B-17 conversion

[Paul Budzik]

Steve,

No offense taken. I did a bit of a series of those articles showing different conversions from standard kits hoping that it would inspire some people and I think it did. I'm glad you mentioned that 314 because I think that was one of my best efforts. I think the clean appearance is a trifle deceiving and probably speaks to good planning and execution. Most everything on that model came right the first time.

Sean,

Thank you for the kind words. Here's a photo of the last model I finished. It's a scratchbuilt 1/32 Tempest V

The build is detailed over on Large Scale Planes

Paul

Edited April 17, 2008 by Paul Budzik

[David Walker]

Scratchbuilt? Oh my word, that's some amazing work!

edit: I just went and looked at the build article over on LSP and I'm even more impressed. That's a remarkable build.

Edited April 17, 2008 by David Walker

[WymanV]

Glad to see that the article is still useful after nearly 20 years.

Paul

It certainly is. I finally got my hands on it last year, with an ebay purchase. Thanks for doing it

Ken

[martin_sam_2000]

that is one nice looking tempest. im in awe of your ability. I only wish i had an ounce of your ability. What are you working on/have planned now??

sean

[Paul Budzik]

Sean,

Truth be told, I needed a change of pace so I've started working with some 1/350th steel ships. Doing a few kits to get a feel and then probably scratch out something.

Paul

[polishcannon21]

If you can find one, get a copy of the Dec '89 issue of FSM - it has an article on converting a -G to an -F.

Matt B)

[polishcannon21]

Anyone know where I can find a 1/48 scale B-17F "single .50" nose cone?

[B-17 guy]

The only F model nose I know of besides the revell kit, comes (I'm pretty sure) in a YB-40 conversion kit, and you'd have to cut the hole for the .50 cal. Otherwise, you try vac-forming copies of the revell kit's nose cone and scratch the mountings for the .50 cal.

To my knowledge there has never been any conversions for this, sadly. I wish there was some conversions for F model noses.

[WymanV]

The only thing that's even close is a part of Paragon's YB-40 conversion kit. Sure would be nice if one of the aftermarket companies would step up and make us something...

Ken

[John Krukowski]

Not trying to be a master of the obvious or anything, but you DO realize that in addition to Monogram's 1/48 B-17G Revell also made and/or makes a 1/48 B-17F, right?

John

[polishcannon21]

Not trying to be a master of the obvious or anything, but you DO realize that in addition to Monogram's 1/48 B-17G Revell also made and/or makes a 1/48 B-17F, right?

John

[polishcannon21]

Yes, I know there is a revell B-17F, I just thought I'd ask if a "single .50" nose cone is available before I scratch build one...The Revell one has TWO 50's in the nose to state the obvious.

Thanks for everyone's replies

[John Krukowski]

Yes, I know there is a revell B-17F, I just thought I'd ask if a "single .50" nose cone is available before I scratch build one...The Revell one has TWO 50's in the nose to state the obvious.

Thanks for everyone's replies

I know the Revell's got the two nose guns, was just wondering because it was mentioned converting the Monogram G to an F which seems like a lot more work than reworking/replacing the Revell nosecone.

I'm fairly new here so I'm not sure how long you've been in this "world" of ours but I've found that often times newcomers to the hobby, especially those without access to "real" hobby shops, aren't familiar with some of the older kits...just wanted to rule that possibility out, that's all, no offense intended.

Good luck!

John

EDIT BELOW:

OK polishcannon21, I just now noticed the dates of the original post and all its replies and see that yours is a new question tacked onto an old thread. My comments about the Revell F were directed toward the original poster (Before I noticed this thread was two years old!) wanting to convert a Monogram G to an F...I just wanted to rule out the possibility that he was unaware of Revell's F kit. Sorry for any confusion!

BTW~Have you tried Squadron/Falcon for that nosecone? I don't know if they make anything for the B-17 or not but it might be worth a look.

John

Edited March 5, 2010 by John Krukowski

[Andre]

Revell also made and/or makes a 1/48 B-17F, right?

For those who are looking for it, RoG just repopped the kit. The instructions can be downloaded from their site.

HTH,

Andre

[WymanV]

And with the reissue, the values of the older releases on ebay (in the states) tanked. I snapped up a few of them for under $30 shipped.

I think the motivation in converting the G kit to an F comes from the better detailing in the G kit. The wings, engines and props are noticably sharper in the G kit, not to mention better interior detailing. Not that the same amount of work couldn't be put into dolling up the F kit, however.

Still...we don't have a correct nose perspex for the "common" F...

Ken

[John Krukowski]

And with the reissue, the values of the older releases on ebay (in the states) tanked. I snapped up a few of them for under $30 shipped.

I think the motivation in converting the G kit to an F comes from the better detailing in the G kit. The wings, engines and props are noticably sharper in the G kit, not to mention better interior detailing. Not that the same amount of work couldn't be put into dolling up the F kit, however.

Still...we don't have a correct nose perspex for the "common" F...

Ken

I think I remember an on-line build (HS maybe?) where a guy bashed the two kits into an F, mainly by grafting the Revell nose onto a Monogram G, and using the Monogram parts wherever possible. Kinda like the old morph/bashes of Revell and Monogram B-25's for an "early" one in the pre-Accurate Miniatures era.

The Revell F is still a fun kit, though...here's mine, the "Memphis Belle":

John

[Steve N]

Seems when I reorganized my Photobucket albums the links to Mr. Budzik's conversion article were broken..here it is again. As mentioned earlier, a lot has come to light about B-17 interior colors since the article was published in the late '80s. On a B-17F, the crew compartments would most likely be Dull Dark Green, the bomb bay Neutral Gray, and the waist section bare metal.

Enjoy!

Steve

[richter111]

I liked the old fine scale modeler so much more than the newer issues. The older ones had so much more for the modeler, the newer ones (last decade) appear to be mostly a showcase for the manufacturers.

Thanks for posting the conversion

[David Hogue]

I saw this thread and thought i could help. I was the one that posted the conversion pics on Hyperscale a while back. I did a lot of research into paint colors and agree with the DG, NG, and NM interiors. A lot of the floors are plywood with some black non-slip areas in black. There is some question whether the bulkhead doors were left in varnished plywood or painted. I used the nose of the Revell kit on the Monogram G kit. All the details were replaced with AM or scratch. I vacuformed the clear nose modifying the revell nose piece as a master.

David Hogue

Edited March 7, 2010 by David Hogue

[Steve N]

Fantastic!

Of course you got one thing wrong. "Everybody knows" that there are supposed to be big black streaks coming out of those wing vents!

Seriously..that's one of my biggest modeling pet peaves. As you've correctly depicted them, the vents were hot air exhausts, which actually deflected oil and grime streaming back from the engines..the area immediately behind the vents should actually be clean, but I've seen countless B-17 models with black "exhaust streaks" coming from them. The art department even painted them on at least one of the B-17s in the 1990 movie "Memphis Belle."

SN

[B-17 guy]

Dave, beautiful work on that conversion!!!!!!! I've actually done this conversion as well, not as good as yours came out thought. And I do have another one planned the second will be alot closer to how you did yours. I planned on having bulged cheeks in the correct locations for a F model, that failed and I fell back on using the upper half of the G nose on the lower F nose, ultimatley being grafted onto a monogram G fuselage. Here's a few pics of mine:

As she stands now.

This was the original plan, but I just could not get it to work, much to my chagrin.

As of now I'm stuck with trying to figure out how to do the single .50 firing through the nose like you did, any chance you have wip pics of how you did that? And also maybe the radio room gun, those two are what's mainly keeping me from finishing the F model, I'also got a G that was being built at the same time as the F. Theyare both on hold right now pending the F nose gun. A friend vac-formed some nose cones for me but I'm not really happy with them for lack of detail so I'm looking for some alternative on those, any help would be appreciatted.

[David Hogue]

Thanks for the compliment. I used the revell clear nose, filled the holes, polished the plastic, and used it to vacuform a new one. When closing the fuselage nose leave the bottom seam open to help adjust fit to the clear part. Shim the bottom seam to get the opening at the front to linr up as close as possible. I cut out a rectangle for the nose gun and boxed it in withsheet plastic, use a clear piece for the rear for the little aiming window. The radio room mount was a paper clip with bits of plastic to hold the gun. i used the Koster ammo shoots, they are soft metal so you can carefully bend them to fit the gun and ammo box.

David

[B-17 guy]

Thanks for the reply david. I've been trying to therma form a few copies of the revell F nose cone with no luck, just cant seem to get it just right. It's either too thin and flimsy or I cant get the plastic to wrap completely over the original.

Thanks for the rest of the advice, I'll be sure to look back here when I start the other build.

Back to trying the nose cones......