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Might have found my subject:

B-17E_over_Panama_Canaledit.jpg

Oft seen pic of an ASW B-17E over the Panama Canal zone. I spent about a half hour researching and found little on it. Factory OD over field applied white,, and that's about it. I'll have to backtrack a bit and open up the windows in the nose, however.

Ken

Edited by WymanV
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Looks like I'm going for that one. Started by undoing all my work on the front windows dry.gif and framing them out:

DSCN9057.jpg

Also started making fire extinguishers:

DSCN9054.jpg

And a little more detailing on the nose section:

DSCN9058.jpg

The few pics I've found of the aft wall shows very little by way of detailing-not like the F or G variants. And another addition to the Revell/Monogram interchange list-the aft wall is from an F kit and the floor is from a G. And the tabs for the F fit right in-the same one is smaller than the other...

It's getting to the point where I'll have to start spraying paint and I've yet to figure out how I'm going to do that here. Even if I dared to get overspray all over everyones cars in the shared garage, there's no electric to plug in my compressor. However, I could turn to working on the wings and horizontal tailplanes.

Ken

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It's kinda creepy when you Google reference pics for your build and the first few pics on the list are of your own model...

Stilll nibbling away at it. I took a shot at representing the inner mechanics of the remote turret:

DSCN9069.jpg

Not entirely accurate of course, but it's better than a void. Also started working on the lower fuselage:

DSCN9070.jpg

Thinking I might load some of this stuff in the car and see if I can get away with spraying some paint on them at work tomorrow.

Ken

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So I did ;) Here's the difference a coat of paint makes:

DSCN9071.jpg

Now here's what I'm thinking (I know-"oh crap, here we go"). This one will be depicted with the inner insulation/padding pulled out. I'm pretty sure they would've when they modified the nose windows at least. And I read somewhere (on WIX, IIRC) that when they pulled the padding out they sprayed the metal underneath with zinc chromate. So I'm inclined to paint the fuselage walls the same green I painted the landing gear bits shown here. It just feels right for field applied paint in 1942 or '43. Maybe maybe I'll paint the fuselage aft of the radio room aluminum. I'm inclined not to because this wasn't a front line aircraft so the ground crews would have the time to spray paint. Aluminum would make for a nice contrast tho.

We'll see what happens when I get there.

Ken

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I don't know why you guys are so resistant to the fabric/insulation in the nose (and radio compartment and cockpit). Here are a couple of photos of battle damged aircraft with the lining still in place:

Nosefabric.jpg

LUCILLEBALLnose.jpg

ANd here is one where some of the fabric has been removed:

EarlyFnose.jpg

And here is one where the fabric was removed and some insulation as well:

Twinnoseguns.jpg

Here is my version of the F nose:

Fmod3.jpg

Fmod4.jpg

I just painted it the color of the fabric and added the other details like the structire around the side windows. It still needs some work (Like the structure for the left window). But I like the look and you don't have to build all those stringers and formers! ;)

Edited by 100th BG
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Because I need the practice for Tinker Toy. I'm still not happy with the way it looks.

Took care of the sighting blister & windows. Did the big one with a small drill bit and went bigger and bigger until I got it where I wanted it. Did the windows by marking them out, drilled starter holes where I wanted the ends to go and opened them up with a bigger bit:

DSCN9085.jpg

Then cleaned up the excess:

DSCN9086.jpg

And finishing out the compartments continues:

DSCN9087.jpg

Ken

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  • 5 weeks later...

...as this new DG format does it to me AGAIN :bandhead2:

Buttoned up:

DSCN9147.jpg

DSCN9148.jpg

DSCN9149.jpg

This was fast becoming one of those AMS builds that would've languished in The Naughty Closet if I hadn't put the skids on that and just went with what I had. Honestly, not much more would've shown if I had gone on. I robbed a gun sight from a silverplate B-29 project (that lives in aforementioned Naughty Closet) for the remote turret. I don't know if it's even close to correct but I had to put something in there and it looks the part:

DSCN9148close.jpg

I also fitted a ply of tissue paper in the radio room as the only mods I went with in there was removing the seats (that weren't there in the kit to begin with) and added radio gear for the ASW gear:

DSCN9147close.jpg

Plenty of cleanup to do, and I'm on to the wings.

Ken

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  • 3 weeks later...

wrong project... you cant put X-Wing parts on a B-17... :whistle:

man thats some heavy warping. Time to break out the kettle and the extra patience

Edited by Neo
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(Lower Wing Half Negative Dihedral Angle + Upper Wing Half Positive Dihedral Angle) + (Medium Super Glue)^10 + (Clamp x 20) + (Luck + Patience) = Normal Wing

Good luck! I cant tell from the pic, but is there any twist in the wings, or are the halves just bowed up & down? It's certainly do-able though!

Cheers,

Mark.

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  • 9 years later...

 Googling info for my latest B-17 build and stumbled across this thread. Don't know why I never posted finished pics, but here she is:

 

B-17E 005.jpg

B-17E 006.jpg

B-17E.jpg

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