Monogram B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" 1/48 Complete

Hi:

    Well, let's see. Two Mosquitos(The larger REVELL ) offering, One Avro"Dambuster and two 29s that I gave to their respective retired crewmembers. Does that count? Where I live now because of sq.ft. restraints it has to be ships because six large ships will fit in the space of two of those 29s!

    Of course that's alongside each other with the lifeboats dancing with each other! Oh! On the 29s, the recipients didn't want all that interior stuff either. So all Glass areas are painted "Graphite" inside! You should see my parts boxes!

Very nicely done. Anyone who comletes a Monogram 4 engine bomber I consider as 'my people' 

Aggieman

Thanks!

I don't believe it included that Shep Paine diorama sheet, but I went on a separate search for those booklets and got them all via eBay.  

Update on my Enola Gay:

The area where I hang my bigger builds is in the garage beneath the upper floor.  The upstairs toilet had a leak.  That water found its way into the subfloor, where the water ran along a joist and seemed to fixate on the hook that was holding the EG.  Sheetrock doesn't like water.  Gravity loves model airplanes.  She shattered into a bunch of unrecoverable plastic destruction.  Heck, I never did find one of the props.  One of the hardest things I did was to throw all of that wreckage into the trash.

Would love to do another one to replace her, but damn that was a big build with a lot of alterations to get it to a proper Silverplate bomber.  Probably not going back to that well.

Good job on your Enola Gay. I went down that road mysef and it was a time consuming ptoject!

wow that is impressive!

Aggieman

 

 

mic53mlb

Aggieman, I think you did a phenomenal job on your 29s !! Consider that they are raised panel lines and the molds are 50 yrs old. I got this kit for Xmas back in '82 from my Grandparents, model shop hopping was me and my Grandfather's thing back in those days. Did either of your kits come with a color booklet with a diorama made by Shep Paine of the Enola Gay ??

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

I don't believe it included that Shep Paine diorama sheet, but I went on a separate search for those booklets and got them all via eBay.  

Update on my Enola Gay:

The area where I hang my bigger builds is in the garage beneath the upper floor.  The upstairs toilet had a leak.  That water found its way into the subfloor, where the water ran along a joist and seemed to fixate on the hook that was holding the EG.  Sheetrock doesn't like water.  Gravity loves model airplanes.  She shattered into a bunch of unrecoverable plastic destruction.  Heck, I never did find one of the props.  One of the hardest things I did was to throw all of that wreckage into the trash.

Would love to do another one to replace her, but damn that was a big build with a lot of alterations to get it to a proper Silverplate bomber.  Probably not going back to that well.

 

mic53mlb

Aggieman, I think you did a phenomenal job on your 29s !! Consider that they are raised panel lines and the molds are 50 yrs old. I got this kit for Xmas back in '82 from my Grandparents, model shop hopping was me and my Grandfather's thing back in those days. Did either of your kits come with a color booklet with a diorama made by Shep Paine of the Enola Gay ??

 

I don't believe it included that Shep Paine diorama sheet, but I went on a separate search for those booklets and got them all via eBay.  

Update on my Enola Gay:

The area where I hang my bigger builds is in the garage beneath the upper floor.  The upstairs toilet had a leak.  That water found its way into the subfloor, where the water ran along a joist and seemed to fixate on the hook that was holding the EG.  Sheetrock doesn't like water.  Gravity loves model airplanes.  She shattered into a bunch of unrecoverable plastic destruction.  Heck, I never did find one of the props.  One of the hardest things I did was to throw all of that wreckage into the trash.

Would love to do another one to replace her, but damn that was a big build with a lot of alterations to get it to a proper Silverplate bomber.  Probably not going back to that well.

Zam

Hey, i'm trying to find a model enola gay plane that is 1/48 but i am unable to find any. Do you know the name of the store or website you got the plane from?

 

I'm sorry, I just saw your post on my old post.  I believe I acquired this kit via eBay.  This particular boxing is no longer in production.  There is a recent re-release (Revell now) that is very expensive, reflecting more current pricing levels.  I'd suggest looking on eBay as that is probably your best option.

Now I gotta put my fedora on and be Indiana Jones and find that kit I got over 40 yrs ago ... and with that booklet !!! 

Aggieman, I think you did a phenomenal job on your 29s !! Consider that they are raised panel lines and the molds are 50 yrs old. I got this kit for Xmas back in '82 from my Grandparents, model shop hopping was me and my Grandfather's thing back in those days. Did either of your kits come with a color booklet with a diorama made by Shep Paine of the Enola Gay ??

Hey, i'm trying to find a model enola gay plane that is 1/48 but i am unable to find any. Do you know the name of the store or website you got the plane from?

Hey, i'm trying to find a model enola gay plane that is 1/48 but i am unable to find any. Do you know the name of the store or website you got the plane?

Ted4321

 

 

Aggieman

Someone's gotta lead them out.

 

 

 

 

Nice work on your 29s.  And yes, the assembly ship is awesome.  I was thinking about hanging some planes from my garage ceiling but decided against it thinking a breeze or wind might create havoc or destroy something.  Have you experienced any of that?  

T e d

 

I suppose I've had some wind blow in from outside, and I've certainly contributed whenever I've had to use my gas blower to clean leaves and dirt out of there, but I've never had any issues with wind causing some havoc.  Most of the airplanes are hanging via tiny gauge wire, some with fishing line and a couple with basic string, and all are hanging off cup hooks that I screwed into the ceiling.  The only one that has ever fallen was because the fishing line unknotted itself (but I was able to repair that one, the B-25, completely).

Aggieman

Someone's gotta lead them out.

 

Nice work on your 29s.  And yes, the assembly ship is awesome.  I was thinking about hanging some planes from my garage ceiling but decided against it thinking a breeze or wind might create havoc or destroy something.  Have you experienced any of that?  

T e d

Someone's gotta lead them out.

The "formation ship" is a real nice touch!

The curious thing about these builds is that the more recent release was more clean.  The original boxing had a lot of flash that I did not find in the 2004 boxing.  The fit was roughly equivalent, although the canopy did fit better on the original.  Both had the same complement of parts, with the exception that the original came with only a set of cuffed props and the newer one had two sets, one cuffed and one uncuffed.  And the more recent came in typical gray plastic whereas the original was molded in silver and black.

The nostalgia is present with every Monogram kit I build.  I built every one of their WWII subjects when I was a kid, and most of the jets as well, so every time I put one of those together these days, it is all about nostalgia.  Honestly, nostalgia is the reason I even bothered to buy all these old kits from sellers on eBay, plus the chance at doing them again with my more finely honed modeling skills.

Thank you for your kind words, shipwreck.

My original plan was to build both atomic bombers, but the Bocks Car did not carry its now famous nose art on the mission to Nagasaki.  And when I got a good feel for just how much work it was going to take to convert just one of these massive models to a Silverplate Superfortress, I opted to do the conventional B-29.  I believe I made a good decision on that.

Thanks for your kind words, John.

 Very nice!  That collection hanging from the ceiling looks impressive!

Aside from the canopy, what difference did you notice between the two realeases? It's interesting to see how the molds age.

Nice bit of nostalgia coming full circle on your building career. Hope you were able to associate your build now with the fun times as a kid.

Aggieman

Gary, I actually have an Academy 1/72 Enola Gay in my stash (and I've built that exact kit as well many years ago).  This one my wife picked up for me at a garage sale, it is in a partially started condition but I think all the parts are there ... but I'm not up for tackling that any time soon.

Well, if you ever want to get rid of it, maybe we could work out a trade.  I've been culling my collection of things I will probably never get around to building in order to raise money for an airbrush, which would be of much more use. 

Meanwhile, I forgot to say what sterling work you've done on both the B-29s you've posted, and that's quite a collection you have of ceiling hangars!  Color me jealous!

Gary

stik, funny you should mention display space.  I came back into the house after dealing with that issue and asked my wife if she recalled what the tower told Maverick when he requested permission to buzz the tower.

Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

For the majority of my mid-to-large size builds, I hang them from the ceiling in my work room (a non-parkable third bay in my garage).  So from the following photos, you'll see 1/48 builds of a PBY Catalina, B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, A-26 Invader, A-20 Havoc, C-47 Dakota, B-17 Flying Fortress, 2 B-24 Liberators (one a Wonder Bread assembly ship), the 2 B-29s, a B-58 Hustler, and the nose of a B-1B Bone.  Also a 1/32 Grumman F3F Flying Barrell, and a B-36 Peacemaker and B-52 Stratofortress in 1/72.  I have no more room in that area of the garage for any more builds, so the pattern is full.

John, thanks for your kind words.  The canopy fit is a known issue with this kit, but in actuality, I didn't have any issues with it on the Enola Gay, which was an original issue of the kit.  For the Humpin' Honey, early test fitting revealed massive alignment issues, and I'd actually purchased the Squadron vacuform part for that build.  But once I got my feet under me in using Milliput, I put my patience hat on and took my time installing the canopy.  Probably took two days just to install, glueing half to the fuselage one day, then the next day putting the glue in place and holding the part where it needed to be for as long as I could stand.  Even so, I still had a bit of mis-alignment right at the forward corner of the canopy, but I evened out the surface with some Milliput blended through many sanding sessions to merge right into the fuselage.  I was able to largely, but not 100%, make it appear as if the part fit correctly.

I ended up not using the Squadron canopy set, so if there is anyone planning to build this monster, I can let you have it.

Thank you lawdog for your kind words.  I'm also looking forward to getting back to my wheelhouse - non-NMF.

Gary, I actually have an Academy 1/72 Enola Gay in my stash (and I've built that exact kit as well many years ago).  This one my wife picked up for me at a garage sale, it is in a partially started condition but I think all the parts are there ... but I'm not up for tackling that any time soon.

Brandon, thanks for your kind words!  Both have been in my stash for a decade or longer, so I think the most I paid for either one was roughly $50.  I've seen them going for 5 times that now on eBay.