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HK B-17 WIP Part 1


moldmkr78

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Thanks for the comments everybody!

 

Well, I finally got 'er buttoned up....It went together very well. The majority of the seams closed up with zero gap. The only place I had a problem was behind the tail wheel well. I needed about a .010 x .5 in long filler to closed the gap.

It's a shame that all of the interior detail will be closed up. In the photos below, the superstructure is just placed on top of the fuselage. I'm undecided whether I should leave it removable to show the interior. What do you all think?

 

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This thing is massive compared to my Tamiya Spitfire:

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And the Trumpeter F4U1A:

15707717222_ce8c937926_c.jpg

 

And a Tamiya A6M5 Zero:

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I think I'm past the halfway point. It seems things will get a lot easier from here. At least the bulk of the PE is over.  :mental:

Next up: The Ball Turret, Top Turret, Chin Turret... then on to the engines!

 

It's been a fun build so far. I've learned a lot building this beast, both about modeling and B-17's.

 

Thanks for looking!!

Edited by moldmkr78
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  • 3 months later...

Hello everybody! 

 

I thought I would post an update as I have made a bit of progress on my B-17. Strangely enough, I'm finding that I really enjoy doing the really small Eduard stuff. There's a ton of it on the engines, and I got thru all 4 of them with my sanity intact and craving some more.  :mental:

 

The Landing Gear Bays

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16282745108_04ccb1ab61_c.jpg

 

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The Ball Turret - Using slightly modified Eduard components

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The completed Front Nose Compartment

16284547357_5060f233df_c.jpg

 

16282747248_f45e54df84_c.jpg

 

16284548427_a6ab48a04a_c.jpg

 

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View From the top

15850367733_62894b57b5_c.jpg

 

 

 

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One more from the Front

16470443785_3afd5615da_c.jpg

 

I had to build a paint booth to paint this thing in. It's 36 inches wide by 22 inches deep!

16282750138_b0204561ba_c.jpg

 

I shoulda made it bigger!

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I decided that if I was going to put this much work into the interior and then close it up, I should at least make it as visible as I can. So I illuminated it!

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The Radio Compartment

15850371463_d2978cd9a6_c.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Everybody! Thanks for looking! This has been a long but gratifying build. I'm over a year into it now, and closing on 300 hours as the only thing on my bench. Fortunately, there are so many sub-assemblies that it builds like a bunch of small kits that assemble in to one LARGE monster.

 

The Engines, which were the last major sub-assemblies, were just completed last night! It's all exterior finishing from here on - NOT my favorite thing to do.

On to the Engines!

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Like I said, lots of really small PE on the Engines, 36 of these plus 100 more small bits to be folded up and glued on! 

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These Engine Cowl Support Ring Brackets were a real joy to glue on. I didn't lose a single one!

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Painted with Alclad Steel on the Cylinder Heads with the lower heads finished with a Black Sharpie. The Valve Covers are Alclad Aluminum

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The Eduard PE Ignition Wires are a bit one dimensional, but they look ok after being blackened up with the trusty ol' Sharpie.

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16469504472_d097d11d91_c.jpg

Edited by moldmkr78
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Hi Scott,

 

Fantastic work so far on this epic build of yours. I've just started one myself and know I have a very long road to go with mine. Some very inspirational work you've got going on here. You know when I was reading the first page I was going to suggest you might want to put lights in it to show off all your hard work, and then there it was, you'd already done it!

 

Tell me what did you use for the lighting? Was it LED or incandescent? How many did you put in it and where are you going to run the power to? 

 

Sorry for all the questions but I'm thinking about doing the same for mine. I'm personally a fan of the "Nano" sized LEDs they make for railroading; they're a challenge to solder but they are incredible once they're working!

 

I also like what you've done for the chipping of the paint in the interior, especially around the landing gear bays. 

 

Lastly, I really like those little headsets you've got in each compartment. How did you make them?

 

Keep up the great work mate,

 

Craig

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Hi Scott,

 

Fantastic work so far on this epic build of yours. I've just started one myself and know I have a very long road to go with mine. Some very inspirational work you've got going on here. You know when I was reading the first page I was going to suggest you might want to put lights in it to show off all your hard work, and then there it was, you'd already done it!

 

Tell me what did you use for the lighting? Was it LED or incandescent? How many did you put in it and where are you going to run the power to? 

 

Sorry for all the questions but I'm thinking about doing the same for mine. I'm personally a fan of the "Nano" sized LEDs they make for railroading; they're a challenge to solder but they are incredible once they're working!

 

I also like what you've done for the chipping of the paint in the interior, especially around the landing gear bays. 

 

Lastly, I really like those little headsets you've got in each compartment. How did you make them?

 

Keep up the great work mate,

 

Craig

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the kind comments. Great minds think alike on the lighting eh? :)

 

The headsets are an Eduard PE component. Folded, bent and colored with a Black Sharpie. I added the small wire to connect it to the radio box.

 

The lights are LED's sourced from here:

 

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html

 

They are excellent to deal with and make great products. The lights and switch are fully wired and ready to go. Simply twist the ends of the wires together and you're done.

I used the Chip LED's and the Mega LED's. The battery and switch fit inside the Lower Hatch in the nose of the aircraft so they will be hidden when on display.

15857957023_1381b6c5e9_c.jpg

 

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For the chipping in the Landing Gear Bay; After primer, I first sprayed with Alclad Polished Aluminum, waited till dry, then coated with Micro Mask (you can see the blue tint):

16291802019_49d4e66301_c.jpg

 

Next I painted with MM Dark Green:

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Waited till dry, then went to work under the bathroom faucet with warm water and a stiff acid brush:

16476320751_84d213668d_c.jpg

 

And kept at it until I achieved the look I was going for:

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Next I went to work with washes and pigments until I got a pretty dirty Bay:

16291805239_56eb2c0437_c.jpg

 

 

16290804910_d26df215e0_c.jpg

 

Finished! Making stuff look really dirty is turning out to be a lot of fun!

16477237192_d2ac66ba0a_c.jpg

Edited by moldmkr78
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