What's on The Workbench (10 Viewers)

[Airframes]

I guess there were a number of other areas where the B29 was less than perfect when it appeared, but it was a heck of a technological jump, and even looked futuristic!
Compare it overall to say, a B17 or Lancaster, both of which were designed with 1930s technology, and had the appearance of such, and it must have been a very complex marvel of its time.

 

[Maglar]

Well I couldn't get the lanc done.. lost the drive on the short time frame. Just have a few decals to apply on the bottom and then the weathering and all that biz, along with clear part painting and fiddle bit attachment. A weekends work no doubt, will be back some weekend and will get it posted for you all. Until then!

 

[mikewint]

You are correct, while the B-29 was a very advanced aircraft that advancement plus the pressures of the war left it with major problems. Prototype #2 developed a major engine fire. #3 also developed an engine fire causing it to crash into the factory killing the 10 man crew and 20 people on the ground. Changes were coming so fast that planes were flown from the production line to modification depots for extensive rebuilds.
The Wright R-3350 engines were designed to have a very high power to weight ratio but that came at the cost of reliability. The high power output plus improperly designed cowling's and cowling flaps caused chronic engine overheating. Unseated valves soon burned through the engines and if not caught immediately it ignited a magnesium accessory housing which burned through the wing spar in about 90s.
Replacing the Wrights with Pratt Whitney R4366 engines cured some of the problems but the upper 5 cylinders had to be replaced every 25 hours and the entire engine every 75 hours.
The sole surviving B-29, Fifi, suffers from the same problems and needs to get up to air speed very quickly to get cooling air flowing to the engines ASAP

 

[Lucky13]

Bl**dy nice work going on here fellas!

 

[dirkpitt289]

I finally forced myself to sit down and do some work on my Minnicraft B-29. Here's where we stand.

As some might remember I decided to make this B-29 one of "The Few, The Proud, The Olive Drab." Of course as you can imagine and may have seen from photos of B-17's and B-24's in the theater they were pretty well worn. So here we go.

Starting with some Model Masters Olive Drab I added a few drops of RLM 79 sandgelb. The RLM 79 adds the yellowing effect of a worn olive paint scheme.

Here it is after a few passes of the airbrush.

The next step I believe will be to add some areas of paint without the RLM 79 to show areas of repair.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Excellent work Dirk!!! If I may ask, where did you find your stand sir?

 

[dirkpitt289]

Thanks Aaron. The stand is part of a two piece set from Tamiya

It comes in very handy. I use it every day

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Cool! Thank you for the info!

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Dirk.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks good!

 

[mikewint]

DirkP, Looking good so far. Don't think I've ever seen anything like that stand either. about how far does it open up?

 

[dirkpitt289]

Modeling two days in a row. For me that is a milestone. Tonight I did some more masking to get ready for some more paint.

Applying another cote of paint. This time straight Olive Drab, no RLM 79 added.

After I was done spraying the B-29 I found I had quite a bit more paint left over so rather than waste it i decided to shoot the Crown B-17G.

Some of you might remember that when I started the B-17 the goal was to make it Little Miss Mischief but after a lot of trial and error making the decals I decided to toss the idea. So as of right now this is an plain Jane B-17G. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Till next time thanks for looking

As for the question about the Tamyia stand, if you look at the photo below you can see how it adjusts by moving the pins. This stand is wide open

 

[Wayne Little]

Doing a great job there Dirk!

 

[dirkpitt289]

This morning I felt like a kid at Christmas. What I mean is I couldn't wait to get the morning chores done so that I could get down stairs and unveil the masking on the B-29.

Here's the wrapping paper

The differences between the paints are subtle and should look even better if and when I blend it with some weathering.

I can't wait to get a clear cote on this as the olive finish is as fragile as the real thing.

Till next time looking for lookingThis morning I felt like a kid at Christmas. What I mean is I couldn't wait to get the morning chores done so that I could get down stairs and unveil the masking on the B-29.

Here's the wrapping paper

The differences between the paints are subtle and should look even better if and when I blend it with some weathering.

I can't wait to get a clear cote on this as the olive finish is as fragile as the real thing.

Till next time looking for looking

 

[Airframes]

Looks great Dirk, nice job. I think I only have one pic of a OD B29, landing in the UK for trials - don't know if it'll help?

 

[dirkpitt289]

Couldn't hurt?

 

[Airframes]

Leave it with me and I'll find it and post it here.

 

[T Bolt]

Real nice masking job Dirk. I might have a pic of an OD B-29 too. I'll have a look.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Here's one that's from The Encyclodedia of Weapons of World War II by Metrobooks, page 301

You're doing a heck of a job so far!