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THE FINAL HURDLE!... 1:20 scale scratch built B17G


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  • 2 weeks later...

A hearty and heartfelt ... CONGRATULATIONS FOZZY!

 

Words can NOT convey my empathy for you ... in a GOOD way! Your most HIGH standards were met right to the end of this lo-o-o-ong build.

It's simply gorgeous! ... and it has been a HUGE  pleasure to watch your build, your thought process ( you express yourself very very well! ) and your painstaking ability to build detail.

 

The viewers of this miniature will be wowed if they only knew the effort you've put into replicating all these fine details at this scale!

I get the sense that you ARE satisfied with your result!

PERFECT!

 

Thanx Fozzy!

Pete

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12 hours ago, K2Pete said:

A hearty and heartfelt ... CONGRATULATIONS FOZZY!

 

Words can NOT convey my empathy for you ... in a GOOD way! Your most HIGH standards were met right to the end of this lo-o-o-ong build.

It's simply gorgeous! ... and it has been a HUGE  pleasure to watch your build, your thought process ( you express yourself very very well! ) and your painstaking ability to build detail.

 

The viewers of this miniature will be wowed if they only knew the effort you've put into replicating all these fine details at this scale!

I get the sense that you ARE satisfied with your result!

PERFECT!

 

Thanx Fozzy!

Pete

 

Pete......Thank you so much for your kind words I really appreciate it!🙂....However I am sorry to say that I didn't explain my self properly in my last post because I haven't actually finished the project yet!....so I'm afraid you haven't got rid of me just yet!😉........and so to that end.......here is the next post!!

 

Hi there

 

This post will be all about painting and adding the markings to the rear of this fuselage. I thought that this would be the last post before i actually finish all the work on the fuselage but then I remembered that I had to make the rear crew door!

 

I have made the rear gunners door that I will show you now. Because the door is the shape of the fuselage I had to use the bulk head formers as a template to get the shape right. I made it from plastic card and here is the inside of the door...

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS.jpg

 

The out side was then covered in a sheet of aluminum and a handle was made from a piece of sanded plastic sprue...

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(1).jpg

 

Then I painted the inside of the door with interior green....

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(2).jpg

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(3).jpg

 

I made a couple of hinges from plastic, (covered in pieces of aluminum from a Coca Cola can to strengthen them)... and then dry fitted the completed door to the fuselage.

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(4).jpg

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(5).jpg

 

Its now time to paint the markings on the fuselage but first I had to mask up the areas I didn't want the airbrush to cover....for some reason I hate this job of masking ....you miss a bit and the blasted spray gets it!!

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(6).jpg

 

Before I fired up my Paasche....I spent a LOT of time marking out the USAF Insignia I needed for both sides of the fuselage. This wasn't as easy as I thought as not only did I have to get the scale correct but actually drawing out the insignia meant I had to dabble into geometry....which I totally ignored in my schooling years!....72 degrees spacing for each star point ...the bars are the radius x a half.... etc etc...luckily I found a great little page on the internet explaining how to actually draw the Insignia!

I drew the insignia onto some sticky back silver paper I have...which if all goes well I can literally just place them on the fuselage!  After drawing another extra insignia , I cut out the star and the bars.....sprayed the original white and then replaced the star and bars over the white as a mask for the dark blue paint!.....did you get all that??? !!!

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(7).jpg

 

So first off....here are the green bands I sprayed that are on "Fuddy Duddy"...

 

PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(8).jpg

 
...and here is the USAF insignia on the starboard side....I have to say I am pleased in how they have turned out!....
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(9).jpg
 
The next 6 photos show the overall completed paint scheme for the rear of this B17...
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(10).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(11).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(12).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(13).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(14).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(15).jpg
 
It seems such a long time ago that I had the tail wheel in place!... The reason it isn't fixed at the moment is the fact that this whole model has to be transported to USA at some point and the less sticky out bits for packing the better!!...but as a reminder for myself and you guys...here it is....
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(16).jpg
 
PAINTING_AND_MARKINGS_(17).jpg
 

Well that's it for this week!

 

Next week some time will be the final post of this rear section showing the rear crew door that I have yet to build and a good few photos of the rear section completed!

 

Until then ....take care and thanks for looking in!

 

Cheers

 

Fozzy

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Hi guys

 

Just a quick post showing the very last detail that I shall be doing on this B17.

 

Of course they is still a lot more thought and scratch building to be done to finally display the model but I am going to take a bit of time out whilst I think about it!

I have made a decision about the two halves of the fuselage (front section and rear section). Right from the start of this project it was important for me to show all the interior detail and the actual outer fuselage came second in the importance of this project and so to that end the two sections will be apart. I am thinking of a gap about 8 inches between the front and the rear.This will allow you peer down into the fuselage as well as seeing the detail from the missing panels in the top. I am also steering towards actually keeping the ball turret displayed on a little stand in the 8 inch gap between the two halves......I know it sounds crazy but I am also thinking of taking out the ball turret hanging frame which holds the ammo chutes from the fuselage and attaching it to the top of the turret as a complete unit.  I have seen a photo of this of a turret from a B24 and I think it might work for my display but as I said I am going to take time out and think about it!

 

In the mean time here is the last of the detail which I will do on the actual fuselage.... and that is the rear crew door.

Made in the same way I built the tail turret door....here it is before painting...

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR.jpg

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(1).jpg

 

...and here it is painted....

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(2).jpg

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(3).jpg

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(4).jpg

 

....here's a couple of photos of the door attached to the fuselage...

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(5).jpg

 

REAR_CREW_DOOR_(6).jpg

 

So that's all the internal and external scratch building done for this B17G.

 

Of course you won't get rid of me that easy after these past 10 years!😉......I am going to try to photo the 2 fuselage sections before starting on the display work ,so I will be back soon!

 

Cheers as always for looking in and see you on the next post!

 

Fozzy

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  • 2 months later...

 

Hi everyone

 

This is it!...............the absolute FINAL post I will make on this 10 year project! 😊

 

After I have done this post I will put a few photos in the display case section.

 

Since my last post I have been thinking of how to finally display my B17G ....I gave it considerable thought and finally decided that the best way would be to make it as simple as possible. I  came up with a simple idea of just placing the ball turret on a clear plastic stand (actually its a small plastic cup!)....it sort of gives it a floating kind of look!...ish!....I didn't place it underneath the fuselage because it just obscured the 9 months of work I did scratch building it! 

I wanted to place both bomb bay doors on so I had to be sure the fuselage sat high enough off the ground to clear the very large bomb bay doors!  So to that end I had to revamp the display stands. There are 4 in total...2 on the front section and 2 at the rear. The rear section stands had to be way higher as the tail lifts up towards the rear...I built these out of reinforced balsa wood (plastic covering) and cocktail sticks! 

I have left an 8 inch gap between the front and rear sections so that you can peer down into the fuselage both front and back and of course as you probably know the top half of the fuselage along its entire length has viewing points to see the interior.

 

So that is what I did......but first......something was really bothering me about the aluminum skin on the front section back to the radio room. It seemed to be a tad wrinkly here and there. I know exactly why...its because 10 years ago I constructed the front fuselage section completely in a different way to how I built the rear section 8 years down the line!......plus the joins on each section were showing through!.......no it was no good!.....I just had to re skin the front section. .............

 

re_skinning_(1).jpg

 

re_skinning_(2).jpg

 

re_skinning_(3).jpg  

 

re_skinning_(4).jpg

 

Here are the display stands that I built.........

 

re_skinning_(5).jpg 

 

 

You can see more photos in The display case......

 

B17-G-Fuddy-Duddy-complete-1.jpg

 

.....................................and No.....I'M NOT BUILDING THE WINGS!

 

Cheers

 

Fozzy

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23 hours ago, Fozzy said:

 

....................................and No.....I'M NOT BUILDING THE WINGS!

 

Aw-w-w ... darn it!

 

Fozzy, this has been real pleasure watching this beauty come together ... your decisions have all been the right ones! Your display shows off this model perfectly! Our focus is on the model, not the stands. And your decision to replace the skin, another excellent choice ... now you can deliver it confidently, knowing it's as perfect as you had initially envisioned!!

 

I hope you can share photos with us of your B-17 in its final home. I hope they'll display it so all those luscious details can be seen.

 

Enjoy your well earned rest ... and we look forward to your next project ... !

Pete

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2 minutes ago, K2Pete said:

Aw-w-w ... darn it!

 

Fozzy, this has been real pleasure watching this beauty come together ... your decisions have all been the right ones! Your display shows off this model perfectly! Our focus is on the model, not the stands. And your decision to replace the skin, another excellent choice ... now you can deliver it confidently, knowing it's as perfect as you had initially envisioned!!

 

I hope you can share photos with us of your B-17 in its final home. I hope they'll display it so all those luscious details can be seen.

 

Enjoy your well earned rest ... and we look forward to your next project ... !

Pete

 

Thanks a lot Pete!.....When she finally lands at the Museum I will definitely photograph it and share!

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