1/48th Revell/Monogram B-17G "Yankee Lady"

[Crimea_River]

Very meticulous work there and good results. Looking forward to see what you do with the pit.

For those "pipe clamps" I use aluminum foil tape which is actual aluminum with a sticky backing. It can be cut to thin strips and bends to contours nicely. No glue needed!

 

[Builder 2010]

Today, I got into the bombardier compartment. Lots of little resin bits that replace molded on details. There was some ambiguity on the Verlinden plans that I needed to decipher. The part that caused me the most angst was that control stand in front of the Norden Bombsight. You were supposed to clip the top off the kit part and then glue the more detailed head and then you have to attach the two handgrips. Those handgrips really gave me fits. The first one went on okay. The second flew out of the tweezers and disappeared, so I scratchbuilt another and glued it on. Then when handling the whole assembly when working on the back bulkhead, the first one broke off with the little stem and hit the floor. After rolling my work table back further, and using a dust brush to sweep the area, both handgrips showed up. It then broke off again. This time I have no idea where it is and I'll have to figure how to get the other that I found into place. I would have just used the kit's piece, but I had already disassembled it so I could use its mounting shaft. There was no good way to get the mounting shaft attached to the resin head so I made my own shaft out of 0.032" brass. When this picture was taken, both handgrips were in place.

To remove all the molded on detail I used a combination of razor saw, #11 blade, a special chisel sold by MicroMart for doing just this, and various files and sanding tools.

I added the work table and then added the navigotor's seat. On this table was supposed to go the big switch panel, but the plans showed it up against the bulkhead. It doesn't fit, so I glued it to the table in front of the bulkhead. I also removed molded on pipes and conduits and replaced them with brass. Very little of this stuff is going to show up, even through the big front window. There will be too much optical distortion for any fine details to reall show up, but it's fun to do.

I've got one more ammo box to install on the bulkhead and this piece will be ready for painting and detailing. Because of the all the CA'ing, I couldn't decide if I should air brush the zinc chromate and interior green before adding all the bits or after. I chose to paint after since it will hide a bunch of glue blemishes. I'm good with fine detail painting and enjoy it so it will work out okay. I have to remove some details on the fuselage sides to replace with resin so that will be next and then I'm move to the flight deck.

 

[SANCER]

Very good job so far.
I will watch for your progress.

Saludos

 

[Wurger]

 

[Builder 2010]

According to pictures of the Yankee Lady's Bombardier position, the Verlinden Norden bombsight is not located properly. There's a unit that sits below their resin casting that raises the sight up to a level where the bombardier can actually look into it without being double-jointed. I kept looking at the Verlinden part I kept wondering how is a person going to be able to bend over that far to place his eye at the eyepiece. Well... he couldn't since this part is not correct. I also realize that that hand control is for the electric chin turret. Given more time, I can do a better job of crafting those handgrips and will probably try. The upper part of the bombsight is what Verlinden has modeled ignoring the base. I suspect that base is very important too. I just checked and there are no parts for the base nor is it called out in the instructions.

 

[Builder 2010]

I didn't get much done the last couple of days. We're heading to Spain for a vacation starting on Friday and had stuff to do regarding that. I did get the bombardier's compartment all fitted out, added a couple of O2 bottles in the fuselage, and installed the cockpit side panels. I also added a couple of piece of PE on the front side windows. I was surprised that the 3-window frame was included on the fret for the right side, but not the left, and yet "Yankee Lady" has the 3-window partition on both sides. I'm going to add some PE stripping to the other side. It will lack the cute little rivets.

I exchanged the O2 bottle next to the entry door with the proper fire extinguisher casting. After checking photos I realized my error and made the switch. Becuase CA doesn't weld resin to styrene, you can break it away pretty cleanly. I was concerned that the upper-left ammo box would interfere with the fuselage, but after checking, it works okay. This assembly's ready for some paint.

Here are all the little details on the right side of which I spoke. In an ideal world, I would have replaced those molded on oxygen hoses with an "A" or "D" round-wound guitar string, but it will not be seen very well and, more importantly, the only round-wound strings I have are sitting on my Fender Stratocaster and aren't coming off for this model.

There is a piece of PE trim on the fore side of the next window. It fit the left side well, but didn't fit the right side very well at all. With the glazing in place it will work okay... I hope.

While I may get some work done tomorrow, but don't count on it. So if I don't put in a journal entry for a little over a week, you'll all know why.

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice work. Since you are trying to replicate all the details properly, one of the more obvious considerations would be the fact that your kit-supplied bulkhead to which you are attaching the various parts lacks the access opening for the path between the cockpit and nose compartment. Access was from behind the pilots' seats via a short step down to a crawl space under the cockpit floor and out through the opening in the bulkhead just behind your navigator's chair.

 

[Wurger]

Looking good though.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice detail work

 

[Gnomey]

Looks great so far!

 

[Builder 2010]

Thanks gents! There is a closed doorway in that location, but it really doesn't look right. It's way in the back and I've put the fuze together to check the fit and you won't see much back there. That upper wall also seems to project too far forward, but again, not going to worry about it.

Thanks guys! I did get some shop time today. I was able to open up the bomb bay doors since the PE ones will be there. And then I got the first color in place; interior green. This will have a nice long 10 days to dry before I start detail painting. I used a small drill and did the row-of-holes method on the hinge line, but was able to use the razor saw for the perpendicular cuts. After filing down to the seam line, it was done.

I'm using Model Master acrylics for the interior green. I thinned it a bit with Testors universal acrylic thinner. I use a Badger 150 gun that's about 40 years old. Badger's have a lifetime warranty. This was borne out when I sent it away a few years ago and they completely rebuit it with new bushings, nozzle and needle for just the price of shipping.

I sprayed all the parts that needed this color on their trees. I'm going to enjoy picking out all the details.

So until I return, hasta luego.

I'm actually trying to learn Spanish using Duolinguo. It's a very user friendly language training program that syncs between the computer and the smart phone. My grandkids have used it their early language training.

 

[Wurger]

 

[JKim]

Some good work here! I like putting on that first coat paint over the PE and scratched stuff.

 

[Builder 2010]

It's been 17 days since the last post taken up by working on a monster mountain for my O'gauge RR, and a really nice 10-day trip to Spain. Then last week while working on said mountain and attempting to use a staple gun at an odd angle, I heard and felt a "pop" in my shoulder. It went downhill from there. I apparently did something to my bicep tendon, although this was an external exam by my orthopedic surgeon son in law. I may have pulled the tendon out of the groove in which it runs or I could have torn something. Anyway, I have to take it easy with my right hand so... building models is the perfect activity.

Today I got the interior of the fuze painted, painted the wheels, and finish painting the bombardier compartment and started painting the props.

The only unconventional part of the bombardier painting was the plywood work table. I used a first coat of Tamiya Nato Brown and then a top coat of a Nato Brown and Flat Yellow mix. When it was dry I wet-sanded with a fine grit stick and removed the yellow top coat exposing the brown that was sitting on the raised plastic wood grain. It all doesn't matter since the top surface of this table (along with almost everything else inside) is not visible when the fuze is closed and all the plastic glazing is in place.

I painted all the switches and dials randomly since I have no idea what is actually going on with this apparatus.

I then worked on the main wheels. I first airbrushed Valllejo acrylic metal finish for the hubs. Then I made circular masks for the hubs to paint Tamiya Rubber Black. It's a new color that's got just a little gray to it and looks very good. To make the circular masks I measured the diameter with my digital caliper and came up with .560". I divided this in half to the radius and set this number on the caliper and locked it. I have a Starrett divider that I sharpened on edge to a razor-sharp chisel point and then cut the circles out of .75" Tamiya Masking Tape. I had to do a little touch up after it was all done.

While I had the silver acrylic out I wanted to paint the tail portion of the fuze which apparently natural metal instead of interior green. I masked the demarcation line and then used some packing paper to finish out the mask so the rest of the interior didn't get over-sprayed. I found this paint hard to clean out of the airbrush and had to disassemble it all to get it unclogged.

After this dried I painted the O2 bottles yellow. Also in this picture you can see all the detail painting for the walls and flight deck side walls.

Lastly, I also sprayed the prop hubs and then removed them from the sprues. After cleaning up flash and only on one blade, I brush painted the Rubber Black. I realized that I wanted to do the yellow ends first and then mask them so I did this on the other three props and hand-brushed the tips. For the rest I brush painted the yellow over the lines and then tomorrow will mask and paint the black. I'm not airbrushing these since the masking around the hubs is to tricky to be worth the effort.

I also hand brushed the tailwheel aluminum after air brushing the rubber black.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice job on the wood grain. For the rubber tires, I also use Tamiya Nato Black: XF69 or German Grey: XF63 which I believe is a close match to RLM66

 

[Crimea_River]

With Geo. You should be able to see that table though the side windows so the effort should be worth it. On the props, the best sequence for spraying, in my opinion is 1) spray yellow tips, no masking 2) Cut 2mm strips of tape (equivalant to 4 inches at 1/48 scale), mask the yellow tips and spray the black on the blades 3) mask around the base of the blades at the intersection with the hub and spray the hub.

Oh, and good luck with the injury. Hope it gets back to 100% very soon.

 

[Jeff Hunt]

Great stuff to date. Good luck with your recovery...a trip to the modelling table is just what the doctor ordered.

Jeff

 

[Builder 2010]

Thank you gents!

Even though the shoulder is beginning to function a little better, I worked only on the bomber today. The fellow for whom I'm building it is going to visit me in Louisville in the beginning of November, but we're going to be back East the week before Halloween, which means I can bring the bomber to him at that time. So that gives me a firm date to finish it, October 19. I'm making good progress and should have it done by then.

Today, I masked and painted that finicky little ball turret. I wasn't sure what parts were glazed and what aluminum so I went to the Internet and downloaded a good picture of one. I'm still waiting for m Eduard B-17 masks and suspect that I'll have the model finished by the time they arrive. I did the masking with Tamiya narrow tape and some Scotch Magic Tape.

To do this I put the tape in place, burnish it down paying attention to pushing into the engraved frame lines and then with a very sharp #11 blade. For the little windows down the flank, the engraving was so shallow that I couldn't find it using Tamiya tape so I switched to Magic tape so I could see the lines through it.

I stuck the halves onto a wide blue masking tape after sealing the little halve holes with some more tape. Then I sprayed it with Tamiya Rattle Can Spray Natural Metal. It's a lacquer, looks good with fine grain, and dries really fast.

I was very pleased with the result when I pulled the tape. There was no bleed through anywhere which was, frankly, unexpected.

I built a gun set using the Verlinden 50 cal replacements. Unfortunately, they did not have a set specifically for the ball turret. The kit's version has the guns tied together with some form of mechanism to properly space the guns so they fit through the apertures in the turrett. I had to cobble a spacer together out of scrap resin sprue after transferring the distance with the digital calipers. Incidentally, I use digital calipers more often to transfer measurements than to actually get a digital reading.

The Verlinden barrels are much finer than the massive kit version. They are also much more delicate. When I built that 1/16 scale RC version I had to scratch-build all the guns since all that was included was some wood dowels. I machined the barrels out of two layers of aluminum: inner solid rod drilled with the 1/16 of a 50 cal. bore and an outer jacket drilled with the cooling holes. Ideally, that outer jacket should have been photo-etched (which I can't do...yet). I made the receivers from styrene. The Royal kit's vacuum formed ball turrett was actually a terrible rendition, but at least the guns were cool. I even had to build out the bolsters where the barrels exit the turrett. I used epoxy putty for that.

I finished painting the props and then over-coated the front side with Tamiya clear gloss spray as a surface for the "Hamilton Standard" decals that go on each blade.

I finished building up the flight deck with the addition of control sticks, seats and rear bulkhead. I didn't bother to paint the seat support frames since they're be invisible.

Lastly, I put together the radio room. Again, due to its invisibilty didn't detail any of it other than attaching the seat. There is a skylight on top, but the plastic is not optically pure and will distort anything underneath.

I test fit the fuselage sides and amazingly, it all fits. There's some more surgery needed. The Verlinder windscreen is a photo-etched frame assembly with acetate windows which will be optically clear. The Cheyene tail gunner's house is also PE with glazing. Both it and the upgraded tail turret need plastic removed from that area. I'm going to work on that next since you can't do surgery when the model is all painted and pretty.

 

[fubar57]

Nice bit of masking on the turret parts. Looking good

 

[Airframes]

It's coming together nicely. Reminds me to get around to finishing the few exterior details on the one I built over twenty years ago !