What Else ???? Another HK B-17 Build

[patricksparks]

Beautiful build.

 

I'm glad to see these mods being done, and it's not only me suffering. If it's not too late, you might want to consider thinning out the edges of the slots in the chin turret? They are actually just sheet metal in real life.

 

I can't wait to see your flattened nose..

Thank you, I might thin out the turret walls it's not too late. I think I re-did the turret about 2 months ago and haven't been paying much attention to it now that I'm in the "Belly of the Beast", the Radio compartment and Cockpit have been really eating up my time so far, but they are both just about  finished.

Thanks again, Pat

[Silver Dollar]

Dang, I forgot to thin out the turret walls.  I'll have to remember to do that with the Monogram kit.  

[patricksparks]

A little more progress  this week

[patricksparks]

This is the route I having taken the flatten the area in front of the windscreen, I printed out a copy of the B-17 frame drawing that was posted here on LSP a while back. I took the print and re sized on a copier to match the kit's fuselage diameter at the cross section where the windscreen resides. I then made a pattern and heat draped styrene over it. I cut out the section in front of the cockpit up to the last panel line before the Navigator's dome. The picture below is of the pattern I made, I put a true round in front of it so that you can see the difference in the shape, HK made the fuselage round at the windsreen, it should not be and it does really change the way the front windows look.

Hope this might help some,

Pat

[willysmb43]

very great job.
a good example for my HK

[Silver Dollar]

Absolutely gorgeous interior work, Pat.  Now I'm getting those feelings I want another kit.  You can't beat this with a stick.  

[marauderdriver]

Very nice work both inside and on the "flat spot"

 

 

Jack

[ghatherly]

I like your solution to fix the front fuselage.  It is  a much simpler solution than rebuilding the entire fuselage for those builders wanting to correct the real standout error with the kit.  Keep up the excellent work.

 

Gary

[Jamme]

Nice!

Cheers,

Jamme

[tomprobert]

Wow... that's stunning!

[patricksparks]

I forgot to mention that when you "flatten" the top of the nose section, you have to reduce the height of the lower portion of the windscreen frame that is molded onto the turtle deck. The lower frame will be up in the air quite a bit when the fuselage is flattened, I made this change very simply by sawing a slot into each of the lower front corners from the bottom up, but I did not cut all the way through, I left less than a .060 attached. I then knifed away a little material out of the saw slot and put liquid solvent type glue into the joint/slot and pushed the frame down until it matched the height of the new fuselage top.

Pat

[Guest Nigelr32]

Great work there Pat. I like your simple approach to flattening the nose. I tried what you've done with the screen, but now the bottom edge where the glass sits is too flat in my opinion.

 

Your interior work is stunning, and you work so fast!!

 

Keep the pics coming.

[Guest Nigelr32]

 

 

Another question Pat, where did you find your reference for how the roof looks under the tail? I see you have added card there for extra realism.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Nigelr32

[willysmb43]

This is the route I having taken the flatten the area in front of the windscreen, I printed out a copy of the B-17 frame drawing that was posted here on LSP a while back. I took the print and re sized on a copier to match the kit's fuselage diameter at the cross section where the windscreen resides. I then made a pattern and heat draped styrene over it. I cut out the section in front of the cockpit up to the last panel line before the Navigator's dome. The picture below is of the pattern I made, I put a true round in front of it so that you can see the difference in the shape, HK made the fuselage round at the windsreen, it should not be and it does really change the way the front windows look.

Hope this might help some,

Pat

hello

I do not see where you've cut

[patricksparks]

The black area  in the photos is the new styrene "patch" that I have made, I cut the kit fuselage out parallel to both sides of the cockpit opening, I tried to follow the  existing kit panel lines forward to the last panel line that runs across the top of the fuselage before the Navigator's dome. Hope this might be a little more understandable.

Pat