Second Attempt at HKM B-17G With Some Minor Improvements.

[fozzy]

much better now SD!

[Silver Dollar]

Thanks fozzy.  Wait until it's painted and I put on the washes.  Things will show up a lot better.  

Edited February 28, 2014 by Silver Dollar

[Loic]

[Roy vd M.]

Real nice job on the rivets! 

[marauderdriver]

Hey SD,

 

  You have to swap ends of the frame to make the angle brackets face the correct direction..............I just cut the top brackets off and swap ends

Check with you references and see.

I found it in Sqd Wal rd and some one posted it a while back.  Please check

Edited February 28, 2014 by marauderdriver

[Silver Dollar]

Thanks Jack.  Now I know why my frame doesn't match my research pics.  It should be an easy job with my razor saw.  

[Silver Dollar]

Hey SD,

 

  You have to swap ends of the frame to make the angle brackets face the correct direction..............I just cut the top brackets off and swap ends

Check with you references and see.

I found it in Sqd Wal rd and some one posted it a while back.  Please check.

I just got done with the swap.  I took a good look at the rest of the structures and now I see I've made more work for myself.  There are visible brackets all over the bomb bay bulkheads and sides and I'm going to have to add all of them including the extra structure that belongs on the sides.  Why spend so much time on the bay?  It's the only compartment on the plane that will be totally visible.  It'll be worth putting in the extra time.  

[Silver Dollar]

It's time for some more minor cosmetic surgery.  Checking my research, the detail on the bomb bay side walls is not correct.  I couldn't leave it that way while I did so much work on the center frame thinking it would detract from the whole effect.  

 

The photo shows where I'm going with this set of pieces.  Originally, I was going to paint the framework bars interior green and foil the rest of the piece.  Instead, I'm going to build out the side framework, remake the electrical box located toward the nose, and then have the background in foil.  

 

You can see where I cut away the molded frame.  Until the next installment, I'll be working out my details.  More progress shots to come.   

[marauderdriver]

Well SD,

 

   I wasn't trying to make more work for you. but I saw your pictures with the metal plates and knew you needed to look

 

   this swap.  Someone posted it in one of the other B-17 threads and I remember posting it to Nigel on his LSP build.

 

  I couldn't find the info on my thread ,but knew I had a pic in my file and wanted you to know before you "Riveted" anything.

 

  Again I apologize for any extra work I may have caused.

 

  We have a B-17 & TP-51 coming to town next week-end.................same day as RiverConIII 

 

  I know the bomb bay is in Good Hands

 

    Jack  

[geedubelyer]

Sharp work SD.

 

As an alternative to soda can aluminium you might consider the foil that wraps some wine bottle corks. Not so much the screw top bottles as that stuff is even tougher than soda can alu.

If you can find a bottle with the softer foil closure then that stuff is very easy to use. It cuts simply with scissors and takes surface detailling like rivets well too. For non stuctural work it's easy peasy. HTH

 

P.S, it makes great cloth too for things like seat belts, interior sound deadening or insulation (some foil on fizzy wines is even embossed with a diamond pattern), tarps, etc.

Edited March 2, 2014 by geedubelyer

[Silver Dollar]

@Jack.  Have no worries.  There's absolutely no reason for any apology, Jack.  You didn't cause me any extra work at all.  The swap took me all of 5 minutes to do and it was very stable.  You'd never know it was swapped.  As far as the side walls, I could have easily left that alone but It's something I really wanted to do and I'm glad.  I saw someone else's work on another site (dang if I can remember which one) who did the alterations on the side walls and it looked so much better than the stock piece, I just had to go the extra mile.  I checked all my research and found out that the stock pieces were all wrong anyway.  You didn't cause me more work, you actually did me a huge favor by showing me the corrected part and for that I owe you a big thanks.  Keep on doing that.  It's one of the reasons I post on here anyway.  

 

@geedubelyer  Thanks for the tip on that foil.  The only problem I have with that is I can't drink wine so I don't have access to that kind of foil.  I'm allergic to alcoholic drinks.  Go figure.  I use the soda can aluminum because I have so dang much of it and what I don't use goes into recycles.  I see that kind of foil on fizzy grape juice but I'm pre diabetic and the sugar sends me into fits.  I can't even eat a good cannoli anymore and that's a big tragedy for me. I figure I might as well recycle the stuff to myself. It also cuts easily with scissors, takes riveting beautifully and I can bend it and straighten it out as much as I want.  With the amount of diet soda I drink, I'll never run out of the stuff.  I will however look out for foil like the material on wine bottles anyway because a foil with that kind of weight is very useful in many other ways.  Again, thanks for the tip.  

Edited March 2, 2014 by Silver Dollar

[Silver Dollar]

  I saw someone else's work on another site (dang if I can remember which one) who did the alterations on the side walls and it looked so much better than the stock piece, I just had to go the extra mile.

I took a quick look and I found out which site I found the detail on.  It was right here on LSP.  It was the outstanding B-17 done by our good friend Michael (Elmarriachi) .   Credit must go where credit is due.  Thanks Michael.  

[Heavens Eagle]

Watching this thread with interest SD. As to the foil stuff, you can anneal the aluminum with some heat, just be careful as it can melt too. Another source I fond was the foil can seals on Blue Diamond Almonds. It has a bump pattern that easily smooths out and then is similar to the wine cork foil but with some body to it.

 

There is a long thread out there on the restoration of the Duxford museum disply B-17 that has hundreds of good detail photos. Don't have the link here, but should show up on a search.

[Silver Dollar]

Thanks HE.  I don't drink wine but I do eat Blue Diamond almonds so I'll keep an eye out for it.  The stiffness of the aluminum can material is perfect for the brackets. but a bit too stiff for some other applications like fabric.  That's where the really heavy foil works best.  I did manage to find some Reynold's Wrap heavy gauge foil.  It's good for a number of applications but it's not as good as the wine bottle foil for a few other things.  I've got a technique for diamond pattern foil for insulation that I'm working on but I won't share that just yet in case it doesn't work.  If it does work, jI'll definitely put it into the tip forum.  

 

I'm also going to check out the link for the Duxford restoration.  You can never have too many research pictures. 

[Silver Dollar]

As I mentioned earlier, I've been working on the sidewalls of the bomb bay.  I removed all detail except the bomb rack and added new detail with square styrene rods, aluminum foil and soda can brackets.  If you remember, I take progress shots to see where I need to do some corrections.  Here's a shot with the original part side by side with the remade wall.  I'll still need to add my washes and the main wiring but that needs to be done with the part in the fuselage.

 

For the most part, everything looks fairly good.  I'll need to smooth the foil some more, clean up the edges where the framework meets the foil, add the washes for depth, do a little to make the rivets pop a bit more and anything else I can see.  More to come.