Phil marchese Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 (edited) The basis for TINKERTOY is a MATCHBOX 1:72 scale B-17G Kit. I liked this kit's fuselage so when Kay-Bee had the kit on close-out for $3, I bought two more. This is a build on the cheap. The first thing I did with the two discounted kits was convert the waist to un-staggered. I find the M-box easy to cut and reassemble and have done major conversions with several different Matchbox kits. This one is a relatively minor conversion, The mid-production B-17F-VE reversed the cheek gun positions to have the port side forward and the starboard;centered. With the waist window moved, I was on my way to a mid-production F-VE series. Next, I used a fresh, single edge razor blade to shave of the angled cheek positions from both sides of the a/c. These were retained and transfered to a Hasegawa B-17F. I enlarged the length of the port cheek, opening it up to the first fuselage station. This required some reinforcement to slightly thicken the station to hold its shape to blend with the nose cone. The Vega cheek also is closer to the center nav window so the enlargement involved triming the rear of the lead windpw too. Reinforced: trimed forward: http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa389/stratocruz/TT4.jpg The fuselage was painted in OD/neutral gray with the demarcation carefully duplicated. The VE and DL line is appox. 4" higher than the BO and is above the pitot mast verses equal with it on the BO. Next, the name was applied in several coats to follow the location, size and shape of the real plane. The lettering follows two panel lines and tapers down in size as it proceeds rearward. It is like a base color coat on a figure and will be tighten up later. One of the most disappointing features of the M-box B-17G is the wing root is flat and the wing lacks airfoil. To overcome this, i used a set of Hasagaw G wings. To get a good match I shimmed the leading edge between the upper and lower wing halves extending the tapered some to the inboard engins to achieve a constant taper, i also added a bit of sheet styrene at the apex of the root and faired it in to the fuselage, After wet sandng, the wings were painted and blended into tthe fuselage color, I applied the darker colors fo the sub-contacted components and hand stenciled the markings. I find the decal markings to crisp and the 381 Group L was often canted at unusal positions, these will be sightly sanded later. The explanation of this method of finishing sub assemblies will follow soon As of now, the build mock-up looks like this: Edited January 16, 2011 by Phil marchese Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kostucha Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Real plastic surgery. Excellent work so far and definitely looking forward to this build. I'm still not to sure though on all your projects. You've got "Idiots Delight" and "Tinkertoy", in 1/72, whats the third one you're making? Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kostucha Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Real plastic surgery. Excellent work so far and definitely looking forward to this build. I'm still not to sure though on all your projects. You've got "Idiots Delight" and "Tinkertoy", in 1/72, whats the third one you're making? Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil marchese Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Real plastic surgery.Excellent work so far and definitely looking forward to this build. I'm still not to sure though on all your projects. You've got "Idiots Delight" and "Tinkertoy", in 1/72, whats the third one you're making? Cheers, Mark. Mark, Thanks, but these may turn out to be back-shelvers. If so, just the attempt is fun, I mean neither are kits that stand the test of time so if I can get them to a passing grade that will be satisfying. Also, part of the goal of many of my builds is to show some neglegted corner of the decal, kit or conversion market; or conversely. getting builder to leave the safety of a kit and do some " bold things with a knife." Do it yourself conversions are fun one you start and gain some convidence. The third build is a 388 BG[H] original a/c as a late F ( circa 95-100-:wub:. Several fit the bill so until I'm at the stage of noseart and RCN, I leaving the possibilities open. The Flying Fortress Story, for those who have it ,can find alot of the early 388 BG at pages 137-139. ( the 94's [A] Idfiot'sdelight is also on page 139). Page 93-95 lists the contemporry F-45-DL so some 388 BG choices are there too. We'll just see how they go. The group build is a good incentive to to get these out of the rather primative. hunt, gather and butcher stage that so much of my stash of conversion are in. phil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kostucha Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Very, very cool! Thanks for posting this info up Phil! Definitely a unique and very interesting method to your madness! I like it! Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.