For months now I've been lurking the forums here and have come to recognize a trend. It seems many of us have Revell / Monogram's 1:48 B-29 in our collections, but it seems to be almost too much for many to start, let alone finish. It seems, time, display space, finishing options, etc. all play into this. With this in mind, I've held off writing this post until I really had come to a point where I needed more advice.
I teach high school American History, and display my models in my classroom as a way to start discussions. This is where the B-29 came in, I loved the sheer size of it and knew it would get the kids asking questions.
As I began building, I realized that I needed to change some things. First, in my conservative school, I knew the racy nose art in the kit (Cream of the Crop / Humpin' Honey) would likely raise eyebrows with students, and possibly the administration. While I have no issue with these accurate markings, those were not quite the type of discussions I was hoping to start with the class. I opted to look online for some alternate art, and after finding the atomic bombs in the kit, decided it was time to go Silverplate.
While I realize that most of it will never be seen, I couldn't help but paint up the full interior of the plane. It gives me a chance to learn about how everything worked and went together. As most wouldn't be seen, I kept the inside looking VERY lightly used, almost fresh from the factory. As a reference, I used the Boeing B-29 Flight and Operations Manual. This helped me out a TON in identifying parts as this kit is a reissue with an awful lot of parts that will remain unused. For example, the kit included what looked almost like replacements for the leading edges of the wings, but after putting them together I realized that they created what looked like flattened cylinders. In consulting the manual, I found a diagram of the fuel system including auxiallary fuel tanks for the aft bomb bay. These were the "Tokyo Tanks" for the Silverplate Bombers!
Manual with "Fat Man" & "Tokyo Tank"
Diagram of B-29 Fuel System from "Flight & Operations Manual"
I know most of the plane is closed up, but I couldn't help having fun with the interior. It is also a chance for me to learn.
After getting the fuselage closed up, it came time to work on the Silverplate conversion process. The kit comes with plugs for the gun turrets, one one of the two windows, but they do not sit flush and there are not enough of them. I ground off the turret mounts with a rotary tool, then used scraps of sprue to create a backing for the modified "plugs" to sit on. I ground the "lip" off the edges of the plugs so they could sit flush with the fuselage, then used filler. After lots & lots of sanding, it looks like the turrets were never there.
Probably the worst decision I made on this entire project was that after reading how nice models look after removing raised panel lines and rescribing, I decided to give it a try... A hint for those of you who don't know better. Try this out on a small fighter or something... That part of the project was nearly a dealbreaker for me. I looks alright, but there are a few mistakes and I don't think most people will notice anyway.
I have yet to attach the wings, but the model is primed and ready for paint. I did have some trouble with the "greenhouse" cockpit windows fitting properly, but I have seen this is a common issue with this particular kit.
The window issue... no amount of clamping heating, or gluing would get this part to stay sitting flush. I ultimately decided I'd have to just suck it up and deal with it.
Over the next few days, I plan to get the NMF done and start with decals. I plan to paint this beast up as "Bockscar" as it currently looks at the NMUSAF in Ohio. The only difference is it will be carrying the "Fat Man" replica inside.
I have a couple of things to figure out before I can completely wrap this kit:
- Should I try to do any preshading before doing a NMF? I love the effect with standard paints, but am not sure whether or not this works out well.
- I've picked up the Testor's Decal printing kit, but thus far am not that impressed with the enclosed software. Unless I pay an extra fee, I cannot upload images of the decals I want. I also need to figure out getting all of the markings to the proper scale.
Any ideas on these parts would be a HUGE help.