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

[Builder 2010]

Thanks Guys! I appreciate the input and am glad that I'm inspiring others to do stuff.

Today was a potpourri of things starting with finishing up the propellors by adding the "Hamilton Standard" labeling to each blade. I mounted the prop on a shaved end of a micro-brush and held that in the PanaVise. After the decals dried I shot them with Dulcoat to level it all out.

Here are all four done and waiting to be mounted on those spiffy R-1820s.

Next up was finishing up the ball turrett. After painting the guns Tamiya gunmetal, I CA'd the guns into the front ball half. I clamped both halves together and applied solvent cement with my Touch-n-flo capillary applicator. After it dried I sprayed a bit of the Tamiya Bare Metal into a cup and touched up any glue marks. I then build the suspension hanger, sprayed it with the same color and snapped the ball into the hanger and then hanger into the radio compartment floor. This is a very old model with very old molds and there was lots of flash and ejection pin marks on parts.

With the simple stuff out of the way it was time to get into the two main challenges. The first was the Cheyenne tail gunner's compartment and gun emplacement. This Verlinden change required some mods to the fuselage, one of which was to remove the boss that held the B-17E style tail gun so the Verlinder updated gun can be mounted flush to the tail. The other was to both open up the space a bit AND to remove the rear-most 1/8" of the compartment opening for the PE gun sight that will be added a bit later.

Then it was time to tackle the PE tail gunner's windows. The first part had to be folded and bent to fit the fuze's contours. The second part was the rear window that needed bending to a nice curve that had to match the first parts width. Before bending they ask that you cut the acetate glazing. I had forgotten to do this for the main part, but was able to cut the odd-shaped rounded window. I CA'd the glazing in place before curving the piece by wrapping it around a suitable diameter. For the main part glazing I was able to measure and cut the acetate with the part in its formed shaped. I had to adjust the fuze opening a few more times once all the forming was done.

The second challenge: the new flight deck window set. First of all, this stuff is really cool since it allows for an open left side seat's window. And it's also tough since the plastic fuze's opening does not fit this PE and needs to be shaved and re-shaped.

I've been suffering a bit with the very soft PE which is a self-inflicted wound. I was so traumatized by the Eduard PE hardness when building the Missouri that I annealed all this before using it. The annealing was too effective and the PE bends like modeling clay. As I was handling the parts during the fitting and glazing it kept deforming and I would have to flatten in my PE bending jig over and over. Next time, I'll hold off annealing until I find out how brittle the metal is.

In this picture you'll see that some more fitting is probably warranted. The acetate is so myuch more optically clear than the styrene kit windows. In this case I measured all the acetate while the PE was flat.

Finally, a couple of new pliers I ordered from MicroMark arrived today. They're parallel jaw pliers which I wanted for some time. Traditional long-nose pliers when grabbing and oject often only hold by one point since the tapered jaws create a tapered opening. For bending stuff where I need even grip I was resorting to using my vise grips. This way is much more elegant. One pair with the straight jaws is brass-lined to be a little easier on surfaces. The other is a loop-forming tool that will also do the job with parallel pressure.

Tomorrow I'll continue with fitting the windows. Once done, it will time to start enclsoing the fuselage, building wings and starting the painting and finishing process.

 

[Crimea_River]

Fiddley work but coming along nicely.

 

[JKim]

That's really delicate work... bending PE frames and adding transparencies to them. Love the new tools! Incidentally, I picked up a set of specialized pliers for fishing and they seem to be based off the same parallel plier model that Micro Mark uses.

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far!

 

[Airframes]

Some nice mods so far.
As this aircraft has the 'Cheyenne' tail gun position, I'm assuming it would also have staggered waist windows, a fairly straightforward conversion in this scale, but it needs to be done before joining the fuselage halves. The 'plain' windows can easily be made from clear sheet, with the outer frames and gun mount frame made from painted tape, just about visible in the only (small) pic I have of my B-17G so far.

 

[SANCER]

Very good job so far, I like that backside and as these propellers were.
I follow your progress.
Greetings
Luis Carlos

 

[Builder 2010]

That's a nice B-17. I really don't feel like staggering those waist windows. The fellow for whom I'm building it will forgive me if I don't go that far.

Today was spent entirely installing the flight deck PE windows. It was difficult, frustrating and the results didn't not meet my level of expectations. The problem was that I kept getting CA on the acetate windows. I had to keep handling the assemblies to get the fit just right and this handling increased the deformation I was having and offered more opportunites to screw up the acetate. I replaced the windows and this too created problems especially when I had to replace the left side windscreens three times. The last time it almost wrecked the entire deal to try and extract the CA'd accetate. To make matters worse, the windscreen has an inner frame that also was CA'd.

Took help align and hold the frames I didn't like the little PE tabs that were integral to the PE part. I cut them off and made little Z-clips bending them with my PE bending machine.

The right side ultimately went in using medium CA along the seam to hold it all in place. I worked to get the center line to match the plastic fuze's so that it will mate well to the other half.

Here was one of the first windshields I replaced. Because it was off the plane it wasn't too terrible.

And here's that side installed.

But then came the left side with the open window. I changed out the sliding window with 0.010" clear styrene since I used up the acetate provided in the Verlinder kit. Then as I had already CA'd the side window portion, the windscreen got whacked and I decided to try and replace the glazing while it was on the plane. Of course here the CA was very effective and just wouldn't let go. When it did it resulted in this!

I spent the best part of the next hour putting in the new glazing and attempting to get it straightened. It was disheartening and definitely blows the image of me being the "super craftsman". I'm thinking that I'd like to see if Verlinden can send me another set of PE.

Here are both sides "Complete". If I can get the replacements in a reasonable time, I may choose to do so, although this part has to be complete before the two halves are brought together which is where I kind of am right now.

You really can't see how wavy that metal is now. It's really not very good. I just sent a note to Verlinden to see if they can accommodate my request. I also have to add a bit of filler at the PE plastic interface.

 

[Builder 2010]

Today started well. I masked and painted all the appropriate glazing parts first with Tamiya Rattle Can natural metal and then Dullcoat.

After pulling the tape I was happy with the results.

Next was the nose cap. Verlinden... which BTW went out of business two weeks ago so my thoughts of getting another PE fret just went out the window... inlcuded a PE ring that went between the clear plastic and the fuze, an inner frame with rivets, a folded PE piece that glues to the ring and a piece of vinyl tubing that extends form the inner frame under the bombardier deck. I had no trouble gluing the inner frame to the clear dome.

And then the proverbial poop hit the fan!

After folding the front piece and CA'ing it to the ring, I decided to CA the ring to the back of the canopy. Before doing this, I attached the vinyl tube to the protuberance on the inner frame. The tubing was not very flexible and that started the cascade of bad things. I said from the outset, that I document all my good stuff and all my bad. After gluing on the ring, the tension imposed by the tube popped the inner frame off the plastic. As I attempted to glue it back on, now not easily since stuff was in the way, I got some CA on the clear. Then the ring lost grip and started popping off, and then the inner ring let go again... you get the picture. Finally, in desparation, I ripped it all off and decided to paint the canopy the old fashioned way.

This next picture is pretty gross and if you have a heart condition you may want to avert your eyes.

After I pulled the tape (which came out okay) and lightly sanding out some of the blemishes, I dropped the canopy into a bath of Pledge Floor Wax with Future, let it drain off and put it under cover to dry for the next few days. Hopefully, this canopy restoration technique will help. Otherwise, I might be going to Revell to get a new front dome.

I then built the upper gun turret. In this case I used the Verlinder thin gun barrels glued into holes drilled in the kit's breaches. This solves the problem of losing all the other structure needed to hold the guns in place. The assembly was the bright spot in the day.

I put this aside since it gets installed last. I then started to construct the bombs and bomb rack. Rather thne gluing the bombs in place and running the risk of them coming unglued. So I decided to install some real rings like the prototype and will create hooks on the bomb rack to hold them.

I don't work in the shop on weekends as part of a deal with the CinC, so next report will be on Monday.

I don't know about you, but I sometimes find that adding the PE creates more problems than it's worth. Case in point, those cockpit windows. I could have masked the plastic ones with no problem and would have been on my way. Instead, I killed an afternoon wrestling with the metal and wishing I could rip it out and put the plastic one back in, except it will no longer fit since the opening was filed much larger....although now that I write this, I could pack the space out with styrene and it might work out. I think about it and do it my head several times to see how it would turn out. It might clean up that mess now that I can get any new material with Verlinden.

 

[Crimea_River]

I feel your pain. Despite your concerns, the windscreens don't look too bad in my opinion. The gaps could be filled with Milliput which, being water soluble, can be filled into the gap and soothed with a wet paint brush to blend the surface into your PE frames. Once painted, it should pass the sniff test.

 

[Wayne Little]

Not bad at all...

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far!

 

[SANCER]

It has required some work, but you're working out well =D>, is where you learn more and passion increases!

Saludos

Luis Carlos

 

[at6]

Builder, your photos look much better over here than they do at FSM. A little filler around the frames and you won't know the difference. It's still turning out well.

 

[Builder 2010]

You guys are way to kind. I find it interesting that the pics are better here since I write that one first and just cut and paste the whole deal pics and all. I'm not going to do anything more with those windows since, I agree, after the model's all painted and decaled, it will blend in and be less noticeable. (I hope).

Today nothing particularly bad happened. I finished the landing gear, assembled the bombs and started painting them, and modified and completed more machine guns.

After installing the wire loops in one side of all four bombs, I glued them together, sanded the edges to remove the seams and painted the yellow that would form the yellow rings. After two coats of yellow (a mixture of Vallejo and Tamiya). I then cut some Tamiya masking tape strips to cover the yellow in preparation for the olive drab which will follow tomorrow.

This is an old model and the seam fits weren't so hot. Not like the new stuff.

The landing gear is installed first into the upper Gear well sheet. This, in turn, is glued into the bottom wing. Before gluing anything, I tried the fit of this part into the wing, and quickly found out that both resin exhaust pipes leading to the turbos were too high and holding the gear sheets away from their mounting points. I took the Dremel and removed the excess resin until they fit properly.

I then CA'd the main gear struts into position. One of my brass locking arms had separated from one strut. I waited until the main gear was set and then got the locking lever into place and CA'd it fast. Next on was the gear actuating levers which were styrene kit parts. These parts needed a little coaxing since they were now mating with scratch-built metal parts. All in all, everything worked.

When I was okay with the installation, I masked the bases to protect the interior green. This proved to be unecessary as you'll see in a moment. I sprayed it with the Tamiya Bare Metal rattle can spray, followed by Dullcoat.

After I pulled the tape I found that it pulled about half the green left the plastic. Most likely, it's because I don't wash my styrene before painting, and the Model Master Acrylic doesn't have the grip that Tamiya paints do. Makes a great peeling paint effect if I wanted that.

After brush painting to repair the missing paint, I painted the brake lines and the gear was done. I put on a light coat of alcohol/India ink mix to tone it all down. I also did this to the wheel hubs. With that the main gear are ready to install into the airframe.

The tires have "weight flats". The kit's gear had an axle with two flats that aligned to the wheel hub's hole that was also shaped the same way. But the resin gear has a round axle. I had two choices, file flats on the gear axle or drill the wheel hole out to be round. I chose the latter since it was easier to control AND I can rotate the wheels to contact the ground properly before gluing them in place after the plane is finished.

Machine Guns:

The Verlinden resin Brownings have separate very fine barrels and receivers. The problem is they're missing other aspects of the kit's guns that enable them to be mounted correctly in the model. So I'm making hybrids of all of them as I did with the top turret. With the waist and radio room guns, I used the same method, drilling the receiver and shaping the barrel so they were a tight fit and CA'd into place. For the bombardier compartment guns this method wouldn't work, since there's a lug on the barrel portion that goes into a fitting on the window. This part was too narrow to drill the barrel-sized hole, and a straight butt joint would be very fragile. I needed to pin the barrel in place.

For very small diameter rods I use B and E guitar strings. The E string is 0.009". There's actually no drill size you can easily get that's this small. I have a selection of carbide drills that I buy from Drillbitsunlimited.com. This set has 10 each of small sizes and it's a good barging. But... there's a caveat. These are solid carbide and very brittle. A tiny bit of side thrust and "snap!". They are very sharp and originally are used to drill circuit board fiberglass. That sharpness is a blessing and curse. When drilling brass it's a curse since it grabs on exit and breaks the drill almost every time. I went through a ton of these when building the Missouri working with the PE.

Here's the drill I used. It's a #78 and is oversized for the guitar string, but with ample CA it ultimately held. They all have an 1/8" shaft so there's lots of support. These were originally used in automated drilling machines.

Here's the sequence. I file both the receiver and barrel mating surfaces flat and square. I then use a divider point to make a pin prick in as close to dead center as I can. I then use the #78 to drill both pieces.

The newly joined barrel is reasonably strong. Here are all guns done today.

Before closing up for the day, I painted all the guns Tamiya Gunmetal. I had a problem with the chin turret. Its guns are noticeably longer than the rest and have flash shields on them. The Verlinden replacements are just too small. I may use the kits guns in this one instance. I like to paint the barrel tips silver. I don't know if this is prototypical, but I like the look.

Tomorrow, I'll finish the bombs and mount them to the bomb rack. This will pave to the way to start installing everything into the right fuze half including all the glazing and then put the Fuze together. The seams will need a lot of filling, and being an ancient kit, all the panel lines are raised. I'm not of spirit to shave them all off and engrave panel lines. I would wait until I build the HKM 1/32 scale bird which already has engraved lines. Meanwhile, the wings can also be built. From now going forward, the build is going to accelerate.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Looks great so far!

 

[Crimea_River]

Sure does.

 

[Builder 2010]

Thanks Guys! Since this aircraft is going to be "Yankee Lady" as is currently flying, I guess the red extinguishers would still be accurate.

Today was a mixed bag of successes, screwups, recoveries, and outright panic.

Started with finishing the bombs and installing them on the bomb rack. I airbrushed them with two coats of Tamiya Olive Drab lightened just a tad with some Tamiya Khaki. I then pulled the tape off the strips and they came out okay, although there just a tad wide.

I went ahead with the scheme to mechanically attached the bombs to the racks using the metal rings I had installed. The first try was to form a brass 3-sided box out of 0.021" brass, but it was hard to put that last bend in place when threaded through the rings. I then went with two, L-shaped brass rods CA'd into holes drilled at an angle in the rack. The first side I glued in place, then put the second side partially in, threaded the bomb onto both and then pushed the second side done into position with the bomb itself. I then used thin CA on the protruding rod on the inside of the rack. Worked pretty well and the bombs are no suspended.

Next up was installing glazing on both fuze sides. I used a combination of Formula 560 Canopy Glue and medium CA. First getting stuff in place with the 560 and when set up a bit, adding some CA to the tabs or edges so the windows will not fall into the fuze.

In attempting to put the skylight window over the pilot's position it sprung out of the tweezers into the quantum realm. I swept about 25 square feet of floor, but it was not there. Gone! It will probably pop out of the quantum rip in the Universe tomorrow and be right below my feet. Since I couldn't use one kit molded styrene window on one side and one hand-made sheet styrene window on the other, I needed to make two new ones using the remaining skylight as a template.

They installed reasonably well and here they are installed in the right side Fuselage.

Next up was gluing in the bombardier guns. I was worried about these delicate guns sticking out with so much handling going to happen. My worries were well founded.

The left side gun position was missing the small upper plastic bridge that contained the indentation for the upper pin on the gun. After gluing (medium CA) the lower pin and curing with accelerator, I cut a small plastic shim with a groove filed in that would fill this space. After curing I trimmed the oversized shim flush with the window.

I then glued in all the interior subassemblies with CA (or so I thought) and prepared the fuze edges for joining. I then used first solvent cement with the Touch-n-flo, followed by CA. Rubber bands and some clamps kept it tight. Any suspicious areas were then reinforced with the CA.

Now as I was fiddling with all the rubber bands and gluing all the seams, I remembered those delicated nose guns, which when I looked were now broken off not quite to where the reinforcing piano wire rods were. I knew it was going to happen. I just didn't expect it to happen so darn fast. I am not replacing those gun barrels until everything is done. I will probably be able to drill and insert more wire.

As you can see, the seams are pretty gruesome. But nothing that filler and elbow grease can't fix.

I then glued the horizontal stabs together and went to work on the wings. First into the wings was the gear assembly. After CA'ing them securely into the bottom wing, I test fit the top wing and found that some reinforcement pins that press onto this gear plate were a tad too long and were keeping the upper wing proud of the lower wing by about 1/16". I clipped them shorter and was able to glue the wings together, first using Testor's Tube Cement, followed by the Touch-n-flo and then with CA for the more resistant areas.

With the wings glued, all the major assemblies are done.

So all I had to do was give it all a day to cure and get ready to finish the seams....or so I thought. Just before going upstairs for dinner, I was inventorying the remaining bits and pieces to see what was left to do, and YIKES!. There was the tailwheel and bulkhead assembly which should have been glued into the fuze with all the rest. At first I tried to weedle it into place through the tailwheel opening, but that wasn't working. So I had to first remove the resin tail gun turret which was CA'd solidly in place, and then split the seam down far enough to left me separate it enough to get the bulkhead into position. It took almost a half hour to get it finally seated, but I did it. Again... this blows a hole into the belief that I am somehow a very gifted modeler. Sometimes it just ain't so.

So all's well that ends well. "It's not that you make a mistake, it's how you recover". Keep repeating that and maybe you won't feel so bad. Tomorrow I'll start finishing the fuselage and wing seams getting ready for finally assembly, painting, decaling and very mild weathering.

 

[fubar57]

Some very nice finicky (frustrating) work

 

[JKim]

Some great work going on here! I agree about your statement regarding PE... sometimes it is more trouble than it is worth. But you have worked around those trouble spots brilliantly.