marktiedens

I've got clamps big enough to do the job, it's just that in my experience with a fuselage this large they tend to spread it at the seam lines. The bands provide equal pressure all around and hold it in proper shape while the glue dries. the issue is like you point out, the glue will wick along with the bands marking the surface..... There is a solution which keeps the even pressure of the bands and get them off the joint.......
 

Those are 1/4" polyurethane tubes slipped under the bands on each side of the joints. it keeps the pressure pulling into the center while lifting the bands off the surface of the joint...the rear band is resting on the upper and lower stabilizer fillets which were molded into one side so there is no joint along the edge...
 
Bottom side...

Now the girder for the main landing gear will probably have to be clamped after the fuselage is joined, but this affords even tight pressure all around without distorting the shape.... Should be minimal filling needed, the two sides fit very well together... (but there is a slight ridge that will need to be dealt with)
 
Ready for glue...
 
EG

Ok it's buttoned up waiting for glue...

Still gotta get the rubber bands off the joints.....
And the cockpit in the fuselage...
Right side...

Left Side...

Instrument Panel.....

I think it fits well ....
 
EG

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

On the electrical side there is very little kit detail this was all added extra to the kit.
 

More progress (you've pretty much guessed the direction this is going)

Thanks Jack, I thought about that when I couldn't find my stash of modeling clay, so i went to HL and bought a new pack... (Hobby Lobby is now open here) Don't need much just enough to balance out the engine weight in the tail.... there is plenty of room behind the cockpit bulkhead and I'll keep the gun compartment open and radome off until after the landing gear are installed just in case I need to add a bit more....
 

One ounce of modeling clay behind the cockpit that should be sufficient...
 
Onward....

I think that's why he hyphenated it Carl....probably thought that it all wouldn't fit there.   from the sites that I read,  it was though that he had been wounded and kept out of the sky for a bit.........it would take finding out what plane he flew before the Dr 1  to put any validity in that statement.  the Hobby craft model was worse than this kit,  in building it........very thick plastic and nothing really fit well.  the center wing root and the top part of the fuselage was assembled differently than the Roden kit,  although,  there was still somewhat of a 'top' for the center wing root.  rigging it was easier though.......I was able to run the 'cables' through the holes before assembling the wing....all the holes being pre-formed.  I don't consider the model to be a true representative of the Dr 1 due to the raised rib lines....looks to klunky. 
 
not to say that other nations didn't revere their pilots,  but the Germans perhaps went a little overboard with their adulations.  the color red was a badge of honor...how much one had on his plane,  denoted how fearless he was.  injuries were common with these early planes........either by becoming wounded,  or too rough a landing {these planes were not kind to their pilots}.  German pilots who performed well in battle also got free reign on the camo of their plane.......most came off the assembly line already decked out in military camo.......some four color camo,  some with five color.....the speckled lozenge was particularly interesting.   one must remember too,  that these planes were not tested as they are today.........they would likely fail a wind tunnel test.....or even be torn apart  
 
thanks to all who commented.......you all have the patience of a saint.   thanks for the likes as well.  to go a bit further on this build,  I took a look at the underside of the top wing.   the holes for the cables were drilled out,  and the same wire I use for the landing gear will be used.  the hole on the fuselage were also drilled out.   the cabane struts are removed from the sprue and cleaned up.........note the absence of slots for them on the top wing.....just those four pins {?}   I have no clue what they were thinking here.  the top root of the strut does not fit in between them.  I've yet to dry fit the wing again in place and attempt a dry fit of the struts...that will be my next step.   

I still need to add the levers for the ailerons and elevators.......go from there   

there was a sense of doom of late for our great war bird.   I decided to try and tidy up the nose panels.   the first problem was the decals........I looked through the 'now' immense collection of 1:72 B 17 decals I've acquired during the B 17 glut.......and I don't have another pair of 'babes' in the event I can't save them.  so I tried.......got a large piece of used decal paper from the trash and got it wet,  hoping that there is enough adhesive on the paper to be able to put them back on with no trouble.  this part was relatively easy...they came off even though they have been on there a while.   I don't have the ball turret guns or the tail guns in place yet,  but the waist, nose and top guns are there........just waiting to be knocked off {Murphy waits with bated breath}.   the port side was a no go for the removal prospects.......it was firmly cemented in place.  what I did was scrape down the edges that were raised......to my shame,  there was even some flash that I had missed.

sanding it down to make it look better,  it was touched up with paint.........I tried putting more along the top to fill in the thin gap that is there.  it didn't totally work,  but it does look a little better.  the decals are back on now and there is some improvement  
  
the norden bomb sight fell victim to brash handling.......knocked out of place.   I also noticed that the bombardier's seat was at an angle too...looks as though it got pushed by the port gun when the halves were cemented together...had to fix that.   I wasn't going to do much with the starboard side panel........thinking that it would be impossible to remove as well.  but I tried anyway.  all went well until I got to the lower corner aftward....the panel snapped off leaving it there    I wasn't going to try to remove it,  but I did and......of course Murphy saw his chance..........it popped off onto the floor!  I searched for a while.....not having much success.  then things got a little more complicated.........Gibbs came over seeing his chance for a 'cuddlefest'.  we had given him a bath the other day,  so { as all American Eskimos are} he was 'extra' fluffy.  this is bad,  because if he lays on the floor,  the I fear all will be lost!  the part may stick to his fur,  and god knows where it will end up!  but Murphy miscalculated the telemetry of the flying part.........it had landed on my seat cushion...between my legs   
  
in the picture to the left,  the broken piece is the triangular looking blotch next to the other olive blotches.   apparently,  the big difference in the many variants of the B 17,  is this starboard side window arrangement.  I dug out the other variants and noticed that they are all shaped the same way.  the gun cold be centralized as I have it here..........or it could be centrally raised,  or raised toward the front of the panel
  
I put on the maskings when I did all the other parts....guess that was smart on my part    I'm going to confirm that I'm using the right panel.........but in the meantime,  I will repair the one I took off.

Thank you Richard
 
Are these complicated curves, I do not know. I think that what is complicated is that you need to constantly refer to what is on the construction site. I also think that plans for this section are almost impossible to follow at exactly 100% because for every part that a slight variation it does affect many other parts.
 
For now, it is enough with this part, I think I will come back on decks.

The chest and arms:

 




The forearm and hand were tricky.  I had to do some delicate re-shaping of the forearm because the way I cut it in, initially, looked a little squiggly.  As for the hand, there’s at least the suggestion of a thumb and clenched fingers.  At this scale, that’s plenty good enough.
 
The other arm is ill-defined, but the conceit is that most of the arm is tucked behind the crown ornament.
 
Well, we are almost there!  I’ll catch up on the other side, and then I’ll tackle the face.

Hi again - one track assembled & installed.  They are quite fiddly - they were glued together in short sections,painted steel,& given a wash to tone them down.  I counted 99 separate pieces for this track.  It is not this bright looking in person - I have a very bright light I use for pictures.
 

 

 

 
Mark

Wheels and tires have been mounted and balanced (okay, just kidding about the balance 🙂).
 

I started the decal process by applying the bottom wing fields.   I will need to trim them.

the upper wing was done next,  while the bottom wings were drying........the insignias were added,  as well as the name graphics.

the top wing was trimmed before they had dried.......there was minor chipping.  with that.......the bottom wings were trimmed,  and the insignias were added.
   
the wing skids were added next.

where I left off on this bird,  was at the middle wing.  there are two decals there that are a phrase:  Kennscht Mi'noch?    looking up the meaning is a bit confusing,  because it appears there is a word missing,  but it translates to "do you remember me?"

more to come.....I trying to get up the gusto to paint the stabilizer and rudder.   the bottom of the stabilizer is flat black.........I tried to brush on the upper paint { flat white} and what a mess I made!  as you recall,  the other stabilizer was ruined by paint thinner.  the other stab was sanded along the leading edges,  flattening a curvature,  so it could be used.   once I gt over that hurdle,  the cabane struts will be the next big one.  it seems there are no slots for the struts in the upper wing.  I can't wait to see what I'll have to do with them   
 
 
 
 

OK..........in keeping our wits {and digits}............the flying x-actor finger of fate fell on this model this morning { actually yesterday}.   first thing I wanted to do,  was put the decals on the interplane struts before cementing them in place.   the model was front and center......

choosing and cutting the decals needed for this model,  I noticed in the scheme,  that there were white fields behind the insignias.   I actually should have painted these fields on before assembly....I came up with a quick solution.   I still have the decals for the HobbyCraft Dr 1...that model had a decal sheet that covered several planes!   among these decals were the white fields,  as well as olive green and red fuselage fields.

I was surprised to also find a face!.........I have one in yellow too   

the wing fields are larger than the wings........I began to wonder if they didn't belong to the 1:24 scale D VII I built {Revell kit}.  no matter.......I can trim them down    now........I'm sure you can look back when you were young,  building the older models.   the decals were kinda thick,  with flashing around them........sometimes this needed to be trimmed off.   I remember that it was nothing to take a razor blade and skirt along the edge,  a good blade produced the best job.   just hold the blade at a slant,  moving downward as the blade was slid along the edge.   most decals we work with today are much thinner,  with next to no flashing around them.   this can be bad,  especially if the decals have some age on them.   tearing and chipping often occurs....and of course,  Murphy is sitting on your left shoulder    that is what happened here....there is some chipping that will need to be touched up.......I usually use paint {sparingly}.   so I did the fuselage fields first,  adding the insignias afterwards.

the decals were added to the interplane struts........and then they were cemented in place on the bottom wing only.  I will wait till later to cement the middle wing.

now........we'll get on with today's progress  
 
 

Evening all,    more progress  with the Jeep, after setting the chasis  on one side  it was time to build the body, this comes in many sections including the floor pan / sides  / back / front  and bonnet, these were glued without fuss,  then time for lots of little fittings  like handles  etc,    then I started the painting process  starting in the inside  - then I made the seats including cushions  and painted these a dark buff and RAF grey colour.
I continued adding parts then painted the outside of the body  and underneath, I finished off by adding a wash underneath  and do a bit of high lighting.
 
There is still an engine that I could put inside from underneath  - it wont be seen unless from underneath through the chasis.
 
One of the pics shows it dry fitted to the chasis.
 
OC.

Here is what they would have you use as the radiator and my version of it.
Tbh the kit version is a joke at the price of the kit.

thanks Jav.........and all who are following along.   I'm gonna try and do something I haven't done in a long time.  I've done some painting..........kinda bland,  but the plane is totally green {going by the suggested paint scheme}.   I'm sure everyone love to put in the small windows ....personally,  I hate 'em.  before I started to use window maker,  they always ended up cloudy looking.......a result from using cement.  the window maker doesn't do that......but I read that it could be used to fill in the small windows as well.  since this is a menage of small windows,  I thought it would be a good practice to try.
  
these weren't too bad.......I have a little touching up to do.   I did the other side and had a terrible time.....I had to remove a couple.   it could be a slow process.  I looked for a video on this,  but I wasn't satisfied with the method shown.   I should have more on this soon.  thanks for the kind comments and for looking in  

Chainplates

new video
 
 

Hi - got the rear panel installed along with all the peripheral items (exhaust,jack,etc.).  Also got the cooling fans & radiators installed.  This kit has a LOT of tiny parts - the jack alone has 9 parts!
 

 

 
Mark

A little progress - all the track wheels are painted & attached (all 48 of them).  Quite a pain to paint - they all have a black ring around them ,which I assume are "tires" - they actually say "continental" on them,which I had to use a magnifier to read.  Had to keep re-painting some of them because I kept smudging them or slipping with the brush.  Never have been much good at painting.
 

 

 
Mark