richdlc Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 all riiiiiiiiight, nice one Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Starling Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Seriously great work. But I have one question: Wouldn't the 50 cals have been removed before the airframe was placed on the trailer? Just asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 thanks! ha - possibly. But then I never claimed this would be 100% accurate ;-) I might do it as a recovered aircraft in occupied Europe (ie the whole lot gets carted off to the smelters' yard)....I will have to think about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 Hi everyone - here's my latest update (August 25 2012) for the B-17 build. I have been beavering away on the interior - got a lot of work done on the radio room & have started on the cockpit. There's a hell of a lot to scratchbuild, but that's all part of the fun! I have been helped a great deal by images of the restoration of the Duxford B-17G, which has been documented over on the Warbird Information Exchange website - I have been given special permission to use & reproduce the amazing images, so I must give credit to David Whitworth & WIX forum member 'Bomberflight' (who also runs the www.bomberflight.info website) - David has allowed me to use the pics to illustrate my posts, and asked me to mention Bomberflight - so a massive thanks to them! Okay - back to the build - last time I showed you how I was working on the radio room - this time around you can see that I have added most of the radio equipment. Last time I had built a bank of tuning units on the left hand side, and the antenna tuning unit, the transmitter and transmitter tuning unit on the right hand side. I had also started on the radio operator's station. I noticed that the operator sat more or less directly underneath the small window in the fuselage side - I'd made the table too short, so firstly I lengthened it - I then added the receiver unit (possible a touch overscale but I can live with it) , desk-mounted swiveling lamp, fire extinguisher, cabin light, oxygen regulator and oxygen tank - oh, and of course I added ribbing to the fuselage side! I added the RTO's headphones for a touch more accuracy. I also added a door to the bomb bay - I decided it wasn't worth detailing the bomb bay itself as it would be invisible once the fuselage sides were buttoned up - so I depicted the door slightly ajar...but otherwise closed. First up - some images from a useful site I found that provides 360 degree panoramic views - all images strictly for illustrative purposes only: And here's my interpretation: Things to note: I made the swivel lamp 'shade' too long - I subsequently removed the end 'cone' bit. And the fuselage ribbing isn't strictly kosher - but I only found that out after I'd finished it, and I don't think it'll matter much. Here's how you make oxygen hoses - take a piece of fuse wire, wrap much smaller gauge fuse wire around it, secure with dabs of superglue - quick and effective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 On the right hand side of bulkhead 5 is the command radio equipment - transmitter on top & receiver below - I made these using the same method as the others, namely make a box from styrene & then detail it according to my references: Behind these radios, on the right hand side of the fuselage is the auxiliary crewmember's seat - I made this from plastic card with milliput for the seat cushions - the oxygen regulator was made as per the one on the other side, and the fuselage ribbing the same. Seatbelts from thin metal sheet & some random photoetched buckles from the spares box A frame runs around the underside of the large (removable) observation window in the roof - I'm not sure if this was just for support, or to mount the .50 cal on - my Fort will be a late version 'G' which dispensed with the .50 cal in any case.... but the frame remains, so I had to make it. Here's some more pics from that 360 walkaround site I mentioned: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 (edited) Here's my frame - I made a mistake - it should arch up at the front and the back - mine is flat...again, I'm not too fussed, it looks the part! Next up - the life raft compartment. There's no need really to have this open, but I have plenty of pics & thought 'why not?' - besides, it will give a nice extra dimension of detail. I made a plastic sheet 'tunnel' between bulkheads 5 and 4, and blocked off the ends - I also added plastic rod for strength & positioning purposes - I'll fill any gaps and add more details during final assembly, but for now I just wanted to make a rough impression of what it'll be like so I could carry on with building more floors and bulkheads - the construction is starting to take on the characteristics of the 1/48 and 1/72 kits available - ie everything built in sections & connected - then the whole lot can just be inserted into the fuselage shell: And here's my interpretation: After I had connected bulkheads 5 and 4 I was able to start fashioning the cockpit area. You can see in this pic that I have made the floor to which the top turret is attached..... the sides slope upwards (and are covered by fabric in the real thing) - forward of that it steps up in height to the cockpit floor - underneath the cockpit floor is the crew forward entrance hatch, and immediately in front of that is bulkhead 3 with a doorway through to the bombardier's station - this also acts as a support for the main instrument panel - phew! got that? The hole you can see in the fuselage side just in front of the bulkhead and behind the cockpit is where I am going to have some more battle damage - I really wanted to show off my top turret and some of the detail I'm going to put into the cockpit area, so will have another hole from a pesky german flak burst! between the pilot & co-pilot's seats is an opening so crewmen can get to the flightdeck, and also get to the forward entrance hatch - here you can see that I have also made the support frames for the seats - plenty more details to add, but you get the gist of it - the black dot is where the base of the top turret platform should go... Edited August 25, 2012 by richdlc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 This is where I give credit to the guys on the Warbird Information Exchange website for their fantastic pics - including loads of the cockpit area! Seat frame details: by good luck & co-incidence, the Verlinden 'Lock On' book covered the Duxford B-17 also - here's a scanned image from that publication showing the same detail: I made another mistake - I glued the seat frames in too far forward - the rear of the seats themselves should overhang the lip of the cockpit floor - in other words the edge of the 'trench' should be slap in the middle of where the seats are.... I have remedied this somewhat by hacking a section out between the seats - once again I don't think it'll look too shabby when everythings glued in place & painted. The final part of this update deals with the main instrument panel. I have numerous images of both the front and back, again thanks to my friends at the Warbird Info Exchange site - again, the Verlinden book (and co-incidentally the Aero Detail book) have some great pics - here's a scanned image from the former showing the rear of the I.P. and more images from the W.I.X. site and here's what it looks like with its fabric cover on: guess which one I chose to do! The I.P. rear has 3 sections - the backside of the I.P., a wooden protective guard, and a further bulkhead - here's the first two: and all 3 - plastic card, strip & rod with very fine wiring for the, er, wiring - I stripped this from some electrical wire I bought at a local hardware store that had a lattice-work of super fine wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 Finally, here's the I.P. fascia in progress: There's an absolute shedload more work to do, and what you see here is barely scratching the surface, but I am loving it! well that's about it for now - as always, feedback welcomed! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ta152H1 Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Great work so far Rich....hats off to you!I'd like to suggest you,if I may,to leave a few equipment "loose",i.e. the headset on the table should rather have been thrown around somewhere iopon impact...ditto for the little fire extinguishers! GREAT...GREAT...GREAT ! Cheers Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marek Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Fantastic modeling job. Great scratch building Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 thanks guys! Lou - you are quite right - I'm going to have plenty of loose wires and stuff thrown around the cabin....this may mean I have to 'de-construct' certain things, as it were, at a later date. As master Yoda once said, 'you must un-learn what you have learned' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ta152H1 Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 thanks guys! Lou - you are quite right - I'm going to have plenty of loose wires and stuff thrown around the cabin....this may mean I have to 'de-construct' certain things, as it were, at a later date. As master Yoda once said, 'you must un-learn what you have learned' Rich, I LOVE to add "odd" details to my builds,aircraft and rolling piles of steel alike...what about scratchbuilg a pair of "bomber" (they were used by some P-47,P-51 and P-38 pilots as well btw!) M1 helmets starting from an "ordinary" 1/35 or 1/32 US helmet? Since aircraft weren't immediately removed from the areas they had creashed on weapons and live ammo were usually removed long before the wreckages would have been finally sent to the smelter,not only to separate different metals but also to prevent civilians from "pilfering",so that they couldn't take a "Ma Deuce" and 900 rds of mixed ammo as a "souvenir"...this was especially true on occopied territories for obvious reasons,but in your case I like the idea of the .50 left at their place...it was late in the War and even a nail was immediately sent to the nearest smelter...the metals would have been separated there by slave labourers! Can't wait to see the progress!Much impressive work mate! Cheers Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cplrafman Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 I'm liking what your doing - an original concept for a diorama being executed quite beautifully. I look forward to seeing the finished product! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Starling Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Adding "steel pots" is a great suggestion. If I remember correctly, they even had cutouts and steel "ear flaps" to cover earphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geedubelyer Posted August 25, 2012 Share Posted August 25, 2012 Gahble........blibble......blabble........ bloop No words for such awsomeness..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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