Revell B 17 'Memphis Belle' - 1:72 by Popeye the Sailor - finished

[popeye the sailor]

one of the songs I learned to play {not note for note} was the stray cat strut.   never could imitate the stand up bass,  even with the tone all the way down.   I do have to be the responsible one though,  and caution everyone about this off topic chatter.  I think I started a thread in the past,  but I found that OC has a thread in shore leave that we can continue the conversation about music and other things

gotta respect the site......it's the best place to be for a reason.......I think it's up to us to keep it that way     any chat about B 17's.........I'm all ears here,  but we need to stay on topic.  I know.......I'm just as guilty

[Old Collingwood]

Yep good point  - now come on Denis  show us more progress on your B17.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

awwww.....it's just paint   do ya really want to watch it dry?  soon

[Fright]

Popeye - sorry we ran on about music, but I agree that we all are waiting for more work on your B-17G. We'll be "Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer" !!!!!😉 

[Egilman]

51 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

awwww.....it's just paint   do ya really want to watch it dry?  soon

That about all we have left since out govuener just incarcerated us for another month....

[Old Collingwood]

Im sure my late farther told me something about this  -   it was quite a rare event as Lee on Solent  airfield only had small  runways  so to get  something B17 size  land there was quite a thing.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205147231

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

I looked up the number OC........it's not in the list of surviving B17's.   it is listed in this other compilation I've got.  I'll check it out further    it's not uncommon for a B 17,  crippled after a bomb run,  to have landed at a friendly airfield....if they could make it.   some had the misfortune to land at a hostile airstrip.   the number also belonged to a Vought F4U Corsair named 'Annie Mo'  flown by Lt. Guy Bordelon Jr.  during the Korean conflict,  he was credited for shooting down two Yak-18s and three La-11 fighters on three separate missions.  on his third mission,  he was awarded the Navy Cross for what went down during the mission.   the plane didn't see another mission though.......a reservist crash landed it....total loss    the B 17 in question went by three  names it appears......the bearded lady,  the bearded beauty,  and Mitzpah.  I think I decoded the hieroglyphics......it doesn't give a date.......listed in Mayen Germany, under 2 Lt. Everett Kenner....must have crashed,  since it says that 5 were KIA and 5 were POW.  it's a pretty extensive list......the Nine o Nine,  the Memphis Belle,  the Wulf Hound, and others we've either discussed of the kits offered,  are in here    it's all a jumble,  until I realized that they are going by bomber group....it makes sense now.

 

not a problem robert.......I'm guilty too.   I do believe it's up to us to keep things runn'in smooth.

 

I dunno EG.......I keep think'in back to that old Batman episode where King Tut had Batman {and I think Batgirl} locked in urns,  dropp'in pebbles on their heads {kinda like a water torture}.  it was driv'in then nutz,  but they managed to get out of it     more soon  

[popeye the sailor]

I noticed the 'camo' on the rudder OC.........we call it camo..........they call it 'patched bullet holes' ! 

Edited May 2, 2020 by popeye the sailor

[Egilman]

16 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Im sure my late farther told me something about this  -   it was quite a rare event as Lee on Solent  airfield only had small  runways  so to get  something B17 size  land there was quite a thing.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205147231

 

OC.

The Bearded Beauty - Mitzpah... B-17F-10-BO Flying Fortress, Tail # 41-24453 Coded LG-O.

History: Assigned 322BS/91BG [LG-O] Bangor 29/8/42; Bassingbourn 29/9/42; in taxi accident with John Hardin 18/11/42 at RNAS Yeovilton, Missing in Action 28m Schweinfurt 17/8/43....

See Also:

B-17 Database

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I dunno EG.......I keep think'in back to that old Batman episode where King Tut had Batman {and I think Batgirl} locked in urns, 

It was actually the unfaithful queen Neferteri.... In the Theban pebble torture....

But I also liked the Human Siamese Knot.....

Very interesting in what they were showing to us as young children.... {chuckle}

[lmagna]

20 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

awwww.....it's just paint   do ya really want to watch it dry?

That's where my build is right now as well.

19 hours ago, Egilman said:

That about all we have left since out govuener just incarcerated us for another month....

You expected something else out of Inslee?????

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I noticed the 'camo' on the rudder OC.........we call it camo..........they call it 'patched bullet holes' ! 

I don't care who you are. That's funny! 

[Egilman]

4 minutes ago, lmagna said:

You expected something else out of Inslee?????

Not me, I was telling the Admiral/CFO/chief cook and bottle washer back at the beginning of March that they were going to drag this out to July/August....

 

Predictable as heck..... (it will be over just before the NFL season starts, they REALLY do not want to **** off the football fans) 

[popeye the sailor]

I wasn't gonna go that far into it.......about the bomber...but OK?!?! 

 

I've been wanting to catch up on my friend Batman......watched every episode I think    I have a small collection going.....still have the batmobile to decal and the Batwing to build.   as for the H.S.K....that was the early form of twister  

 

you get right down to it.....we look at pictures of aircraft and armor...and most think that it's camo........little do they know   

 

don't know inslee.......if it's what I think it is.......I don't do sports......I model   

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

I have more progress on the Memphis Belle.   as mentioned earlier......checking in the camera,  there were pictures    I was looking at the wing vents wondering what I could do with them...the answer was  nothing that could be seen after the wing is assembled.   since  all that would be seen would be black vastness,  I opted to do nothing.....not even adding the two caps for the center ones.

the throats were painted flat black,  and then cemented in place on the bottom wing halves.

before this happened,  the outer surface was painted in light ghost gray.

so,  here came the boo boo.....the upper wing halves.   I thought that I would lightly brush on a second coat to freshen them up.   as they sat around,  they developed sheened skuff marks and a couple tiny paint dings.             when using an airbrush to paint flats,  unlike gloss paints,  the surface can obtain a grainy finish.   rubbing the surface with a cloth or your fingers,  will remove the grainy aspect and produce this very faint sheen.  this is what I'm referring to.  the mistake came,  when I took the bottle of thinned paint {for the airbrush},  and put it back onto the bottle of  paint I poured it from.  this paint is some of the paint from the Lou collection.  I worked very quickly,  brushing from one end of the wing to the other,  setting them aside.  when dry,  I was going to assemble the wings.   checking to see if they were dry,  I was saddened to see that the under coat in spots,  had lifted and wrinkled........the stabilizer fins were worse.   the likely cause for this is simple......too much thinner     not much to say at this point.........I'll never learn.......what could have been a good thing,  turned out horribly wrong.   I waited for them to fully dry,  and all I had to do,  was rub them with an old face cloth to remove all the loose paint.  light sanding took off pretty much the rest.  so,  all I had left,  I could clean up with thinner.   they are repainted now and back to square one.

as for the flaps,  ailerons,  elevators,  and rudder halves,  they are fine........tops and bottoms have been painted.......light ghost gray and Bomber tan.

next will be the fuselage..........and I can assemble the wings.  on a happy note,  I finally got the e-mail that the wheels have been shipped.......I ordered them on the 28th of April.   they said that they would ship by the 30th,  but not getting the notification on that date,  I figured they were on corvid time.   good to know my hunch was right.  so I should have another update for you soon.  

[Fright]

Nice save on the wings with the paint issue. They look pretty clean in the photos. I purchased an airbrush about three years back and I still have not used it. I'm a dinosaur still using rattle cans and brushes! 

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Robert for the kind comment......and thanks to those who hit the like button    I'm almost at the end of my two week hiatus from work.........Saturday will be a very sad day.  I mention that I got the notification for the wheels,  that they have been shipped.  they were on my doorstep Wednesday afternoon!   I forgot that these folks at located in NAshua,  N.H. ......someone told me that at one time.   I got quite a bit done,  and of course,  I'll have the blooper of the day as well.   I started with the stabilizers and elevators,  assembling the stabs first and adding the elevators a bit later.

next was the wings....a bit of a bugger around the nacelles,  but the job is done.

I was a little surprised that there were only the main wheels in the package,  but there is little detail to the tail wheel,  so this is likely the reason for it.   comes with the hubs too.

it also comes with a mask set,  but seeing how they are,  I never used it.   the parts were prepped for painting.   the ailerons were added to the wings...done in Bomber tan.

the next step would be the outboard turbo chargers.... I added them all.

looking in the inboard nacelles...I saw that I forgot to paint the inside inboard area with the chromate........that was quickly remedied.   all of the brackets for the flaps were added.

the flaps were added when these had set enough.

   

putting them side by side,  I made sure they were both at the same height..........almost looks like the flying wing   

the wheels and hubs painted......

here's where things got to be sort of a head scratcher.  there are the exhaust rings that locate on the backs of the engines.  the have to be assembled in such a way,  that the gap fits on both side of the turbo pipes.  I tried a couple of time to attach them,  but there is no way to be sure that they are correct for the inboard or outboard engines........the engine was becoming saturated with cement...........BLECH!    since these parts won't be seen in the great scheme of things,  I've opted to leave them off.  just cementing the engines in place.

   

....and then came the blooper of the day !  the cowl flaps can be added open or in the close position......I wanted to do the open position.   the two tabs that are on opposite sides of the ring will not fit correctly.  with no logical means to accomplish this.  as I was fiddling around with this......test fitting and jubbling parts,  I picked up one of the wings {the starboard side...I just checked}........grabbing it where the flap is,  and breaking it completely off the wing!   of course,  the glue just didn't let go of the flap part.........instead it broke all but one of the brackets!    I managed to get the flap back on,  rejoining all of the brackets and at the correct height and all.....but the pizz-poor lighting at my desk made it hard.  so all is back to good on the meter....just need to check for touch ups.   I was sitting here,  typing this..........I tried another way to add the open cowl flaps......and it may work.  so I think the open cowl flaps thing is back on   .....decisions.....decisions......... 

     the wheels are assembled now.......ready to be added to the gears........and then to the wings.    I find that I will need to drill a hole for each gear assembly.......sounds like another potential blooper for me....we'll see how that goes  

for those following the Clotilda escapades,  you'll be pleased to hear that one side of the second hull is done........the other side is very close to being closed finally .   it's been a trial....I can tell ya that.   then I can resume with the Clotilda and work on them both .....the hull planking was the super hard part.  I'm planning some scratch building for the second hull anyway,  so it will be slow anyways..........I'll start a separate log when I get a little more further along {if that makes any sense}.   still getting the best of both worlds.......and I love it   

[Old Collingwood]

Always a  course  of forward and backs with out model making,   she is coming on lovely despite your little hick up.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

hick up-s.......it's plural     it's proving to be a superb kit,  but it does have a couple problems.   

[Old Collingwood]

49 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

hick up-s.......it's plural     it's proving to be a superb kit,  but it does have a couple problems.   

Yep its looking good from here  Denis.

 

OC.

[Javlin]

Coming along Nicely Denis!

[Edwardkenway]

Nice work Denis 😁

[Fright]

Very good save! Nothing appears out of place in the photo. Your add-on wheels look pretty good.

[popeye the sailor]

thank you folks for kindly dropping in   and the kind comments!  we're making progress.......but hey,  that's what it's all about.  I dunno.......I tried a dry fit of the open cowl flaps.......and those two tabs just don't look right.

look'in into it more....   could be a bad move.........maybe not........sitting here at my desk,  I chose to hand paint the fuselage.....the upper part is done.  I do plan on doing some fading as I did with the Wulfe Hound,  as well as the minor camo that the Belle has.   I was curious about the nose windows I had masked over.  removing the mask,  I was happy to see that only one of the windows had some paint seepage.  I used the X actor to lightly scrape it off.

   

I mentioned earlier that it appears like I'd have to drill a hole for the main landing gears.......I did.  according to the instructions for the tires / wheels,  1 mm or so needs to be cut off the axles........I had to redrill the hole a tiny bit larger anyway,  so I drilled a little deeper.  I'll wait for the gears to dry before the tires go on.  the light lenses are also installed in the wings.

lastly.......the front part of the engines were added.

these had injection tabs in the back of them that needed to be trimmed off.   more to report soon    

 

[Fright]

Watching your progress on your build. Do you find that building a plane is different from building boats/ships? I have been fascinated by the B-17's ever since I had a vivid dream for 3 consecutive days as a crew member aboard a B-17 stationed in England. A long story. I just watched a BBC show called Time Team where they are excavating the crash site of two B-17's colliding right before reaching the base. Here's the linc if you've got the time. 

 

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the video Robert    yes...building between the two is very different.  with planes......especially war planes,  it very hard to stray from a given replica......boats and ships,  you can.   a plane {kit} can be changed,  but only to either the choices the kit gives,  or to another known squadron.   boats can be changed simply as a different name......a good example also lies in the battleships.....a slight modification in armament.  but they are both the same if the builder choses to build a fictitious model.  who knows......perhaps a B 17 is in your future     there's a lot of info out there.

 

thanks to those who hit the like button     I have an update on that second hull too.......it is done!  the preliminary sanding is done as well.   for as much grief as it gave me,  it came out well.

 

I was treated to the movie Forest Gump this afternoon....got to see Jenny     had to narrate it for the admiral....she came in about half way through   

Edited May 9, 2020 by popeye the sailor

[popeye the sailor]

there's progress finally on the Memphis Belle.............should have the update up soon  

[Old Collingwood]

Good to see your still pushing on Denis  looking forward to seeing more of your build.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks OC........had some damage control with the glass.........some came out good........some didn't.   I put some mileage on her today  

 

I had done a couple of things before I realized I had a problem with the glass........put the main gear wheels on and painted more parts.   I started today  with the ball turret......did a lot of cleaning up on it.  it still looks a bit off,  and I'm not sure how much will show under the plane,  but I'm going to go ahead and use it {it's the only one I have.   the nose glass I had chosen wasn't a good fit.......the guns would not fit right in it.......so I picked another one {the kit came with three} and drilled the holes for the guns.  problem solved......I may try to paint the frame....I may not.  the ball turret is assembled.......

as a double whammy for the wings,  the engine cowls are in place..........

  

the exterior of the fuselage is now totally painted........top and bottom.  I painted the top a while ago.......

I even painted under the stabilizers.......like they are supposed to look.  once the stabilizers and the tail is in place,  it will all make sense.   it's the reason why I didn't do it to the other two planes.  to really get this build moving quicker in the right direction.....the fuselage glass needed to be installed...just the little ones.   with that done,  the internals were cemented in place without further ado...

   

from here,  the Norden Bomb sight was added......and a couple other parts related to this step.    up next........a bit more happiness     {no mask required   }

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

one all this was dry enough,  the tail gear was cemented in place.

  

good that I did this before the halves were put together........can ya see me trying to find that target?!  views of the ball turret are all through these pictures......any one might give you better insight,  than the one I posted of it.   the next thing was to assemble the top turret.  it was confusing figuring out how this part worked in the scheme of things.......I got it though.

nestled in the middle of all that chromate   

I got tired of the ball turret hanging around......so here it is installed into the ship.

   

I cleaned the glass for the top turret as much as I could......still looks as bad as the ball,  but I took a fine tipped brush and redrew the frame.  is does look a little better.

and on the turret 

I was going to add the control sticks {wheels}  before the interior was installed,  but what the heck......I did it now.

  

at this point,  I'm adding the waist gunner positions.......I did the starboard side first.   not really happy with the ammo belt....it doesn't reach the machine gun.  heck,  it's not even cemented where it is supposed to be located!  I tried to get it as close as I could.......but no cigar.

I'll do the port side and see how that looks..........I have an idea     I'll have more tomorrow.........nice to have a day off      I have chores to do though.........I hope they don't take all day

 

[Old Collingwood]

Really nice work Denis, those canopy frames are fiddly to paint  - they need the tiniest of brushes, a steady hand  and good light, I have even tried making by hand using tamiya tape  - still fiddly trying to run a blade inside the edge of the frame to get the glazing shape.

 

She is coming on really nice.

 

OC.