thierry laurent Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Hi, Does anybody know if that type of small ammunition box has ever been released in 1/32 scale? Photoetched/resin/plastic? https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-u-s-wwii-b-17-b-24-aircraft-50-cal-30-round-ammunition-box-with-inert-rounds I do not remember having ever seen them whereas it looks it was actually a standard type used for .50. Was it the same type used for the nose or waist machine guns of early types of US bombers? Kits typically give large boxes with ammo belts whereas I didn't seen that on early war pictures. One example: http://legendsintheirowntime.com/LiTOT/B17/B17_waistguns.html Thierry BiggTim and Martinnfb 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis7423 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 There are a facsimile of these provided in the HK kit, but as a standalone aftermarket item, I don't believe they ever have been. Until recently, there hasn't been much of a market for them! - Dennis S. Thornton, CO USA BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 Hi Dennis, You're right, there are two small shelves containing three of such ammo cans in the B-17E/F kit. I had not see them before. As it looks only one is required in the nose, it is probably possible to cut the remaining shelf to rebuild individual cans for the two waist M2 guns. They are very basic but this is better than nothing! It looks the old Verlinden diorama showing a section of a B-17 with two waist gunners also has the same ammo box. Unfortunately, I had a look and it seems to be oversized. Moreover that set is OOP and only a single box is included! Too bad nobody considered them. By the way, I'm surprised Eduard did not include them in their B-17 sets. Thierry Dennis7423 and BiggTim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 Hi again, Actually six of such boxes are included in Eduard set 32901 dedicated to the B-17F! BiggTim and Dennis7423 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 Correction: two shelves with three boxes are required in a B-17 nose. This explains the two parts in the HK kit. Dennis7423 and BiggTim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 A good color picture! BiggTim and Bill M. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karl H Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 (edited) The ammo cans you are looking at are from different sources. The small one, which held 30 rounds was a standard military issue item. The larger one, seen on the B-17 waist guns, was a Boeing item and held 100 rounds. These cans were originally used before the advent of the flex chutes. Once those became more readily available, these fixed cans were eliminated. The metal cans were heavy and awkward and quickly fell out of favor. The larger one was specifically designed to be used for the B-17 waist gun, two were provided in a rack just forward of the gun. I have some photos and illustrations, just have to figure out how to post them ;)! EDIT: Okay, here we go. First illustration is from the B-17F Dash 1 showing the two ammo cans provided for the waist guns. There were two on each side. Next photo shows the two cans and the difference in size. Boeing engineering drawing showing their can. And finally, the military issue can. Edited February 26, 2022 by Karl H Add images BiggTim, thierry laurent, Uncarina and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbaldguy Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 Are the smaller cans the same type you often see used on Navy airplanes with flexible guns in the early days of the war like the Dauntless and PBY? BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 Thanks very much! This explains why I thought the Verlinden resin one was oversized! Actually that was just a larger box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis7423 Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 Time to revive this thread! With the proliferation of 3D printing since we last visited this topic, I thought I would bring it back up, especially because I need a bunch of the smaller cans! I've got the Eduard set, but they are quite fiddly. And I need at least 7 of them, and Eduard only has 6. Anyone seen these around yet? - Dennis S. Mount Juliet, TN USA BiggTim and Uncarina 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggTim Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 (edited) I could make that.... Give me a week or so to model it up, then I'll post it and try printing it. Edit: a funny thing I just noticed - the box in the linked phots is made by Armco, the same manufacturer of the revetment walls I'm working on for Bill Cross. Those are nearly done, just having trouble getting the last parts to print correctly. Edited June 17, 2023 by BiggTim CRAZY IVAN5, nmayhew, Dennis7423 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis7423 Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 On 6/16/2023 at 5:01 PM, BiggTim said: I could make that.... Give me a week or so to model it up, then I'll post it and try printing it. Edit: a funny thing I just noticed - the box in the linked phots is made by Armco, the same manufacturer of the revetment walls I'm working on for Bill Cross. Those are nearly done, just having trouble getting the last parts to print correctly. Tim, the world gets smaller every day :-) I'm curious, too, if you would be willing to take a crack at the small, portable green oxygen cylinders? The only place I've ever been able to source them is in a set from Master Details, which are now impossible to find. I need about 20 of those suckers for several projects :-p Brownie points if you can mold them inside the cradle, too! It's the green bottle present in this photo, compliments of my friends over at Hangar Thirteen: - Dennis S. Mount Juliet, TN USA BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggTim Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 Model them, yes, easily. Reproduce them, maybe. To be honest, my biggest imitation right now is my 3D printer. It's getting old, and its quality is lacking compared to the newer 8k printers, so it struggles to print small things like that well. I've already attempted to print the ammo boxes twice, with only limited success. Once printed, casting them is easy, quick, and pretty cheap. I'll add it to my list of things to model up, though I may have to enlist the help of someone with a better printer until I can afford to upgrade. Do you have any reference drawings with dimensional info on them? T Dennis7423 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis7423 Posted June 22, 2023 Share Posted June 22, 2023 1 minute ago, BiggTim said: Model them, yes, easily. Reproduce them, maybe. To be honest, my biggest imitation right now is my 3D printer. It's getting old, and its quality is lacking compared to the newer 8k printers, so it struggles to print small things like that well. I've already attempted to print the ammo boxes twice, with only limited success. Once printed, casting them is easy, quick, and pretty cheap. I'll add it to my list of things to model up, though I may have to enlist the help of someone with a better printer until I can afford to upgrade. Do you have any reference drawings with dimensional info on them? T That all makes perfect sense. I'll check with my guy at Hangar Thirteen, I'm sure he's got some references for them. I'll keep you posted. - Dennis S. Mount Juliet, TN USA BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis7423 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 5 hours ago, BiggTim said: Do you have any reference drawings with dimensional info on them? T I have the dimensions for the small bottles at least. They are 7-5/8 tall, 5-1/4 diameter. The regulator on top of the bottle is 5-15/16 tall by 3-13/32 wide and 2-1/8 thick. All measurements in inches. - Dennis S. Mount Juliet, TN USA BiggTim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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