plane_mc Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I hope it's not too late to join in on the fun. I have been lurking here for the past month and a half resisting the urge to join in. I have to say that the people involved in this group build are an extremely talented bunch of modelers. I can't believe the wealth of knowledge and the willingness to share that exists in this group. I found this group build after I purchased the new Revell 1/72 B-17G and was looking for information on it. I am in over my head on another project, but can't resist the urge to join this. I don't know what the policy is for posting links to another forum (an armor forum) to show what my other project is, I don't want to break etiquette here as I am new, but I would love to show it off. Because of my other project, which I promised myself I would finish, I can only commit to a 1/144 Minicraft B-17G. I will be doing her up as Princess Pat from the 303rd BG, 358th BS. I am a big fan of shark mouths. I am debating whether or not to open up the side windows, they are molded solid (no clear pieces) or just paint them black. I guess it will depend on how much time I have to work on it. I did get the fuselage, wings and horizontals all glued together over the weekend (of course I forgot to take pictures first). I will post picture in the next few days. I will probably do it gear up in flight, I have an idea for the spinning props. I will make my own decals for the markings. I have a 2nd 1/144 B-17G in the stash as well as the above mentioned 1/72 Revell G, a 1/72 Academy G and an original (bought when I was a kid) Revell 1/48 B-17F Memphis Bell waiting to be built. I have couple B-17s in my display case, an original isuue (also bought when I was a kid) Visible B-17G built (mid 80's) done up as Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby sitting in the Air Force Museum with a lit interior and an Academy 1/200 B-17F done up in flight with a feathered engine. I would love to tackle a bigger build, but I just don't have the time and I build too slow to finish by the deadline. I hope I can do justice to this great bird and not embarrass myself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirkpitt289 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Very cool, you got my vote. If you look at my thread I also have a 1/144 Fort in progress. I love the scale and can't wait to see what you can do with it. Are you planning on hand painting the mouth or do you have access to after market decals? My search for after market decals has come up dry. As much as I love the scale there is little room for deviation due to lack of decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plane_mc Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Very cool, you got my vote. If you look at my thread I also have a 1/144 Fort in progress. I love the scale and can't wait to see what you can do with it. Are you planning on hand painting the mouth or do you have access to after market decals? My search for after market decals has come up dry. As much as I love the scale there is little room for deviation due to lack of decals. I will be making my own decals for most of the markings. I am not sure about the shark mouth, I may hand paint that. I did it on a 1/285 P-51 and A-10, so I am not that worried about painting it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Prop Duster Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I will be making my own decals for most of the markings. I am not sure about the shark mouth, I may hand paint that. I did it on a 1/285 P-51 and A-10, so I am not that worried about painting it. Oh?? that large!! Sounds like a cool project, go for it (that's my -nonofficial-vote) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kostucha Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Glad you could join in on the group build! Ya, there's no problem posting the link to your Jeep build. It's your build! In fact... I've got the link bookmarked... Plane_MC's 1/6 Jeep I love the work on the .50 cal, and that ammo is superb! Looking forward to seeing what you can turn out on a plane. Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plane_mc Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thanks Mark, I can't get the link you put up to work. Try this for the link to my project: plane_mc's 1/6 Jeep build I know I can't compete with most of the talent here, but I will do my best. Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirkpitt289 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I recently built a 1/144 B-24 assembly ship called Tubaro which had a Sharks mouth. I was going to try and paint it too but it got ugly quick. I ended up making my own decals for the very first time. I look forward to seeing how you make out and will be taking notes... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I am not sure about the shark mouth, I may hand paint that. I did it on a 1/285 P-51 and A-10, so I am not that worried about painting it. Meh..I hand-painted the canopy frames on my scratchbuilt 1/426 OS2U Kingfisher. :wub: Sounds like a cool project! You don't see many of those 1/144 B-17s built up. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plane_mc Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) Here's what I have done as of now. I am also showing my other fuselage where I started cutting open the windows. I am beginning to second guess myself, I was going to just paint all the windows black, but the more I think about it, I am tempted to cut them all open and use a combination of Krystal Klear and acetate for the windows. I may just decide to do 1 of each way and see which looks better. I am not going to do any interior on them, so the black windows may look fine. If I do build the 2nd one too, one will be gear down and one gear up. I don't know what markings I would do on the 2nd one either. Here's a pic of my Heritage Flight display where I hand painted the shark mouths - these are GHQ 1/285 pewter kits. I am also attaching a couple of pics of the visible B-17 I did back in the late 80's - early 90's, I can't remember for sure when I finished it. I did this build before I ever had any access to the internet and only had a few books on the B-17. I added as much detail as I could, but the builds displayed in this group build put it to shame. Edited March 9, 2011 by plane_mc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Prop Duster Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I think your 1/144s are going to be very cool. A small thought (only kind my brain can handle) on the opening of the windows; you could thin the fuselage from the inside and then have a relitively small amount to cut through from the exterior, being easer able to follow the imprinted shapes FHIW Also like your two displays. Very good way to show the aircraft off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dirkpitt289 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) I had the very same thought as you about opening all the windows and adding Kristal Klear but after opening the waste gunners windows I thought better of it. The problem I found was that the fuselage plastic is way to thick and the openings don't look right. They end up looking like castle windows. The next time I will drumel out as much plastic around the windows as possible first. Here is my attempt at the same kit. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=223667 Edited March 10, 2011 by Dirkpitt289 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plane_mc Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks for the link and suggestions Dirk. I am looking forward to seeing your 1/144 finished up. I am still debating which way to go as far as the windows are concerned. The second fuselage already has about half the windows opened up from when I started working on it several years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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