Boeing Build

That is a whopper ain't it. Looks good Rudy.

Thats a mighty fine looking B29.

Weekend update on the B17.  I got all the painting done including the deicer boots.  Man I hate painting those on a 1/72 bomber, especially when the engraving is weak.  I wanted to preshade, but again, the engraving of the panel lines was too light and my skill at re-scribing is not up to par yet to try a B17 in 1/72.  Might be done soon!

I looked at this thread and thought "Cool! I have an old Merlin Boeing 40 kit!" Single-engine biplane airliner with the four passengers inside and the pilot in an open cockpit above and behind the cabin. Then I found there's a beautiful resin kit available, also in 1/72 scale. Then I saw a resin Boeing 80 - biplane trimotor airliner. Then I saw that there's a resin kit of the Boeing 200, the Monomail. Like the Model 40, passengers inside, pilot on top, but all metal and a monoplane.

Then I thought, "Why spend the money when you already have the Merlin kit?"

But, but...the resin kits are so much nicer. Indecision is going to be the death of me yet.

I do have some old grainy pictures of the 299 (prototype B-17) I built for the Hill AFB museum back in 1990.

Spent the weekend putting on decals.  Forgot how hard it is to put decals on a 1/72 B-17.  Rates up there to paiting those dang de-icer boots and the ball turret.   The nose art is on after some time making sure it fit.  The Kits-World decals adhere instantly and suck up to the surface so I only had one shot to get it right. I learned this on the tail numbers hence they will be a little crooked for the rest of this models life, becasue there is no moving them.  Here is "Lilly".

Still a lot of work left touching up around the windows and finish painting the frames, then doing some light weathering and blending, followed with masking all the glass so I put on a final dull coat.  More to come.......

Looking really good there, Scott.

---------------------------

Decals are up next for me, but man, two weeks spent on arriving at a satisfying aluminum finish.  Kept running across blemishes on the surface, particularly the fuselage.  Close to a dozen sessions of spraying and sanding ... so much so that I had to redo the panel lines into the paint.

Had to forgo the use of the heavy EZ line for the bracing as it was too wide.  Went with plan B, using Uschi's heaviest product at 0.03mm.  Will use their superfine for the aerial wire. 

The top portion was also rigged, but glue on the fuselage attachment points had me tear them off.  Difficult to see it, but I have placed a trio 0.4mm brass tubes into the fuselage/cowl (just below the antenna you can see the 3 holes).  That will eliminate the need for glue, as the wires can no be thread straight through and need only be affixed on the wings.

The white discs were actually painted first, then masked for spraying the metallic paint.  For those wondering, yeah this is a 'whif' build, carrying roundels for a Canadian aircraft, circa 1934.

regards,

Jack

Wow Jack, the perserverence is paying off.

Steve,

LOL, when you figure it out let me know. I know how you feel.

Jack,

That looks great man! Canadian what if? Are you sure Canada didn't use them? I don't know of course, but it seems like they would have.

Scott,

You 17 is really looking like something now.

Thanks guys.

Research shows no P-26 was ever on Canadian soil.  The Great Depression reached it's lowest point in 1933 here in Canada.  Things began to get better the following year, but it wouldn't be til 1939 that the country finally returned to what it was before that big downslide. 

With budget cuts and all, the RCAF during this period was taking on civil duties as well.  The government would of been hard pressed to convince the public, that money should be spent on warplanes let alone the Peashooter. 

Whif story could be that one aircraft was procured for testing, in exchange for an undisclosed amount of beer, bacon and maple syrup. 

regards,

Jack

LOL, I'd trade a plane for that!

Looking great Scott!!!!! THe B-17 is my favorite plane, as My Grandfather was a Tail-gunner in one, B-24's too. That Pea shooter is looking good!!! I got the glass nose on my B-29 last night, Just have to fire up the wood stove in the garage again to go out there and Dull-coat the decals on the GIANT plane, and glue the little antennas and such on, and hang her from the ceiling next to this:

RudyOnWheels

My Grandfather was a Tail-gunner in one, B-24's too.

Wow Rudy, if your grandfather is still with us thank him for me. What an unbelievable job which required more guts than I can muster.

Can't wait to see that monster of yours. I meat Tibbets several years back at the Reno Air Races I believe.

Hi Steve,

Hope you decide on one of the old Boeings and join us, and also feel free to post the pic of your 299, we like to see it.  Scott

Sailor Steve

I looked at this thread and thought "Cool! I have an old Merlin Boeing 40 kit!" Single-engine biplane airliner with the four passengers inside and the pilot in an open cockpit above and behind the cabin. Then I found there's a beautiful resin kit available, also in 1/72 scale. Then I saw a resin Boeing 80 - biplane trimotor airliner. Then I saw that there's a resin kit of the Boeing 200, the Monomail. Like the Model 40, passengers inside, pilot on top, but all metal and a monoplane.

Then I thought, "Why spend the money when you already have the Merlin kit?"

But, but...the resin kits are so much nicer. Indecision is going to be the death of me yet.

I do have some old grainy pictures of the 299 (prototype B-17) I built for the Hill AFB museum back in 1990.

 

scottrc

Hi Steve,

Hope you decide on one of the old Boeings and join us, and also feel free to post the pic of your 299, we like to see it.  Scott

Thanks! I do have one question, and I couldn't find it in the FAQ anywhere. Can I just post a picture from my PhotoBucket account or do I need to create a gallery first?

Oh, and I have decided, but I'm waiting to hear back from a source for certain information before I can go ahead. Should be soon.

Sailor Steve

Can I just post a picture from my PhotoBucket account or do I need to create a gallery first?

You can post from Photobucket. Just copy the "Direct" line on Photobucket (Photobucket will copy it automatically for you) and past it in the "Source" area in the after clicking on the "Insert/edit image" icon.

Steve

Thanks for that explanation.

1. Here's the story. Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, was opened in 1940 and was named for Major Ployer P. Hill, who had the unfortunate distinction of being the Army test pilot who died testing the original 299 back in 1935.

2. I have always loved prototypes. I did a conversion of the old Monogram Curtiss P-6 kit to make the P-1 of 1926. I planned to build several other prototypes, but got sidetracked.

3. A friend of mine was also friends of one of the workers at the Hill AFB Museum. He had told us that they had a huge model display, but the ID cards had gotten mixed up and none of them knew which card went with which model. My friend agreed to help sort them and invited me along. While we were helping with the models I saw they had a special display case marked "Planes Major Hill Flew". They had a model of a B-17F. They then replaced it with the then new Academy B-17C. I pointed out that Major Hill never saw or even heard of either of those planes. They said a professional model-maker had told them there was no kit of the 299 and it couldn't be done.

4. I was at that time kitbashing the Academy kit and the fuselage from the RarePlanes vac kit of the Y1B-17, and planned to have it ready for the IPMS contest that October, after which I would gladly donate the model to the museum. They asked if the contest was really necessary, as that June would be the 50th anniversary of the opening of Hill Field, and the Major's children and grandchildren would be attending.

5. I put a rush on the model, at least as much as you can rush a project like that, and on June 1st, 1990 we photographed the model on my friend's dining-room table. He had a nice camera, but it's obvious that neither of us had a clue about close-up camera work. Today I have a cheap digital camera that does all that without any help from me, but then it just wasn't in the cards. I've been planning to make a trip there and take new pictures for years, but it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, the pictures are not that good, but they show the plane nicely enough.

Steve,

Great story, and while I am only 5 hours from Hill AFB and it's museum, sad to say I have never been . I'll need to make a point when I go to the IPMS contest in Salt Lake later this year.

What scale is that? It looks like 1/144. Nice job on it.

It's 1/72. I don't build much else.

Steve,

If you only build 1/72, you may want to think about joining the 1/72 GB also. Wayne allows crossovers so you can build the same build for both.

EDIT, I forgot to put down the link

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/169932.aspx

Cool! Thanks.

modelcrazy

Lockon #1 Minicraft 727-200 modified to a 100

727 Mains - 2016-02-12 00.41.21 by Lockon Photo, on Flickr

Also, I thought I'd throw in this shot of the Biggest Twin from Zvezda in the early stages next to their 787-8 and the 727:

Two Big Boeings and one 727 by Lockon Photo, on Flickr

Wow, the 727 is dwarfed.

Sailor Steve

It's 1/72. I don't build much else.

 

Steve,

I really like the 299, and if it was the Acedemy Kit you converted it from, then its was a major accomplishment.   I too am trying to stay in 1/72.  I don't have space for anything bigger.

Scott

Well Boeing GB members, its time for me to say I am completed with the B17F.  Its about as far as I can go until I get some pastels to finish the exhaust staining.  And that might be a few years since I am into other projects.  To say the least, this kit surprised me in that I thought it was going to be a pretty easy build.  Its wasn't.  Things started going down hill with all of the clear parts being oversized and too thick and had to be sanded to fit, and one of the windows popped open after the build was completed.  And then the gaps in the fuselage and wings required a lot of work.  Not to mention a ton of masking of tiny windows in order to paint and then remask to apply the clearcoat.  All in all, I am happy with the build and I now have a B17F in my collection.  I wanted the F because it took the brunt of the bombing campaign in 1942 and 1943.  The "Lilly" had a tough and tragic story and I'm glad they had the decal set for this plane.  The final pics are it with my old B17G I built 36 years ago.  I was in the eigth grade then and its fun to see the transition in how I built and painted models back then.  Scott

scottrc,

Your Lilly looks great  just fantastic, really makes me want to build a 17, love that bird.

Cody willl get you on the all shortly.

Scott, great job in getting the Fort into shipshape.  I can't see any of the hardships, looks to be a fine build really.

regards,
Jack

Thanks everyone, the support one gets on these group builds really makes getting through the tough areas of a build so much easier and fun.

scottrc

Steve,

I really like the 299, and if it was the Acedemy Kit you converted it from, then its was a major accomplishment

Not as major as it might seem. The fuselage and clear parts were from the RarePlanes Y1B-17, and the Academy wings and stabilizers were almost a perfect match.

Oh, and "Lilly" is lovely. The extra work paid off.

I've decided what I want to build. Actually I decided a week ago, but I've put off saying anything, not to be secretive, but to make sure I could actually do it, and to gather information.

I thought again about all the odd models I'd like to build - the 40, the 80, and the 200 - and then it hit me: This GB was created to celebrate the first flight of the first Boeing, so why not try to build the Model 1?

Before I said anything I wanted to see what plans and photos I could find. I came up with a good three-view drawing and several old photographs of the original, plus some pictures of a full-scale flying replica someone built some years ago. This now hangs in the Boeing Museum, so I emailed them asking if they had pictures or descriptions of the interior. It's been five days and I haven't heard anything back yet, so I decided it would be rude to delay it any longer.

I put the plans into a desktop publishing program and resized them to 1/72, based on the dimensions given by Peter Bowers in Boeing Aircraft: 1916 to the Present. I have an architect's ruler I've been using for forty years that has one facet scaled to 1/720, which of course can be used for 1/72 if you don't mind each scale foot having 10 divisions instead of 12 inches. Last night I ordered online a true 1/72 ruler, marked in feet as well as metric divisions. I've also ordered some model railroad scale louvres, hoping they'll be the right size for the rows of louvres on either side of the cowling. If not, I'm going to have to learn how to make them myself.

Technically it's not started yet, but I have begun gathering materials and going over it in my head. Obviously it's going to be a scratchbuild.