dries properly. Each addition to the finish needs care if the base coat isn't to be removed. No doubt using modern paints would solve the problem here, but I'm stuck in my ways now and doomed to remain in the seventies at the latest. Here's how things look this morning.... In a couple of the build threads going on here, the subject of detail disappearing into the fuselages, never to be seen again, has cropped up. Take a look at the view through the radio room glazing on my build though... I wish I had added a bit of detailing inside. Although the glazing is only clipped into place here and I do have a very limited bit of access to the area, I don't think I can add much to make a difference to the rather empty space on show. A coat of black in there might lead the eye away from the innards in this case, but a far better option would have been to add detail. More as it happens. Tony.. Edited November 22, 2018 by TonyW 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Have you thought of making a picture box? Maybe just a pic of an actual radio room taken from above and glued down onto the floor? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 22, 2018 Author Share Posted November 22, 2018 Not a bad idea! Before it all gets too involved, I'll paint in the framing and add the 50 cal. with some kind of representation of the ammo feed and see how that looks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol' Scrapiron Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Thom216 said: Have you thought of making a picture box? Maybe just a pic of an actual radio room taken from above and glued down onto the floor? That's an intriguing solution. When I first saw the window decals for airliner models that have the little passenger faces my first thought was "how hokey" ... but when I saw some in use I have changed my opinion and really appreciate how they make the model come alive. However, I'll bet a simple table and seat could be carefully lowered into place through that hole (probably how they got the radios and table equipment in the actual airframes rolling through the assembly line). Wouldn't have to be completely to scale since they'd only be visible at a limited angle and through the plastic window. Expanding on Thom's photo suggestion for the radio room, I was contemplating putting some firewall detail behind the engines (you can see a bit between the cylinders) and maybe the photo idea would work for that. Hmmmmmm..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Not much to report on the build really. The model is sat on its wheels now, chin turret, nose glazing and a few guns fitted plus a bit more work on the wing tops. The build has been sat in a tray on my windowsill for ages, just looking at me. I've treated it to a card hardstanding to keep it happy for a while yet as my Testors build is getting all the attention at the moment. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted December 2, 2018 Author Share Posted December 2, 2018 (edited) In the post above, I mention Lassie sat on my windowsill. Here's how it all looked last night. B17's 'R Us!!! The Mosquito is yet another 'wooden' build I have on the go at the moment. Edited December 2, 2018 by TonyW 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vppelt68 Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 Can you tell us more about the cardboard base, please V-P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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