Academy 1/72 B-17E "Old 666" 43rd Bomb Group 1943

[Crimea_River]

Great stuff Dirk. Don't forget to finish the history of this unique bird. Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Airframes]

Just a quick note Dirk. On the B17E and early B17F, the radio room gun mount was on a (rather cumbersome) circular mount - basically a metal tube ring, with a semi- rigid feed chute and ammo box fixed on the starboard wall, unlike the mount in your posted pics. However, with two guns mounted, it's more than likely that a 'custom made' mount was fabricated.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Just a quick note Dirk. On the B17E and early B17F, the radio room gun mount was on a (rather cumbersome) circular mount - basically a metal tube ring, with a semi- rigid feed chute and ammo box fixed on the starboard wall, unlike the mount in your posted pics. However, with two guns mounted, it's more than likely that a 'custom made' mount was fabricated.

I've seen that setup someplace but have been unable to find it but in this case the mount was a custom field job done completely outside the Boeing realm so I'm comfortable making it like in the photos posted. Do you have any photos of that mount?

 

[Airframes]

Yep, I should have somewhere. But as you say, it's unlikely to have been used for a twin-gun installation. I'll post the pics when I find them, very soon.

 

[Airframes]

Here you go Dirk, pics as promised.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice work Dirk, keep it coming!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Damn, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I went to install the landing light lenses and lo-wen behold they are missing. I'm thinking this isn't something I can fix with Micro kristal Klear

 

[Airframes]

Use pieces of clear sprue, carved, filed and sanded to shape, then polished.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Duh, why didn't I think of that? I mean I've done it before. What a dunce I am.

 

[herman1rg]

I have only just discovered this thread and after reading through it and Dirk I take my hat off to you Sir, such perseverance. Keep up the good work.

Also love the story of the real aircraft.

 

[dirkpitt289]

I've been initiated with real world stuff so the modeling has been pushed to the side for a bit. Here is a little more work I got done on Old 666

A little bit of landing gear repair is in order.

Superchargers get their first bit of rust

Toned down with some steel

Superchargers in place. I think I need to tone them down a little bit more.

Resin wheels to spruce it up a bit

Resin wheel vs kit wheel

Our little girl is growing up. This is here for the first time on all threes (Wheels that is ) There is still a lot of touch ups and fiddly work to be done.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Airframes]

Looking great Dirk.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

It's looking very good Dirk. The home made windows turned out good.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Thanks guys. I have three more B-17's in the stash and I don't think I'll ever use the kit supplied windows again.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Well its been a long time since I worked on "Old 666" and thanks to Alex today was the day I found my grove. I was able to sit at my bench today at around 10:00am as opposed to 10:00pm which has been the norm these days. Seeing the work Alex has done in his B-17 "Hells Angels" was just the spark I needed.

Here's what I accomplished:

Starting with some styrene and Terry's photos from post 32, photo 6 I set to work.

I started by using some green Putty to fill in the optional staggered waste gunners position and started to lay out some frame work using .030 square stock styrene.

Next I used .080 H-Column to make the tracks for the waste gunners window.

More frame work.

Now before I could complete the frame work i had to install the gunners window but I had to paint it first. Using some fine grit sand paper i sanded the area around the window I wanted to paint olive green. This allowed the paint to stick to the clear plastic.

Once the frame work was completed I added some interior green, and dry brushed on some aluminum to add some wear. The window opens and closes. 8)

Next I turned to the nose of the aircraft.

Well that's it for now. Thanks for taking the time to look at my work.

Great build! Love the story behind the real bird. I hope dogfights portrayed it correctly...

I know it's too late in the game, but next time might I recommend skipping the styrene to make the ribs and stringers and use a product manufactured by CHARTPAK called either zip-a-line or form-a-line. Basically it's rolls of tape cut into various tiny widths. It's used by graphic artists to make lines on...well...graphs and stuff. I use white, which I would imagine would also limit the amount of drybrushing needed to bring out it's detail when contrasted to the darker model styrene, but I understand it comes in many colors. One of the abvantages is that it's tape. If you put it in the wrong place just lift and re-apply...even over prepainted surfaces! After you have it just where you want it, just over paint it and it's sealed in place. And you get no liquid glue marks adjacent to each rib and stringer. Cuts easy also. Try it out next time and thank me later!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Thanks Vic, I'll do a search and see if I can find this stuff. There are still a few more 17's and a couple more B-24s in the stash.

 

[Wayne Little]

like what you've done so far Dirk!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Thanks Wayne. That means a lot to me.