B-29 Enola Gay Silveplate conversion

What an extensive detailed B-29 version you created!  Absolutely inspiring and fantastic.  I am excited for the final reveal.  Thank you so much for taking the time out in sharing your project with us!

Toshi

Thanks for the comment Max, I think I have found the display for my B-29. An old entertainment cabinet. I have kept it for the purpose of displaying models; but my wife seems to be taking it over with her retro sound box and a menagerie of stuffed animals. 

For the bomber to fit, it extends about 3 inches out of the back of the cabinet.

What a project and what a nice job you're doing on it. I've looked at this kit for years but the Museum is out of room. At least I got to see your extensive build. Good work!

Max

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These photos are the botttom of the port wing.

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You will notice the wing root seams. They required no work, but slipped right into place!

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In flight with landing gear up!

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This is my version of a B-29 exhaust system.

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The kit reflects lots of enthusiasm and little skill; but over all I am satisfied with the results. Questions and comments are welcome. Thanks for taking a look!

I built the wings seperate from the fuselage. The wings are setting in a jig that I made for them.

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The wings were attached by setting the fuselag in a box so that the glue had time to set up.

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Basically complete except for props and antenna cable.

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The four engins were wired with Eduard photo etch!

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I have been trying to finish my Enola Gay project. The following is a turrret area that was cut out and filled with milliput.

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Nice detail, Shipwreck.

Looks great so far...SO detailed! Man that cockpit is jam-packed full of people! Kep up the good work. :)

dmk

This looks great! I'm following this project with great interest as I'm considering doing something simiilar with my B-29, but instead doing the aircraft that dropped Chuck Yeager's X-1.

 

 Where did you get the crew members from?   

 

 

Dmk, the crew is from various sources. All are modified to fit their rolls on the Hiroshima flight. Some have been pieced together from several other figures. You may notice the standing figure from the Revell B-25J kit; here he is representing Navy Captain William "Deak" Parsons who was the Bomb Commander. He more than anyone else on board understood the weapon that was just released. If you could hear him speak, as he is standing there in dismay, he would be saying, "what have I done."

Man,shipwreck, that looks incredable !

This looks great! I'm following this project with great interest as I'm considering doing something simiilar with my B-29, but instead doing the aircraft that dropped Chuck Yeager's X-1.

 Where did you get the crew members from?   

Everything done thus far is of a high quality build.  I'm very excited to see the completion of your B-29 Superfortress.  What a fantastic historival lesson this is!

Thank you for sharing this build with FSM forum members,

Toshi

I just want you all to know that I have not given up on this project. Although progress (read modeling time) has been slower than I would prefer; it moves on. Closeing up the turrent holes and dealing with huge seams is a slow process. I am currently modifying the nacalles to Silverplate specs. Todays portions are four views of the mostly completed forward bombay. The Enola Gay had the hardware to carry a Little Boy or Fat Boy. The aft bombay, which is closed, contains two fuel cells. It is painted, but is not detaliled!

Figures look great!  Nice detail on on the bomb!

Looking good, Shipwreck!

I like where this is going Shipwreck! =]  I've often thought of building these bombs either by themselves or with the B-29 that dropped it.  Can't wait to see more....

After a month it is bomb away; or my attempt to build a replica of L11, better known as Little Boy the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The kit bomb is comprised of three parts. The tail fins are misaligned to the rest of the bomb and there is little detail. The final parts count is north of forty. If the L11 (the script) looks sloppy it is because it was painted on the real bomb free hand with a paint brush. Now I can close up the fuselage and complete the bomb bay and flight deck.

Shipwreck: looking great!  I loved the flight deck figures.  You've really done your homework on this build.  Keep it up!

Cheers, Bob

The main gear doors need to be closed on this project. I started with the main extension door. It was smaller than the slot that it was to go in; so it had to be shimmed with styrene sheet. If I had shimmed both sides; it would have been centered better!

There are no provisions to attach the main doors in a closed position. That necessitated a substructure built of rod and sprue. The shape of the doors was only close to the shape of the holes they were to close into. That required some filing and sanding in order to come close to the correct fit!

In order to securely glue the doors, I first set them up with tube and liquid styrene glue. Twenty-four hours latter I over glued them with CA. Then after another twenty-four hours I coated the seams and rod joins with epoxy. The strength is needed to withstand pressure from sanding the outside surfaces!

Shipwreck, I too will be watching this one with great interest. You will save me a lot of research time. I have an autographed picture of the Enola Gay on the wall above my computer screen. I got Paul Tibbets autograph at his air charter operation while he was still alive (about 20 years ago). He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I have been wanting to do the Enola Gay for a long time and your build may be the inspiration I needed. Thanks and keep on sharing your progress.

This is an update on the Silver Plate Progress. The first photo is of a  semi-finished flight deck. Then there is a crowded complement of eight crew members as they might have reacted just after the relese of the bomb. In order to fit the bomb in the bomb bay they had to cut out a notch in the tunnel. The bomb bay photo is in-process as I try to duplicate the hardware that was built into it.

This is the 8 man crew on the flight deck. There were 3 in the aft chamber (which I am not building) and a tail gunner for a total of 12.

The aft bomb bay will not be detailed, but I could not resist installing the fuel cells.

Watching with much interest, Shipwreck. Hope the fun doesn't get lost on this......... Good Luck!!

Very good!  This will be fun and educational to follow.

Hey, Shipwreck!  I'll watch this with interest!  This bird looks vaguely familiar...good luck with your build.

Cheers, Bob

The only major modification to the flight deck was the removal of the hump from the forward belly gun. Once that was removed the navigators table did not need to fold down; it was fixed by an extra set of legs. The typical yellow line around the exit hatch is questionable for the Enola Gay. Sometimes it was represented in the restoration, sometimes not! 

The plan is to have this bird in flight: back then they needed a crew. There were eight crew members crammed on the flight deck, three in the aft section, and a tail gunner. So far I do not plan on building the aft section (it will be closed) or its' complement of technicians! The crew members will take on their own identy as the build continues.