crystoffer

Thanks guys. I've really been having fun with this build, and hope I can get it finished before the end of the year. Chris

The ball turret mount. The ball turret interior. I know it should probably be bronze green, but I felt it would be too dark to see anything inside once it was closed up. And lastly, I tested my watch building skills with the bomb sight mount. That's all for now. with any luck I can close up the fuselage this weekend. Then its on to the wings.

The Radio room is next.

An update ...finally!! I had hoped to be finished by now, but the real world has taken a lot of my spare time. C'est la Vie. The fuselage interior is close to finished. All it needs is a little more plumbing, wiring, and then add the guns and ammo chutes. To give you an idea of how it looks so far, here are the sub assemblies held in the fuselage halves by blu-tac. Lets start up front. A walk around of sorts. :)

Very, very nice! Chris

I've done a little work on the ball and top turrets. The ball turret mount is finished except for the electrical and oxygen umbilicals. I was unsatisfied withe the sides of the ball turret. I'm not sure what the raised ares are supposed to represent, but the turret sides didn't resemble the real thing in any way. I temporarily glued the turret together and tried sanding them off, but that made the plastic too thin and only highlighted the roughness of the inside of the walls. After much gnashing of teeth, I finally decided to break out the trusty Dremel and grind the sides away. I clean

I'm in luck! The Koster Nose job set does include an early model Sperry turret dome. Now to stop procrastinating and order a couple of sets. Chris

Got all the side windows in the nose and radio room cut and fitted last night. It wasn't as difficult as I thought. Thanks for the hints and bits of wisdom, they made te process much easier. I used .015 clear styrene, and the new windows really allow the detail to be seen with little to no distortion. Now for a quick dip in Future and I can have them installed this weekend. Does anyone know of an accurate early Sperry top turret dome? The framing on the one included in the kit is not accurate. It is simplified when compared to pictures of the real thing. If I can't find a replacement, I

Looking good! These larger airframes are just crying out for added layers of details. Chris

Thank you everyone for you kind comments. This was supposed to be quick build with just a few enhancements! Oh well... to late to turn back now! ;) This update we'll do a little waist watching. The details here were fun to make, but frustrating to research. Most clear pictures are of B-17G models. The earlier versions tend to be at extreme angles and a lot of the detail is hidden by the large ammo boxes. Or the shot sis too high and doesn't show anything below window level. To complicate matters more, the equipment locations appear to have moved between the E and F models. The location

Mark, I will definitely be using some of the techniques you used on your windows.

I will be replacing the windows with something thinner than the 3" thick armored glass supplied in the kit. Gotta do something to make all the detail as visible as possible.

Thanks for the compliments on yesterday's update. I have been paying extra attention to the seats on all my builds for the past few years. Since you like them so much, I will have to post a tutorial on my next build. I will leave the bomb bay closed up on this build, so moving to the rear of the aircraft, the radio room is the next compartment to receive attention. Except the PE seat belts, everything here is scratch built. The most interesting part of this compartment was accurately reproducing the various radio components. The Radio Museum site was a great help in determining the dimensi

Thanks for the compliments! I have a good selection of placard and decals squirreled away. The old set from Reheat Vintage Cockpit Details supplied most of the ones you see, including the details on the cockpit pedestal. I used some included in Mike Grant's Cockpit gauges and data plates on the fire extinguishers because they have more chrome-like silver and provide a good contrast on the brass paint. The instrument panel decal is from the ProModeler instrument panel set for their bombers. Some of the other various gauges throughout the aircraft are from the Airscale set. All these sets

Moving to the cockpit... Once again a LOT of scratch building. The only after market used is PE seat belts, hydraulic accumulators, and the pilot's control panel on the left wall. Only have the overhead instruments, oxygen bottles, and a little plumbing left here. I can't wait to see what it all looks like all glued up. Chris

I have been plagued by camera problems, but here is my long overdue update. Starting at the nose. No AM here, all has been scratch built. I'm happy with it so far! :) ,Only have the gun mounts and their suspension harnesses, the Norden bomb sight, some wiring, and windows left to do here.

I just returned home from home today from my three week trip. So I'll start working on Double Trouble again sometime this week. Chris

If I were to cast copies, they would be extremely delicate. The roof is made of 0.10 sheet stock. It wasn't hard to make. The wider section at the front will be hidden by the forward bulkhead, and semi-circle of 0.30 sheet that matches the diameter of the body retains the curvature of the roof. It does look good with the polished MM Metallizer on it. I'll post more pictures when I return home in a couple of weeks. Chris

I am still working. The interior is almost complete. Unfortunately I am on a business trip until mid-June, so not much progress until then. An extension to the deadline would be greatly appreciated. Chris

First let me say that I am blown away by everyone's projects in this group build. You have all been a great inspiration and help with my B-17. I haven't gotten as far along as I hoped, but I am happy with the progress so far. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, so here they are. The starboard fuselage The Port fuselage Bombadier/Navigator's floor Navigator's bulkhead Cockpit bulkhead Radio room roof Radio room bulkhead There are more things finished, but I don't have photos of the yet. Hopefully I can post more photos this weekend. Chris

Looking good Bill. I am finding the kit parts useful only as a base to replicated, or as a place to add many new details. Funny how these models seemed much more detailed thirty years ago. Of course I could finish a model in a few days back then too. Chris

Sorry for the delayed response. We were away for the weekend. The longerons are .010x.020 strip and the frames are .020x.020 strip. The floors and bulkheads are .030 sheet. The wider frames are cut from .020 sheet. Most added details (shelves, brackets and such) are .010 sheet. The radios are .020 strip of various widths cut and glued into the desired sized boxes. Choosing the best thickness strip or sheet is not too difficult. I look at the available pictures of the real thing, try to scale the photo to close to the actial size on the model. Then I choose the strip or sheet that look

Here are a few photos to show that I have started work on my B-17. I intended to build this kit with a few modifications to bring it up to at least 1990's standards, but I'm having trouble controlling the urges to go wild on this and super detail it to death. I keep reminding myself that my life is busy and I only have three months to complete it. The framing in the nose. More framing Nose compartment bulkhead The nose and radio room floors. Radio room floor... necessary because the walkway around the ball turret goes to starboard on the F model. Radio room forward wall.

Here is my planned build- B-17F-25-DL "Double Trouble'. I've had the kit for well over 10 years, and this group build is a good excuse to clear it out of the stash and put it on the shelf. Double Trouble was assigned to the 333 BS/94BG and flew from 10 June 1943 to 4 October 1943. She crash landed in Margate, England after a mission to St.Dizier, France. The aircraft was salvaged after the crash and never flew again. The kit and some aftermarket that may be used, or serve as patterns for scratchbuilt parts. Chris

I'd like to join with yet another 1/48 Revell B-17F. I plan to do her as "Double Trouble" of 333 BS of the 94 BG. Chris