1:18 Scale B-17G Flying Fortress Forward Fuselage

[Finn]

Pat if you are looking for more reference material check here:

 

https://hangarthirteen.org/library/

 

Jari

[JayW]

10 hours ago, tomprobert said:

Wow!! This is just incredible - now you just need to resist the temptation to do the rest of the airframe 

 

What I think about every time I visit this build.  The size would be just untenable - 69 inch by 50 inch by my calculations.  It would half fill my office!   It could however (Pat - listen up) be done in sections or pods.  My 1/18 P-38 is sorta that way - tail booms, outer wings, and center section.  Only human life span would stop you.  

[JayW]

I have a question for the B-17 experts.  Many of us are watching "Masters of the Air", and the show often depicts the top turret and ball turret rotating at an astonishing rate as the gunner tries to lead a passing fighter at high closing speed.  I have to believe turret rotation was done manually somehow, without power assist, which would mean the show is inaccurate in that respect.  Can anyone describe the mechanism for turning the turret? 

Edited February 14 by JayW

[Dennis7423]

28 minutes ago, JayW said:

I have a question for the B-17 experts.  Many of us are watching "Masters of the Air", and the show often depicts the top turret and ball turret rotating at an astonishing rate as the gunner tries to lead a passing fighter at high closing speed.  I have to believe turret rotation was done manually somehow, without power assist, which would mean the show is inaccurate in that respect.  Can anyone describe the mechanism for turning the turret? 

Sure thing Jay! The traverse and rotation of the turrets on a B-17 were done electronically and hydraulically. There was standard speed, and you could "amp it up" for what was essentially emergency power to rotate and traverse rather quickly. In the end, the entire movement mechanisms for both are simply a set of gears. For the ball turret specifically, in the event power was lost, the gunner could rotate the turret by means of a hand crank so that he could exit the turret.

 

The speed at which you see the turrets moving to track fighters in the show is accurate for combat conditions, rather than just scanning for fighters. It's nuanced, but you can see the differences in the show between intense combat and standard flight.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[patricksparks]

4 hours ago, Finn said:

Pat if you are looking for more reference material check here:

 

https://hangarthirteen.org/library/

 

Jari

Thank you Jari, I have been using their sight quite a bit.

Pat

[patricksparks]

6 hours ago, Dennis7423 said:

Looking outstanding! I love this project. And I want one.

 

If you care about accuracy, I should point out that your top turret pedestal isn't accurate to any wartime version of the B-17. When HK first released their B-17G kit, they based their top turret structure off the one inside Sentimental Journey. Save for the upper perspex and the guns, SM's top turret was actually pilfered from a P2V Neptune and retrofitted into their B-17. Their second release, the B-17E/F, had the correct top turret for all models of the B-17. See the attached photos:

 

 

 

 

Another detail feature for those that are curious, if you look at the foot plate on B-17 top turrets, if it has a teardrop-shaped bump on it, then the top turret had direct flow oxygen and did not have an oxygen tank attached to the top turret. If there is no bump, then it should have an oxygen tank fitted. Later F's, and all G's, had direct flow and no oxygen tank affixed to the turret, which was situated under the ammunition boxes.

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

Thanks for the heads up Dennis, according to Hanger Thirteens site the A-1B was installed on the B-17G blocks BO-90 thru BO--110 ?

Pat

Edited February 14 by patricksparks

[Dennis7423]

39 minutes ago, patricksparks said:

Thanks for the heads up Dennis, according to Hanger Thirteens site the A-1B was installed on the B-17G blocks BO-90 thru BO--110 ?

Pat

 

I would take anything that Hangar Thirteen says as gospel as it pertains to B-17's. I've spent much time conversing with their historian, Gerad Blume, about B-17's, and I'm currently building a scale model of Lucky Thirteen in 1/32 for their museum. He sure knows his stuff.

 

As I dug into this more, I located another thread here, from 2016, discussing B-17 turrets. One of the contributors, Karl Hauffe, is the current standing historian for the 100th BG Association. He, too, sure knows his stuff about B-17 turrets! He had this to say:

 

"While I am trying to work out the photo posting issues, I can tell you that there were three variations of the top turret mechanism. The A-1 and A-1A were very similar with some differences in the mechanical systems and the platform (that the gunner stood on) went from round to a smaller, not quite elliptical piece. The A-1B was the type we see in "Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby". That was used in the war as I have seen a photo of one being removed as well as another photo where a pair of turrets (an A-1A and an A-1B) are being transported on base."

 

According to that thread, too, the top turret in the original HK B-17G kit was identical to the one fitted to Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby as she is currently restored.

 

So, it sounds like I am attempting to mislead you, and you should proceed as scheduled! If you are building a late G, it sounds like you're top turret would be applicable.

 

By the way, you wouldn't be interested in making some 1/32 late B-17F cheek gun windows for me, would you? :-p

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

[patricksparks]

1 hour ago, Dennis7423 said:

 

I would take anything that Hangar Thirteen says as gospel as it pertains to B-17's. I've spent much time conversing with their historian, Gerad Blume, about B-17's, and I'm currently building a scale model of Lucky Thirteen in 1/32 for their museum. He sure knows his stuff.

 

As I dug into this more, I located another thread here, from 2016, discussing B-17 turrets. One of the contributors, Karl Hauffe, is the current standing historian for the 100th BG Association. He, too, sure knows his stuff about B-17 turrets! He had this to say:

 

"While I am trying to work out the photo posting issues, I can tell you that there were three variations of the top turret mechanism. The A-1 and A-1A were very similar with some differences in the mechanical systems and the platform (that the gunner stood on) went from round to a smaller, not quite elliptical piece. The A-1B was the type we see in "Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby". That was used in the war as I have seen a photo of one being removed as well as another photo where a pair of turrets (an A-1A and an A-1B) are being transported on base."

 

According to that thread, too, the top turret in the original HK B-17G kit was identical to the one fitted to Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby as she is currently restored.

 

So, it sounds like I am attempting to mislead you, and you should proceed as scheduled! If you are building a late G, it sounds like you're top turret would be applicable.

 

By the way, you wouldn't be interested in making some 1/32 late B-17F cheek gun windows for me, would you? :-p

 

- Dennis S.

   Mount Juliet, TN USA

Thank you Dennis, I appreciate your help.

Pat

[patricksparks]

I think I figured ot a way to make the flexible 50 cal. ammo chutes for the cheek gun installations, I originally drew an individual link that I was thinking about gluing together one at a time... I started to glue some together but they are so tiny that are started think that if I can print the runs of links that are in a particular curve or straight that maybe I could do those as one piece and then add the individual links to fill in the difficult turns and to adjust the lengths established between the ammo boxes and the guns...

Pat

 

[easixpedro]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuu

dge.

 

This whole thing is so cool. I was wondering how you’d do the feed chutes.
 

And as an aside, in MOTA, the feed chutes they’re using came from dumps near the Bloody Hundredths home station. Dang things were likely used on the very missions depicted in the show.

 

I can’t wait to see more. This is literally my favorite build on here right now, which is saying something with all the crazy cool builds.

-Peter

[GMK]

Feed chutes, now?! So good. 

[patricksparks]

A little more work on the upper turret, I got the gun/sight  mount drawn and printed... I'm going to set it aside for awhile and get back to the flight deck and bombardiers/navigater's sections so that I can glue the fuselage halves together,I need to do that before I can apply the aluminum to the airframe..

 

Pat

 

 

 

Started to add some alclad decals to the forward compartment walls...

 

 

[Pete Fleischmann]

Outstanding!!

[Troy Molitor]

Love it Pat.  

[JayW]

Wow!!!  Great 3D print parts.  I know what goes into parts like that.  Alot of research on the config, and alot of digital modeling time.  How is it you are going so quickly?  Takes me forever.