1/72 ProModeller B-17G "2nd Patches"

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No worries friend, this too is one of my favorite aircraft and is perhaps why I am making the effort to make many details that will not be easily seen. There is just something rewarding about learning how the real aircraft were put together and how all the components worked in unison by building a replica of it.

Chad
 
In between wrestling with my 1/48 p-51D, I have managed to get some things done on my fort. Gonna post what I have so far before I get too far ahead.


Back and forth with filling, sanding and scribing. Probably went 4 rounds with this in all. Forgot to take a pic of it with a unifying primer coat so you can actually see the final result, sorry for that. Will get it up in the next update. Thanks fubar57 for the scale drawings, they helped immensely!


I scratch built 50 cal ammo boxes for the nose guns from styrene stock. I tacked them to a piece of styrene strip with a tiny bit of CA for easier handling. I painted these testors tan, a very light beige color. Then I mixed up a very small amount of raw umber and a little bit of raw sienna oil paint. I added a drop of Japan dryer to the mix, a liquid drying agent for oil paints. Using a dry, fine brush I streaked on a coat of oil paint onto the boxes. I then wipe off excess paint from the brush and continue removing paint from the boxes and wiping off the brush on a paper towel between strokes. Very soon you are left with a nice representation of wood. These are set aside to dry for a week or two, thanks to the Japan dryer, as opposed to a month or more without it.


I made the wood shelf that is mounted above the navigator's table as well as the instruments that were mounted to it.



After a dip in Future, I masked the windows off on both nose panels. Luckily there is framing for the interior and the exterior, so this was relatively easy to mask inside and out. Strangely enough the starboard panel (not pictured here) had some ribs and stringers on the inside molded over the large window for the cheek gun. I carefully scraped the area down with my xacto and then polished the scratches out as best I could with sanding sticks. A coating of future helped further, but there were a couple tiny scratches that still show if the light hits it just right. Oh well, I suppose a crew member could have done it. I know it happened on occasion when I crewed Blackhawks even though we polished the windows almost daily.


I know its kind of hard to see, so I'll explain the pictures as best I can. The clear nose panels fit into a recessed lip. On the very front, this sticks out prominently from what should be the normal profile of the inner nose on the interior. Looking through the nose once completed, this would look very odd, extra framing on either side that is very thick and ruins the round outline of the inside circumference. I have colored the area I am speaking about with a black sharpie in the hope that it shows up better.


I decided I could remove this front frame to improve the appearance without compromising the integrity and proper placement of these panels.
The nose panels lined up just fine and were glued in. I know I should have taken before and after pictures with the fuselage halves together to demonstrate how much of a difference this makes, but I didn't think about it at the time. Sorry guys, hope it is still clear enough to understand what I mean.

That's all for now, I have more, but this post is long enough I think. Will post up more progress soon.

Chad
 
Thanks for the compliments guys!

As promised, the primered reworked starboard fuselage.



I brush painted the entire inner fuselage MM Acryl flat black. Once dry I airbrushed everything MM enamel chrome silver. I started adding a few details to the nose, but are hard to see right now. I will show them up close later once painted. I gave a wash to the nose area with oils. Stupidly I forgot that I had used enamel again and some of the silver started smearing and lifting while removing the excess wash. No biggie, I just removed what had been loosened and hand brushed a generous coat of the chrome silver, being careful to use as few strokes as possible. This worked fine for a small area and levelled out well. I will apply a couple coats of future before I attempt the washes again.


This is the bomb rack selector controls. This was fun to make. I started with a rectangular strip of styrene that was 2mm x 4mm x about 6 inches long. I measured and marked out 2mm Height, 1/16 inch x 2mm width. I cut off the excess styrene from the strip so that I was left with the roughly square piece at the top. There are three levers on this box, so within the 1/16 wide area, I marked out three lines and used my razor saw to cut three grooves. I then sanded the top to a half circle profile. To the side I glued a punched styrene disc. The piece was cut from the styrene strip and glued to thin styrene sheet. This was then painted with very thin flat black so that the paint would not clog the very tiny grooves in the top. This was then painted with a custom dark dull green, dry brushing the top color on to leave the black in the recesses. The disk was painted grimy black and the whole piece was then lightly dry brushed with light gray. The levers are copper wire prepainted light gray then cut to length and CA glued in place. Each lever was given a dot of gloss black to represent the knobs. The plastic sheet this was mounted too was then trimmed to size.


This is the navigator's instrument shelf now painted. The instruments are just flat black for now and have not received any detail painting yet. The shelf itself was painted acrylic flat tan and carefully painted with thinned acrylic raw umber to create the wood grain. It is a little hard to discern in the second picture since I used a toothpick to prop it up, but maybe this is a good thing in regards to my painting of wood?


The instrument panel is represented very well with raised detail and for the most part matches reference pictures as far as instrument bezel layout. The provided decal sheet is nicely printed, but unfortunately does not match up to the molded detail. A few extra details were added from plastic sheet and copper wire. I painted the panel grimy black, the instrument faces flat black and then dry brushed everything light gray. The panel then got a gloss coat of future. I cut out the decal instruments and placed them individually. It was a couple of meticulous hours of work but the added detail was worth it. They settled down well enough with micro sol. The panel was given another coat of future to seal the decals followed by a black oil paint wash. Excess wash was later removed and the panel given a flat coat. The instruments were given a glass appearance with drops of testors clear part cement. Final details were picked out with various acrylic and oil paints.


The floor the bombardier/navigators stations was painted flat tan then streaked with diluted acrylic raw umber. This is done in a dry brushing manner except the bristles are kept damp with a just a minimal of paint. This allow the paint to be translucent and streaky when applied. It worked out quite well for the desired wood effect and is very easy. If too much paint is applied, quickly swish the brush in water and wipe off excess moisture on a paper towel. Use the brush to wick up the extra paint and start streaking/dispersing the paint in the direction of the wood grain

The stepped area was painted fs 34092 Euro 1 dark green lightened with a couple drops of white for scale effect. This is a decent representation of dark dull green.
Wear was added by lightly dry brushing with light gray, chromate yellow and finally just a little chrome silver.

The chin turret azimuth gearbox and accessories were made from pieces of styrene strip, rod and copper and lead wires. Everything was painted grimy black, then details picked out with neutral gray and restrained dry brushing with light gray.

That's all for now. All questions and comments welcome.

Chad
 
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I guessed that was what happened Chad - done it myself a few times !

It's looking good, some nice work.
Going back to your previous question regarding the insulation padding - this was deleted after the 'F' series, with the 'G' having clear-lacquered 'bare' skin inside. However, from what I've seen the sides of the cockpit walls retained the padding, not quilted, and in a pale green colour, rather like sage green.
I've seen period pics of the walkways in what appears to be clear-varnished plywood, and also in Interior Green, and a dark (probably dark grey) anti-slip finish. Frames over the 'bare' bulkheads look to be either Interior Green or Dark Green.
 
Thank you Terry! That is just the sort of info I was looking for. The bulkhead behind the navigator that was also the bulkhead for the front of the cockpit. Am I correct in thinking that the canvas at the top would have been retained since it covered the avionics on the back of the instrument panel facing into the nose area?
 
As far as i know, it was retained, and I think that this bulkhead was also painted - been trying to find a couple of period pics, but can't remember which book they're in (too many darned books !).
Bill Runnels might be able to confirm these details for you.
 
Thanks! I am a bit surprised myself how scarce period interior pictures are. I guess I just figured they would be more abundant.
 
What a wonderful job Chad in the IP, the floor and the wooden table, looks fantastic.
It is getting better and better the progress !!

Saludos
 
SANCER
Thanks Luis, it makes me smile seeing that you are enjoying my progress.

Just a small update this time.

I glued the navigator and bombardier seats and bomb rack selector in place. I scraped away the molded on belts, they looked to orderly for my taste. I made new belts from thin strips of tamiya tape and buckles from microscopic pieces of wire. I tried bending the wire to represent the various buckles, but after a tussle I cried uncle and settled for plain rectangles instead.




I also started scratch building the sidewall details for the cockpit from styrene and some bits of wire. The port sidewall has received an initial coat of French tan while the other is still naked. Almost forgot to get pictures of these before I got too far ahead. Figured someone might want to see the before and after aspect of this. The after will be in the next update. That's all for now, thanks for stopping in!

Chad
 
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Great work, especially in 'Tiny Tot' scale !
Just one minor observation - the green (metal) area around the seat looks rather pale and emerald in shade - I'd expect it to be more Interior Green, very close to the colour of the background to the photo.
The rather poor reproduction below shows what I mean.


 
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