Academy 1-72 B-29A Korean War

[Ran]

Hi there

 

The Mustang is waiting for its 3D printed MLG's, following an attack by the carpet monster. 

The 2 X P-400 are drying up from an enamel paint layer - will take some time. 

I found myself with some bench time (the wife is down with Covid-19 in the bedroom  )

 

So...

I did not want to start a new kit - as this is just a temporary halt. It's not that I do not know which kit is next, but I try not to have too many kits in progress.

I could have spend some time arranging stuff around the bench - boring

After a while I decided to deal with this B-29 - as it is a big build with lots of parts, so I can sneak some progress here and there.

This kit has a story - so let me share it.

 

As you know - my dad was an a/c mechanic with the IAF. You can find one of his stories here. He was also a modeler and got me into the hobby when I was a kid. The story goes that at the night I was born he completed a big B-29, and with the family growing and the salary not, it was the last model he built for a long time.  Later on he introduced me to modeling and we build together. These building sessions are some of the happier memories of my childhood. The B-29, along with a couple other kits (B-17, Anson, F-4) were hung up in our family room and later on moved to a shelf in my room. They were the basis for my model collection. I fondly remember the silver monster. I can't recall if it was a 1/48 or a 1/72. I will have to look up some old photos. I remember it was big but back then I was way smaller myself.  

 

When I got back to the hobby, my Dad was interested in all the updates and in my builds. We talked for a while about building another kit together, 'for old times sake'.

When I moved to our current home, and got myself a decent bench, we talked some more and I suggested we build a B-29 - as kind of a 'getting back to modelling' build. It took us a long time to finally find the time. My parents live an hour from our home but most of the time they get here on family occasions. After a long time, we arranged for them to come early on some family gathering and we sat together. 

Even in 1-72, the B-29 is a BIG kit, with a decent number of parts. We started with airbrushing the bombs (all 32 of them) - and it was a new experience for dad. When I was a kid we could not afford an airbrush and all painting was done with Enamels and a brush. We followed up with some silver painting of some parts and then time ran out.

Dad was happy but it was clear that sitting down with me and building was hard for him - his eye sight is not what it used to be. The kit being a 1-72 did not help either.

 

Since then, the huge box is kind of a fixture in the back part of the bench. 

Last month, my dad turned 80, and it dawned on me that if I want to celebrate the completion of this kit with my Dad, I need to push forward on my own and find other ways to make it a shared and meaningful experience. 

 

With this idea racing in the back of my mind, my eyes fell on the 'fixture' and I decided that this will the 'micro project' I will spend some time on, and keep doing little steps with this kit in hope to get it to the paint booth and then finish it up. 

 

I opened the box, took some pictures of the things we started, spent some time arranging the setup - opening a new build folder on my drive, opening a new project and album on Scalemates, Opening a new album on Imgur and writing this up. A lot of setup for one build

 

So, here we go:

 

Kit sprues, box, instruction and two after market items - a decal sheet and a PE set:

 

 

I decided to start with the cockpit, as per the instruction.

This was a short sitting so I just cut and cleaned all the parts, glued some parts - those that make sense to glue before paint, reviewed the PE instructions to see I'm not building something I will have to remove. Then I sorted the parts to the 'green pile' - those will get a Z-C coat, and to the 'black pile' - those will get ..... a flat black coat.

 

Green pile:

 

Black pile:

 

Stuff:

 

That's it for tonight, and probably for a while.

 

Ran

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Ran

[Tweener]

I'll follow along if I may - I've been curious about this kit for a while, mainly because I want to build an RAF Washington but also because I spent some time inside a B-29 last fall and I'm stricken by it's immense complexity. Hopefully your father stays in good health and is able to get some enjoyment out of this build with you.

[Ran]

@Tweener you are welcomed. 

Where did get a chance to visit a B-29. Its been a dream of mine for quite a while

Ran

[Gondor44]

I think I will follow this to see how you deal with it.

 

I take it that you will be modeling the aircraft with all it's turrets? If so have a look in the cockpit area to see where the turret intrudeds inside the cabin. It does in real life but there is nothing provided in the kit. Another thing to look out for is the missing access to the clear dome above the crew tunnel between the cockpit and waste gunners positions.

 

Enjoy

 

Gondor

[Tweener]

7 hours ago, Ran said:

@Tweener you are welcomed. 

Where did get a chance to visit a B-29. Its been a dream of mine for quite a while

Ran

I visited the New England Air Museum in Connecticut, where B-29 "Jack's Hack" is on display. They also have a few other bombers, the A-26 being my favorite among them

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Ran

 

A very large amount of weight is needed in the nose of this kit, my build last year shows how much is needed here on Britmodeller, WIP.

regards Toby

[Ran]

@Planebuilder62 Thank you very much for the heads up!

It will take some time before I get there, but at least I can start thinking about it.

Ran

 

[Ran]

Big Model small steps.

 

I had a couple of minutes today so I spent them on the B-29.

In preperation to painting a bunch of parts in black I removed the propelloer and prepared them for paint.

That involved painting the tips. The instructions called for Orange but the box art shows yellow.

I opted for a mix of Tamiya X-6 Orange with Tamiya XF-3 Flat Yellow.

Since the Yellow was out - I painted the unit with the oxygen bottles as well.

 

Ready:

 

Go:

 

I was about to start cutting some masks for the wheels when I my eyes fell on the Eduard Mask set. Just in time

 

That's it 

Ran

 

[Ran]

Managed to grab some bench time, between the other builds.

Used it for a short masking and paint prep session.

 

Cut some 5mm Tamiya tape into 2.2 mm stips, per the instructions, and then used it to mask the tips of the propellers.

 

 

 

4 engine beast means 16 @#$@#$ blades.

 

Started to think how to cut masks for the wheels - when I remembered I have an Eduard mask for this build  just in time.

 

 

Preping for Black and Zinc Chromate:

 

 

 

 

Big kit, small steps.

That's it for today.

 

Ran

 

[Planebuilder62]

Dear Ran

with my B-29 build I found everything behind the 2 pilots seats is invisible. I made a dummy upper forward turret ammo storage section and filled that space, and the rest of the space back to the pressire bulkhead with weight. This was painted matt black and was invisible when the canopy was fitted. If you are able to find pictures of the upper forward turret ammo and working mechanism, it will be clear why FIFI. and any other B-29 in a museum has this removed. It takes up a huge amount of space between the flight engineer, the radio officer and the navigator.

 

What you do see, and is not in the kit is the control console outboard of each pilot seat. I scratch built one for each side using online pictures of FIFI as reference.

 

Regards Toby

[Ran]

Thanks @Planebuilder62. I usually do the cockpit internals just for the photos I take before closing the fuselage.

But I'll give it a though in hope AMS will not take over again.

Ran 

 

[Ran]

Another baby step

 

 

Ran

[georgeusa]

I really like the background story of this kit and your father.  He should be grateful he has a son who still thinks highly of him and has fond memories.  Also, he must be some kind of father to instill the feeling your have for him; you are lucky.  I think the interior will be only visible in the photos you take prior to closing up the fuselage halves.  Once the canopy is on, there will be little to be seen even with a flashlight.  I would spend more time on the cockpit and bombardier's section as that will be a tiny bit visible through the canopy's framework.

 

Your progress so far looks great.  Will you be using the Jane Russell decals for the nose art?

[Ran]

@georgeusa Thanks.

 

For the nose art I have the Kits-world KW172072, 'The Outlaw' & 'Celestial Queen' and I still did not completely rule out using the kits decals. 

 

Ran

[rob85]

I’ve just got one of these so watching with interest! Nice work so far, and like the options you have, I’m thinking of doing spirit of freeport (think it’s called that).

 

Rob

[Ran]

The pair of P-400 are done, the build report is updated and the box if off the bench. 

Time for a quick session on the B-29.

 

Today it was the time of some green. I'm testing (for the first time) MRP 131 Interior Green.

It turned out to be quick nice to shoot. A bit thin, so several layers were needed. 

I'm going very easy on myself in this build on cleaning sink marks. This kit has more than a few.  

 

 

 

 

 

The tunnel got Model Master OE 1711 Olive Darb:

 

While I searched for some other files, I found a couple of photos I took when my Dad and I set for the first time on this kit. 

 

  

 

  

 

 

That's it for today.

Ran

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Great idea to finish the build for your Dad! Never got further with a B-29 than reading my mate’s Airfix instructions when I was a kid, so I’m looking forward to this.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Ran]

Managed another small step today.

 

The wing strut structure needs to be painted and hence glued first. It's a tricky alignment so I had to use the fuselage parts.

 

 

 

 

One thing that becomes quite easy when building in small steps is letting thing properly dry before going on

 

Ran