Popular Post S4Simon Posted January 14 Popular Post Posted January 14 (edited) Greetings fellow modellers. I've been building models since the 70's, so that puts me in with the elderly mob. This is only my second B17 build, the last build was in '78. I spent some 10 years in London (Sunbury-on-Thames) working for a US Defence firm but now reside on the beach in Australia. Anyway the last four months I've been building my vision of a flying B17 dropping its load of bombs and this week have just added the final touches. I usually limit myself to one big build a year as they take a bit of mental planning, and I'm still working. The model is a HK Models 1:48th scale B17. The motors used were 12mm drone motors rated at 10,000 rpm, which i had to reduce the speed so the engine housings wouldn't melt. I'm not really a super accurate model builder, just after the quickest way to get a decent result. I tried some new pre-shading techniques (new for me) for this model which seemed to pay off. Anyway, here's some finished pics as well as some build pics. Plus I've added a quick video of operation. Edited January 14 by S4Simon Added video 61 1 14 3
Farmerboy Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Fabulous build and paint job, brave man to start cutting about an expensive model, but it sure works, brilliant debut on BM, welcome 🤗
KDB Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Bloody hell they’re not getting home in that ship are they… very realistic, nice build 👍 1
kapam Posted January 14 Posted January 14 That's fantastic, mate! Your paint techniques worked brilliantly, in my book. The flak damage looks very realistic, and the feathered propeller is a nice added touch. It all gets 10-out-of-10 from me. 👋👍👋
Keeff Posted January 14 Posted January 14 That is superb! The paint and damage effects are realistic and the display really sets it off. I have to admire your skill (and bravery!) in adding the damage .... and unusual but excellent touch. I've recently brought the Eduard Bloody 100th version of this, but I don't think I'll be removing lumps of it! Keith ☺️
AlxBNE Posted January 14 Posted January 14 I echo all the comments above. How did you get such a big heavy model to securely stand on such a thin (Perspex?) rod?
rtfxwp Posted January 14 Posted January 14 2 hours ago, KDB said: Bloody hell they’re not getting home in that ship are they… Nah, looks like the crew have bailed out already!🙂
S4Simon Posted January 14 Author Posted January 14 1 hour ago, AlxBNE said: I echo all the comments above. How did you get such a big heavy model to securely stand on such a thin (Perspex?) rod? That took many nights of thinking. I had to keep in mind the CofG which was 1 inch aft of where I was going to place the rod - so tail heavy. I thought I was going to need extra weight in the nose to balance the plane, but once the rod was attached, the plane was very rigid. The rod in the base is reinforced (pic below). I was very happy with my design here on the wood base. With regard to affixing the rod into the model, I made a concave area on the bomb bay plastic upright so that the rod would sit nicely in position, then just hot glued it in, plus the addition of a zip tie. The whole plane is quite rigid. I also incorporated the wiring with quick disconnects so that the plane can be removed from the base for transport to model shows. In reality damage is quite severe and I referenced WW2 photos on actual damage which I then replicated to the best of my ability. Left wing severely damaged with most of the left landing flap gone and what is left has lowered itself due to cable/hydraulic failure - causing drag. Left elevator completely gone, Partial rudder damage, but still operable. Left landing gear is totally destroyed and has lowered itself, thus causing more drag. It would have been a real handful on just three engines and they would have struggled to get back - but who knows. There is no online rule book or guides for airborne battle damage. It's all 'suck it and see'. I cut up some white latex gloves and glued them on to replicate peeled back wing skin - sort of worked. 12 1
Toryu Posted January 14 Posted January 14 That's breathtakingly good! Fantastic concept and brilliantly executed. How can a damaged plane look so beautiful? Pity that it won't last long without the elevator, the spinning is near!
Mycapt65 Posted January 14 Posted January 14 That's incredible. I love it. So creative and different. Bravo 👏👏👏
johnny akes Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Brilliant planning and execution, must be very rewarding when the result comes out so well after such a long build. you said you do one build a year, do you have any others you could treat us to?
bigbadbadge Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Absolutely superb, love the work done here, the damage and feathered prop and the paint and weathering effects, congratulations on a super model. Chris
S4Simon Posted January 14 Author Posted January 14 1 hour ago, johnny akes said: Brilliant planning and execution, must be very rewarding when the result comes out so well after such a long build. you said you do one build a year, do you have any others you could treat us to? 🙂 Without sabotaging my own thread. I gave 'building choppers a go' in 2022 and 2023. I like to design my own electrical circuits as its way cheaper (from memory around Au$18 or 9 UK pounds to make the entire nav / strobe lighting fit out). So both choppers were fitted with navigation and strobe lighting, and the Osprey was fitted with working contra-rotating props, as I really wanted the night time glow of the rotor tips. I did create short build videos of these two builds on YouTube. If you want to take a squiz just look at the B17 video link above and click on my user name to see vids. They're not long flashy vids, My YouTube user name is : Bespoke Model Maker. 8 2 1
Abandoned Project Posted January 14 Posted January 14 that's some amazing modelling! love the idea of the ariel view map as the base. the osprey steals the show for me. 3 fantastic models. kudos.
SaminCam Posted January 14 Posted January 14 Love the use of motors in your B17 and the damage and paint job are excellent! ...then I saw the post with the Apache and Osprey and after a detour to YouTube I'm gobsmacked - the Osprey in particular is fabulous 👌 I'm trying to do something similar in 1/72 with the Hasegawa Osprey and this provides fantastic motivation and helps confirm some of my choices. Two quick questions: where is the white light underneath located? I can't find a convincing reference picture. And how did your achieve the glow in the dark tips? They look amazing in your video. Thanks! Sam
SaminCam Posted January 14 Posted January 14 P.s. the rest of the channel is fantastic as well... the Bismark, wow! 🤯
S4Simon Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 (edited) 1 hour ago, SaminCam said: Love the use of motors in your B17 and the damage and paint job are excellent! ...then I saw the post with the Apache and Osprey and after a detour to YouTube I'm gobsmacked - the Osprey in particular is fabulous 👌 I'm trying to do something similar in 1/72 with the Hasegawa Osprey and this provides fantastic motivation and helps confirm some of my choices. Two quick questions: where is the white light underneath located? I can't find a convincing reference picture. And how did your achieve the glow in the dark tips? They look amazing in your video. Thanks! Sam Ahhhh - the glow in the dark tips took many nights of thinking. I’ve seen some people try to wire up some mini leds on the tips. I decided on a bit of a cheat method. A couple of dollars and a couple of minutes to install. Produced extremely satisfying results. Bought a roll of self adhesive reflective tape off ebay. i’ll get some time in the next day or so and do a build gallery for both choppers in the applicable threads. I have’nt been on a modelling forum for many years, so will have to upload pics and feed them i to the thread. With regard to the rotors on the Osprey, they were an absolute nightmare, in trying to fasten the mini motors within the engine housing. I had many engine failures where i had to disassemble the engine assembly each time to fix. Edited January 15 by S4Simon Added pics 4 1
S4Simon Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 The motor installation on the B17 went very smoothly, almost a dream compared to other models. The mini DC drone motors are only $1 each from ebay. They are rated at 65,000 rpm @ 3.7v, but I just use 1x AA battery which lowers speed to a respectable speed with minimal heat ( you can further slow the speed by adding a limiting resistor). For the B17 I used a 12mm long and 6 mm diameter motor (very small). Then just drilled out the plastic engine so that it was a tight fit. I also bought some nylon gears off ebay, suitable for the motor spindle and just trimmed them down so that the props are a firm fit. No glueing required here. The props spin square on the spindle with no wobble. My interest in working models was triggered after seeing some working models in Europe back some 10 years ago, and I bought a (light/sound/motor) kit for a Tamiya Lancaster. Cost me around $250 for the kit. I the figured out that I could make the same lighting / motor / sound circuit for a fraction of the cost. Motors @ $1 each, Full lighting circuit (nav and strobes - designed my own circuit) @ around $15 and added sound for around $13. 2
S4Simon Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 2 hours ago, SaminCam said: Love the use of motors in your B17 and the damage and paint job are excellent! ...then I saw the post with the Apache and Osprey and after a detour to YouTube I'm gobsmacked - the Osprey in particular is fabulous 👌 I'm trying to do something similar in 1/72 with the Hasegawa Osprey and this provides fantastic motivation and helps confirm some of my choices. Two quick questions: where is the white light underneath located? I can't find a convincing reference picture. And how did your achieve the glow in the dark tips? They look amazing in your video. Thanks! Sam Sam Re: The underside white light. Took me a while to work out as there was no clear plastic lens on the model although there was just a marked circle on the fuselage where the light should go. I confirmed the location with some online pics and just drilled a hole where it was suppose to go. Stuck in a led and that was it. I use standard 3 and 5mm leds for interior lighting (although they can be over bright), and micro leds for nav lighting. Strobe lighting is a little more difficult as I struggle to get the micro leds to fire. The (red micro) led did work well for the Osprey, but I had to use 3mm white strobes for the Apache helicopter. I did spend a lot of time perfecting the instantaneous flash on the circuits, but this was well worth it on the modern models. 1
SaminCam Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Thanks @S4Simon! The glow in the dark tape looks amazing, will definitely give it a go. I'm using similar motors, tiny high speed one worked great in a 1/72 Spitfire I electrified last year - presumably because there's virtually no additional torque either to accelerate the prop or push the air backwards. The Osprey is a different matter and my solution has been to use similar high-speed, mini motors but with a small epicyclic gearbox built in to boost torque and lower speed and hopefully prevent the motors from cooking themselves. Think the gears are plastic so I'm not sure how long it will last but working at the moment on the desk. I'm also finding it challenging to mount the rotors bang on-centre so they don't wobble - I like your idea of adding the gear designed to fit to the thin shaft. Your electronics is really neat, especially the solution for the strobing / flashing lights - I've gone for a small wireless Arduino (still cheap compared to the light and sound kits!) which I should be able to code up for a start-up sequence and flashing lights. Anyway, enough of my rambles, thanks for your help and I look forward to seeing more!
Winded Penguin Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Adding to the chorus of positive comments. This is wonderful work 👍
Mark Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Strewth mate! Or whatever the appropriate Australian exclamation is! Brilliant work, great execution of a fantastic idea, superb modelling, fantastic paintwork. I mean, what can I really say that has not already been said?
Booty003 Posted January 16 Posted January 16 Hey buddy, that is a fantastic looking B-17 and displayed in a most impressive way 👏 Fair play to you also sharing your tips and tricks to us fellow modelers, top man. The Osprey looks very cool, I remember seeing a photo of the real thing exactly like that. Phil
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