fozzy

Hey Chris...I certainly will let you know if I need any information etc.....thank you very much! Just to let you know that my B17G was featured as a small back page article in the 447th BG Newsletter by Steve Heeb (Ol'scrapiron) Fozzy

I would if I could CANicoll ....but the logistics of getting her to UK from Bulgaria for the show and then back again to finish it would be a nightmare!.....but rest assured when she's done I will attempt to get her across to Telford! Yes Rigor....so far I have done the nose section ...the bomb bay and now finishing off the radio room which just leaves the tail section to go !....then of course I have to join it all together! Well Ol' Scrapiron....why the hell didn't I think of that obvious solution to rounds!....how simple and how stupid I am to not think of it!......Thank you very very much for the heads up!

Thanks guys!................ Eventually I will try and get to Telford to show this but I really want to finish it first!.....I have one more section to go ....so it won't be this year Chris!

Afternoon guys! This post will finish up all the interior detail I needed to do before closing both top and bottom halves of the fuselage and then I can proceed to finish off the detail on the exterior of the fuselage. So what needed to be done was the ammunition belts from the emergency ammunition cans and the oxygen bottle for the gunner. I'll start with the ammunition belts.....By using just paper and wire I'd thought I would show you how I went about this task ..photo by photo... 1. The first task was to cut 4 pieces of paper to the length/width of the belts....I used paper as it will bend like a real ammo belt... 2. As you can see I then cut all 4 pieces..(you will see in the next few photos why I did this!)... 3. I then got some garden metal wire twine (I chose this as it looked the right scale for the rounds)... 4. This then had to be straightened using a flat piece of metal rolled across the top of a length of wire...... 5. After measuring the width of the pieces of paper I then had to cut... (loads!!).... of pieces of wire which would replicate the rounds,....laborious task!...although I don't actually mind doing it!! 6. These were the super glued onto 2 of the 4 strips of paper.... 7. Then the other strips of paper were glued over the top of the rounds This is the time that I bent the paper to the shape I needed.... 8. A couple strips of paper were cut and glued to both sides of the belts to make them look more authentic and I then painted them..... So now all I had to do was super glue one end of the belts to the ammo cans and hook up the other ends on a couple of posts....(the reason for this is that because I have exposed the top of the ball turret I couldn't glue them to the entry point of the turret!)...here are a few photos of the task complete...... The last task to do before closing the two halves was to scratch the oxygen tank for the gunner. I have so far made loads of oxygen tanks for this project so I just made them the same way as before....and that is a sanded down piece of balsa wood with plastic strips glued to them!......here it is.... I then glued the tank onto the post and made a couple of paper straps ....to replicate the securing straps! So here is the finished Ball turret connection structure...... So now its at long last time to place the top to the bottom!!..ha ha! I am now getting close to the end of the Radio room section of this B17G....the external detail will now have to be thought about before proceeding......so I'll see you all the next time around! Thanks again for looking in Fozzy

Hi Juggernut Thanks for your input on my build and I understand everything you have pointed out. I have been building this model now for at least 6 years and have studied reams of information and seen thousands of photos of the B17 so I know exactly what your saying and where you're coming from. With the variants of the B17 and the different manufacturers one could quite easily get wrapped up in "what is right and what is wrong"....yes "some" of the interiors were not painted interior green....some were ...for me it was always going to be a nightmare to get it all right from the offset . So I decided 6 years ago to make this build my own interpretation of the B17G .I do realize that it is not 100% accurate but just hope that it is pleasing to the on lookers eye...... BTW ..this interpretation of the B17G is loosely attached to the "Warbird " variety...and I just had to put those emergency ammunition cans in!...... Cheers Fozzy

Thanks for your comments guys!...helps me keep on track!

Hi guys Well it's been nearly a month now since my last post what with family staying and this and that etc etc( you know the drill...getting in the way of modelling!)...but finally I'm now back at dealing with this B17G! ...and it was time to tackle the complicated ball turret hanging system!.......After looking at loads of confusing photos of the task at hand I decided that the only way to replicate it was to try and break it down into small stages.....wasn't going to be easy ...but then that's the challenge I guess! So I started with the frame work and the bits and bobs at the bottom that fits onto the turning mechanism above the ball turret...here's a few photos...... I was about to attach the upright tube ( plastic flag stick that luckily was the correct scale!) when I noticed that I would have to adjust the walkway that goes around the turret as it was too large and I would never be able to continue with the hanging structure!.....annoying as I had to take of the glued floor carefully off and then re shape it and then replace it and make good!...any way after that problem was solved I had the next problem of repeatedly placing the top section of the fuselage.... as a dry run fit ....to see if the tube aligned up correctly with the ceiling connection!....that I have to say took some time and patience!...of course in the process I knocked of the radio ops seat and some radio stacks from the radio room floor!...I have left them off for the time being whilst I deal with this nightmare! Once that was all sorted I gave this section some paint after first placing some cables and wiring on....here are some photos...... Now......I could have left it there!.......but I think you know me by now The B17G had a system for carrying extra ammunition that fed automatically into the ball turret....after looking at photos I decided to at least have a go at it and if it was too complicated then I could just not bother with them. Basically it was two ammunition cans suspended above the ball and bolted to the frame work.Being two cans they of course had to be symmetrical...and that is something I find difficult to do...especially the round feeds that were like S- shaped channels! The rounds were made by cutting small gauge wire to size (at least 50!!) and the glued in between 2 pieces of the S-shaped feeds.....some of the rounds could be seen through inspection ports....hence bothering with making the rounds! Any way here are the pretty rough looking examples of the ammunition cans and feed chutes....will look better in situ and with paint on....I hope! It was time to attach the ammo cans to the hanging structure....... The next task was nearly impossible to do and that was to make the lower supports for the cans.....it took ages but got there in the end!.......all I had to do now was to paint it all..... OK So that is as far as I have got so far. I still have to make a couple of ammunition belts and the oxygen tank for the turret and then I can think of closing the two halves in preparation for the external detail! I have to say although challenging this part of the build was ......I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Till the next post....take care guys! Fozzy

Thanks Alex!

Sorry about the first two photos guys!...I accidentally deleted them off postimage hence breaking the link!......I will down load them again!

Thanks a lot guys! Yes Kev....weird!!.....those two images are of a real Fortress....I will look into it!

Afternoon chaps! Well after considering all the possible ways of how to build the structure which holds the ball turret to the fuselage just beyond the radio room I came up with some sort of plan! I had some vac formed molds of the ball turret that were not good enough when I was constructing it........way back it seems!......which luckily I kept. I thought that as it's the correct shape may be I could cut pieces of it to fit on top of the ball turret and then add the bits and pieces on top of that?.....so I went about that idea. I thought the best plan would be to construct it inside the fuselage above the ball turret aperture.....and then eventually feed the already constructed ball turret up and onto the structure. Some of the shapes of the parts were a bit of a nightmare to replicate but after a few days of experimenting with different materials I managed to make the parts look half decent!! I haven't finished the structure at all ....I have just done the basics and to show you what else needs to be done ...here is a photo of the real thing!...... As you can see these bars ...part of the structure that attaches to the top of the fuselage...have yet to be made..... ...and then of course the ammunition cans and oxygen bottle ...not to mention all the other stuff...have also have to be replicated!....got my work cut out! OK ...so here is the start of my structure before any paint has been applied.......(can't think of another name for it!....I keep saying "structure"...boring!!) I have placed the ball turret in place to check what it all looks like in the next 3 photos...... ...and here it all is with paint applied!.......... So now it leaves me to figure out how to attach it to the ceiling of the fuselage.....when I sorted that out I'll be back! Cheers for looking in guys! Fozzy

Thanks a lot guys for your support!

Cheers Brian ......but not finished by a long shot yet mate!!

Hi guys Today I would like to show you the completion of the radio room it self. This section of the build will still be on going as I have to get the ball turret installed and a shed loads of other details on the exterior....which brings me to a BIG problem! As normal with scratch building ...sometimes mistakes are made!...well I will own up to my mistake and tell you that the position of the ball turrets aperture is slightly out!.....( it needs to be a tad more to the rear)... I might be able to get away with it but it means a lot of re adjusting which means destroying a lot of the detail I have already completed! I always thought this next stage would be challenging as I am trying to get the turret installed in two halves because I am building this B17G in two halves!....I find that constructing the aircraft this way makes it a lot easier than the method of Port and Starboard construction. That is until it comes to the part whereas the ball turret is connected to both top and bottom of the fuselage! I did think of displaying the ball turret separately but then thought that nothing else on this model is separate....at the moment!....no doubt that when I start to install it , possible ideas will float around in my head ...well I hope so else this project will temporarily grind to a halt!!...........no one said that this would be easy!! So putting that nightmare to one side........lets get to the last of the radio room detail. The last rear starboard area of the radio room meant that I had to scratch 5 x Transmitter Tuning Units....a couple of hand cranks and an extinguisher........here are the hand cracks and extension bar before painting... A rather laborious task but here are the 5 x unpainted Transmitter Tuning Units..... The radio room door was made from a sheet of plastic card next. There was 2 doors in the radio room one on the forward bulkhead and one on the rear bulkhead....some information and photos I have seen show that the rear door wasn't always on...this could be just for the War birds so for aesthetic reasons I have left it off!....here are parts all painted and ready to be installed..... This photo shows the hand cranks on the bulkhead wall........ ....and here is an assortment of photos showing everything in place ...including the camera door hatch.... So for me its time to put my thinking cap on and try and sort out this Ball Turret mess.....once I get somewhere I will report back!....could be some time!!! Cheers for looking in Fozzy

EQUIPMENT ON THE REAR PORT BULKHEAD Hi Guys There is a lull in the good weather so I have found the time to do another posting here rather than concreting! This will be the penultimate posting of the Radio room before I tackle the complicated mechanism above the Ball Turret!....something that's going to be a tough one no doubt! ....but first lets get to today's posting! Not too much stuff had to be scratched...there is a spare oxygen bottle....Liaison Transmitter ....Liaison Antenna Tuning Unit and a few bits and bobs on the side wall. So here is the Liaison Transmitter and Liaison Antenna Tuning unit before painting............... After I painted it this is how the Liaison Antenna Tuning Unit turned out......... ....and the Liaison Transmitter...... Below this equipment a spare oxygen bottle was stowed....(this varied from aircraft to aircraft)....... This next photo is of some of the gear that could be found...I say could be found ...as once again info on the many different specs of the B17s is huge!........ This was now all installed into the radio room and as I usually do here are the photos to show this........ Looking forward now to the last part of the actual Radio room and that is all the Transmitter Tuning Units that are stacked up on the other side of the aft bulkhead. Of course that is in between more darn concreting!!! See you later lads and Lasses! Fozzy

Thanks a lot guys...appreciate it!

FORWARD STARBOARD AREA OF THE RADIO ROOM Hi guys Another week gone by and another area of the radio room complete!....and another week nearer to starting the rear section of this build!... So a few things had to be scratched and so I started with the Command Receivers...here they are before painting and wiring up!......... Being approx 3 cm long it was a bit fiddly...I had to drill tiny holes to accept the pins I used for the cable connectors and switches etc ....here it is painted....... Above the Receivers there are the Command Transmitters...just as fiddly! However the tiny Antenna Relay was a bit of a challenge!..... So here are all the 3 units complete ........... ...and here is the Connector for the Antenna and the cables that will connect to the Transmitters and Receivers..... The next few photos are of everything in place......... So turning round now and facing the rear of the radio room I will attempt to build all the equipment that was found in that position. Have to say that I am having a blast doing all this detailing...but the next post might take some time to appear as I have to do some house repairs this next week....what a drag eh?......chores getting in the way of modelling! Cheers once again for looking in Fozzy

Cheers Kev!....what I really need is one of those miniature camera/videos..so that I can get into all the nooks and crannies!

Thanks guys!

THE EQUIPMENT BENEATH THE RADIO OPS DESK Hi to all! Here is the next episode to this never ending saga! Before I start I want to say that I do realize that this scratch build is not 100% accurate.The interior colours I have chosen are a mish mash taken from hundreds of photos I have collected.The other problem is that it seems that The Flying Fortress's interior used different equipment and placed them in different areas of the aircraft....for example the Tokyo shut off valves. I have placed them on my model beneath the Radio ops desk ...which some of the G variants were... whereas other "Gs" had them on the aft bomb bay bulk head. This of course causes me confusion and I have to go one way or the other. At the end of the day I have to convince my self that this is my own interpretation of this glorious Aircraft and it's never going to be completely accurate and to exact scale as scratch building is really flying blind!! Reason why I am rambling on is because this project is taking so long and at times I feel that I have bitten off more than I can chew and I have to convince my self to carry on...regardless! ANY WAY.............................................. I have scratched all the bits and bobs that seem to be under the radio ops table although as I said ...difficult to know what was and wasn't installed!. ....but starting with the radio ops seat...here it is ready for painting....  here's the scale....... All painted with the seat straps fixed.... I have labeled whats what with the various equipment in the next couple of photos...the usual plastic scraps and wire were the order of the day!............. I attached the top section and tried to poke the camera through the back end and sides to get the shots of the equipment!.... I then glued the seat in position and took a few more photos...... OK....so that's that part done! I am going to go to the rear port side of the radio room now to scratch what ever I see in the photos I have! Thanks for taking the time to look in Fozzy

RADIO EQUIPMENT ABOVE THE RADIO OPS DESK INSTALLED Hi guys We continue!............... I spent all this week since the last post installing all the radio equipment I scratched......As a reminder this included ..the radio ops desk that had the Liaison Receiver ,spare turbo amplifier ,headphones ,transmitter master switch ,transmitting key and desk lamp. I also installed the Command dynamoter and modulator ,the fire extinguisher ,portable oxygen bottle , IFF crash switch and the oxygen regulator and panel...I don't think I left anything out! Here are some photos............... So staying in this area I will now scratch build all the equipment that can be found underneath the radio ops desk....not as much gear so I will make the radio ops chair as well! Happy modelling guys and see you on the next post! Cheers for taking a look Fozzy

Cheers Tom! No I haven't forgotten about that window as it has been giving me a headache since I started on this section!...There are many different variants of the radio room hatches on the B17G. The photos of this B17G I am building seems not have that window forward of the hatch and then other photos show that it does!....so rather confusing to say the least! Luckily most of the roof section of the radio room I am constructing is open to show the internal detail, so therefore I don't need to worry too much about it...as long as I show the actual hatch I think I can live with that!

Thank you very much every one!

BITS AND BOBS ABOVE THE RADIO OPS DESK Hi chaps Another week gone by and more equipment scratched There is so much equipment in the radio room that I decided to break it down into areas.....so today's post will be concerning the gear above the radio ops desk including what would have been on the desk! So to start with I knocked up the ops table...... ....and on this table we first need the Liaison Receiver. ....a 4 sided plastic square with scrap plastic and wire for switches etc! A bit of paint applied and a paper dial glued into place and hopefully all is well! So I then scratched the radio ops headset....darn fiddly especially with the small gauge wire I had to use! Here is the transmitting key and Liaison transmitter master switch (the pin is to show the scale)........... ...and the radio ops light...built using thin gauge wire.... this is the spare turbo amplifier..... The next few photos are of the equipment so far upon the radio operators desk..... Here is the Command dynamotor and modulator and its little shelf bracket before and after painting The IFF crash switch ( I believe this was activated to destroy all radio equipment in an event of a crash!) The portable oxygen bottle......... ....and the fire extinguisher....(I have just noticed that when I accidentally knocked off the top of the extinguisher I super glued it back on upside down!ha ha!...will have to fix that later!) ..and finally here is the oxygen regulator and panel......  So that took all week to do! The next post will be all that you see here placed into the radio room on the model. Once again I want to say that I appreciate all of you who are following this build....and just to let you know you are all on year 6 I think!! Cheers guys! Fozzy

FUSE PANEL ,RADIO ROOM HATCH AND CONTROL CABLES! Hi guys Hows it all going in the model world? Here we have the next installment of the radio room build for this B17G...as the the title states I managed to get 3 things completed since the last post....so starting with the fuse box here are some photos............ Quite straight forward really...a thickish piece of plastic was cut and manipulated into the fuse box!! It was then painted and cables added to it ....and here it is installed in it's rightful position! I then played around with the radio room hatch by adding the 4 escape/securing handles....basically I bent a sliver of aluminum from a cola can Then started the real fun and games! I never thought that adding the control cables would be such a pain!..I mean I put the cables into the nose section and the bomb bay without the blasted hassle I had this time.....it was all done by trial and error...starting over twice as I just couldn't get it to look right...I tried different gauges of electrical wire....I even tried using some fishing line!..the glue wouldn't set or I couldn't get the cables to tighten...but in the end I found some other small gauge electrical wire which wouldn't bend and made some guiders(for want of a better word) so that the cables were at equal distances to each other!.... Not sure if I know what I'm talking about!!....so here are the photos of the end result!! Oh .....I also sprayed the internal walls and placed the two window perspex on either side of the fuselage. So that's it for another week guys.........thanks a lot for looking in Later's Fozzy