fightnjoe Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 truely a stunning work of art. incredible. joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Cross Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 A stunning work of the imagination. Thanks for sharing this with us. Can't wait to see it finished (please start a new thread when you are done in the "Ready for Inspection" section so we don't miss it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradG Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Man that's looking sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Awesome - the result is very realistic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chango Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 (edited) This thread is responsible for making me 300 bucks poorer, HK Models and my hobby shop 300 bucks richer and my wife 30% angrier than usual ! Truly an inspirational piece of work and proof that you don't need to spend another 300 bucks in aftermarket PE/parts to get something amazing! Edited August 8, 2013 by Chango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 This thread is absolutely amazing. I don't even know how you pulled most of this off. It is great though, very inspirational. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I've been following this build for a while, and I cannot add any more than has been said here- Simply amazing work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Wow Rich, what a pheonomal updat. I totally like how you created the damage vertical tail. This is going to be a master piece in any collection. Totally awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 *update 14th August 2013* Hi guys! Well, that special moment has come where I realized there is little more I can add to the Fort. So as of now, I am calling it 99% done! There's a couple of aerials I can add, plus I need to detail the large radio room roof window (removable on the real thing so I'll have it removed & lying on the ground). So I'm going to post up some pics - I'd really appreciate it if you find any glaring errors to let me know - now is the time to fix them! I've got just under 3 months until the Nationals and next up will be the diorama - which means buying / creating / painting some figures and doing some groundwork. Until the diorama is complete I can't call the Fortress 'complete' really as everything is interconnected... so once I really have finished I'll create a 'ready for inspection' thread - with the moderators' permission of course as strictly speaking this isn't just an LSP build. I will be updating the 'non-LSP works' thread about the wrecker / trailer with some diorama build pics etc. in the coming weeks.. OK - to business. One of the very few parts I cannibalized from the HK Models test shot I had was the tail wheel assembly - HK provides this with a bulged tyre, so, I simply built up the bulged bit again with plastic card & blended it in: Here it is attached - dust & dirt added from MiG pigments: I also needed to make the rear crew access door, which I did from a piece of pewter & some heat-formed plastic card - here it is prior to painting & window installation: And in place: My reference pics showed the real Fort fuselages resting on a tonne of wooden dunnage & other crap on the back of the trailer - I replicated this effect with some chopped up balsa (bulk buy from the Model Zone liquidation sale!) - stained with oils & drybrushed etc it makes a nice cradle for the fuselage to sit on: The fuselage was attached to the trailer with a suitable screw - I drilled right through the bottom of the trailer into the bomb bay - as this area is hidden & un-detailed it was no biggie: Waist gun windows were made with clear thermaform which was bent to shape after immersion in boiling water. It took a few attempts but I was (kind of) happy with the results. I had a full set of transparencies - two actually - from the HK kit, but unfortunately, as discussed in earlier posts, my build and the kit don't match up in terms of dimensions... It looks horribly distorted & dusty here (damned macro images!) but in real life if about as clear as I can get it. The waist guns were mounted at the same time. I attached those with normal plastic cement, and the transparencies with Gator's Grip Acrylic glue (good stuff!): Before the fuselage was attached to the trailer, I of course has to finish the painting & weathering. I wasn't happy with the decals, so I hand painted everything except the pin-up girl. Here's the name & mission markings - the name was painted using the custom masks, the mission markings and all gun-station names were painted freehand. And here's the pin-up girl. I was happy with the decal for this one, and in the end got it looking nice! It was semi-transparent & shows up the weathering of the aircraft's skin nicely for a realistic effect. I sealed it in (and at the same time sprayed the entire front section) with Testor's Dullcote for a nice, flat finish. shepard and Rainer Hoffmann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 OMFG ! Can't say enough about this epic undertaking. Rock on Dude !..............Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Final details like these formation lights and the antenna were added: That final skin panel was attached: and the top turret finally fixed in place: The problem of the vac kit's crappy astrodome was fixed when I found out that this was sometimes retrofitted in the field with a flat piece of perspex (also note in front of that another piece salvaged from the HK kit, namely the AN/ARR-1 antenna) I also attached one of the final pieces, the Norden bombsight. I scratched the hot air defrosting pipe system as well, which is always missing from restored aircraft (and the HK kit incidentally) - the nose transparency is from the vac kit - I wasn't at all happy with its clarity, and even with a couple of coats of Klear it doesn't loook great...oh well. At least it fits! I had a spare HK one which I smashed up and tried to replicate the same effect - unfortunately it's extremely thick (and also has the correct profile and shape - something I'm afraid mine doesn't) so it doesn't really fit onto my kit's nose... This pic also shows the chin turret attached. I made the flash eliminators for the guns from rolled up bits of pewter. On the real aircraft, these were added as early Fort crews found the continued flash & shock from firing those big guns could crack the nose glass. I also kind of solved a problem I had with the destroyed tail cone - if you look inside there's a big void where no doubt I could have added some more detail. I created a bunch of cabling to hang down from the ceiling and made sure the twisted metal hid a lot of what's visible. Nevertheless, if you look inside in strong enough light I think you can see a pleasing enough representation of what's really there...in any case I'm happy with it: Right - enough teasing! Here's some walkaround pics, taken in natural light... Edited August 14, 2013 by richdlc Rainer Hoffmann, shepard and Bozzaroo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparzanza Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) That is fawking fabulous! I do enjoy the close-ups, but I can't wait to see the entire thing from a little distance! EDIT: Haha, you posted some walkarounds just as I posted this. That is some amazing work. I am truly in awe. Edited August 14, 2013 by Sparzanza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 (edited) Edited August 14, 2013 by richdlc Bozzaroo and shepard 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richdlc Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 That's about it for now... as I say I will be updating the trailer/truck build thread with progress shots from the diorama. Oh yes - I will be securing the Fort to the trailer with some chains / tie downs / ratchets or what have you - can't just have it sitting there! Until next time, thanks for looking Rich Bozzaroo and Out2gtcha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cees Broere Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Iconic, utterly fantastic. What are you going to do with the HK Modes test shot? Build it? Cees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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