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B17 Airfix 1/72 and (versus?) B17 Revell 1/72. The revell one is finished.


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Good morning, all.

 

I don't have enough B17 in my collection:

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I'm destocking and I'm launching mass production!

I think that few of us do not know the box arts:

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They are both fun and dynamic, I can't share. What do you think about it?

 

When you open the boxes, Airfix takes a clear advantage:

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And about the clarity of the instructions, I also have my idea:

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The pieces are numerous, I prefer those of Revell which are less impregnated. I had to thin the Airfix propellers a lot for example. This photo shows you the propellers before sanding:

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I started the job with riveting,

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I wrote that the Airfix molding looks solid, so I prepared and refined many parts, and I prepared sub assemblies:

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I chose the decoration of the Airfix model according to some details; for example pieces E09 and E17 are vents for the hot air heating system. This system did not appear until the B-17G-80-BO (Boeing built), -50-VE (Lockheed Vega), and -50-DL (Douglas).

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Revell doesn't provide these details.

 

I will build the Revell model to make it an F model, and more particularly the one that appears on this little film:

 This model will be on a diorama.

 

I work by observing photos of the propaganda staffel!

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I tried to replicate the battle damages:

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I already have glued the rear part to the fuselage,

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...on the Airfix model too, by the way:

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I persisted in painting parts in Interior Green on the Revell model (which started since ... :rolleyes:)

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The engraving is more pronounced on the Airfix model, the juices appear better.

 

Here is the bomb bay of the Airfix model, with the safety rope on each side of the catwalk. I will not do anything for the Revell model, because it will be belly landed.

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the Airfix catwalk is thinner than that of the Revell model

 

Here is the wooden floor of the rear compartments. I painted the floor with Gunze H79 sandy Brown, and I made a drybrush with Humbrol 26, and then Humbrol 29: 

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Well, I forgot the radio table! :whistle:

 

And Airfix was wrong in reproducing the floor, because there is only one non-slip strip enhanced by two benches:

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Copyright Aero Detail 19 Production Team, B17G Flying Fortress, 1997 p36.

 

I will change that, but I will no longer do the oxygen tanks, cables and other intercom boxes'. We don't see anything at the end.

Ah, it's true, I'm a little "syphoned"!

 

To be continued?

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Snafu35
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Looking good!

On the Airfix kit, it might be worth checking the fit of the Cheyenne turret parts to the fuselage. On both of my kits there's a pronounced step where the turret parts are undersized.  A few other people have had this happen, while others seem to have a perfect fit. Weird.

 

I got some replacement parts from Airfix, but they aren't a whole lot better, to be honest. I'm having to work out a way of getting the best overall fit as we speak.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good morning, all.

 

It may be time to show you the progress of my work.

 

I have practically finished the interior layout of the fuselages.

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Starting from the front, here are the offices of the navigators and bombardiers:

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I hesitate to add documents in the top post (Revell model), because the crew must have destroyed them after the crash, or the Germans already had a raid the day before.

(The Miss Ouachita was shot down on February 21, and Heinz Bär came to inspect the wreck the next day. I will represent the B17 as in the photo, so the day when the expert came).

 

You can see the throttles on the central consoles of the dashboards. It is a fatuous detail which is hardly visible in the end, but I "love" this detail!

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Airfix added the armor plate to the rear of the pilot seats, Revell did not.

The brass stuff is not cigarette butts, but 50 'cases.

Finally, I would like it to be ammo cases. :rolleyes:

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The dashboards: engraving for the Revell on the left, a decal for the Airfix on the right:

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The Airfix lifter is prettier than Revell's...

 

We go to the rear section, with here the office of the radio operator seen by Airfix:

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I added plywood doors, and I hope this detail will be visible through the transparent greenhouse:

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This is the Revell model, looking to the front:

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The door has a big problem of proportion, because there is a wall to be stepped over to pass into the bomb bay!.

 

to the rear:

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Come on, I'll show you the Esquire calendar page with the pin up girl !:

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The B17 Revell being belly landed, I will ignore the ventral turret and its support.

On the other hand, I made the side benches which adjoin the floor of this compartment, because we will see them through the open doors:

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Americans like the attitude of the cowboy who puts his boot on a ledge! :cowboy: :D

 

The Airfix model:

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I will not reproduce details that will be invisible later, such as oxygen tanks, intercom boxes, wiring ...

If you could see traces of ejection chips here and there, they will not be visible at the end, and so I did not see fit to fill them.

 

Da ya think I'm crazy? :hmmm:

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

 

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Hello, gentlemen.

 

I closed the fuselage of the Revell model.

I grafted an Académy astrodome cast instead of the transparent piece proposed by Revell,because the shape of the fairing leaves me perplexed:

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I cut out additional windows to conform to the version I chose.

 

I started painting:

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I didn't do any pre-shading; I first painted the structure lines with the base color (here gunze H304), Then I crayoned in each panel. Color depth also varies.

I then sprayed a veil of base paint with the addition of brown and sandy yellow, to represent the sunburnt aspect of olive green.

The clear paint then represents the olive drab cooked by the hot gases.

It's not over yet...

and the wings arenot glued.

 

I wanted to use the mickey radome on the Airfix model:

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But the decoration I chose was not a Mickey ship.

 

To be continued.

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

 

Thanks for your comment, Thom. 

It's the kind of detail that you no longer see when the model is closed, but it pleases the model maker, and me in particular. I build bombers for pin-ups!

 

I hang around a bit on the subject, because I am at the same time building a diorama with the theme: refueling.

And I build test shots of US 600gal trailers that I made for a craftsman. :rolleyes:

Stay tunned!

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

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Good morning,

 

I'm still doing a foolish thing, because I'm scattering over another diorama project. This slows down the construction of the two forts:

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I have completed most of the painting of the first B17; The photo does not show too much the different shades of the sunburnt drab olive:

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I didn't pre-shade; I highlighted the panel seams with the base color, then I colored the inside.

Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done.

 

I started the decal application session

and I really want to perforate the ailerons to simulate the combat damage!

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I highlighted the ribs of the control surfaces with smoke from Gunze.

 

Meanwhile, the second B17 is still not closed:

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Regards,

 

Eric-Snafu35

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

 

Thank you for your appreciation, Tony. :worthy:

 

I consider that I have made good progress in my project, because the first B17 is practically completed

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Painting, decalling and weathering are almost finished.

 

Here is an open dinghy storage compartment, you can see the rear wall riddled with shards following the impact of a shell:

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The rubber dinghy would float less well, after ...

 

The plane will be presented belly landed, I used the legs in retracted position offered as an option in the box of the Airfix model:

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I did not break my head to represent the hydraulic lines, all that will be enough once the dio is finished.

 

We can take the opportunity to compare certain parts between the Airfix and Revell kits, such as exhausts and compressors:

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The Revell model has more and more my preference :rolleyes:

 

I finally had fun perforating the canvas control surfaces:

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To do as in the photo!:penguin:

 

The Triangle and the A are painted, just to make it more realistic.

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I took the pin-up again with a brush, and I will be satisfied with the result, although we could play the game of the differences between the photo of the real one and the decal (dimensions, position, size of the banner, writing ... .):

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Note the window above the girl I find a little exaggerated on the model.

 

Come on, I end today with a picture of TWO F Revell models!:banghead::

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Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good morning, all.

 

I lost the desire to cement and paint, yet this hadn't hid too far away.

I therefore resumed the construction of my "ships".

Finally ... more particularly that of Miss Ouachita.

 

I unmasked the windshield, and found that I had not painted the dashboard cap. This is a detail showing that I no longer had the head to what I was doing!.

So I played delicately with the cutter and the razor blade to take off the canopy:

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I took this opportunity to add two boxes on this cap:

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The red box is a bomb bay opening repeater. I did not do the lamps, but the color of this case brings a nice touch to the cockpit.

 

I made the base, which is a basic field. The scene takes place in February 1944, we can think that the earth is frozen:

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appetizer (!):

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I painted the aluminum windshield surrounds, a detail visible on photos of flying fortresses (including Miss Ouachita), and which brings a little more veracity:

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There are therefore a few details to be completed, then the staging to be finalized.

I wonder if Miss Ouachita's asttrodoma was blown out, or just a flat glass?

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

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Stunning work and the battle damage looks very realistic.

 

It's interesting that you are favouring the Revell kit, because my impression was that the balance of reviews seems to favour of the Airfix one.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Hello Adrian,

 

Thanks for watching.

 

Each brand has its qualities, however I think I have a preference for the REVELL model;

_  First, because the Airfix model only allows to represent a specific type of B17,

_  We could say that such a shape has been better understood by Airfix or other, but the B17 Revell looks like a B17. ( have a look at the engine cowlings, the different shapes of front plexiglass, engines, superchargers, guns...)

_  some Revell parts appear thinner than others molded by Airfix.

_  At last I prefer the Revell plastic to the Airfix one; this one could be recycled plastic as i read on this forum 😄

 

however these two brands were wrong in the representation of the support of the astrodoma.

 

I almost cracked to buy two Revell models which are available again, I find it so nice, but I calmed down; There are still five B17s in my stock ... No, EIGHT! counting the models at 1:48 :banghead:

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

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Wow, just caught up with this, incredible. I haven't tried battle damage since I was a kid and this is a great inspiration to try again, you've nailed the look. The B-17 makes such a great modelling subject, I've got the HK 1/48 one on the shelf in front of me and whilst there are a few shape issues, it looks great from any angle!

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Good morning, happy young men.

 

I continue to play in my corner, and I have completed the construction of the B17 Miss Ouachita:spacer.png

 

Advisories give the aircraft astrodome as a flat pane of glass. So...

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I added pigments to the propellers which ate the earth.

 

I took some greasy streaks on the wings, and I submit the damage to the extrados:

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Heads up and downs of damage on the fin:

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View of the crew door, which I dressed in evergreen:

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I returned to the 50' nose position, because the opening did not suit me:

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I think it is better, now:

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I sprinkled the dio with chopped strands of tow to represent thatch. I then spread some diluted wood glue to fix a good part of this thatch, and the result is quite good because in some places it seems that the ground has frozen.

I wonder if I should represent a few patches of snow?

because there was, right?:

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I have fun with the figurines in the Luftwaffe Deutsches Reich box by Preiser:

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sculpture and dressing here, graft there ...

 

I will represent the pilots accompanying Heinrich Bär on February 22, 1944:

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We see in this image Oberstleutnant Heinrich "Heinz" Bär who is wearing an American A2 type jacket.

Oberleutnant Léo Schuhmacher, his katschmarek (or winger), wears an American B3 type fur jacket.

The third pilot is the Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel Max Sauer. He is wearing a German jacket.

 

They came by Kubelwagen. As long as I do, I will add a Stower 40 vehicle that carries the Propaganda Kompany kriegsberichter team around!

 

Of course, there will  be the dinghy to be achieved on the left wing.

I think I will soon resume construction of the second B17?

 

To be continued.

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

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Good morning,

 

For fun:

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006_b110.jpg

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It will not be the definitive representation of Miss Ouachita, because the tail of the model does not touch the ground. The B17 "breaks its back" when belly landed; the ball turret smashes the structure of the cell with its frame if it has not been dropped before.

 

This photo of a B17 landed in a polder shows a break and different angles for the ends of the plane:

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Never mind, it is time to have fun!

 

Regards, 

Eric-Snafu35

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Thank you, Charlie and Thom.

 

Major Heinrich (tomato :rolleyes:) Heinz Bär is visiting his hunting trophy:

 

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vehicles are under construction.

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

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Hello,

 

Thanks for your comment, -alf  .

The construction of the first B17 is completed, now, and I am currently working on the german vehicles. 

I added a homemade dinghy ( I warmly thank Geoffrey Sinclair for his help about finding the dimensions of the gadget):

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The propaganda staffel is filming:

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while the winner inspects his trophy:

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The next post of this topic will be in the section ready for inspection.

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

 

 

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Hello, Jackson.

 

Thanks for watching.

 

I wondered how to create this dinghy.  to do sculpture seemed risky to me, and I thought of the model makers who use paper.

 

I found a picture of the boat on the internet:

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I brought this image to scale:

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and I made cylinders of paper that I glued to each other. 

I can crush the paper to make it look deflated. I stiffen the boat with a layer of Mister Surfacer.

 

I first used a shiny yellow, but the result is more plastic than rubberized canvas:

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So I used Humbrol 24 yellow to approximate the true color:

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Good painters would give more volume to my creation.

 

Regards,

Eric-Snafu35

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  • Snafu35 changed the title to B17 Airfix 1/72 and (versus?) B17 Revell 1/72. The revell one is finished.

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