- Thread starter
- #61
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
Thanks Fellows! I tend to struggle with PE more than average, or at least it feels that way. I'd better get used to it, since I bought two sets of Eduard PE for a Trumpeter 1/32 ABM Avenger. My first foray into PE was when I used Campbell PE in the mid-80s when building a jacked-up Tamiya USS Enterprise. I built this for someone else. Then 5 years ago, built a fully detailed Tamiya 1:350 Missouri. On it was added about 1,000 pieces of PE, scratch-built items, laser-cut decks, etc. I built it while my grandson was doing some of his models in my shop, and it was the finish model I ever built. I was offered a place for it in the Captain's Cabin on the real Missouri in Pearl Harbor, except I had to get it there. I could come up with no viable way of getting it there in one piece (which I could afford) so it sits in a plexi case in my spare bedroom.
The above shows lots of the added goodies. All the overhanging gun pods have stanchions under them. Radio antenna feeds into the hull were made like the real ones. Running lights were added. Another flag bad was added behind the aft funnel, searchlights were drilled out with aluminum foil and epoxy lenses added. All masts are remade in brass so they would hold up for the long haul. I've seen fellows even go beyond this since there was even more elaborate PE available after I started, but this took 13 months and that was long enough.
I used Eduard PE for most of the model, but had some significant troubles with the Eduard, so much that the sent me a full set as a replacement. Eduard uses a pretty hard brass and then they etch wherever the bends were supposed to be. The brass was 0.010", but the etched bends were only 0.005". It was so brittle that some of the parts failed while still on the frets. It took my four tries and three different manufacturers to successfully create those delicate catapults. The model depicts the Missouri at a specific point in time, between the Surrender signing on her decks in August 1945 and arriving at Pearl Harbor some time later. In that period, the deck blued painted decks were stripped back to natural teak, and the 20mm gun emplacements flanking #2 turret were removed. I had the laser-decks made with this area blanked. The navy blue below the sheer line was still preserved at that time, but the full hull was painted Navy in Pearl Harbor. When the ship appeared for Navy Day in NYC in October 1945. It also had all of its late WW2 radar suite.
Now, back to the B-17
Spent the entire day filling, sanding and filling again. At the LHS (Scale Reproductions Inc.) I bought paint and two kinds of filler. I was using the water-based Vallego filler, but I find that a) it shrinks and b) dries too slowly for my impatience. I bought Squandon White and Tamiya. Both are solvent-based and cure quickly. I had used Squadron Green for years and had also used Testor's White, but never Tamiya's. Of the two, Tamiya wins the contest. It doesn't appear to shrink, it's very smooth and creamy with very find grain size, and dries very quickly.
Where I did use the Squadron was a fairly large gap between the resin rear turret and the fuze. But due to its graininess, I went back and did a second coat with the Tamiya. Again, due to the age of this model (copyright 1975) the seams needed a lot of work. The biggest problem was misalignment with one side being low. I filled that last crack above the windscreens after I took this picture.
I didn't have any liquid mask, and I didn't want to use masking tape on all the windows because, frankly, I was afraid of the tape pulling some of the more delicate ones out of position, so I decided to try an experiment. I took some Aleen's Tacky Glue and put it on a scrap piece of clear styrene. From experience I know that PVA cements don't really stick well to styrene. The test patch pulled off in one piece and cleanly so I went ahead and painted the windows with it. Before doing all the windows, I test pulled the dried PVA from one of the little square windows and again it pulled off perfectly. So, if you need a quick and dirty mask, you can use PVA adhesives, especially the thicker ones.
As you can also see, I stuffed went paper towels into various spaces to block overspray from getting inside. I also masked the bomb bay since that was also wide open. It took two to three applications of filler to bring the fuze to a point where painting could be done.
While the fuze filler was curing I started working on the wings. They too required a couple of applications especially around the nacalle joints which were very poor. I also prepared and glued the horizontal stabs in place using tube cement helped with medium CA.
I had to add one more piece to each wing: the inboard engine exhaust bypass header that ultimately leads to the turbo-chargers. I also masked around the landing gear and blocked access to the wheel wells since that's painted interior green. Note that I didn't block the tail gunner or waist gunner holes since the interior there is the same color as the exterior will be.
Just before quitting for the day I saw a big gap at the bottom joints of the horizontal stabs. I slathered some filler into these gaps and will sand them prior to painting tomorrow.
The above shows lots of the added goodies. All the overhanging gun pods have stanchions under them. Radio antenna feeds into the hull were made like the real ones. Running lights were added. Another flag bad was added behind the aft funnel, searchlights were drilled out with aluminum foil and epoxy lenses added. All masts are remade in brass so they would hold up for the long haul. I've seen fellows even go beyond this since there was even more elaborate PE available after I started, but this took 13 months and that was long enough.
I used Eduard PE for most of the model, but had some significant troubles with the Eduard, so much that the sent me a full set as a replacement. Eduard uses a pretty hard brass and then they etch wherever the bends were supposed to be. The brass was 0.010", but the etched bends were only 0.005". It was so brittle that some of the parts failed while still on the frets. It took my four tries and three different manufacturers to successfully create those delicate catapults. The model depicts the Missouri at a specific point in time, between the Surrender signing on her decks in August 1945 and arriving at Pearl Harbor some time later. In that period, the deck blued painted decks were stripped back to natural teak, and the 20mm gun emplacements flanking #2 turret were removed. I had the laser-decks made with this area blanked. The navy blue below the sheer line was still preserved at that time, but the full hull was painted Navy in Pearl Harbor. When the ship appeared for Navy Day in NYC in October 1945. It also had all of its late WW2 radar suite.
Now, back to the B-17
Spent the entire day filling, sanding and filling again. At the LHS (Scale Reproductions Inc.) I bought paint and two kinds of filler. I was using the water-based Vallego filler, but I find that a) it shrinks and b) dries too slowly for my impatience. I bought Squandon White and Tamiya. Both are solvent-based and cure quickly. I had used Squadron Green for years and had also used Testor's White, but never Tamiya's. Of the two, Tamiya wins the contest. It doesn't appear to shrink, it's very smooth and creamy with very find grain size, and dries very quickly.
Where I did use the Squadron was a fairly large gap between the resin rear turret and the fuze. But due to its graininess, I went back and did a second coat with the Tamiya. Again, due to the age of this model (copyright 1975) the seams needed a lot of work. The biggest problem was misalignment with one side being low. I filled that last crack above the windscreens after I took this picture.
I didn't have any liquid mask, and I didn't want to use masking tape on all the windows because, frankly, I was afraid of the tape pulling some of the more delicate ones out of position, so I decided to try an experiment. I took some Aleen's Tacky Glue and put it on a scrap piece of clear styrene. From experience I know that PVA cements don't really stick well to styrene. The test patch pulled off in one piece and cleanly so I went ahead and painted the windows with it. Before doing all the windows, I test pulled the dried PVA from one of the little square windows and again it pulled off perfectly. So, if you need a quick and dirty mask, you can use PVA adhesives, especially the thicker ones.
As you can also see, I stuffed went paper towels into various spaces to block overspray from getting inside. I also masked the bomb bay since that was also wide open. It took two to three applications of filler to bring the fuze to a point where painting could be done.
While the fuze filler was curing I started working on the wings. They too required a couple of applications especially around the nacalle joints which were very poor. I also prepared and glued the horizontal stabs in place using tube cement helped with medium CA.
I had to add one more piece to each wing: the inboard engine exhaust bypass header that ultimately leads to the turbo-chargers. I also masked around the landing gear and blocked access to the wheel wells since that's painted interior green. Note that I didn't block the tail gunner or waist gunner holes since the interior there is the same color as the exterior will be.
Just before quitting for the day I saw a big gap at the bottom joints of the horizontal stabs. I slathered some filler into these gaps and will sand them prior to painting tomorrow.
