Lt. Biggles

Everything is complete. Time to put it all together! Many dry fits, so was pretty smooth! It’s amazing how often everything either shrinks or grows 5% when you apply the glue! But that didn’t happen this time and it all went together quite well! The wings are all ready to go so they also went on and the seam to fill is minimal so I was happy! I did some seam work with putty and sandpaper, rescribed the panel lines, attempted to put the rivets back on but the amount of force needed with the wheel meant I was breaking the glue seal and having to glue again and re fill and sand so I will think about that later.

The internals are finally complete and I’ve done 2 dry fits. There turned out to be quite a lot going on inside this model! Although the parts weren’t very complex, they just needed research and slowly used a lot of time until all the little attachments and sub sections were complete. Then took time to let the oils dry, doing details and dry brushing. Repairing and repainting parts that caught a stray finger or got destroyed by something smashing into it while fitting another part! The usual During the dry fit I found out that the ball turret ammo belts were hitting the door! So filed down the ammo belt and rounded off the corner to so it turns as advertised! Most of the parts aren’t even visible so modifying them isn’t a big issue. Just glad I found them before the fuselage was nicely glued together. I’ll let all the parts sit in the hot water cupboard for one last night of drying. Tomorrow all going to plan will have it all closed up and glued.

Did the cockpit walls, I probably should have continued through to the front and completed the nose interior PE set at the same time. That way I could have primed once and then painted the whole lot. Oh well we learn and it doesn’t matter too much. my first oil panel wash was a light colour so it can brighten it up inside. Once closed up it’s pretty dark. Will see on dry fitting if it needs to have a darker wash. but the set does add some nice details especially for 1/72 scale. Next I’ll add the glass sides of the nose, paint and then do the nose interior set of brass PE, paint again and do an oil wash before applying the instrument and colour printed Detail PE set. I’ve been using Tamiya gloss clear paint to put the colour parts on. It doesn’t dry as quick as CA glue so I don’t have to panic place and hope I can get it into position within 0.2 of a second! I can then add CA to the edges. Once dry I paint with Tamiya Matt clear to lock everything in place.

Thanks, once the entire inside is complete I’ll give it a dry brush.

Made a start on the cockpit. And added the PE parts. I’ve done abit of PE now so it’s not so bad and part of the PE fun is the vague instructions that you have to use so it turns into a puzzle. But not too bad this time around. mixed up what I thought was a bronze green and airbrushed the main PE parts once installed but left the printed parts to put on top separately after the cockpit painting was done. Which was the best idea. Thought for how little can be seen and how dark it is that I’d do a light colour wash. Decided on a light brown. for the cushion I just layered my tamiya tape. And then used CA to glue the seat belts on. I’ll add some slight chipping tomorrow and then do the side walls and then move to competing the front interior. Once that’s done I can close up the fuselage… then it’s well on its way!

Just a quick update, been abit busy at work and then I’ve gone away for the week so haven’t been able to do too much. All the aftermarket things arrived. Eduard cockpit and front interior PE kits, brass barrels, weighted tires, seatbelts and last week the Eduard mask arrived so we are not waiting for anything now! settled on bare aluminium for all inside except cockpit which will be bronze green. So did make a start painting and then have a black wash to dull it down abit. From the bomb bay back to the tail will all be out of the box apart from barrels. So should come together pretty fast I think once I sort out what colours are meant to go where. I’ll try do a plywood colour with rubber walkways for the floor. hopefully next week I can get back into it!

Thanks, I’ve no real time limit so it’s quite fun just taking my time on each section

There were some great reference pics of the internals of the ball turret so decided to add some of them, even though I don’t think it will be visible once done. It was just fun. But it’s complete now and on with the next parts. At this scale it’s getting on the small side but a bigger scale you could really go all out with details I’m sure! Hence why the bullets aren’t quite correct but I don’t know how to replicate them being in the almost clear looking feed. Maybe a fussy white would have been more accurate

Today I started on the ball turret. just 4 pieces inside and glued the two halves together. Put on the Eduard masks and gave it a prime. I thought it would be a quick little part to do… I was wrong! At first I thought the seams were pretty good but the primer showed they needed a lot of work, so trimmed and sanded them down and after the 3rd check I was happy. Next I started on the connecting mechanism, but quickly found out it was too narrow or the ball turret was too wide and so the arms were being splayed out and barely holding it in place. I wasn’t sure if I’d done something wrong so let it sit while I thought about it and decided I’d modify it to fit better. I measured how much I wanted to widen it by and added some plastic to each part and removed the centre pole so that it fit well. Then reattached the centre pole and spent awhile working out how far out of the plane the turret should sit. At this original height it seemed to be protruding a lot more than reference photos showed so trimmed it up till it looked right. Then I let the glue harden before sanding it into shape. Added the ammo boxes and also made an oxygen bottle which I’ll add later. Then test fitted it and gave it a paint. This is how it will look once attached. I also learned during the dry fit that with the ammo boxes on I can’t install it if the two halves of the plane are together! So I’ll have to make sure to install the mechanism before closing it up. But I can remove the turret easily so that’s ok and can put the ball in its place once the undercarriage is on and the painting is complete. Also I’ve not painted the ammo boxes or any of the mechanism that is inside the plane, only the external parts.

Looking great so far! Got to love the look of the spitfire and that instrument panel looks amazing!

Engines are now attached and I’m liking how they look. Now the engines are covered. At first I wanted to do the cowl flaps open. But they just didn’t look right. So closed them up. Decided to start on the bombs next. luckily there are only 4 in the kit! Making 10 or 20 of these guys would really reduce the fun factor! Painted them in olive green so they are abit different than olive drab. And a few lighter shades in there too. Learnt for HE there were two 1 inch yellow lines, one at the front and one at the back. Masking on a curved surface was interesting! But decided to cut the mask to fit between the two lines at the required width then I just had to mask each end with a thin piece of mask and hope for the best! Let them dry over night and then did some weathering to liven them up abit. Left the tail fairly clean, and they will do. Now I really have no choice but to begin on the internals! Let’s hope the Eduard aftermarket PE internals arrives this coming week and on Monday I’ll go get some more paints so I can mix together some green zinc chromite

Sounds like “Operation Upgrade” might be needing to get that smile back on your dial! Technology is nice until it starts to misbehave

Thanks, yea it is a shame the engines and interior will be all invisible. Always so many great details hidden! maybe a future build I’ll do with the engine cowls open. But not on a B-17! I’ll do that when there is only one engine and engine bay to do haha!

I can’t find that first on here in NZ, but I can get Vallejo. I’ve been doing a lot of research and a lot of people saying tamiya 2 parts xf3 yellow and 1 part xf5 green is a good option. So I have got an empty jar and will mix that into its own jar and that can be my cockpit green. I can then add some dark grey or black to darken it and make a bronze green. it would be easier if a company could just make the right shades haha. I have spent hours trying to read things and work out equivalent colours. It’s abit of a nightmare with all the conflicting info. some places say inside is all green others say aluminium and others a mix of the two 😅 It is the part I really enjoy but sometimes there is no answer to be found.

Thanks mate. It’s been awhile! Hope you are doing well

While I wait for the internal aftermarket kits to arrive I’ve begun on the engines. they are not to bad out of the kit. But they are pretty much all hidden under the cowls, otherwise I’d have enjoyed adding details to them. painted them silver and gun metal to give some variety and then a black oil wash. Here are two with the wash and two about to have theirs and it makes a big difference. I don’t have any blue paints apart from my sky blue so decided to try add some dark blue from my acrylic paint set that I use for bits and pieces. I’ve a set of oil paints for all my oil washes and a set of acrylics for all the colours I want to add but don’t need to buy a Tamiya paint for. so used sky blue and nato black with some of my dark blue paint and thinned it all down and tried it through my airbrush. And it worked pretty well! I was expecting the cheaper paint to splatter or something but maybe had it thin enough and mixed with tamiya hopefully gives it some strength. once dry I’ll clean up and give a slight grime to stop it all looking brand new. After all it’s meant to be a plane that’s done many missions, but I’m sure the engines were well looked after so will be just a slight grime up.

I really does! And that’s a good way to word it “adding interest” Hope your refurbishment goes well! I’d give you some tips… if I had any but this is a new area for me. But I’m pleased I gave it a go.

It was a solid 2 days to get the plane riveted. I wonder how many real b-17s they could rivet in the factory in 2 days!! Even a tiny bit off the line is really noticeable because they are so close together! But for my first attempt I’m happy with it!

My riveting tool arrived today, and after some research and practice on spare parts I begun! I read up online that a lot of people recommended 0.55mm tool for 1/72 scale so jumped in with that and made some good progress. Roughly followed my plans and got the upper surfaces of both wings competed. i think that blade may be abit blunt now! Might have to use the 0.50 for the rest, will see tomorrow. I don’t know how much will be visible after painting a dark colour on it but I’m hoping it’s not too strong nor totally invisible. It does add a nice effect to it though and looks much nicer than just smooth. It just gives it a bit of life. Over the next few days I’d like to get the fuselage riveted before the it gets glued together. The tail, horizontal stabiliser and under the wings to go. It’s a slow process but hope to get a bit complete over the next few days. By then maybe the internal parts are here and I can begin on the cockpit.

The wing halves are glued together, filled, sanded and panel lines re scribed. I have never used a scribing tool before so decided I should get one and was able to give it a go. Seems the days of sanding away panel lines are forever over! So next step is preparing for adding rivets, which will take some time! I ordered a tool so will be here in a week or 2 so plenty of time to get things going. The Tamiya tape is ok but a bit too soft for a nice unmoving edge so some experiments will be needed. A good test of patience!

Thanks for the info. I can get “Mr Color Zinc Chromate FS34151” here pretty easy. Is that the one you were saying? After this b17 I’ve got a P51D to make so I can get a chromite paint that I can just use for both. Is there a brand and type of paint that is the best option to just look right for both and I can use straight out of the bottle? I prefer to not have to mix paint when it’s going on things that will constantly be painted so a one off mix just doesn’t work.

I’ve ordered the cockpit and front internal upgrade sets from Eduard so they will take a few weeks to arrive. I thought most of the other internal areas won’t be visible so just focusing on the parts that can be seen. So I’ve made a start on the wings. The wheel wells will not be really visible either so will paint them up but won’t add any extra details, but they don’t seem to bad and have a good amount of detail so will be all good. I am usually abit scared to use putty as Tamiya basic putty always seems too thick and sanding it back removes so much detail. So I looked into it and found out I can thin it with tamiya cement but to be careful as it will shrink lots. To try save loosing details I tried masking the area and only filling in the desired place. I’m yet to sand it but so far I’m happy with how it’s looking. Wheel wells painted with a mix of Tamiya cockpit green, gold and black green. I thought straight cockpit green didn’t seem right and from reading around it sound be a bronze green to represent zinc chromate. Brushed oils over the paints with a dry brush to dirty it up and try give it some life. Maybe I’ll do an oil wash also if it still needs something more.

Hey, thanks for the info. I’d never have guessed that was what those tools are called. I’ll see if there is anything around here.

Hello, It has been awhile since I've been able to do any models, but I have completed what I was doing and now have some free time again which I need to fill. I sold all my modeling equipment in 2022 when i left the country so over the last few weeks I have started from scratch and slowly getting all the supplies again. I enjoy building and love all the research that goes into a project but I don't like keeping them once finished.. I know someone who has always wanted a B-17 model to display so said I would build it for him. We decided 1/72 scale would be the best size and the F model best suited the time frame for a 1943 type build as olive drab colour scheme was wanted and no remote controlled chin gun. The weathering and any damage is up to me so id like to go for a well used look, maybe in the 20-25 missions area so not fresh off the line. Not sure about damage as ill have to look at some pics and see how noticeable replaced panels are and that sort of thing. Its a project that is still in the planning stages and will develop with time. So after some research it seemed that the newish Revell B-17F was a good option. I've got the kit here and given it a nice clean, also finding plans online and watching other build logs. I've got a lot of aftermarket parts on the way from about 6 different places around the world, but should arrive within the next 4 weeks! No specific aircraft has been selected yet to build, so dont know what decals I will end up getting or using (any recommended aftermarket decal brands that I should look at getting would be appreciated) but id like to build a fairly accurate representation if I can of one in late 1943. But saying that I don't mind some artistic license as long as its not totally silly. I like to try new things each build and so this time I'm thinking I'd like to have a go at adding rivets, I know 1/72 scale is a bit small and in reality they would be invisible, but I'd still like to do them subtly so if i do a larger scale build ill have some experience. I hope doing this isn't classed as one of the "silly things" i want to avoid! Any tips, tricks or letting me know I've built something wrong (Like painted something aluminum that should be plywood) is more than welcome. I think learning and the research involved is the part of this hobby I enjoy the most.

Thanks everyone. Im leaving the country for a year or 2 so might be awhile before I get to start my next project! take care