Planebuilder62 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Hi there I wanted to build a B-17 that did not have heavy panel lines like Revell and Airfix provide, or have to worry about shimmining the wings of a NMF build that is needed for the Academy set. My cunning plan was to buy the Hasegawa kit and re-scribe it. Here is the kit with the KitsWorld decals to be used. The cunning plan fell apart as soon as I got the parts out of the plastic bag. Even though Hasegawa have been selling this kit for years with my preferred marking scheme, the kit comes with staggered waist gun positions which came after Miss Lace left the factory. So, plan B was mark the position for a new window using the raised panel lines as reference. This was cut and the old opening filled in. That looked good until the 2 fuselage halves were lined up. The windows did not match. Someone in the Hasegawa factory did someting right with this kit as the raised panel lines do fit the staggered waist windows. It just so happens that the panel lines are different from one side to the other. Time for Plan C, move the window again, here it is. Now the windows line up better in plan view. One really positive surprise with this kit is how well the wings join the fuselage, no putty expected here but some needed to fill the sink marks. More pics in a few days after the window story is complete and the intercooler and oil cooler inlets are boxed in to the wings. Regards Toby 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Good start. Martian 👽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 The side window move was successful, verified with Tamiya grey primer followed by Alclad Aluminium. The Hasegawa wings come with all the oil cooler and intercooler intakes open whic is nice. They just need boxing in with plastic card. And from the inside: The following plans include: Rescribibg the wings and fuselage after the putty work Button op the wings Paint the interior walls Add seatbelts, using tape, to the visible seats Fill up the tail gunner space with seat and gunsite Fill up the Bombardier compartment with panels, ammo boxes and ammo belts regards Toby 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 I have made a bit of progress busying up the nose and tail of this kit. The nose hase received extra instruemen panels for the Bombardier and I have made some slleeves to support the cheek guns in the nose walls. An ammunition box has also been made for the cheek guns. On the matter of the belt ammunition feeds the ideas of using folded masking tape or brass wire were quckly discarded. Plan C is to make the feed from a convoluted strip of thick paper which came to mafter remembering how to make cross belts for my Historex figures. A nose turret gun sight needs to be made as well. The tail gunner has a floor and ammunition boxes. A simple seat has been made, a gun sight awaits as well. Onto the pictures. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) Progress has been made but it has been slow recently. The ammunition boxes have been painted to look like plywood. Supports were made for the cheek and waist guns so the guns actually had something solid to attach to. In the case of the waist guns the window opening around the gun was enlarged and supports back to the fuselage were made. A floor was made for the waist gunners, it was surprising how much could be seen through the waist gunner windows. Ammunition belts were made by cutting the shape out of cardboard, priming with matt black and then painting. These are shown below with the scratch built gun sight for the chin turret. Extra detailing is being limited to what can be seen when the windows are in. The intercooler vents in the top wing were deepeed slightly using my scribing tool to make them look more like holes. Regards Toby Edited July 6, 2020 by Planebuilder62 pictures added 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 This is looking good - a lot of time and effort is going into this! For information, B-17s were unpainted internally, other than the flight deck. The whole fuselage was left in natural metal, with only the cockpit area being painted bronze or dark dull green - interior green was never used. I thought you may be interested to know considering the extra work you are putting into this build. All the best, Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 Thanks Tom The radio room is a black hole so thats why its black and green, the black went on last. Yepp, I` paint the tail gunners station silver. regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 Well, its all glued together and looks like a B-17 at last. Some filling has been done and a number of canopies sanded and polished to get them flush. Next step is canopy masking, primer and painting. regards Toby 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) The Hasewaga B-17 looked always good in shape even for an older model. Not as detailed as the newer Academy one then, but very convincing. Nice work so far on that one. I like that kit for a good representation of the real thing without too much fuss/zz of the interior, bomb bay, flaps etc.. Maybe something on the wheel bays, which would be visible. And the nose clear part looks correct!! Cheers. Edited July 28, 2020 by bbudde 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 Been busy with summer for the last few weeks but some progress has been made. After priming with Tamiya grey primer anf polishing with Micromesh 4000, Alclad Aluminium was sprayed on. The bottle I used was a few years old and half full. The Alclad clogged up the air brush repeatedly and this resulted in a gritty finish. This was polished off with coarser Micromesh ready for round 2 of the Alclad. Before spraying that I noticed the lamding light windows needed help. They had the same profile as the wing but were a bit short so they were packed out as shown here. To avoid spraying Alclad on my hands when handling this plane I put on disposable gloves. Half way through spraying I noticed the Alclad that was sprayed onto the gloves ran off on to the plastic. Oops. Ho hum. More rubbing down needed. The affected area was masked off for priming. Well that went OK, the plane was Alcladed again, third time lucky. Some panels were masked and Dark Aluminium sprayed on some, White Aluminium on others. The contrast looks too much but I will wait for daylight to figure out what to do next. Regards Toby 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Jeepers! Metallics are really fussy things, and I feel your pain on this one. I think Alclad is highly perishable, too, which you found out to your dismay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 There was quite a contrast between the Alclad shades: Some Aluminium was misted over the panels to reduce the contrast. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Excellent recovery! Did this particular aircraft have deicer boots? If so, what are your plans for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 Lucky for me there are no boots to paint. The hard part will be painting the un-evening weathered port wing. Regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Painting has started. An undercoat of white was put on the the yellow. Xtracolour Insignia yellow was sprayed on. Being in too much of a hurry caused the first yellow coat on the tail to run meaning that it had to be rubbed down and repainted. As the Xtracolour is gloss for decaling the masking/decalling sequence is a bit un-common. A coat of Alclad matt varnish went on over the yellow and the aluminium covered control surfaces. This will give a simple contrast for the fabric control surfaces. For interest here is a picture of 2 other builds in progress. Iconic shapes all of them. The Heinkel and Spitfire builds can be found over on the Group Builds. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Nicely done. I love the comparisons with the other aircraft. You can really see from this how small the B-17 truly is, despite its being a "heavy" bomber with four engines. But then again, it reflects 1930's expectations and tech limitations. Eager to see the "big reveal" after you remove the masking. Best, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 That looks really nice, and you've had some good recoveries along the way. I can't wait to see what it looks like when the masking is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 That yellow looks sharp, good to see progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigbeale Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 I love B-17 builds Well done 👏👏👏👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 (edited) And here is the plane with the masking removed. There was a small lip where the yellow paint touched the masking tape. This was rubbed down with a fine sanding stick and the yellow touched up. Here it is. Edited September 7, 2020 by Planebuilder62 typo corrected 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Ohhh, that looks nice. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TempestV Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Nice to see the Hasegawa kit getting some love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 That’s looking great, really neat paintwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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