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B-17G-35-BO 42-31990 MS*R "Stage Door Canteen"


vppelt68

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Edit 1.4.: Hello! I started this build as a waist window conversion only, in "regular" aircraft modelling section. Giorgio and Enzo were kind to allow me to continue the build within a Group Build theme. "Strangers In Town" indeed were the first American Bombardment Groups when the "Friendly Invasion" began. The local people were all not too enthusiastic about the Yanks, for three reasons: "They were overpaid, oversexed and over here". End edit :coolio:. V-P

 

Could I do that? Would it be too difficult for a clumsy, regular kit builder like me? That's what I was thinking thursday night, two days ago. During the friday I decided to try that.

2020-01-10_08-32-10

 Here's where we start. The newish Airfix B-17G staggered waist fuselage halves. Port will be untouched but acts as a template for the starboard modification, which I believe was close enough to a mirror image in the prototype.

2020-01-10_08-32-35

I drew the new opening to the inside of the fuselage. Airfix has been kind to supply the framework which helped tremendously in locating it. Then I drilled 0,5mm holes in the corners. The vertical cuts I made starting with a hobby saw and finished near corners with a knife. The horizontal cuts were all knife made.

2020-01-10_09-03-26

Voilá the crude new waist gun position opening is there! The removed fuselage piece is already cemented from upper, long horizontal edge and lower corners, with a thin styrene patch support on the inside.

2020-01-11_06-41-03

That was yesterday, when I also applied a good layer of putty on the old window. The new one is being trimmed to its shape. I needed to add some strips of styrene here and there.

2020-01-11_11-37-52

Some kind of success! There's a see-through opening now and the old window position looks neat too. I may add a dab of filler here and there, but nothing major is needed, please remember my regular level of model building...

2020-01-11_11-40-04

Here you see the waist window dry fitted in place. It's lost all of its attachment "lips" from the inside but is surprisingly tight. I was reminded at a B-17 fb group that most of the unstaggered G:s carried three panel waist windows. I intend to take care of that by just masking and painting the frames on :coolio:

Best regards, V-P

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  • vppelt68 changed the title to Airfix B-17G mid/late to early conversion

 

In this Airfix recent tool G-kit build I first wanted to find out, if a lower than average level modeller can de-stagger the starboard waist gun position. Yes, at least my expectations were fulfilled. The next quest was to find out, how decent fit would an Academy early tail gun position make mated with an Airfix fuselage.

So, I rolled my sleeves again and set to work hobby. After some quick measuring with my 1968 vintage Mk.8 eyballs and some test fitting, I determined it wouldn't be too difficult to try.

 

2020-03-30_06-41-35

I decided it was better to remove the lips from the fuselage and thin the inside a bit. Port done, starboard untouched for comparison.

2020-03-30_06-44-49

It was better to remove a small upright lip from the base of the tail gunner housing too. Removed on the left, remaining on the right, highlighted with a black marker.

2020-03-30_06-52-20

Aw the tail gunner housing extension is too tall and too wide... but let´s add some TET anyway.

2020-03-30_06-53-32

 

2020-03-30_07-19-12

Oh dear that glue seeped under the masking tape, but otherwise this looks rather good. My original plan was to shim the gap below the rudder and blend the fuselage to the wider housing. Fortunately, it was time to get some sleep in between, and let those joins solidify properly.

2020-04-01_11-22-35

Today I had a new plan. I had made my mind up, it was the Academy housing that was both too high and too wide. Well, that´s what the hobby saws are for. I cut the whole housing off. Then I sanded the fuselage neat and trimmed the lower end of the housing with a flat file.

2020-04-01_11-25-42

When those tasks were done, it was time to re-attach the housing to the fuselage. Still a tab higher than the fin extension, but no worrries.

2020-04-01_11-44-40

I highlighted the untouched starboard half with the black marker again to show the resulting difference in height. I´ll save the job of trimming the halves to match after they are joined. Before joining them though, I need to assemble the whole B-17 kit with its interior etc 🙂. V-P

 

EDIT: Added a decalbash picture here too. See how simple it is to change the "Nine-O-Nine" to "Stage Door Canteen"!

2020-04-01_11-45-09

 

 

 

 

 

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This is an interesting task you have set yourself, good to see what your doing to sort the early tail!

 

Very frustrating that airfix didn’t just put the early tail option in the kit as it would have made A: Wider range future options easily possible  B: helped modellers out a great deal!

 

good to see you having a crack at it.

 

Rob

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had to try painting the nose script. With black liner, I think it'll end up acceptable. Unfortunately my 0,2mm Sakura pen had dried and now I have to wait before the new ones arrive. The od paint will receive a second layer when the fuselage is buttoned up, this is kinda primer you see here, except the strip below the script.

2020-04-14_08-47-29

V-P

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On 4/1/2020 at 12:50 PM, vppelt68 said:

 

In this Airfix recent tool G-kit build I first wanted to find out, if a lower than average level modeller can de-stagger the starboard waist gun position. Yes, at least my expectations were fulfilled. The next quest was to find out, how decent fit would an Academy early tail gun position make mated with an Airfix fuselage.

So, I rolled my sleeves again and set to work hobby. After some quick measuring with my 1968 vintage Mk.8 eyballs and some test fitting, I determined it wouldn't be too difficult to try.

Hi V-P,

 

Congratulations for moving forward in modelling hobby, from  model assembler to builder! :D

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

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  • 11 months later...

Come h*** or high water, I'll post about the slooooow progress with the SDC. Today I set to open the fuselage nose hatch, something I planned for a long time.

2021-03-28_12-35-25

Chain-drill and cut the hatch opening...

2021-03-28_01-16-45

...file to shape following the Airfix engravings and the trim a new hatch from thin plastic sheet to fit...

2021-03-28_01-19-14

...no reason to go the extra mile to get a "Tamiya-fit" as the sole purpose of this is to display the hatch open :coolio:.

2021-03-28_08-35-01

All progress in one pic: Stinger tail, un-staggered waist, opened nose hatch and the plane name. Now another 11 months before I continue building her, right? V-P

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  • 6 months later...

Not 11 months since the last update, and I admit even this one's not a lot. BUT. Sometimes it's better to be slow! My knowledge on all things B-17, and its prime operator the USAAF in Europe, has grown steadily. I have written small pieces of two B-17 production blocks in the 381st Bomb Group, first the G-45-BO and now the G-35-BO, the latter includes this STAGE DOOR CANTEEN and the DREAMBABY I built in the first B-17 STGB. Browsing through pics of the SDC for the study, I came across some interesting photos of her, taken on the same day and in the same place she was christened by miss Mary Churchill.

 

I hadn't noticed that on that date, 21 April 1944, she was still equipped with a "snub" nose canopy, unarmored pop-off windshields and a NMF top turret framing, changed probably due to battle damage?

2021-10-11_03-22-06

The actual build part of this post is very short; Airfix shows the locations of the formation lights under the fuselage. I drilled them open. I also scored locations for the under fuselage laundry line antenna. I copied its location from a Hasegawa kit, neither Airfix nor Revell supply that antenna in their more modern kits... or the nose pitot tube either... But Hasegawa does, has done that since 1976!

V-P

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  • 4 weeks later...

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