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

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Fuse wire is the 'silver' coloured wire, in various gauges, and measured in their amperage resistance, for example '5 Amp', used in the main fuse or electrical circuit box in the electrical system in your house. Maybe called 'Breaker wire', or 'Circuit (Breaker) wire' in the U.S.?
 

As a Computer guy I have lots of wire here and there but nothing that small. I was thinking of going to a art supply store or my friend down the street is an electrician maybe he has something kicking around in his van
.

B-17 Engineer said:
Do you warm it over a candle firstly? That is what Wojtek has taught me to do. Warm it, but don't melt it.
Click to expand...

Of course but it always breaks. I kept a bunch of left over trees from some of my other models to use for just that but... I figured it was just cheap plastic
 
Dirk, I found a nice source of wire at Radio Shack. They sell "Motor Winding Wire" in spools and I got some 30ga which is nice for fine work wiring.

Sprue stretching takes a bit of practice. If it's breaking on you, it's probably not hot enough. Hold it and turn it about an inch over the flame and watch for the surface to get glossy. When you feel it get limp, get it away from the flame and pull it slowly, speeding up if you see it stretching nicely. You should be able to get a very thin thread, as fine as any wire you can get. Try plastic from a newer kit. That may help too.
 

I will try the spree stretching again someday but in the mean time there is a radio shack within 2 miles of my humble abode,
 
Stretching sprue is not hard, but can be frustrating at times, you just have to be patient and get the plastic to the right temp....and don't ask me what the temp should be...dunno!?? Just right is er...right!

Sometimes I go through a dozen pieces....sometimes first shot....
 
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.



 
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