AlexM

Hi Chris, Leighton wrote me that he will ask a colleague who has direkt access to Flak Bait abot my color list, or wheather he can get access himself. I'm curious about the response, but I guess that at the moment they have more important matters to take care of. I'm already aware of the Marauder at the USAF National Museum. It's very helpfull for the 360degree interior views. To bad that the interiour colors apparently aren't accurate. Things would be much easier today if they had simply used green back then Cheers Alex

Very interesting! There will be some heavy surgery, but I can understand that after all the work so far, you really want to get it right Cheers Alex

Very nice printed details Cheers Alex

Unbelievably good

That's just unreal how real your model looks. Mindblowing Alex

Amazing project

Hi Chris, that would probably be asking too much of me. But if you happen to be back there, some more photos/information concerning the interior colors would be awesome. Especially concerning the forward bombardier section, as well as the very end section where the rear turret is mounted. Currently, my painting plan is as follows: Floor of the cockpit and navigator section (just behind the cockpit): black/dark grey sidewalls of the cockpit and navigator section: something brownish-greenish, maybe olive drab (seems to be some kind of fabric cover) rest of the rear fuselage: aluminium (bomb bay might also be grey, but I'll leave it in aluminium, since that section will be hardly visible anyway) very end fuselage section behind the rear gunner, where the guns are mounted: some kind of green (maybe olive drab - for anti-glare reasons ) forward bombardier section: sidewalls seem to have the same brown-green fabric cover like the cockpit/navigator sections; very forward frame where the clear nose is mounted seems to be aluminium bulkheads: generally aluminium, but the forward bulkhead between the bombardier and cockpit section seems to be painted in - maybe - bronze green dorsal Martin 250CE turret: black/dark grey; though on the photos of the faded Flak Bait turret, the armour shields apparently are in some kind of green (maybe again olive drab ) The color topic remains exciting, so any additional information is higly welcomed. Cheers Alex

Very nice! Reminds me of the old PC game Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl Cheers Alex

Very nice Even though it's in plain sight, I'm still not entierly sure how to interprete some interior colors, especially at the bombardier section. I thought to do most in aluminium, but apparently it was at least partially painted in ... well ... maybe bronze green? Or grey? https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6j910hu3y308ged/AAAYV1_LjHDPlPwNlbNck8Mea/DSC_0624.jpg?dl=0

I once thought about metal 3d printing, and uploaded the file on www.3dhubs.com. Two pieces would cost 212 € in stainless steel. Aluminium would be a bargain for only 180 € Since my current landing gear stayed stable so far, and shows no signs of material fatigue, I'll continue with them. In the worst case, I can still switch to stronger alternative.

Thanks guys, very encouraging! I take that as a compliment

Thanks, Jason! I regarded a 2mm hard spring steel rod as necassary. But I was in no way able to bend one single rod tight and precise enough at the three 90 degree corners. Now thinking about it, I guess a combination of steel tubing with 2mm inner diameter as connector, 2mm spring steel rod sections for the straight areas, and some more easily bendable 2mm rods (brass?) for the corners, all jacketed with printed resin halves, could work and would be much stronger than my recent effort. Let's see, maybe I'll give this a try. Until now, the model stands stable on its legs.. Cheers Alex

Thanks, Mark! I know what you mean. I printed the parts with a resin that is advertised to be very strong. After all parts were glued together, I put some more liquid resin at the seams and put it under UV light to cure. Now, It's more or less one single resin part with steel-rods within. I'll watch it for some time and hope that is stays stable, especially at the weak point you mentioned. One nice thing is that the balance can now be checked to prevent tail sitting. Until now, the necessary counterweight at the area forward of the main landing gear has only been roughly calculated. Now, with most weight-relevant parts provisionally attached, it already stands like it should. And the resin engines and the forward landing gear isn't attached yet, so I think at least regarding that aspect I'm safe. The weight on the nose landing gear will be minimal, so a fully printed nose gear without metal-rod-enforcement should be fully sufficient. Cheers Alex

Interesting project That's my philosophy too

Thanks guys! I think you are right, if everything else fails, a metal landing gear would be a reasonable investition. Meanwhile, I provisionally pluged the steel-rod-enforced legs and the small support struts into the the designated openings in the wheel wells for a first test. And right now, it looks promising. Not bending visible I'll leave it like this for a while to see if it stays stable. Cheers ALex