Radders Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Lovely stuff Tom, I know how much you love the B-17 so another to the collection is fully understandable, will look great along side your other one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Excellent!.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 I've been beavering away on the insides of the B-17 over the last week or two, and thought it time for an update... The interior sections I've assembled so far have been given a spraying of humbrol olive green as the real warbird isn't bronze green (as the WWII Forts were) neither does it appear to be US interior green and many modern restorations seem to be. I experimented with a few different greens and this seemed to be the closest match (to my colour-blind eye anyway!) The forward bomb bay bulkhead has had some hydraulic lines picked out in black, the nose bulkhead has had its canvass cover for the rear of the instrument panel painted and added and some details picked out with a fine brush. There's still a few more details to add here which will be done in due course. The cockpit sidewalls have had the canvass padding sprayed and glued firmly in place where the oxygen bottles were stored on the wartime B-17s: My scratch-built rear passenger seats have been painted and some seat belts added from an Eduard set: The radio room is almost complete, with just the seats to be added. I added some very fine grade sandpaper to the floor which was cut to shape replicate the anti-slip flooring in this area of the real 'Aluminium Overcast'. I scratch-built the doors from thin plastic card, and made the handles too. The radio operator's desk had some woodgrain decal added to it, which is far more effective than anything I could do with a paintbrush! There are plenty of interior pictures of this aircraft online so it was a reasonably easy task to paint this area as it appears today: I'm glad there's no visible trace of the ball turret ammunition box mountings which were on the rear of the aft bulkhead - my surgery was a success! I then turned my attention to the flightdeck. This has had some changes from a wartime B-17 over its long life, and again the colours vary somewhat from what is expected of a WWII era aircraft. The throttle, mixture and propeller controls appear to be colour coded on Aluminium Overcast, with the main throttle being a vibrant red in real life. The control columns appear black, as well as the throttle box itself. I haven't added the seats yet, but modern warbirds don't seem to have the head-height amour plate protection as a wartime B-17 did, so I trimmed down the kit parts accordingly. Once again this aircraft's flightdeck floor has the anti-slip mats in place, so these were added, too: With a sidewall and the scratch-built passenger seats in place - these still need cushions and seat belts adding: And the two main sections where my efforts have been focused so far - the bomb bay catwalk is also adorned with anti-slip areas on the real aircraft, so more careful cutting and sticking required here: It's all been great fun and fairly plane sailing so far - so until next time, Tom leoasman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Amazing work Tom, just amazing. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) I'll second what Kev said, wow! The anti-slip really sets it off. I know you're doing a warbird, but I'm still taking notes for mine Cheers, Craig Edited January 31, 2015 by brahman104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 (edited) Amazing work Tom, just amazing. Kev I'll second what Kev said, wow! The anti-slip really sets it off. I know you're doing a warbird, but I'm still taking notes for mine Cheers, Craig Thanks gents... Craig I've just spent a good few minutes admiring your B-17D conversion - it's looking brilliant! Something to be aware of if you're planning open doors in the bulkheads is the fact that HK have moulded the rear radio room door with its hinges on the wrong side - they need flipping over. Edited January 31, 2015 by tomprobert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radders Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Looks great Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Nice clean work, Tom. Very sharp. Sincerely, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks gents... Craig I've just spent a good few minutes admiring your B-17D conversion - it's looking brilliant! Something to be aware of if you're planning open doors in the bulkheads is the fact that HK have moulded the rear radio room door with its hinges on the wrong side - they need flipping over. Thanks for the heads up Tom, I never would have picked that! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Lovely work Tom. It's great to see this being built as a modern resto and will yield a nice, unique model once complete. Keep it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Although it's been a while since an update on this build, I've been slowly working away at it and things are slowly coming together with the interior. Aluminium Overcast has no astrodome forward of the flightdeck (I presume this was removed in its rather varied post-war career) so it had to go. Once it had been removed with a sharp knife, I made a plastic card insert and blended it with the contours of the nose section. Missing rivet detail etc will be reinstated at a later stage: The radio room has been finished off, with seatbelts added from Eduard and cushions made from Milliput: Nose section is progressing well, although there's still a fair bit to add in here: The flightdeck has had the additional seats detailed and added into their position behind the pilots' seats: The whole interior has been sprayed green, as unlike war time Fortresses which were natural metal on the interior, most modern warbirds I've seen, Aluminium Overcast included, are painted inside. I imagine this is for anti-corrosion purposes. I've also added my scratch-built passenger seats to the rear fuselage: And this is where we're currently at - note the rear entry door has been opened up to allow a little more light into the model: Still plenty to do and keep me occupied before the fuselage halves can be joined - another update soon, all being well. Tom plane_mc and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Great to see this one back on the bench Tom! I love your updates, with the clear photography, and clean detailed style of building, they are indeed a pleasure to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Tom Nice to see Aluminum Overcast moving down the line. Awesome work ... Keep 'em coming Perter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 That update was worth the wait! Excellent to see more progress on the big girl mate! I like the look of the nose with the astrodome removed, looks "cleaner" somehow..... Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldmkr78 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Very nice looking build Tom. I love the clean look of your builds. I'm finishing up my B-17 this week after more than a year of working on it and am already planning on the next one when the F comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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