brahman104

You’re welcome..... https://i.imgur.com/nI6993W.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tWbxWHO.jpg Craig

I’ll be there for the next 3 days, no promises, but I’ll see what I can do... craig

And here she is! I last visited MOF in Seattle when I was 9, and bitterly disappointed that I had come all the way to the US to see a B-17 and it was not on display but being restored! Luckily, 27 years later I could finally see her in all her glory! I won’t get to Dayton while I’m here, so at least I can put some F model photos up for reference..... I’m only putting up photos which specifically show the nose shape, as we all know what the back end of a B-17 looks like! And a very happy visitor! Cheers, Craig

Thanks Fencer! A good shot indeed. I head to Seattle tomorrow so I’m looking forward to seeing “Boeing Bee” in the flesh very soon! Craig

Nice work! I really like how you’re depicting the offset by changing the appearance and stance, very clever way to avoid a lot of surgery! craig

Oh man those pedals are spectacular! Craig

G'day mate, thanks for looking in on the build! I've mentioned it a few times throughout the thread but I'm using the Anycubic Photon, as quite a few of the other guys here are too. Cheers, Craig

Wow Martin! It's been a while since I checked in and boy, what progress! The radio room and ball turret work you're doing here looks absolutely incredible. You're certainly make me rethink how I do my radio room.... definitely looking a little more sparse than yours in the detail department. Fantastic work mate! Craig

Cool, thanks very much Ben! I'll look into it. I'm sure Tim or Peter can provide some advice on the subject. Cheers, Craig

One could certainly feel that way when you look at the overall picture Thierry. One of the main reasons I decided to show my research here as a prelude to the build beginning, is to share the discoveries I have made everywhere, not just in the forward section. This certainly isn't a definitive "everything wrong with the HK kit," but it might help other understand and appreciate the subtle shape differences that make the B-17 what we all know and love! Agreed mate! Haven't even begun looking at the back end yet, but as Kent has already shown, she's chubby all round...... Hahaha, I think many of us could feel we own that title, but yes, the B-17 is definitely my #1 favourite....... In fact, the main reason I got my scuba diving ticket was in the hope that one day I might dive on Blackjack, which will incidentally be the subject of my F model when I come to build it. Just one more box to tick in an ever expanding list! Craig

Awesome stuff Ben! Can't wait to se you tackle the head Craig

Excellent work Pip! Really outstanding scratchbuilding going on here. You've nailed that soundproofing. The canberra sure has a busy little cockpit; lots of things to bang your head on! Craig

Hi Ben, thanks! I still have a lot to learn with this. Are you talking about when I first exported from Rhino or changing printing resolution in the photon? I'm not really sure about either process, so any pointers you have would be much appreciated! Thanks very much Pip! Yep, certainly redefining my modelling limits with this one, definitely made possible by access to things like 3D modelling and laser cutting Thanks Brian! I think you owe it to yourself, you won't be disappointed!

Thanks Gaz! Cheers mate! Ain't that the truth Chek! There was some rudimentary armour plates installed at various locations, but it wouldn't have done much against a zero's 20mm. Psychological at best! Thanks Terry, agreed about the cushion. I'll tidy that up a bit later on.... still got a while before that gets attached permanently! Always a pleasure Tom! I still don't know how you do what you do with the vacform kits, and where on earth are you going to put a Sunderland when you're done!? With all the discussion and research on the E/F correction, there's been very little time to lavish on my first love. She sits patiently on the bench waiting for me....... I did finally find the time to do some "contributary" work towards the project though! In order to begin "fitting out" the rear fuselage, I needed a lot of oxygen bottles and ammo cans, both big and small. You may recall that a while ago (probably two years) I made some masters of each and resin copies, but I was never really happy with them (air bubbles, warpage etc). Ever since I brought the photon, it had brought to light just how poor my CAD work was; I thought I'd made an amazing drawing, only to have half of it "disappear" when I brought it into the print setup page! Very disheartening I can tell you! Tim (Wunwinglow) had done his best to explain why my drawings sucked, but I still couldn't understand why they didn't work, which then kind of put me off trying to do detail parts for a while. Anyway, an enforced break is good for the mind so coming back into it, I was determined to get on top of this Rhino stuff. The light bulb moment came when in one line of a youtube tutorial the dude mentioned the command Select Open Surfaces or "SelOpenSrf." I'd seen all sorts of other tutorials about things like "manifold" and "non-manifold" edges, but for a simpleton like myself with no formal CAD training, none of this made any sense. Anyway I used the command and bang! Had it sorted in no time! Still got lots of little errors to work on, but I am getter better. Anyway, here's what you're all reading this for: Yeah it's not 100%, but at the size it is (4.5mm wide) even the photon will struggle with any crazy amount of surface detail, so I stuck to the basics. While I was at it, I also made the tall one for the radio room and bathtub guns (and these are good for the E/F too!) I then made some oxy bottles, and put them all on the bed ready to print. Just over 2 hours later..... I also compared these with the one I made a while ago (the new ones were made from factory drawings, as opposed to comparing pictures like I did last time) Probably just as well I redid them! As you can see, the oxy bottles aren't quite smooth, but at least they're round and aren't riddled with air bubbles! Given my recent success with understanding Rhino better and the results here, I'll continue to make the myriad of little fittings that need to go throughout the fuselage, especially the oxy panels and intercom boxes. I leave for a big trip to the US in a few days where I'll be visiting the MOF in Seattle, Desert Rat in Illinois and the cherry on top: A ride in EAA's Aluminium Overcast at Oshkosh!!!!! Cheers, Craig

I hope that I can provide some useful deductions then! Getting the original nose piece to fit will definitely be a challenge, but I doubt insurmountable for someone of your talents. Not sure if you've come across it yet, but flattening the nose will also mean the windscreen will need replacing as it's too narrow at the very front..... On flattening the nose, perhaps the partial removal of some sections of plastic from the inside will allow enough "give" to reform the plastic without having to resort to heat. Once the desired shape has been established, some strategic application of some high strength epoxy should hold everything in its new place.... Thierry is right, this is a massive undertaking, but I think your approach is very novel and if you're prepared to put in the effort, absolutely do-able! Go get em! Craig