Scratch build Boeing F4B-4

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When everything was done, I carefully looked over the finish. The lower wing, masking tapes & wax paper were all removed. You can see the results.

By using the wax paper taped tightly over the wing, it helped to give the fillet a nice tight fit.

At this point, I'm not too concerned about the leading edges of the lower wing near the fuselage. If you zoom up on the last picture you can see the leading edges look a bit rough. It will be covered over with a # 600 sandpaper to look like a rough-textured wing walk.

 

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Next came the pilot's headrest & life raft storage behind it. Carefully reviewing the scale plans & other reference sources revealed that the rear end of the headrest blends in with the vertical fin.

I carefully (Oh, ever so carefully to not disturb or crack the finish) I slowly cut out the rear portion, dry fitted the headrest to the vertical fin held temporarily in place , cut out a bit more, dry fitted & so on until I was satisfied with the results. I knew I was going to use a rounded file, followed by a # 400 sandpaper rolled up, so I made a small allowance for that extra clearance.

 

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The Westburg drawings (& photos) shows the lid over the pilot's headrest to have hinges. The areas where the hinges will be placed were cut out using a # 11 X-Acto blade.

 

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I obtained these hinges from MicroMark. They can also be obtained from local arts & crafts stores that sell accessories for doll houses.

They were assembled & temporarily checked for fitting in the cut outs.

 

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The drawings illustrate the emergency T-handle to be used in case of ditching into the water (my guess).

So I cut that area out, painted the interior a light green to simulate zinc chromate & temporarily fitted a plastic T-handle.

I'm guessing about the zinc chromate color as all references on this particular area are in b+w or if there are colored photos, I haven't been able to find any that focuses on this part.

I'm also guessing if zinc chromate was even used during this time period. So we can call it "artistic license."

I then painted the T/ handle red. It just seems to make sense to me.

 

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The hinges & T-handle were removed & the headrest was glued in place, using the vertical fin as reference as to how far rearward I was to place it.

 

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Just as with the lower wing fillet, once again I used Milliput for the headrest. I figured if it works on the wing fillet it should work equally well with the headrest.

Why stop a good thing?

 

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With the masking tapes in place for protection, I started with a # 320 sandpaper & finished with a # 400.

 

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Spackling compound diluted in water, followed by sanding.

 

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More primer & sanding. This time I used a # 2000 sandpaper to get a more smoother finish.

 

[Wurger]

Nicely done Gary.

 

[special ed]

A great series! Many very useful hits & tips. I like the progress.

 

[Skyediamonds]

A great series! Many very useful hits & tips. I like the progress.

Thank you very much, sir.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Nicely done Gary.

Thank you, sir.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

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The end result, the headrest blended to the fuselage turned out very well.

 

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Next was a suspenseful moment for me. I finally removed the masking tapes that were protecting the cooling louvers for almost a year. I had no idea how all this would turn out.

In the end, everything worked out just fine. The black background of the louvers remained untouched by all that spray painting & knocking the model about.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Skyediamonds]

Thank you, sir

 

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It's at this point I start detailing the (somewhat) bare fuselage while it's still easily accessible without bumping my arms & hands into wings & tail feathers.

Starting with those small latches that are scattered over the forward portion of the fuselage; according to Westburg's drawings & other sources, these latches are designed to facilitate ease of access to removal of various panels.

As you can easily see from the first picture, it shows a detailed close up of the latching mechanism. It requires a special hook with a wooden T-handle on the other end, to slip through the keyhole, using the T-handle to twist the small tab either way to unlock or lock the latch as it's desired.

At 10th scale & no access to 3-D printing, I figured this small latch would be too complex for me to make; let alone make dozens of them.

In all honesty, I actually inquired different sources who do 3-D printing, including one in particular who did these latches for another modeler but his Boeing model is at nearly double the size of mine & therefore those small latches were easier to make. Suffice to say, I was turned down by all vendors.

So, I had a couple of choices:
1) Use small 1/8" sized black-colored zeros (0) from a dry letter transfer sheet. I would only need enough zeros to rub off onto the various locations around the model.

The problem was Letterset company that manufactures these dry transfers is no longer producing 1/8" small letters. This is due to people printing their own off of computer printers onto special transfer sheets. Neither of which I have.

2) Find a small set of oblong-shaped rings that are small enough to fit within scale & glue them on. Besides, they will stick out, giving a three dimensional appearance.

But where to find such small oblong-shaped rings?

You can see how much effort & thought was given to this seemingly small detail.