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

Just a heads up to those building a B-17F, I have ordered another set of Little Miss Mischief decals for my other B-17G model Im doing and it comes with the Miss Ouachita decals with it and once I get them in the mail they will be up for grabs. (only for those in the USA, sorry for those outside the USA... ) These are really nice decals and the pinup portion of them look amazing! No asking dibs just yet, as they are still in transit. This way it gives people time to see this post who could really benifit from this set. These would cost a pretty penny and these are not just throw away decals. 

Looking good so far!!

Hi all, I have been busy through the summer taking care of my mom but now I am back to doing a little modelling.

I've managed to get my B-17 started again and hope to have it completed soon.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa206/Milogrim/WP_000085.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa206/Milogrim/WP_000084.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa206/Milogrim/WP_000083.jpg

I'll try and post a few more pics as she develops

Test fitting wings to fuselage (wings still need work along with engines and cowls just a dry fitting photo)

Is it to late to join this group?

Nope.. This isn't a "formal" Group Build with hard start and finish dates, it's just a B-17 build that's been going on for a while now with no end in sight..

BTW, this build has a "sister" build, starring the B-25 Mitchell...

/forums/p/140272/1472765.aspx#1472765

Join in! I just started myself on Little Miss Mischief. If you asked me Inwould say start with the 1/48

Is it to late to join this group? I have been away for a while, but am getting back into building again. I have about 80 kits waiting to be built. I am inspired to get started on some B-17's! I already have the Monogram "G" and Revell "F" that I built years ago, but now have insentive to build two more. My Dad served with the 390th BG 570th Sqd. Much to my delight, a decal company called Kitsworld has released decals for the B-17G "Liberty Belle" and the B-17F "Betty Boop, the pistol packin mama" both from the 570. I got a set of each in 1/48 and one set for the Belle in 1/72. I just so happen to have a 1/48 G and F and a 1/72 Revell G sitting in my stash. Now just to decide which one to build first......

Little Update:

Did some touch up on the flight deck, added maps on the navi's table, glued a canvas sheet to the front flight deck pass way (next to navi's table) 

Canvas sheet can be seen below:

Dry fit with flight deck and radio room installed:

Chin turret installed (added "canvas" in the turret)

Saw one of those ones already but was gone when I was about to buy a couple days later and found the one at fine art of decals site

Have you tried eBay? A quick search yielded this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WBS148001-B-17G-American-Beauty-Little-Miss-Mischief-/300572083176?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fb7e03e8

Good deal! Has anyone here ever ordered from fine art of decals? Its the only place I have found that has the decals I need for this build and hope they are as good as what I have been reading about them. The decals are made by pyn-up and just read it takes a couple weeks to get them from that website.

                                                  AMEN   

But I dunno if I would be doing an unjust move of not being 100% accurate with my build. Seeing as there is not an abundance of info on this plane before it got flak-t. 

Nobody gets it 100%... Photos are taken at various dates and before and after many modifications, some "official",  some not... You have to make a judgement call on just how far you'll go before you "close her up"...

Anything else will become an AMS ("Advanced Modeler Sydrome")-induced build, and you'll likely never finish it, lol...

The interior of "Little Miss Mischief" was unpainted aft of the bomb bay prior to the tail replacement. Dunno about her forward of the bomb bay...

Here's a shot from her waist, looking forward, after she was hit, and the ball-turret removed..

... wood floor which I want to replicate with stained balsa or some other wood..

I recommend basswood, which ou can get at Hobby Lobby... Balsa's grain is too "open", fuzzy, and porous, IMHO...  The wide craft-sticks at Hobby Lobby are basswood too, and work really good for the navigator's table....

Ok just one little dilemma, since my fuselage is going to be pre-tail swap, would the radio room still be green interior or bare metal? I have no problem painting the radio room green since there is more detail I can bring out with worn paint, and the nice wood floor which I want to replicate with stained balsa or some other wood..

But I dunno if I would be doing an unjust move of not being 100% accurate with my build. Seeing as there is not an abundance of info on this plane before it got flak-t. 

Even if I did go with the PE parts do you use the plastic cement to glue it on?? 

No.. PE requires the use of CA (or if you don't need strength, just "stick")  white glue and even a blob of paint will work.. Same with resin parts.. Use CA...

"Texas Raiders" Ball Turret:

Here's some WIP shots of mine from this build:

Battle damage to radio room

Stab damage

Engine and cowl of #2

You don't have to wait... They're gobs of interior pictures in this thread alone..

Radio room .50 cal (removed on many later Gs, since it was next to useless anyway, and mostly gave the radio operator something to do during fighter attacks)

Waist looking forward to Radio Room;

Navigator Station

Bombardier station and ammo-cans, bomb panel

Thanks for the heads up. The only parts I have trouble with is the "glass/clear plastic" parts when painting. And it was the Verlinden kit I was looking at. Even if I did go with the PE parts do you use the plastic cement to glue it on?? 

If its the Verlinden pe I wasn't too impressed with it ( others would probably disagree ) alltho the 718 kit gives you alot of detail options,,,all the Eduard pe I have used has been fantastic,,,,,if your worried about  using the kit parts Eduard also makes a mask set for the 1/48 B-17 I believe the mask set is a EX-106,,,and it is for the glass for the entire plane ,,,ball turret, radio room, dorsal turret,,ext,,,,Squadron makes canopy sets as well,,,I guess its personal preference and what your comfortable with,,,,,, if you want to use kit parts the mask set is the way to go I think,,,,,

Up next will be the radio room, but it will have to wait til the 26th when I visit Sentimental Journey again to take more pictures. Just when you think you have all you need you find out that key details you over looked when snapping pics.. Its going to be a fun day, taking my daughter to go see an American icon, I showed her pictures I already took and told her we were going to go inside of it and she was the most excited 3 year old! For now I'm going to add a few extra details to the flight deck until I move on to radio room. 

PZ166, that is one fine interior. You certainly do not have to apologize for it. I wish my first one looked nearly as good!

Thanks! Yeah Hans already scolded me about painting the body first but lucky for me that paint I used covers very very very well with one pass. So hopefully it still treats me right after I do final assembly, fill in seams, primer the seams, and then have to make only a few passes to cover any mistakes. This build has been the most fun so far and pretty rewarding. I have ordered the 1/48 decal set for Little Miss Mischief which was tricky to find, but my question is I saw the metal etched parts for this kit on ebay, and thinking about getting it because it has the pilot/copilot windscreen frame. Is it a good buy or should I just stick with the clear plastic piece that is a royal pain to paint?

Thought I'd let you know when working with a metalic color probably less work and agravation to join the pieces together first then paint,,,has a tendancy of showing every joint flaw,,,,can't wait to see more as you progress keep pluggin!!

Looks great !!  Keep pluggin ,, look forward to more progress!!

PZ166, that is one fine interior. You certainly do not have to apologize for it. I wish my first one looked nearly as good!

*Update - My first time detailing the interior of an aircraft. Not as good as what you guys can do but its a learning process for me.

Many nice B-17's!!

I'm joining in to the build, my first group build. New to the site and will be making Little Miss Mischief - pre flak damage/tail swap. Will get more pictures up soon!

Started with spraying the base coat on the exterior:

Thanks AdrianUK,,, I used Testors 1150 Flat Red,,,  thinned it quite a bit before airbrushing ,,then dullcoated,,,,,,,,,,

Thanks for the kind words Shipwreck.,,,I actually used a car cleaning wax on the clear side, Meguiars to be exact, it took all the little surface marks out from being shipped and so on,,,  when under natural light it is quite easy to see thru,,, my camera leaves a lot to be desired with its flash,,,even without........