1/48 B-17 Group Build...ALL INVITED TO JOIN!

I have been doing a little weathering on my builds to get the feel but thought I would leave this one almost factory new :)

No sweat... At least you didn't have it "factory new" with 15 or 20 mission-marks, lol...

Stoo Looks like you have a great start on your B-17 Welcome back to the hobby and to the forums. I am looking forward to watching your build progress as you are starting out with a nice kit.

She's looking good pz!

Hey Hans, here the decals I was tell'n you about:

Where do you get the Sentimental Journey decals???

Possible diorama?? Still contemplating the choice. 

I would have to make the board look more like a runway though if I do. Only thing is I dont have the skill to mangle up the chin turret area like on the rear plane but I can mangle up the props.. 

Also who makes the solid waist gunner plexiglass?? Since the kit comes as a framed unit.

Hey pz, I made the sentimental journey decals.

And koster is the only one who I've ever seen making the single piece waist windows. Honeslty shouldnt be too hard to make them though.

Also, your brave to make a dio that size if you do it. Hope you have more room in your house than I have in mine.

B-17 Guy

Hey pz, I made the sentimental journey decals.

And koster is the only one who I've ever seen making the single piece waist windows. Honeslty shouldnt be too hard to make them though.

Also, your brave to make a dio that size if you do it. Hope you have more room in your house than I have in mine.

Still contemplating it though... I think I may just do a dio/hanging setup. Make a dio that I can just lay the bomber on it to show it off and when I want to make room I have a spot the dio can be kept safe and just take the bomber off of it and hang it from the ceiling. This may be the only solution to my problem. Either way the gear will be up and the ball turret will be in jettison mode (aka not installed). I will be looking up what runways look light after a belly landing was done on it.

So this B-17 will be done in a diorama, gotta learn sometime. Just ordered up the Revell AG 1/72 B-17G model so that one I will have to go all out on. The detail the kit has is amazing and will be a fun but from the looks of it a longer build with all the parts it has

I saw a picture of the radio table in one of my walk around books. I did see any1 try this in privies post so i thought i try it out and this is what i came up with i had a little accident with the razor blade at the top nothing a little green putty cant fix. All i used was a strip of .020 x .100'' styrene it LOOKS a hole lot better then the one u get in the kit. Im still in a battle with my self on what color in gonna use for the interior. im still not sold on this dark interior green but i don't want to use all zinc chromate.

Ghostriderp-47

 Im still in a battle with my self on what color in gonna use for the interior. im still not sold on this dark interior green but i don't want to use all zinc chromate.

 

Ghostrider, i have been using Tamiya Flat Green XF-5 for my B-17 interiors. It's not to light and not to dark, seems just right, at least to my eyes.

bigfoot01

 

Ghostriderp-47:

 

 Im still in a battle with my self on what color in gonna use for the interior. im still not sold on this dark interior green but i don't want to use all zinc chromate.

 

 

 

Ghostrider, i have been using Tamiya Flat Green XF-5 for my B-17 interiors. It's not to light and not to dark, seems just right, at least to my eyes.

As bigfoot said though I am using the equivalent color in model master but I do not remember the color name.. something green..  So I would just go with what bigfoot said since he has the code and color name, and it would be the color to use.

The equivelent color for model master would be, interior green,  BUT, technically the nose compartment, radio room and waist area should NOT be any of those green colors, they should be natural metal (aluminum). Dont believe me? Google image search pics of little miss mischief, there is a interior pic of her with the battle damage, its all natural aluminum inside. That being said, the interior green, green zinc and dull dark green (aka bronze, model master euro dark green is the best match for) should mainly be used in the cockpit, and to a lesser extent in the nose. Also, fire extinguishers were not red back then, the were copper in color. And the bomb bays would be either neutral grey or natural metal, not green like seen on many of the restored warbirds. 

There's a few pics in here:

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=216373

http://www.ww2incolor.com/us-air-force/B_17_WAIST_GUNNER.jpg.html

http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=161226

B-17 Guy

The equivelent color for model master would be, interior green,  BUT, technically the nose compartment, radio room and waist area should NOT be any of those green colors, they should be natural metal (aluminum). Dont believe me? Google image search pics of little miss mischief, there is a interior pic of her with the battle damage, its all natural aluminum inside. That being said, the interior green, green zinc and dull dark green (aka bronze, model master euro dark green is the best match for) should mainly be used in the cockpit, and to a lesser extent in the nose. Also, fire extinguishers were not red back then, the were copper in color. And the bomb bays would be either neutral grey or natural metal, not green like seen on many of the restored warbirds. 

I posted a color picture of Little Miss Mischief that shows the interior nose is natural metal though you have to look close to it. Also flaps are not supposed to be painted on the G model from what I have seen but those were black and white and it could also be neutral grey or yellow zinc chromate?

I would deffininately go with neutral grey any day of the week before yellow zinc. Yellow zinc is just not accurate in B-17's, it was used as an initial primer/corrossion control. You will not see yellow zinc chromate anywhere in a B-17 crew area, or interior of the flaps, unless the pics are from the factory. Though you will be more likely to see yellow zinc inside the wings them selves.

Here, look through here, you will be amazed at what you get to see of a B-17 through here. I must warn you now, if you havent seen this thread before, dont look at it if you dont have at least 2 hours to spare. When I found this thread, I spent about 3-4 hours reading through it, and looking at the pics, wow! There is a lot of good info in there, and pics. And you will see yellow zinc in here, first page even.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=40406&start=0

B-17 Guy

I would deffininately go with neutral grey any day of the week before yellow zinc. Yellow zinc is just not accurate in B-17's, it was used as an initial primer/corrossion control. You will not see yellow zinc chromate anywhere in a B-17 crew area, or interior of the flaps, unless the pics are from the factory. Though you will be more likely to see yellow zinc inside the wings them selves.

Here, look through here, you will be amazed at what you get to see of a B-17 through here. I must warn you now, if you havent seen this thread before, dont look at it if you dont have at least 2 hours to spare. When I found this thread, I spent about 3-4 hours reading through it, and looking at the pics, wow! There is a lot of good info in there, and pics. And you will see yellow zinc in here, first page even.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=40406&start=0

That is what the doctor ordered!! I only have seen the yellow in wing components like you said.

OK thanks im taking notes and going to the hoddie shop cuz im out of almost every color lol.

Those two picture where just an example where I have seen the yellow chromate paint used in the inner flap area, most of the time I see it just NMF or grey

Radio compart is done!  Couldn't really get a good shot of the interior, but I did add the extra seats that are in these early Forts.  Used one of Squadron's canopy for the top piece since this kit was started from a G, the radio hatch has a hole for the gun, so it couldn't be used.

Up next fixing this hole:

Hey guys, I am gearing up to build my "Liberty Belle" Visible B-17G, and I have a question regarding the Cheyenne tail gun installation. The last time I built a Monogram B-17G was 20 plus years ago and it did not have this option. The kit I have now does, but does not show any instructions for installation, specifically where to cut off the old tail piece. Does anyone have the Promodeler instructions that you could share that diagram? Part of my goal with this build is to recreate a picture of my Dad:

On the photo you can see part of the tail letter. If it is an "O" there is a chance it might actually be the Liberty Belle that this picture was taken. or possibly one of four other 570th planes that carried an "O" or a C or G or Q... Anyhow, if any one could provide me with a reference where to make the cut , I would greatly appreciate it!

Bigfoot, Unfortunately there is no instructions for the cut you need. The pro-modeller B-17G's fuselage halves came already cut and ready for the cheyenne tail. The best way I can help you is to tell you to cut off about 3mm from the end of the tail, or even start making cuts a little at a time till you find it right. I've got 4 forts going right now, 2 are going to be late G models, of those 2, one is a pro modeler kit. I switched the fuse halves around to cut where I needed to cut.

Here's what I did:

Hopefully you can get and idea of where to cut from these pics.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh thats right. isnt the revellogram 1/48 technically a late model F with the chin turret added? The B-17 is one of my favorite aircraft, but i have forgotten most about it since i became more interested in armor (getting back into aircraft though)

As for me and my forts. I've been pretty much working on trying to get Fuddy and Sentimental caught up, mainly getting them both painted. I went and got a can of the same stuff pz166 used on his forts. But I tried to be slick and decant it so I could airbrush it. Well, decanting was a disaster, for whatever reason, I could not get the damn straw to seal on the can's spray nozzle so I got a nice chrome mess. However I did get some paint. I let it sit to off gas like is supposed to be done. Well friday I went to use it in the airbrush, I mistakenly thought it would be a quick and easy process, little did I know how wrong I was. Luckily I was just [ainting the wings for one fort. I was using my badger chrome A/B for this, and I think maybe I had the air pressure to high, but I ended up with a crappy dull, even finish and due to crappy weather outside this time of year did my brushing in the house, without a spray booth. And the misty paint got all over most of my kitchen. You couldnt see it and I only noticed it when I sat down of noticed that the bottom of my feet where shiny. So after spending of most of friday night cleaning damn near the entire kitchen and being pi ssed off at that and my not even worth the trouble finish I tried in vain to sand some of it and see if that helped, it didnt.

I was splanning on stripping the paint today and figured I'll try to respray the wings directly from the can. Well it looked better, but due to the crappy previous attempt, the wings are now soaking in a bath of simple green.

I dont know what the hell I'm doing wrong! Cant figure out if I'm too close to the model, too far, not enough pressure, too much? I put the yellow on Fuddy's wing tips, engine cowls, and all the tail parts, no problems there. But I've essentially got 2 NMF B-17's to paint and I'm not looking forward to it, period. I hate painting NMF! For the record, I plan on using the chrome krylon for Sentimantal and hawkeye hobby's snj spray metal (enamel) for Fuddy. This way, I'll get the 2 forts that dont look xactly the same, and get to see how 2 differant paints work.

Sorry fells, had to vent, and the wife is tired of hearing it. 

Wildchild,

Negative sir. The revellogram B-17G is a B-17G, early to mid production. The late F, early G thing can get confusing. The last 86 vega produced (dont hold me to who built them) F models had chin turrets. Somewhere along the line it was decided that with the chin turrets being added there was no more need for the cheek guns, so they were deleted. However, they figured out that was a dumb idea and added them back in, at the production level. I've seen plenty of pics of G models without either enlarged cheek windows or bulged cheeks, pretty much telling you that is an early G. But alot of these had them added in the field anyway to bring them up to date. The 86 F models I mentioned had the bulged cheeks and chin turrets, but the nose cone was the pointier F model nose cone. And I think (dont quote me), the bulged cheeks on them, were reversed position of what the G had.

Now with the revellogram G kit, if you just modify the nose you can make an F or E model. Not much to that. I've done it by just swapping the nose off of the revell F.

That was a half failure though. I wanted to move the bulged cheeks to the right places for an F model, like this:

Thank you for the info B-17Guy! I will take your advice and trim it down a little at a time until it fits.

Sorry to hear about your issues with the painting, overspray can make a mess!

I decided I am going to go with regular testors silver as that seems to best represent how the restored Liberty Belle is (was) finished. I am going to try the stuff pzl used on my 1/72 B-17G that I am going to do as a radar equiped Pathfinder, What type of paint was that? I missed it in the thread.

The last two B-17 models I used model masters aluminum plate buffing spray paint and it is a easier paint to use. You can get a pretty good shine but not as nice as the krylon premium silver foil. The aluminum plate paint is really easy to use and they say to use a cloth to buff it out but I end up using 1000 or higher grit sand paper to proper polish up the paint in the similar way to polish real aluminum parts with high grit sand paper. The krylon pain requires no buffing but is more difficult to use but the finish is rewarding. That is if you are going for a fresh made looking bird. If you want a slightly weathered look model masters aluminum ate would be your best bet.

Now as to polishing the aluminum paint is after you spray your subject leaving masking on as the material will get on your fingers and spread, allow at least an hour to dry or longer, longer being better, use a soft cloth to wipe off over spray off the model. Then lightly sand the model in the dirrection of airflow in a buffing manner until desired shine is made. You will notice that the sand paper will look like model very quickly but that is the goal. As in the paper will start to look like the dull side of aluminum foil. This will give the sand paper a higher grit value and is the same technique used to polish real aluminum. Just dont use too much force at first and move slowly. Later you can add alittle pressure still moving in slow strokes. 

I saw the aluminum in the pictures but did all the B-17 have the natural metal finish on the interior. Pacifically the last G model and how about the floor in the cockpit. That was also that euro green it was not natural metal. To me it just does not look right?? This is off topic but men going to the hobby shop anymore and trying to find anything to do with models is getting harder well at lest where i live. I don't mind buying thing off the internet but it always the shipping that kills me. I'm only 25 but when i first started building models i could go to Walmart and get the basic of things. I'm starting to think we are doing a dying art. I got a assortment of green's well at lest the one's i could find. What is the most realistic thing i can do with the seats in the cockpit and radio room? I see some of you painted the yellow and others that olive drab. 

Ghostriderp-47

I saw the aluminum in the pictures but did all the B-17 have the natural metal finish on the interior. Pacifically the last G model and how about the floor in the cockpit. That was also that euro green it was not natural metal. To me it just does not look right?? This is off topic but men going to the hobby shop anymore and trying to find anything to do with models is getting harder well at lest where i live. I don't mind buying thing off the internet but it always the shipping that kills me. I'm only 25 but when i first started building models i could go to Walmart and get the basic of things. I'm starting to think we are doing a dying art. I got a assortment of green's well at lest the one's i could find. What is the most realistic thing i can do with the seats in the cockpit and radio room? I see some of you painted the yellow and others that olive drab. 

I think the answer is yes and no in reguard to the interior question,,,the floor in the B-17 was wood planking,,,except for under the pilot/co-pilot seat,,,,I have just painted it in interior green,,,the last build I replicated the walkway planking with wood color painted styrene in the waist gunner area and tail gunner section,,,I have seen many pics on many G's with the interiors painted and left bare,,I think what it boils down to ( unless you are doing a specific plane and have reference pics to go by ) it's real easy to over think the the build to the point of where you freeze up,,,,my spin on it is this,,,,, just do what looks right to you,,,,there is a point of "artistic" freedom that is ok in my book ,,,and don't worry about rivet counters because no one really gives a rip,,,,,,,,,,,If your local hobby shop steers more towards the basket flower weaver people ,,,,,there is Sprue Bros,,,,Squadron,,,, Hobby Lobby,, quite a few good online sources for paint and new builds........   Hope this helps some my friend...