brahman104

Thanks Maru!!!!! Craig

Great work on the figures! Craig

That is super cool Jay! The canvas came out perfectly I've gotta say I've been there with parts like that Web.... real chicken and egg stuff! You continually amaze/impress Jay. Those decals are ace too!!!! Craig

Hi Geoff, Similar to Derek's suggestion above, instead of using solder beads, use small lengths of 0.3mm solder inserted into drilled holes and then trimmed to uniform length by using a piece of PE (or similar thickness) as a guide. I've seen a guy of FB achieve some amazing results this way over the top of foiled finishes. While I haven't tried it myself, I will be in the near future. Note: These are not my photos, so I hope the owner won't be upset. Merely sharing these to illustrate the technique..... 0.3mm solder lengths. Holes drilled in rivet locations Solder glued into holes with super glue And trimmed with a razor blade using the PE as a height guage Can be applied to all areas Results speak for themselves! Up to you but this is what I would do in your shoes. Best technique I've seen to date! Hope this helps, Craig

Thanks so much Mark! Absolutely Matt! Thanks for being part of the journey so far! Hahaha! I wish Tom, but while it's definitely a lot closer, there a lot more to go yet! Absolutely Terry! There was certainly more than a few moments of "what have I missed?" going on before the last close up. As you said, there will definitely be parts where I'll see something I've missed, but a project like this could go on forever; it's important to tie it off somewhere and stick to the game plan . I've made extra checks on the wiring to ensure that the interior is well lit, and spending an entire day cleaning the windows has certainly paid off now. Just gotta keep that dust out! Thank you Maru! I certainly appreciate the support and encouragement you've given to me over the years. I definitely owe us all a finished fort!! Cheers guys, Craig

Love the weathering! Craig

Absolutely marvelous Tom! The floats look bang on, as does the tube sections for the struts. You really make vac forms look easy! Craig

Thank you gentlemen! I can finally tell you that the line has at last moved! Today, the fuselage sections permanently become one after 8 years in the making. Firstly though, a minor point to note for those playing along at home....... Turns out, there was actually a gun socket in the forward-most upper window (thanks for having my back as always Terry!) Always be careful about exactly which photos you are looking at I also spent about a day re-polishing and cleaning windows (particularly the cockpit ones) as there was definitely no access once she's all closed up. Yes it looks horrible around the window and join now but it's just light curing resin that can be cleaned up afterwards. A combination of JB weld, superglue, styrene and resin and she's together as she'll ever be now! Couldn't resist adding the tail just to give an overall look... To say I'm totally pumped that the build has hit this milestone is an massive understatement, but if you thought this project was coming to and end, well you're not rid of me just yet! As you can see there's quite a lot of filling and shaping work to blend the tail surfaces into the fuselage (not to mention attaching the bathtub), and also a lot of seam work prior to marking out where all the panels are going and then getting my litho on, but it all about the small steps. My B-17 actually had a social outing today. I visited a fellow modeler whose models adorn pretty much every bit of free space in another gentlemen's hangar, in which he keeps a C172. As he had already built a G model, it was an interesting photo to compare the two. I'll do this again at some point when there's a bit more progress, but it was interesting to see the difference in fuselage length between the two, with my C only slightly longer than a HK B-25J! More to follow soon hopefully! Cheers, Craig (feeling quite chuffed)

Oh man well done! That compass is crazy good Craig

Looking good Gil! The fuselage sections are indeed enormous. Craig

Nice clean edges Geoff... Is there latches etc to add once it's all sanded and smooth? Keep up the great work! Craig

Thank you for illustrating your process with photos. I'm looking forward to seeing more! Cheers, Craig

Looks great Max! Craig

Thanks Terry! Churchill certainly was a fine orator, especially at a time when his country so badly needed one! Pretty much the final details for the interior... Just had to install the bombardier's controls and checklist clipboard. Then there was the issue of the small, but highly visible socket gun mounts.... I very gingerly drill and reamed a hole in the middle of the correct (yes I checked like a thousand times before drilling!) window on each side, then fashioned two discs in litho (one inner and one outer) The ball came from the HK barrels, which I removed the barrel sections, then very carefully drilled out the centre..... just another one on the long list of nerve wracking operations on this build!!!! The ball was then sandwiched in between the two discs and there you have it. A small, but very noticeable addition. Interestingly enough, these are the very fist items of exterior detail on the fuselage! Must be nearly finished then It seems there isn't a socket joint in the top window on the C/D. That came out on the E, but I think had disappeared again on the F. As you can see there's a lot of dust on the interior (you'd expect a little after 8 years!) that I need to clean out first, but otherwise the next installment should finally see the two halves joined! Cheers, Craig

Thanks for the tip about the spatula Geoff. I'll have to give that one a try! Always learning new things Craig

Nothing I can say that others already haven't Where do you find those silver electrical sockets though? Or are they made with your magic? Craig

Cool! Can you please shared some more details about how you work the aluminium and what you stick it together with? Craig

Nice one Brian! I do love a good helicopter build . I'm also very interested in the Quinta Studios stuff too. Craig

That is so cool! Very dynamic base. Can't wait to see more! Craig

Massive congratulations to you Jay!!!! I know just how pivotal moments like this are, and they're very hard to convey to anyone else, because photos don't show all the effort and mental energy that goes into what you can see in the photos. From where I'm sitting though it looks pretty darn epic! It's great to see moments like this. Craig

Sounds like you've found a good product Jay! I guess the only real alternative would be if you could print a whole bunch in much the same way as the ANYZ sets? Maybe I'll try that one day...... Thanks for the idea Craig

Well done Jay! So good to see everything come together on the jig (which is no small amount of awesome btw!). What are you using to replicate all the bolts/nuts etc? Craig

Great start Gil! I do love a B-17 build..... I'll be interested to see if the SAC gear legs are a more "appropriate" length. Really looking forward to following along on this one, especially for the armament setup for Old 666. Cheers and good luck! Craig

Definitely looking the business now Tom, great to see the engines on! Craig

I was thinking that exact lime when writing it.... and wondered if anyone would pick up on it