1/32 recovered B-17 - UPDATE 12/10/13 - FINISHED - YAY!

[LSP_Kevin]

Rich, this is stunning work my friend. Your scratch-building is superb, and your eye for detail just as good. You can really see how much planning you've put into the interior, and the results are paying off handsomely.

 

Kev

[Tomek]

Quite amazing, Richard ... Love it!

[Guest]

You, sir, are an artiest. Gan't tell you how wonderful all of this is. It's a joy..............Harv

[richdlc]

thanks a lot for the kind comments! It's great to read them so thank you

[LSP_Paul]

Outstanding work Rich, a real labor of love you've got going. Great detailing all the way though it!

 

Keep up the great work,

Paul

[Guest Nigelr32]

That is stunning Rich!!

 

This would be impressive if you were superdetailing an existing kit, but to do it all from scratch, well... what can i say.

[Heico]

Holy C... Some of the pictures are looking like you took them on an actual plane.

[richdlc]

 

*update 14/11/12*

 

Hi everyone - quick update today.

 

I've been concentrating on more details inside the fuselage & have constructed the waist gun ammo boxes, and also one of the waist 0.50 cal machine guns

 

In the real aircraft, the ammo bins were made of wood to keep weight down (as were several other parts of the plane) - I initially made mine from sheet plastic with the intention of using a wood effect decal to finish them - I then figured I would use real wood!

 

I sent off for some samples of thin mahogany sheet from a marquetry company (if you don't know what marquetry is, it's the creation of flat pictures using different pieces of wood) - what I received was some sheets that were around 1mm thick - I basically glued it over the plastic as required. Here's the real one:

 

 

and here's what I ended up with:

 

 

 

 

next I moved on to the waist guns themselves - I started out by seeing what I had in my spares box. I have several Aires 0.50 cals in 1/32, and a 1/35 set by Tasca. The Tasca gun bodies have a better detailed right hand side than the Aires equivalent, so I basically shaved that off and glued it to the Aires body. I then added an Aber brass barrel & cooling jacket, and scratchbuilt the cradle and K-13 computing gunsight from strip, rod, brass and wire. A 1/32 Waldron instrument bezel acts as the flip-up polarized filter in front of the ring & bead sight - I'll add the coloured 'glass' with Klear after I paint the gun.

Here's some shots from the excellent Wings & Wheels Publications book:

 

 

 

[richdlc]

and here's my gun - it was difficult to get the camera to focus so apologies if it's a little hazy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that little lot took me around 10 hours to make.....now I have to make the other waist gun...and I just realised there's two more 0.50 cals in the nose!

 

hope you like it

 

Rich

Edited December 21, 2012 by richdlc

[dodgem37]

Sure puts a smile on my face. Over the top work, Rich.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Marek]

Superb! Fantastic model building

[Guest Peterpools]

Rich

Insane. Just stellar detailing and some incredible work.

Keep 'em coming

Peter :popcorn:

Edited November 15, 2012 by Peterpools

[Tomek]

Very nice, Rich. Pleasure to follow your build!

[Shawn M]

wow, you're going all out on even the smallest details.

Amazing attention to detail.

[richdlc]

*update 20/12/12*

 

Hi everyone - here's possibly my last update for 2012.

 

I've been adding the wealth of details that are found in the rear fuselage interior & tailplane area. I kind of learned my lesson from the Corsair build - ie don't add stuff that won't be seen! This kind of worked...

 

There is a portable generator at the rear of the plane, opposite the rear crew access hatch. On some aircraft it was found in a different location. I went for the former. Here's the real thing:

 

 

and mine:

 

 

 

There was also a chemical toilet next to it - relatively easy to make:

 

 

Through the rear access door (and through the big hole in the port side fuselage) it's possible to see through to the rear of the aircraft - this meant adding the numerous internal bulkheads and the tailwheel assembly - I didn't go mad here, but instead added only the essentials. Here's the real deal (image from the Wings & Wheel Publications book, for illustrative purposes only):

 

 

 

 

 

I also added the 'roof' panel - again this is prominent, and can be seen through various holes and windows in the fuselage - many wires and pipes pass through this in real life - I've added one or two for now, and will have to decide which ones to depict 'damaged' and hanging down and add those at a later stage:

 

 

Rear of the radio room bulkhead - detail added...