Little Miss Mischief Diorama

[Kostucha]

Next it's a quick shot of semi-gloss black, followed by OD Green, and then black pastel chalk to highlight the copper wire wrapped overtop of the solder:

Then mounted into the fuselage. If you're using my method, keep in mind to test fit the hose again just before using glue to set it in place, as the natural tendencies of the springy copper wire and soft solder will cause the hose to "unbend" a little. With the hoses mounted into the fuselage though, the glue is more than enough to hold it in place:

Using thin high heat metal tape, and "squished" solder cut into a diamond (which is then folded in half and used to represent the metal "clip" at the end of the hose), the last details are added to the hose:

That's all there is to that! Total time from start to finish (including this post and picture editing) is just under an hour. It really is - in my opinion - a fairly quick, easy, and effective way to add oxygen hoses that offer a nice bit of depth in the details. As a note, all that wasn't done in the pictures was a shot of dull-coat to the hoses to get rid of any gloss.

Cheers,

Mark.

[100th BG]

All that work sure dressed up that side of the radio room! Sorry, don't have an answer as to the length of the hose ... Who cares, it looks great!

[HOLMES]

Mark

Nice work and Very good attention to detail.

Keep up the good work

HOLMES

[Kostucha]

All that work sure dressed up that side of the radio room! Sorry, don't have an answer as to the length of the hose ... Who cares, it looks great!

Thanks Karl.

I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to approach the next part. I might do the framing tomorrow in the other radio room half, and build up everything in the turtle deck, or I might do the bomb bay... I don't know... I'll sit down with it at some point tonight and plan my way through this next section... but, works going to be slow this week - I'm heading to capital city (Ottawa) later on this week and will be there Wednesday-Friday. A nice bit of a break, but I think I'll be taking some pictures with me to study for 'fun'...

I'll be honest - after doing the starboard side and having as much fun as I did with the painting, I'm really not looking forward to going back to frame work on the port side. Oh well though, needs to get done though...

Mark

Nice work and Very good attention to detail.

Keep up the good work

HOLMES :)

Thanks Holmes! Greatly appreciate it.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Prop Duster]

Oxy Hoses:

proving the point: it doesn't HAVE to be complex or highly technical to look good---no Great

[Shawn M]

holy crap this is stunning!

[Kostucha]

Oxy Hoses:

proving the point: it doesn't HAVE to be complex or highly technical to look good---no Great

Thank you! I just hope someone can take some of this to help them out with anything they want to add as well.

holy crap this is stunning!

Thanks Shawn!

Tomorrow, rather than the port side, I'm hoping to start work on the cockpit/nose floors and IP. Working on the area below the cockpit that will be seen through the crew entry hatch, and then all the fun stuff above it (read: Instrument Panel!!! CAN'T WAIT!). Then it's off to the races with the port side, not only adding the details in much as the starboard side, but also building up all the floors... it's really going to be a mix of bouncing back and forth, getting the bomb bay, the floors, and port side done in a way that makes sense so that once that side is done, all that's left to do is simply glue the fuselage halves together. Ohhhh I can't wait to start that!

Cheers,

Mark.

[Eastern]

Hi Mark! You know, all you do is freaking AWESOME!! Sometimes I think you do all those amazing things simply effortlessly, just as if playing.:wub:

I always follow your threads with pleasure picking up useful tips you so generously share.

It's gonna be a magnificent build! Keep it up, buddy and keep us posted!

Cheers and happy modeling!

Alexander

[Kostucha]

Alexander,

Thank you very much my friend! Your words of kindness are always appreciated!

I do have a lot of fun doing this kind of work. It's an even 50/50 split... on one hand, researching, seeing certain items, learning from so many people what these pieces are, what the story is behind the bomber and crew, and the unique things that could make a build different from another aircraft of the same model/design... that's a world of joy (as I'm a HUGE aviation history fan). And then on the other hand, going in and trying to replicate what is seen in pictures, reference material, and other items. That fun comes partially from the finished product, and the rest from seeing the challenge and trying to meet it.

if I learn something along the way that'll help me, why not share it? If we took all the members of ARC and put all our skills and efforts together, we would have one master builder (who argues with himself constantly about which airbrush is better to use and what paint producer is the best to buy colours from...) I'm just offering what I can back to a model community that has helped me so many times with so many different things.

This hobby is an escape from the stresses of every day life, and since I picked the hobby back up a few years ago, I've been enjoying every little bit of it. The building, the research, the enjoyable time here on ARC, and what's more, the joking and laughing at the fun stuff we sometimes digres and talk about - like Shawns resourcefullness with using a bra his wife generously donated to a project in support of his endevours.

Ah yes, the build... it's on hold until I get back from Ottawa this weekend - once back, it's right back to the cockpit floor, or rather, what's underneath it. Until then folks,

Cheers!

Mark.

[Matt_S]

A flat piece matching the right shape was cut out and glued in. It's not bent at all, but as the piece is so narrow, the lack of shape is hardly noticed, especially as the large majority of it will be covered from up top by the construction of the 'rails' for the .50 mount. It was glued in from inside, and then sanded smooth using the dried super glue as the gap filler:

Cheers,

Mark.

How did you manage to cut out the top piece so that it lined up with the radio compartment opening?

Matt :)

[Kostucha]

Matt,

IIRC, I used a piece of wide 2 inch masking tape. I layed it in where I wanted the piece of evergreen to go, cut it to match the contour of the entire radio room (top to bottom, including the turtle deck), then removed the tape and placed it on the sheet of plastic, using it as a template to cut the shape out. Once I had that, first I gave it a slight bent to make it easier to work with, the the piece was cut along the line where the bulge - the turtle deck - monuted onto the fuselage, and then glued it in slightly angled down along the joint of the cut line between the two pieces, matching the contour of the round fuselage as much as possible. Hope this helps!

Mark.

[Shawn M]

This hobby is an escape from the stresses of every day life, and since I picked the hobby back up a few years ago, I've been enjoying every little bit of it. The building, the research, the enjoyable time here on ARC, and what's more, the joking and laughing at the fun stuff we sometimes digres and talk about

I 100% agree with you!

[brewer]

Definitely gonna keep an eye on this one, fabulous interior work!

[Ranger74]

Shawn,

I'm blown away at the information being provided by so many folks, Karl, Stephen, and many others have made my life a whole lot easier, and hopefully this helps others as well!

KC,

Neither can I! Neither can I...

Well, work on giving the starboard side of the radio room a little more started and went well. Work tonight started with this:

All the back parts for the two oxygen systems (scratch built), interphone boxes (eduard extra PE pieces), suit heater selector boxes (eduard extra PE pieces), the Tokyo Tank controls (scratch built), and all the electrical lines, oxygen lines, etc (scratch built) started with the backing pieces:

I managed to get a couple extra oxygen regulator pieces as well (the round black piece with the red tab) from leftovers of Eduard PE sets... made life a lot easier:

The ammo box itself was an Eduard piece, but all the mounting/support pieces are made from scrap PE fret... thin easy to work with metal:

The upper cables for the life raft system are built in only to this point. Once the upper pieces of the plexiglass window and frame (for the small piece of plexiglass) are in, the rest of it will be put in complete with the mounting plate and pull levers:

Just a fun shot from above through the upper window opening (that will be fully open):

The radio room as it is now:

And all the work complete* waiting for the next step... port side!!:

*The only thing that may be left to add are two oxygen hoses. I'm waiting to find out if they were in there or not, as they are spare regulators on that side, I'm not sure if they would have had them. If they did, I might do 1 of 2 things:

1. Mount them in (much the same as in the nose and in the cockpit), or

2. "Unhook" them and either leave them on the radio room floor, or on the 'table' outside the fuselage on the diorama base that has some other bits from the radio room itself. We'll see...

Anywho, it does look a bit more busy now, which asthetically and to the model builders eye I'm happy about. As mentioned, the next step is the port side... that's going to be a bit tricky, as the first thing to be done will likely be the bulkhead alignment, and then mounting the bulkheads to the port side fuselage half and continue to build the port side just as the starboard side - front to back. However, this side has a heck of a lot more little bits to add in (Navigator side, and Radio Operator as well).

Fun as always!

Cheers,

Mark.

Mark,

Is there any particular reason you waited to put the bulkheads in on the port side? I am not familar with the base kit you are using...Is that the way the instructions say to palce the bulkheads?

Jeff

[Kostucha]

Jeff,

To be honest - I threw the instructions to the side a long time ago. 2 of the bulkheads (the ones at the front and rear of the bomb bay) were modified, and the third one (at the aft end of the radio room) will be built from scratch using evergreen as frame work and tin foil (yep - tinfoil) for the sheet metal covering it... yes... tin foil...

The reason I want to add them onto the port side is only because of the bomb bay.

Had I planned things out right, I would have build the bomb bay as a cylinder with both bulkheads at either end, with everything already built inside, then inserted it and had a perfect turtle deck. Unfortunately I didn't do that. I only built the frame up to the turtle deck on the starboard side. Rather than try and get the purfect curve of the roof of the bomb bay with a piece that would drive me up the wall, I'll be doing the cylinder idea (2/3 of it) using the bulkheads. The way I plan on doing that is by first doing all the work in the port side like I did the starboard side. Then with the complteded bulkheads, mount them into the port side, measuring out the spacing to ensure that this time they are in fact centered.

Once that's done and all the pieces are in place and the glue has dried, the cat-walk and remainder of the center bomb racks will be installed. The upper portion of the bomb rack will serve as a "guide" to help shape the final piece, the ceiling of the bomb bay. This piece will be roughly made before hand, painted, etc, but the final details wont be added until its completely set. There will no doubt be some warping in the ceiling before the two halves are glued together, but I plan on making 'formers' to help retain the shape in the turtle deck, forward of the life raft compartment.

I hope that all made sense - progress pictures will answer this a whole lot better.

With the kit itself, you build each main compartment (everything forward of the bomb bay, and the second piece is the rear section containting the radio room extending as far aft as the ball turret support). These two pieces are then mounted into the fuselage, and the bomb rack/catwalk in the bomb bay is the final major piece to go in.

In my build, the only sections connected before being glued into the fuselage are the nose/cockpit floor. Everything else is a piece at a time. However, the major reason I decided to do port side like this, is because I want to have the floors and bulkheads in one side prior to being glued together, and both the navigators table and radio operators table are on the port side of the fuselage. This will make the final step (actually gluing the two halves together) much easier as there wont be a single piece that has to be "balanced" during this process. In order to make sure it all goes nice and fits, with no gaps anywhere, this is the approach that makes the most sence to me.

Frankly, I expect to be done the fuselage mid way through March, with the wings completed (without engines) and mounted on (again, without engines) by the end of March. April is the mid fuselage section, elevators, rudder, and the jack stands. May & June are all the other details to finish off the diorama. The best part being that the forward section of LMM is a natural metal finish, it'll be REALLY simple (I hope) to get the right look. A heck of a lot of bare metal foil, pastel chalk, dull coats, and gloss coats. to give the subtle effect of different degrees of shine/lust/dulled metal skin. I want to give it an honest shot at using actual metal for the look.

And you know what? If by June 28th I'm nowhere near complete, I'm going to build a 1/144 Fortress, paint it fire engine red with "$*&@!!!!!!!*" as nose art in black and a hand giving the finger for insigia, just to let my feelings on this whole process be known.

Hope this made sense!

Mark.

[Ranger74]

Makes perfect sense, awful brave putting all that stuff in then fitting the bulkheads....with my luck the stringers would be in the way.

I know all about having everything on same side when you put halves together, I built the old 1/72 B-29 kit with complete interior as a kid. It went together, that all i can remember

Jeff

[Prop Duster]

Jeff,

built from scratch using evergreen as frame work and tin foil (yep - tinfoil) for the sheet metal covering it... yes... tin foil...

?"foiled again" eh?

Frankly, I expect to be done the fuselage mid way through March, with the wings completed (without engines) and mounted on (again, without engines) by the end of March. April is the mid fuselage section, elevators, rudder, and the jack stands. May & June are all the other details to finish off the diorama. The best part being that the forward section of LMM is a natural metal finish, it'll be REALLY simple (I hope) to get the right look. A heck of a lot of bare metal foil, pastel chalk, dull coats, and gloss coats. to give the subtle effect of different degrees of shine/lust/dulled metal skin. I want to give it an honest shot at using actual metal for the look.

NICE! I never work to a schedule - of course I dont get any built. So maybe I'll give that idea ago, to help "get 'er done" Thanks

And you know what? If by June 28th I'm nowhere near complete, I'm going to build a 1/144 Fortress, paint it fire engine red with "$*&@!!!!!!!*" as nose art in black and a hand giving the finger for insigia, just to let my feelings on this whole process be known.

Hope this made sense!

Mark.

:lol: they make 1/144 scale B-17s?? like to see your details on that one

[toniosky]

Looks awesome

[Ranger74]

Mark,

"to give the subtle effect of different degrees of shine/lust/dulled metal skin"

Of course with that pin-up and name on the nose, what else would we expect! Sorry, editing documents comes with my job! Can't make a mistake like that on an operations order for a major military op.

Jeff

[Prop Duster]

Sorry, editing documents comes with my job! Can't make a mistake like that on an operations order for a major military op.

Jeff

Perhaps not, but what fun --for a short time.... :)

Mark

"lust" ??Canadian for luster?? :) never mind

[Shawn M]

i have felt different degrees of lust, why cant a Fortress? :)

[Bigasshammm]

i have felt different degrees of lust, why cant a Fortress?

I'm sure if aircraft had thoughts and emotions many a Fortress would have lusted to GET THE F OUT OF THERE!

[Kostucha]

Hahahahaha... smart *sses...

Lust - short form for luster. Yup. I said it. Meant it. And she is a pretty gal on the nose...

Back from my trip to Ottawa/Petawawa... I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Sean for the help. Trip wouldn't have worked if not for your help good Sir!

I'm going to take today nice and easy, haven't seen the little man in a while so I'll be spending some time with him. BUT! Work is ready to start.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Kostucha]

So....

I'm tinkering around while the little man is down for a nap... decided the next best place to start is the cockpit floor... seeing as there's no point to building in all the detail on the port side without ensuring a proper fit for the floors, I started to look at the floor in detail...

There was never a huge open whole where the chin turret is and the bombardiers seat is mounted. There are various examples of the setup of the floor... ranging from that area being open, yes, BUT, with an 'X' frame section and the legs of the seat mounted to each one of the pieces of frame... seen some with a large round wooden panel bolted down on top. Seen another that has the frame visible (the 'X' frame that is) and the area between the frame sections being covered by 4 individual wood panels. There were quite a few more, but this last design is what I wanted to go with...

There was also the problem with the cockpit floor as discussed, and overall, the whole thing is THICK! Started to sand down where the problem was in the cockpit floor, only to find that all the molded in details look like.... ....crap.

Not being really impressed to start with, once I had the bottom (base piece) mounted with the eduard piece meant to be glued onto the stock kit floor, I wasn't happy... the whole dang thing is warped...

So, flipping it around, the inner portion where the resin pieces connect has a large 'lip' of resin that would make it impossible to put the framing inside there...

That was it... the piece "accidentally" fell to the "floor" and somehow "broke perfectly where all the glued joints here" and then "slid" down a sheet of 50 Grit...

Even though I wont be making new floors, there will be a whole heck of a lot of surgery done with these pieces. I would love to have made new floors, but given the thick gap incorperated into the startboard and port side to allow these pieces to fit, I'm not in the mood to go through and add 2mm of frame section to hide the gap. Either way, we're starting this one again:

I find myself very frustrated with this AM set... BUT! I do love scratch building! So, it'll be a mix of rebuilding and correcting, although I still have to say, I'm VERY impressed with the piece that the IP will mount onto. Very crisp molded detail on the forward portion (in the nose), the upper portion (the hood if you will) and ya, there are some nice parts of this AM set... have to give credit where credit is due.

Mark.

[Kostucha]

The wooden panels and the setup I mentioned that I will be doing is based on the setup that they have in "Aluminum Overcast"

The plan will be simple... I'm going to cut the nose floor in half. The lower flat portion (wooden piece) will be seperated from the step and floor that the bombardier is at. Once that's done, the floor will be modified as needed in order to get it to fit right. Even though there is going to be a slight gap on the port side it'll be 'covered' with something... tool bag, tool box, whatever it might be. Given that the nose cone is being removed, it would make sense to have a guy up there inside. Didn't think of it before, but it would make sense. Either that, or have him on the scaffolding with his tool box still inside.

This will also give me a chance to correct the floor, adding the wooden 'lip' that prodruded into the nose. We'll see how it goes. Pictures to follow tonight.

Mark.