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Boeing B-17G 'Flying Fortress' (HK Models)


kkarlsen

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Apparently, HK used the plans from the Aero Detail book on the B-17G which look good on paper but are way off.  If you have a copy of that book, you can see the similarities between these drawings and the HK kit.  

 

I've been told the the best drawings of the B-17G that are available are included in a book by Roger Freeman with the drawings done by Watanabe...sorry, the fist name eludes me.  I'm not in my library at the moment so all I know of the title is B-17..., I'll amend this post when I get to my library.

Edited by Juggernut
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Thanks Guy's, sounds a bit like it's a hopeless project... I'm already looking forward to it ;)

 

So, I've been looking for a more promising place to cut the fuselage...

 

0J6J70g.jpg

 

As the interior will be exposed, I moved the cutting line to fit the interior stringers, removing one panel ca. 4-5 mm's. I hope this will make it a bit easier to eliminate the signs of 'surgery'.

 

NeCX9rk.jpg

 

On the outside the cut will go something like this, beginning with 5-6 mm's at the nose down to 4 mm's behind the wing. At the end the cut will come together a little bit more. Well that's the intention at the moment.

 

DMe9UcD.jpg

 

This will also correct the panels beneath the cockpit, which are somewhat too wide.

 

BTW: If anybody has tried to form/bend a kit part using hot/boiling water, please let me know if it is possible?

 

Cheers: Kent

Edited by kkarlsen
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On 6/16/2019 at 4:09 PM, kkarlsen said:

To be honest Craig, I haven''t looked too much at the nose yet. I will 'study' your observations, to see what can be done.

Something has to be done about the 'dropping' though, I'm not quite sure what, but it's necessary to get the glass part to fit, after I have removed some of the bottom part of the nose. 

 

Cheers: Kent

 

I hope that I can provide some useful deductions then! ;) Getting the original nose piece to fit will definitely be a challenge, but I doubt insurmountable for someone of your talents. Not sure if you've come across it yet, but flattening the nose will also mean the windscreen will need replacing as it's too narrow at the very front.....

 

On flattening the nose, perhaps the partial removal of some sections of plastic from the inside will allow enough "give" to reform the plastic without having to resort to heat. Once the desired shape has been established, some strategic application of some high strength epoxy should hold everything in its new place....

 

Thierry is right, this is a massive undertaking, but I think your approach is very novel and if you're prepared to put in the effort, absolutely do-able!

 

Go get em! :)

 

Craig

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1 hour ago, brahman104 said:

flattening the nose will also mean the windscreen will need replacing as it's too narrow at the very front.....

 

Yes I'm aware of that Craig, one problem/solution at a time. I think I will have to scratch the front frame anyways...

 

1 hour ago, thierry laurent said:

One thing is puzzling me: if you are cutting a section of some mm out of the fuselage, it will not have anymore a round section, won't it? Is it the reason why you foresee that use of heat would be required?

 

You are of course right, there will be an issue with that. I will start out by cutting 4-5 mm's max and see how that looks.

I'm trying to keep the cutting as close to the center line as possible to be able to smoothed the effect of that.

 

But I'm in no rush cutting anything up yet, I think I will spend a couple of days on other projects, having this in the back of my head. It's often the best way to prepare...

 

Kent

Edited by kkarlsen
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1 hour ago, kkarlsen said:

But I'm in no rush cutting anything up yet, I think I will spend a couple of days on other projects, having this in the back of my head. It's often the best way to prepare...

 

Kent

The creative process Kent: Investigation........INCUBATION.......Inspiration!!

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I have done hot water bending of IM plastic, but the shape to be fixed cant be out of line that far, and the water needs to be hot but not boiling.  I fixed my 32nd Su-33 MKK wing in that manor, and it worked well. Just have to be VERY careful as to not keep any one part in the water for too long, and make very small adjustments.  

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