371 replies to this topic

[LSP_Kevin]

Wow, this is a about as ambitious as projects come! Looking forward to your continued progress Rich.

Kev

[Ads]

What's doin' Rich? How is progress?

Ads

[Ripaman]

Hi Rich, will be watching this WIP awesome project to work on, and you are just the person to get it right.



Regards
Richard

[Christian]

Hi Rich,
What a great build project.

Very ambitious; marrying vac kit fuselage with a standard injection kit truck plus scratch build a trailer.

Which vac kit B17 are you using?

Is the vac kit a 1/35 scale like the Diamond T wrecker?

Look forward to more updates.

Regards,

Christian

[richdlc]

Hi guys
back with a small update - to answer Christian's question first - the kit is a 1/32 vacform by ID models - and the wrecker I plan to use is a 1/35 kit by Accurate Armour
OK - I removed more openings for windows and turrets etc. I decided that I would make the turrets first, before starting on the interior. First up was the Bendix 'chin' turret. I referred once more to the excellent thread started at the warbird information exchange website about the restoration of the B-17G at Duxford, as well as numerous other images found on the net, and my reference books.
The turret is a complex shape - I started with a tube of thin plastic card & cut out the various openings needed. The bottom of the turret is rounded & curved in complicated ways. I found another use for my pack of ping pong balls left over from the Corsair build & chopped the bottom off one & stuck it on. Here's some images from the warbird information exchange site for illustrative purposes only - these are of the restoration of B-17 'Texas Raiders' - this shot shows the shell ejection ports at the top, and the openings at the bottom for the .50 cals to allow full elevation and depression of the guns:

the large square openings are inspection windows at the back of the turret:

here's what I knocked up:

Edited by richdlc, 13 April 2012 - 06:47 PM.

[richdlc]

and after cleanup, sanding, filling & a coat of primer:


there is also a streamlined fairing behind the turret - I basically made it through trial and error with a fan shaped piece of thin plasticard and some internal ribs from slightly thicker card - here's everything roughly mocked up:


I couldn't resist mocking up how the turret will look with some .50 cals installed:


that's it for now - questions & comments welcomed!

Rich

Edited by richdlc, 13 April 2012 - 04:36 PM.

[MARU5137]

Rich,Just read thru this ambitious and inspiring work and it is quite a project and I am waiting for more now..

Good luck with the build.

MARU... ..5137

Edited by MARU5137, 13 April 2012 - 05:15 PM.

[ww2wings]

Very impressive! Will keep my eye on this one!

[Pfuf]

Nice Progress like the turret.

Johan

[LSP_Ron]

That looks good!

[Christian]

Hi there,

The scratch build gunner turret is off to great start.

Clever use of a ping ponk ball.

Look forward to more updates.

Regards,

Christian

[JRutman]

Like the way you broke down the complex shapes of the turret into the basics and then formed them into the end result! Scratchbuilding at it's best.
J

[dutik]

So that's your approach? Building it lifesize, then shrink it to fit? Hmm...

Great project!

Looks like it will require an own parking lot when finished!
Regards!
- dutik

[richdlc]

Hi everyone - thanks for looking at my build & the encouragement, I will certainly need it!

*update 19th April 2012*

Been cracking on with building the turrets - have done just about all I can for now on the chin turret, so started on the ball turret.
The vac kit provides this in two halves, moulded in clear plastic - unfortunately the transparency isn't great but hey, what can you expect... on the plus side, a lot of it gets covered up by paint

First up are some images of the real thing - there were two types of turret, early and late - the early ones had more viewing windows in the sides - here's a pic of the ball turret taken during a restoration of Memphis Belle (for illustrative purposes only):



and a couple from the restoration of 'Texas Raiders' (again for illustrative purposes only) - you can just about make out that the turret in the last two pics (a late model) has fewer windows than the early pattern turret in the first pic:





I decided to go with the late model turret - this will probably come back to bite me in the ass later when I realize that only natural metal finish aircraft had them (and I want to do an O/D machine) but I'll deal with that issue if and when...

OK - here's some images of my turret under construction. I made the framing for each little window from very thin plasticard & attached using liquid cement. Mounts for the guns from plastic tube, strip and sheet. I carefully removed the crewman's access hatch - I only have one of these turrets so any false moves and it's adios muchachos! the armoured glass directly in front of the gunner is flat, and the kit part curved - I carefully removed the latter & replaced it with a flat piece of clear thermaform.



curved:



remove curved part, replace with flat

[richdlc]

near the crewman access hatch on one side there was a bad moulding flaw right where a window needed to go! I drilled out the shape inside the black outline and replaced with thin, clear plastic underneath the framing:





a few more pics - head on, right side up





head on, upside down - have started to remove shell ejection ports:



rear view:



I have one or two more little windows to add, plus some details like seams, nuts and bolts etc - it's a little confusing to look at now but I will give it a coat of primer & it should be much easier to work with - next up, the interior - fun fun fun!

back soon

rich

Edited by richdlc, 19 April 2012 - 09:04 PM.