Popular Post woody37 Posted September 6, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 6, 2020 'The Swoose II' B-17G-30-BO 772 BS / 463rd Bomb Group The name Swoose originated from a B-17D that was one of 19 out of 35 Fortresses in the Philippine Islands that survived ground attacks from Japanese forces on the 8th Dec '41 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was given it's name by Captain Weldon Smith following repairs undertook in Australia in January 1942 where the tail of another aircraft was grafted on, the name being derived from 'Half swan, half goose' inspired by a song at the time called 'Alexander the Swoose' about such a bird! The aircraft was later flown by Captain Frank Kurtz choosing the aircraft as a personal transport for General George Brett. Later in 1944, Kurtz commanded the 463rd BG in Italy as part of the 15th AF and had a B-17G named after after his earlier aircraft, Christened by his wife 'Swoose II' shown in the photo above. It survived the war and was eventually salvaged in May '45 despite a few scrapes along the way. When I heard that HKM were releasing this in 48th scale, I had to get my hands on one. I had been planning to build the Monogram one, but kept stalling because of the work that would need to be involved to get it to a decent finish although the shape is very good. The HK kit goes together very well and the nose shape was corrected following the evident inaccuracies of the 1/32 kit. The only major issue in my opinion is engines being about 3mm too high, but I decided to leave as they are to prevent ruining surface detailing. It's been a pleasure to build and has plenty of detail straight from the box. As with most builds, I try something new. This was the first model I've painted with the MRP paints which are a delight to use although due to not being happy with the shades used, I ended up going over it with a mix of Tamiya paints - mainly khaki lightened with some white. Another step forwards was a rather heavy weathering approach, particularly on the under surfaces where photo's show a lot of mud splatter. I used a toothbrush at the suggestion from @Josip and following reference pics from @Rakovica. The build can be seen here Anyway, here's the finished result. I appreciate some don't like excessive weathering, but I've tried to replicate what I've seen on photo's of weathered B-17's. Cheers Neil 132 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Superb build and finish. Captured the wear and tear perfectly IMO. What is next? 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Superb! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoohoo Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Amazing work Woody, loved watching this one come together. The weathering looks absolutely in scale and really adds depth to a superb model. Hats off to you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 48 minutes ago, crobinsonh said: Superb build and finish. Captured the wear and tear perfectly IMO. What is next? Thanks Colin. Not sure tbh, possibly a 1/48 fighter but the more I look at the stash, the more confused I get! 3 minutes ago, stoohoo said: Amazing work Woody, loved watching this one come together. The weathering looks absolutely in scale and really adds depth to a superb model. Hats off to you! Thanks mate, I dare say I could of gone for more underneath looking at photo's but I was afraid of overdoing it. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booty003 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 You have certainly done justice to one of the most iconic aircraft to ever fly. Outstanding job mate, a joy to look at. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Absolutely wonderful, followed your WIP, and you have built a superb replica, the faded OD is spot on as is the weathering, a real delight to look at, good job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoohoo Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, woody37 said: Thanks Colin. Not sure tbh, possibly a 1/48 fighter but the more I look at the stash, the more confused I get! Thanks mate, I dare say I could of gone for more underneath looking at photo's but I was afraid of overdoing it. Cheers Thats the difficulty with weathering, when to stop 😀 Sure the real things were caked in mud but I think less is more just to create the illusion of wear, tear and muck without overpowering the model and I think you have nailed it! It certainly makes me want to have a go at a 48 scale fort, always been tempted by a YB-40, though something from Bassingbourn feels fitting as its only a couple of villages away from where I grew up. So whats next? Edited September 6, 2020 by stoohoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 A Beauty neil, you've built a cracking model there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28ZComeback Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Absolutely outstanding finish. One of the finest on these pages. The shade of OD and grey is perfect for scale and theatre. The exhaust stains are straight look superb. Not enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Is there anything else to add? Not really. Just splendid work and deserved congratulations. Josip 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Nothing excessive about the weathering at all. Radial engines threw oil and the engine exhaust stained the areas behind them. Your model is a picture of perfection. Congratulations! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antti_K Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Beautiful work Neil! Superb weathering and colour chipping . I have still a lot to learn... Cheers, Antti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 That is a masterclass in B-17 building. Absolutely outstanding paintwork and weathering 👏👏👏👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris148 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Great work 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Outstanding 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomkil Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 C'mon, that's the best Fortress we've seen this year! Fighting talk? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Callahan Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Looks simply fantastic. Great paint and weathering job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Simply wow! The weathering is so effective and the overall finish is inspirational, keep 'em coming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rakovica Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Spectacular, IMO the best HK 1/48 Fort built publically so far, and among the best built in any scale ever. Also a great decision to do a weathered 15th AF bird. I'm happy that I was able to help a little bit. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Fantastic model of the B17, a certain modeller on the web who likes the black basing method says this kit is unbuildable, shows with the right skills that's not correct, master class of how to do it with the WIP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Words fail me! That is a most excellent B-17! The staining and general wear & tear are perfectly rendered. Stunning! 😮 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 11 hours ago, stoohoo said: Thats the difficulty with weathering, when to stop 😀 Sure the real things were caked in mud but I think less is more just to create the illusion of wear, tear and muck without overpowering the model and I think you have nailed it! It certainly makes me want to have a go at a 48 scale fort, always been tempted by a YB-40, though something from Bassingbourn feels fitting as its only a couple of villages away from where I grew up. So whats next? 11 hours ago, Josip said: Is there anything else to add? Not really. Just splendid work and deserved congratulations. Josip Thanks for giving me a [push on the weathering, it took me outside my comfort zone but I'm quite happy with how it turned out 10 hours ago, Antti_K said: Beautiful work Neil! Superb weathering and colour chipping . I have still a lot to learn... Cheers, Antti Me too, I'm constantly learning, especially on biggish projects lie this, even just planning the build stages out takes some thought. 1 hour ago, Rakovica said: Spectacular, IMO the best HK 1/48 Fort built publically so far, and among the best built in any scale ever. Also a great decision to do a weathered 15th AF bird. I'm happy that I was able to help a little bit. 🙂 Thanks for your support throughout, I want to do some more research on the 15th AF now, it's got me hooked 35 minutes ago, colin said: Fantastic model of the B17, a certain modeller on the web who likes the black basing method says this kit is unbuildable, shows with the right skills that's not correct, master class of how to do it with the WIP Unbuildable? The wing connection lugs need a bit of fettling and the top fuselage requires care to avoid obvious joins, but other than that, it's a well fitting kit. The clear parts just fall into place. Even little design features like separate gun barrels allow for the internals to be closed up and masked off for painting so that you can add the surface detail at a later stage. If they bring an F model out, I'll be building one of them too. It would of taken much longer to build the Monogram kit to this standard IMO and even then, the surface finish wouldn't be anywhere close to what you get out of the box with HKM. That's not a criticism of the Monogram kit however, it's a classic that I built as a kid with fond memories, but things have moved on. Thanks for all the kind comments guys, the last Fort I build was the Hasegawa kit in 1991! I remember because it was in my last year of college where I monopolised the dining room table in our student digs in Thames Ditton! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Pete Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Great job. 👍👍 It looks BIG! 14 hours ago, woody37 said: The aircraft was later flown by Captain Frank Kurtz Frank had a daughter with whom you might be familiar... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swoosie_Kurtz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 The best I have seen so far. Well done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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