Kostucha

Good morning folks, In looking at this GB, I must say, the work here is nothing short of incredible. The scale representations of one of the most iconic aircraft to ever fly certainly do this flying legend justice. Once this GB comes to a close, and the raffle prizes I have are sent out, I will be packing up the work bench and moving on. Due to personal reasons, and the challenges that I'll be facing for the next while, there is just no place, time, or opportunity to build anymore. Such is life. In that though, I wanted to pass on my sincerest thanks to you all. It has been a blast.

The other question, is how was the disassembled (removed) ball turret stored/kept? I doubt it'd be set up with the support structure that supported it in the bomber. I've seen a couple of images of a turret being kept on a wooden frame, but upside down. Finding anything through the net on maintenance of the ball turret to show what this would look like is proving to be quite difficult. Any help is appreciated. Cheers, Mark.

Alright! The radio room was a bit of a pain, as the floor itself was a bit slanted. However, with a quick application of a small piece of evergreen (2 x 2 mm and about a cm long), managed to get a good support bracket done and the floor now sits level. There were a couple of other items that were added and removed. Just as Karl mentioned, the dynamotor for the command radio transmitters was removed from above the desk. There was also a lamp that was added, as well as all the applicable wiring on the desk. Further to this, a few items were added underneath the desk. All these items were foun

So... picture this... Radio room (starboard side) is complete with window and everything, and the smaller little details are done in the flight deck. Scratch built center bomb racks are also complete (the building that is), and now it's just the painting of it that is left. Not having a laptop... sucks!

YES! That would be SUPERB!

Sorry!

Progress is going to continue, unfortunately, my laptop pooched last night. So, as I can't upload pictures at work, there will be little in the way of updates until the laptop comes back from the shop. Mark.

Hello folks, I've had a bit of misfortunate luck. The decals I had paid for from a member here for the 1/48 Polish Mig-21 with the big marlin running down her side fell through. That I'm dealing with on my own. But what I'm looking for is decals for a 1/48 Polish Mig-21 MF, either with the big Marlin, or other. If anyone can help, it's greatly appreciated. Cheers, Mark.

Great idea!!

I'll have all the answers shortly. But, certainly looking forward to these!

I talked with Karl, and what we will be doing, for any build (and mine likely as well Stephen), those that aren't completed, will be continued in the "In-Progress Builds" section of the forum. How eexactly that will be done, I'm not sure. Whether it's ending the threads here, and having new ones in the build thread, or something else, I'm not sure. They may perhaps just continue here. I know that I'll keep my build updated as progress is made. In short, there is nothing wrong with startinig here... one big central B-17 section... Hope this helps, Mark.

Karl, where would I be without you! So... finally, taking something apart, rather than putting together! And thank you kindly for the technical info. I have been making progress on the work bench... but not with LMM, rather clearing some room by getting that Spitfire Vb finished. I'll have pictures up soon. Cheers, Mark.

NICE!!! PS. Got those decals. PM me the addy to send the prop decals to. Mark.

No worries! Not much done to report on tonight. A couple of rags, empty and beaten up fire extinguisher mount, tool box and tool/kit bag strewn across the radio room floor. Still lots to do, like beat up the portion of the floor left visible, and a few other things. I really wasn't up to wiring anything tonight, I'll leave that for the weekend I think: Here is the shot I used for the fire extinguisher bracket and a few other things. This is LMM right after her return, managed to aquire a HUGE version of the picture. What's key here isn't what's visible, but what isn't. Not all Forts had th

Good lord man! Thats incredible!!!

Simply OUTSTANDING! I've got the Mig-21 from Eduard that is screaming to be built with Polish markings. Though it's not the exact same kit you built, this definitely added a log to the fire for desire to build it. Your build is very nice, very crisp. Very, very nice! Mark.

Most excellent! Looking forward to it! Mark.

Vectors 1/48 R-1820 for the B-17 is superb! There are three choices for AM engines that are worth considering (all 3 require having the push-rods done properly): 1. Quickboost - comes with 4 beautifully cast engines, and the closed cowl flaps. If you're going with the closed cowls and want something more than the stock parts, I'd go for these. Be weary though, they don't come with the prop governer, nor do they have the small air intake cones between a couple of the cylinders. They do however fit like a glove inside the kit cowls, and mount onto the engine nacells with no modification requi

Oh... don't get me started. It's so rediculously hit or miss here. For an aircraft as well know, photographed, written about, documented, and well... popular as the B-17 is, the AM... well... leaves a lot to be desired. From made up parts as to how they should be, to parts that don't fit a kit that has been around for a heck of a long time, there is really little that is worth the full price tag. There are good things though, don't get me wrong! Some sets have the 'one of' items, like Verlindens landing gear - able to show it with no weight on wheels (specific to the struts), but then there

There is a significant amount of AM that was used for this build, but as can be seen, it's only been a few parts from here, and a few from there, and the rest scratch built. If I could go back to the beginning, the one set I would have is the full Eduard set for the interior. Their details on the pre-painted PE parts (such as the instrument panels, radio equip, etc) is second to none. If you're going to do a straight OOB build, or a full out build, the one thing I strongly suggest though above anything else, is the Masters .50 cal barrels. These are simply amazing! Once this build is done,

Thanks Stephen. Still much to do, wiring and what have you, but it's coming along. Still don't know how you managed to build that huge bird in 4.5 months. After the wiring is done, then it'll be a matter of getting that little tool box in there. The No. 6 bulkhead wont be built until both starboard and port fuselage halves are together, then it'll be a simple "plug" method of using a cut-out template, and cutting it into the very paper thin evergreen sheet (paper thin stuff). That bulkhead will be covered in high heat metal tape on one side, and just painted silver on the inside. The frame w

So with the floor being done in the radio room, work started on adding a few details to the floor. The port and starboard spar sections were added, along with the small item on the floor. I have yet to learn what this thing is, other than it's in all the -17's that I could find: Next up was the table. The Eduard set provides a nice PE table, however I haven't seen a metal one. All the table tops were wooden that I could see: Using a thin sheet of balsa, I thinned it down using some 400 grit sandpaper until it was about 1 mm thick. From there, using "Sienna" and "Dark Tan" MM paints, I b

Thank you very much! As the flight deck has only a couple more parts that are drying, I moved onto the flook in the radio room. I started by simply cutting a cardboard cut-out (the backing piece for the Eduard sets) and once I had the right fit, I then cut that into a piece of 0.25 mm evergreen sheet for a good stiff floor. Once that was done, a tape mock-up of the sheets going onto the floor was made. In all the pictures I could find, I seldom found the actual bombers with a nicely, squared off, staight cut section of this grippy stuff, so it was a free hand cut. Before laying them down, I d

I like it. A bit of help perhaps... I did away with filler. What I use instead is a combination of thin and medium superglue. I'll join the parts with the thin glue, and then once dried, I'll apply a thin layer of medium glue. I like the medium as oppose to the thick, as the medium still gets into the cracks nicely, but also helps to strengthen the bond of the parts. Once it's somewhat dry (20-25 seconds), I start with a piece of 400 grit wet sandpaper wrapped around a piece of balsa wood. This for me works nicely, and as it becomes smoother, I go up to 1200 grit, and it leaves the joint as sm

Thanks guys. Rick, that seat took about 2 hours to make. But that's 2 hours of finalizing which reference pictures I'd be using, and finding ones to answer questions of where to put what. Also, it would have taken a little less time if the colour of those harnesses wasn't a bit off. The construction itself did't take that much time at all. Sean, thank you good Sir! I can't wait to see that final product either. But, getting closer, that's for sure! Took a little bit of time while the little man was down for a nap to take care of the hydrolic panel and a few other details. Here's a quick sho