B29 Build Progress

Ya, one of these days I'll build a tribute of the Kee Bird. Not a kit available so decaling will take some researching. But that's why we do this, right?

It's starting to look like an airplane again!  Photo below shows the dry fitting (wings not glued on yet) and you can see I am beginning the seam work again.  This is the part I hate...

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

One positive note:  things are going much more smoothly and quicker because of the experience I gained in the last try.  I no longer have to experiment to determine which technique I want to use, or which brand of putty; I have a method of choice now. 

More to follow.  Much more!

cheers, Bob

Looking good!  What brand of putty do you use?

Mike

I'm using the Tamiya White Putty, seems to work well for me.  

cheers, Bob

Bob, it is good to see you back in action. I trust that you will have a better time of it on this round!

Thanks, Shipwreck.  Have had a smoother go this time around.  I am happy to be able to try again.  Been a hectic time around our house, and the modelling is a pleasant diversion!  

Cheers, Bob

Good to see you back at it....

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I've got about 200+ hours into Monogram's execrable B-36 and haven't even begun assembling it yet!  I feel your pain on this bird and wish you all the best.  I sanded off and then re-scribed the panel lines plus spent many hours of lathe and mill work to motorize the props, I don't recommend it.....

                                                                                                                   Pat.

Ah ;

   You do have to forgive me. I was thinking on two subjects and typing on one .Sorry about that .Note; When you weight it this time build a false ceiling above the crew tunnel .You have about maybe a 1/4 inch for weight, quite a way forward of the wings . That's in height and about an inch or so in length .

Tankerbuilder: roger, I understand how that happens!  No weights this time, I am simply going to tie all the wheels down on a decorative wood base.  

Staybolt: my B-29 is a labor of love for a friend.  Fortunately, I don't have any friends who flew on B-36's.  I would love to see yours, though.  Sounds like a lot of work.

7474: love the pic, thanks!  There is a fine line between perserverance and sheer stupidity...

Cheers, Bob

I crossed that line years ago! :) Bob

Your B-29 is looking darn good so far! Cant wait to see more photos!

rch73- Sorry,I meant you could use those decals on the repair/rebuild fuselage.

Reread my post,realized I hadn't stated that.

Oh, right.  I did not understand at first, but I could surely do that and it would be an interesting bird, too.  

thanks, Bob

Impressive Bob, what a monster.  Got one in the stash. Maybe someday....  Just curious,  are you using the acetone trick with that putty or sanding the seam old school?

Joe

Joe: I'm using the acetone trick, but still using trial and error on how much to do.  It seems to work pretty well, but I still have to sand also.  It reduces the amount of time I spend sanding.

Cheers, Bob

Nice.  It works great on Squadron green putty but I wasn't sure about Tamiya's product.  

Another tip for those who are considering building the B-29.  In Sweet Sue Version 2.0, I decided to close the bomb bay doors, both to save some time since nothing inside can be seen anyway, and because it made more visible the radome in between them that I wanted people to be able to see (since *** was a radar operator).  However, Revell/Monogram made no provision to close those doors.  As the model currently exists, there are hinges on the doors that work fine when they are opened, but get in the way if you want to close them.  Also, there is no support structure whatsoever upon which the closed doors might rest or be glued to. 

In my model I decided to install some strip styrene support pieces so the doors when closed could rest upon them and give me a place to glue them to.  See photo.  As shown it is not complete; I intend to put three strips per bomb bay, one on each end and one in the center. 

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I have not yet puttied the central seam on the bottom, nor have I filled in the hole where the clear support post is supposed to go. 

Onward and upward...

Cheers, Bob

Bob, thanks for the heads-up. I will be closing the rear bomb bay which will contain fuel cells. Most of a Silverplate bomber is closed up, so I will need to evaluate how much time and detail that I am willing to put into an area that no one will see (till it crashes or something). All the turrets and most of the blisters come off a standard B-29 on the Silverplate variant. All that needs a super-structure similar to what you are talking about!

Shipwreck:  I know the Monogram model comes equipped with the cover plates that go over the gun turret locations, and I think there is a couple of pieces in the kit that are the fuel cells.  I just happen to have on hand not one but two sets of that stuff in my stash now, since I did not build a Silverplate bird.  If you need anything of that sort of stuff, just holler and I'd send it along.  I am not so sure about the blister locations on the sides of the bird, or the central fire control cell blister on the top rear of the fuselage.  There is also a blister on the top forward section that was used for the navigator's star shots, if I recall correctly.  Don't know if they retained that on the Silverplate versions or not.  

I seem to recall that the earliest versions of the Revell/Monogram model had decals for the Enola Gay and Bocks Car, thus making them Silverplates.

Cheers, Bob

Bob, I  have the kit no.5711; probably the same one you have. There was a kit no. 5700 that only had decals for the Silverplate Enola Gay and Bocks car. One of our forum members graciously sent me his 5700 instructions and decals. They have been a tremendous help.

Revell offers a couple of approaches to the Silverplate conversion. Both are inaccurate. Some of the kit parts I may modify; but it looks like I will be scratch building. I hope to open the box next week and may change direction once I start cutting; but for the movement, I have more parts than I can use. Thank you for the offer; and as my build comes together or falls apart I may want to take you up on some of those pieces.

The navigators blister was the only one retained (you cannot see anything inside after it except the open forward bomb bay).

Shipwreck:  yes, you are correct in that I have 5711 (in fact, two of them! :-)

Let me know if you do need any parts, they are all free to a good home!

cheers, Bob

He's baaaaaack...

The last four months have been a disaster of sorts in that I was unable to get to the workbench at all.  Started with a nice week-long vacation in early August (love cruising to Bermuda!), but when we returned, Herself's mother, who lives with us, took a turn for the worse.  Alzheimer's is a horrible disease.  The upshot was that a combination of caring for her, some of my own health issues which thankfully were resolved, and some business travel thrown in for good measure, all kept me away from Sweet Sue.  Everyday I would pass by the workbench and see her sitting there and vow to get back to her but until now, it hasn't been able to happen.

So, when we last left for commercial break, I was closing the bomb bay doors.  The rear set is now closed and puttied, and I am closing the front set today.  I plan to use the same technique, of putting in a strip styrene reinforcing mechanism, then gluing the doors to it and puttying them.  I guess Revell never intended for them to be closed because there is no rest inside for the door to set on when shut.

Next step will be to finish puttying the fuselage center seam, glue on the cokpit glass, and then attach the wings and horizontal stabilizers.  

I spoke to my friend (who is to be the recipient of this model) and he has graciously extended me until next summer.  I have a six week convalescent leave coming up (a joint replacement is in my immediate future) and I hope to make huge strides while I am out of the workforce!

Watch this space, more to follow...

cheers, Bob

Sorry about the problems but I'm glad to hear that you will be getting back to this build soon.  I'm interested to see how she turns out.

Fly-n-hi:  thanks, me too!  I mean about the part about being glad to be back.

I glued the bomb bay doors shut in the forward bomb bay today.  Photo below:

In the aft bomb bay, I installed stringers in a similar manner as they would be in the real aircraft, following the curvature of the fuselage.  The purpose of the stringers is to give the bomb bay doors something to rest on when closed.  You can see an example in the photo a few posts back, from July.  In the forward bomb bay, I tried something different, and installed stringers that ran from front to back instead of following the curvature of the fuselage.  It was easier to install and seemed to work just as well.  

I also repaired some minor damage to the cockpit area.  One instrument panel had to be re-glued, and the stick on the other side as well. 

Untitled by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I note that both photos show to be rotated 90 degrees from the way I inserted them.  Does anyone know why this is suddenly happening to my inserts from Flickr?  Never happened before. 

cheers, Bob

I'm having a similar problem with Photobucket. Not sure what's causing it, but I know it does this before the pics make it to the forums. Great job on the B-29. BTW.

Test, test, test...

Untitled by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

end test

well, that seemed to work.  I selected a smaller picture size from Flickr, 800 by 600, instead of the full scale size.

Test, test, test...

Untitled by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

end test

well, that seemed to work.  I selected a smaller picture size from Flickr, 800 by 600, instead of the full scale size.

test 2, test 2, test 2...

Untitled by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

end test 2

Yup, that seemed to work.  I guess the original picture size was too large to put in without some software deciding it had to be rotated.  When I cut the picture down to 800 by 600, they both rendered perfectly.  I'll continue to post them smaller. 

cheers, Bob