Revell Boeing B17G Flying Fortress

[kpnuts]

Revell B17 I'm going to try and do this as a cutaway model, first thing I notice(planes are not my normal thing) checking on photos of the real thing the callout colourwise for the bomb bay (which is the first part on the instructions is wrong) it says the bombs are olive green which is what I've done them and when I look at pics of the bombs they are a medium green not the nearly black as you can see from the pics, the olive green I've done them (I'm using Vallejo air paints ) also they have yellow banding which seems to vary according to which picture you look at, some have 3 bands in the middle some have one in the middle others have one at the tip and a silver tip in front of that. I wouldn't normally worry too much about that but if I'm doing this as a cutaway it needs to be more accurate, help please.

[vamach1]

Hopefully there are some military modeling experts out there.  My dad flew a B-17 and I was was to make a kit of one I'd go to IPMS meetings, search old FSM issues and check for books on the real planes or how-to modeling books.   This is one plane that has been covered hundreds of times (as opposed to say building an obscure 1 of 1 show car) and there should be many resources on-line to help with the correct colors.  Needless to to say there are dozens of variations of B-17's if you factor in color, where they were stationed, and early versus closer to end of the war production, etc.  If you doing a Memphis Belle you're in luck since it is the most famous early B-17.  My dad flew a dozen different ones on 30 missions in 44/45 (out of England) and each plane was probably a little different.  He took some flak hits but got home safely every time.

[Mike999]

This site has a printable bomb chart, explaining the color of the bombs and the bands on them.  Also lots of other info on WWII Allied bombs.

http://www.303rdbg.com/bombs.html

Edited April 23, 2019 by Mike999
goof

[vamach1]

If you ever get to take a flight on a B-17 do it.  $400 or more may seem like a lot but I could go anywhere in the plane, stuck my head out the roof at 200+ mph, saw a P-51 fly next to us and sat behind the pilot on the takeoff and landing.   Priceless.

[1930fordpickup]

Re that would be awesome. They are here every now and then for this ride.  I live about 40 minutes from Willow Run where they built the B-24 Liberator. 

[kpnuts]

Thanks guys.

Hi all bit more done to this, trying out some aluminium foil on the inside to see the effect before I try it on the outside, i must say I think it looks quite good.

[bisc63]

Off to a great start!

[kpnuts]

Hi all well made more progress on the interior, loads more to do (there's a lot of detail in this kit) I'm wondering wether to add some lighting to the internals, its quite dark even without adding the side with the cut outs in.

Done some of the exterior paint ( not my best work as I'm using a brush since my compressor is dead)

[stavanzer]

Man, I'd glue those fuselage halves together real soon. That Seam down the middle is a huge pain to sand and smooth. Best not to get much more work on the outside until that is done.

[kpnuts]

Is there any way of getting rid of the white stuff you get with superglue, I ask because I'm trying to do the belly turret on the plane which is moulded in clear I'm using Revell clear glue and it just keeps coming apart when I'm handling it whilst trying to paint it (incidentally how do you manage that it's almost impossible I've had to take it off a load of times as the paint seeps under the masking tape and my hands arnt steady enough to do it free hand) anyway i was thinking of gluing it with superglue if I could get rid of the white vapour stuff you get with it.

[mustang1989]

8 minutes ago, kpnuts said:

Is there any way of getting rid of the white stuff you get with superglue, I ask because I'm trying to do the belly turret on the plane which is moulded in clear I'm using Revell clear glue and it just keeps coming apart when I'm handling it whilst trying to paint it (incidentally how do you manage that it's almost impossible I've had to take it off a load of times as the paint seeps under the masking tape and my hands arnt steady enough to do it free hand) anyway i was thinking of gluing it with superglue if I could get rid of the white vapour stuff you get with it.

Dip  clear parts into Future, set aside and allow to dry. After you've masked and painted you can glue the halves together. That milky/ cloudy film is a result of the CA glue fumes reacting with the clear plastic parts. The Future will prevent that from happening.

[mustang1989]

On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 10:04 PM, vamach1 said:

If you ever get to take a flight on a B-17 do it.  $400 or more may seem like a lot but I could go anywhere in the plane, stuck my head out the roof at 200+ mph, saw a P-51 fly next to us and sat behind the pilot on the takeoff and landing.   Priceless.

I'd love to get a ride in one of these things. Must've been awesome. As a side note-that 6:49 long video in the lower R/H corner of your picture references a truly powerful story.  If you like to read, pick up a copy of "A Higher Call". Long story short (and there's really no spoiler here as the whole book is just awesome) The pilot in the Bf-109 (Franz Stigler) was supposed to shoot that B-17 ( "Ye Old Pub" piloted by Charles Brown) down but couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw the state of the aircraft when he got closer to it. I don't have the words to describe how truly remarkable of a story it is. All I know is if you want to read a really good book then this one's it.

Edited May 6, 2019 by mustang1989

[kpnuts]

Thanks mate.

[vamach1]

4 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

I'd love to get a ride in one of these things. Must've been awesome. As a side note-that 6:49 long video in the lower R/H corner of your picture references a truly powerful story.  If you like to read, pick up a copy of "A Higher Call". Long story short (and there's really no spoiler here as the whole book is just awesome) The pilot in the Bf-109 (Franz Stigler) was supposed to shoot that B-17 ( "Ye Old Pub" piloted by Charles Brown) down but couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw the state of the aircraft when he got closer to it. I don't have the words to describe how truly remarkable of a story it is. All I know is if you want to read a really good book then this one's it.

I am not much of a book reader (except car stuff) but I read A Higher Call cover to cover and enjoyed it very much.  I highly recommend it as well as it gives you a very different perspective about the men who fought on both sides knowing their lives could be taken at any moment by someone not very different from themselves.

[kpnuts]

Hi all well I've finished the interior and closed it up, trying foil on the silver part of it I figure doing the panels individually may look more realistic (that remains to be seen)

[kpnuts]

Let me tell you foiling something like this is no easy task, it's only that I think it looks ok that I'm continuing (put me off planes again) the bit where the wings connect was a real pita (Still not that happy with it) can't see how to make it better, I'm hoping the wings will be easier.

 

There's a lot of detail on the inside of the clear parts which I can't see the point of since when painted you can't see it (I suppose it's another part of building planes) I was really looking forward to the 1/24 Airfix mosquito (was going to ask for it as a birthday prezzie) 

[DPNM]

I think you are doing an excellent job on this considering the cut-away aspect of it and the foil. It's a pretty tall order that looks very nice to me.

Unless I missed it, what scale is this kit? I saw one in 1/48 at Hobby Lobby that piqued my interest next time I have some extra spendable cash for a kit that I wouldn't know what to do with once I built it. The one in 1/48 has a wingspan of over 2 feet. Not sure where I'd display it. Then again, I have been keeping an eye out for a 1/24 Stuka at a reasonable price. The B-17 is my favorite American airplane.

[kpnuts]

Hi thanks mate scale is 1/72 (I started building the Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster, now that is BIG, its in a cupboard somewhere now ) (I really should get that out and finish it, I'd forgotten all about it) 

[ChrisBcritter]

Pretty amazing job, Kenneth!

I've built three of the 1/48 scale B-17s so far; I can't imagine trying to do all that detail in 1/72.

[DPNM]

Thank you for the info. As Christopher said, excellent detail in that scale.

Once this one is done it may be time to take the Lancaster out of it's "hanger" and finish it.

[kpnuts]

Well I'm definitely not going to be any good at planes (will stick to genres I'm more in tune with) (what I don't understand is why planes are so difficult)give me an engine on a bike or car an I can do a half decent job of it, I've worked with them most of my life so know how they should look(maybe that's why the plane engines looks so bad, never even seen one let alone worked on one.

[peteski]

Maybe this model (and the custom modifications you are doing) are bit much?  Building airplane model kits is not much different than any other plastic kit.  Not just as with model car kits, some airplane kits might not be very good (the parts might not fit very well).  I think that if you started with a simpler model airplane kit and build it box-stock (and paint it, not use aluminum foil), would change your mind about airplane model kits.

Model airplanes are entirely different genre of models. There are model forums dedicated to them and lots of experienced modelers. There are techniques they use which might be different than what automotive modelers do. I still say, don't let this model sour you on the airplanes modeling - try a simpler model instead.

[kpnuts]

Thanks peteski

[SSNJim]

There's a guy over on BritModeller that is scratch building a 1/20 B-17G. It started out as just the nose/cockpit section, but then I guess it got out of control. Very interesting and a lot of detail pictures. There's more than these two topics, but here's a couple of links:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235008977-the-continuation-of-my-scratch-built-b17g/

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235033732-continuation-of-my-120-scale-scratch-built-b17g-radio-room/

Maybe you'll find them helpful.

 

[mustang1989]

On ‎5‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 11:39 AM, SSNJim said:

There's a guy over on BritModeller that is scratch building a 1/20 B-17G. It started out as just the nose/cockpit section, but then I guess it got out of control. Very interesting and a lot of detail pictures. There's more than these two topics, but here's a couple of links:

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235008977-the-continuation-of-my-scratch-built-b17g/

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235033732-continuation-of-my-120-scale-scratch-built-b17g-radio-room/

Maybe you'll find them helpful.

 

I know the one you're talking about Jim. He's at Fine Scale Modeler too with a thread on it. That thing is insane.....especially in that scale.