Any definitive corrections to the HK B-17 nose in sight?

[Thunderbolt]

2 hours ago, Tnarg said:

One response to the nose issue of the B-17 might include the following steps:

 

1) Cover an appropriate section of the side front right fuselage with resin and cast an impression of the detail.

2) Vac form several copies of that section of the right (or left) side of the front fuselage.

3) Trim the edges of the vac formed sections rather irregularly as if cut by a torch.

4) Paint or finish the section as per the prototype (natural metal or an appropriate color).

5) Decal with your choice of nose art.

6) Hang up on a scale wall of a nose art museum.

 

There you have it. Many versions of the B-17. Add a B-25 and B-24 to the collection since they have similar alternatives for interesting nose art.

 

Doesn't fix the problems with the kits, but lets you build and store a lot more projects than the other way.

 

(Dodging incoming flak)

 

Tnarg

 

"I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul." 

[Thunderbolt]

32 minutes ago, Jennings Heilig said:

1. Invent cold fusion. Perfect electrical power generation using it. Make it ubiquitous around the world.

 

2. Fix HK B-17 nose.

 

that whole cold fusion thing sounds easier 

[CATCplSlade]

On 5/5/2019 at 11:45 AM, DeanKB said:

How do you know expensive items sell very, very well? 

 

 

Jaguar

Rolls-Royce

BMW

Mercedes-Benz

Cadillac

Tesla

Coach bags

Beats headphones

Millennium Falcon Perfect Edition 

Apple products

and on and on.

 

Lots of expensive things sell very well.

[thierry laurent]

This globally depends on the definition of 'sell well'! If your goal is to sell tons of cars, you should rather produce Fords (not GT ones) rather than Cadillacs. If your goal is simply to be profitable, this can be quite different... 

[Thunderbolt]

a Zoukei-Mura SWS B-17 would probably be 450 bucks and worth every penny. 

 

They seem to have both the enthusiasm and capabilities to do it right. 

 

I think I'll shoot them an email and see what they say. 

Edited June 4, 2019 by thunderbolt1988

[DeanKB]

2 hours ago, CATCplSlade said:

 

Jaguar

Rolls-Royce

BMW

Mercedes-Benz

Cadillac

Tesla

Coach bags

Beats headphones

Millennium Falcon Perfect Edition 

Apple products

and on and on.

 

Lots of expensive things sell very well.

The context was 1/32 aeroplane modelling - quoting Mercedes & BMW is a hell of a stretch!

[Thunderbolt]

10 minutes ago, DeanKB said:

The context was 1/32 aeroplane modelling - quoting Mercedes & BMW is a hell of a stretch!

 

and the context remains so

 

no hijacking of thread plz

[Juggernut]

Iain (32SIG) did a B-17G and flattened the area in front of the windscreen by, I believe, sanding/reshaping.  Here's the WIP thread:

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/64220-b-17g-a-bit-o-lace/page/7/

[Thunderbolt]

1 hour ago, Juggernut said:

Iain (32SIG) did a B-17G and flattened the area in front of the windscreen by, I believe, sanding/reshaping.  Here's the WIP thread:

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/64220-b-17g-a-bit-o-lace/page/7/

I saw. Looks unfinished and unclear if surgery was involved or if he sanded it down and used putty to re-contour the nose 

[brahman104]

10 hours ago, thunderbolt1988 said:

 

Your imagination and skill are quite incredible! Good luck with the rest of your project...how much longer do you think you'll need?

 

I wonder what your thoughts are on my own proposed approach to correcting the nose (for a late-war B-17G)

 

1. Fix nose to the fuselage 

2. remove upper third of nose just aft of bubble as one unit (section should be neatly inline with turtleneck)

3. with obstructing round nose plastic now clear, modify windscreen until achieved result is desired, fixing everything to cockpit roof (or maybe fix windscreen after nose has been rebuilt, would have to trial this in vivo; I do not yet own a kit)

4. thin excised upper third of nose from underneath until it is flexible enough to be flexible and therefore flattenable  

5. remove 1 mm plastic along the full length of the both lateral aspects of the excised upper third section (so that when one reattaches this section to the lower 2/3 of the nose, it can only sit flush if it loses significant curvature)

6. gradually refit the removed third to fit the corrected windscreen, then attach 

7. plasticcard/putty/sand/rescribe/etc.

 

thoughts? 

 

Thanks mate. It's been quite a journey, no idea how long it will take yet, especially as I am covering it in metal as well........

 

Your plan, as much as I can work out sounds feasible. Hard to do it without pics. To me, it's not so much the flattening of the nose that is the challenge as making the windscreen look right afterwards. The HK windscreen has been squashed to fit due to the extra height of the nose so to do it right you'll be wanting to bin the whole piece, which then means your instrument panel also has to be reworked. 

 

By all means go for it and I wish you luck, but there's some other very subtle lines that are critical in my eye to achieving the look. At the end of the day it's a model and if you're happy with it then that's all that matters. ANY B-17 build I will follow with great interest!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

[Juggernut]

26 minutes ago, thunderbolt1988 said:

I saw. Looks unfinished and unclear if surgery was involved or if he sanded it down and used putty to re-contour the nose 

 

Fortunately, he's a moderator here so you can pm him and ask what he did.

 

I don't think he modified the instrument panel so my thoughts are he just recontoured the nose.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Juggernut

[Thunderbolt]

1 hour ago, brahman104 said:

 

By all means go for it and I wish you luck, but there's some other very subtle lines that are critical in my eye to achieving the look. 

 

Thank you for your reply. What are these other very subtle lines you speak of?

[vince14]

13 hours ago, thunderbolt1988 said:

an SWS B-17 would probably be 450 bucks and worth every penny. 

 

They seem to have both the enthusiasm and capabilities to do it right. 

 

I think I'll shoot them an email and see what they say. 

Who are SWS? If you mean WNW, by all means send them an email. I assure you that the reply will be 'Thanks for your interest, we still have many WWI subjects to kit first though' as that's their standard response.

 

I really wouln't hold your breath for a future WNW B-17 (or any other non-WWI subject after the Lanc).

[brahman104]

10 hours ago, thunderbolt1988 said:

 

Thank you for your reply. What are these other very subtle lines you speak of?

 

I can't recall if you said you had access to the original drawings or not, but I'll be going back to check these again soon when I start to draw up my new nose correction for HK kit (don't have a timeline on this, but it won't be for a while). I'm pretty sure that due to the round shape at the #3, it throws out all the other dimensions down to the nose (not shape - yes the other ones forward are round). I'm pretty sure this makes the nose transparency too big (again I'll have to check this). I'm not even sure if #4 bulkhead is even the correct dimensions, but it has far less effect on the shape than the ones forward.

 

Most people focus on the #3, which is understandable as it's the most glaringly wrong, but there is also the fairing that sits along and under the cockpit side windows and the one that runs under the actual windscreen; because #3 is wrong, these are wrong too. Does it matter to everyone? Absolutely not. It is a wonderful kit and I am not trying to criticize anyone who has built it straight from the box. I personally am choosing to do something about it because I feel I can; my opinion is definitely NOT law!

 

My recommendation is to study closely photos that are taken at or slightly above cockpit level and compare them to the HK kit as it stands; you might see what I'm talking about. Also, compare the HK kit to the lines of the 1/48 Monogram offering; in my opinion they nailed it. Also have a look at an article written by Paul Budzik on the B-17F and note his efforts on the windscreen.

 

 

Apologies to the photographer, I am only borrowing this photo to illustrate a point

 

At the end of the day mate, as I've said, it's really up to you how far you go. It's a very, very deep rabbit hole to go down if you want to pursue perfection. Honestly, I think for most people, what Iain is doing with his putty efforts is by far the most practical. Good luck with whichever way you go!

 

Craig

 

[LSP_Kevin]

2 hours ago, vince14 said:

Who are SWS?

 

I suspect this refers to Zoukei-Mura's Super Wing Series, usually abbreviated to SWS.

 

Kev