"Foiled" Again: B17G Build

A fellow foiler!  I am having a break from it at the moment, but I love doing planes like this.!!!

Rick, great work on that B-17, and a great story to go along with it. Would it be possible for you to post the reference pictures that you're using for this project? I would love to see them.

I will yeah definitely thanks.

Thanks for the kind words.  The glue I use is Micro Metal Foil Adhesive.  The company is out of Fountain Valley, CA but my Hobby Shop carried it.  It looks like white glue but goes on almost like water.  I cut my piece of foil to fit first.  Then, I use a soft, cheap brush and with a dab of glue "paint" the area to be foiled.  The bottle recommends letting the glue set up so it's tacky, but I like putting the foil right on because I can move the foil around.  After I like the fit, I rub it lightly with a Q-tip just the get the foil down tight.  You can use either side of the foil and because it's actually aluminum, nothing looks quite like it.

Once your first panel looks good, you'll be hooked! Good luck and let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

Rick

Incredible work with the foil, I have to know, what glue did you use and exactly how did you apply it to the foil? Did you have to completely cover the foil with glue then stick it to the plastic or cover the plastic with glue? I really want to use this technique on a Mig 21, no matter how good the alclad finish is, it still does not compare to foil.

Love the build, nice touches with the foil and wood finishes, they really help bring this warbird back to life.  I'm looking forward to seeing more on this build.

Starting to enter the waist.  Again, added my own details, mostly photo etching parts.  The floors are hand painted balsa wood, same as Radio Room.  I found that 1/35 scale US truck headlights with a little sanding make excellent oxygen walk around bottles.  

More Radio Room photos.  I sanded away the kit details and added my own.  Big Ed photo etched parts were fun to work with and added realism.  I used model railroad air hoses throughout the plane which looked pretty good once painted and installed at the air regulators.

Thanks again.  To be honest, I have to thank all of you guys.  I took A LOT of ideas from other modelers and kept notes on all of their GREAT work.  The balsa floor wasn't my idea but it's really easy to do and adds some realism when looking inside.  I know a lot will not be seen when completed but I had a lot of fun doing it!

Rick

great work so far. look forward to seeing the rest. I built a B-17 a year or so back...may have to go get antoher one and use some of your techniques, specially the balsa wood floor/door. never even occured to me to use it!

Wow!! Just found your B-17 build!!  What awesome work so far; the wooden floor and door detail are really well executed.  The .50 Cal shell casings are also a nice touch. I've got a couple of B-17s in the stash to build somewhere down the road.......Will be watching your progress closely and taking notes.

More radio room progress. After much reading and looking at other projects, I decided to paint the interior "Bronze Green".  This was approved for the nose, co-cockpit and radio room while the waist was left in natural aluminum.  I know there are different views on this but I think that the early Douglas G's were painted this way.

Shell casings were made from plastic rod.  My project also had a ring mount for the radio room .50 machine gun and I have a template in place.

Last winter I became a bit frustrated with my foil progress (I lined up the nose windows wrong and not realizing this couldn't figure out why my rivet lines and seams were off!) I therefore I took a break and started sub-assemblies on the interior.  Here's the radio room forward bulkhead.  I made the bulkhead from sheet plastic and opened the door to show they were in a hurry to get out.  The door is balsa wood that I painted with artist oils, same as the plywood floor and operators desk.  I used Big Ed aftermarket parts with homemade additions.  The fire extinguisher is a 1/32 US mortar tube.

Lovely work there seadog30.

And thanks for the info on the gunner. I am sure this will be a fitting tribute.

B-17 Guy

More pics!!!!!!

More pics!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it!  I have to add that during this build, I've stopped and started many times.  It seems there were times I couldn't get anything to line up and needed to walk away.  Because I needed to see some progress, when frustrated I would build the sub-assemblies.  I'm hoping to complete the remainder of the outside fuselage soon so I can get to the wings!

seadog30 - This is fantastic work, I look forward to seeing this every time I come on here.  I've been avoiding NMF for a while now but I might have to try this out, thanks for sharing.

Progress a bit slow because of Christmas but I'm completing the top working my way back to the tail.  I'm also saving the the top of the nose for last.  

As "Chaplain's Office" made the final approach to crash land,  they passed over the buildings around the base.  Sgt. Rimmer was still hanging under the plane and his body swung into the second story of a building tearing him loose.  He was killed on impact so he did not get crushed by the plane which landed wheels up on its belly.  The people at the field came out to watch and all witnessed this and it was documented at the end of the war.  Sgt. Rimmer was buried at a church near the field and was brought home after the war ended.  

That's a nice looking build and some great background to it.

I have to ask, what happened to the ball gunner. You say the crew were not able to pull him in, so was he under the plane when it came down.

The tool is Rosie the Riveter and is from Europe.  The sellers e-mail is dousekp@quick.cz.  There are several tools to choose from, I purchased the 0.55mm size.  It also corresponds pretty good with the Archer Transfer raised rivets which help for some added detail.  Good Luck!!

Since I am new to the aircraft section of the forum.  Where would I get the riveter tool?  My daughter gave me the G for Christmas and I want to go all out on this.  

Thanks!

I have seen it done this way too but then the rivets are "indented".  If you put them in the foil you actually get raised rivets when the foil is applied to the model.

I originally started using Bare Metal Foil.  When I started purchasing it at an alarming rate (I was making a lot of mistakes!) my friend Bob at Walt's Hobby Shop in Cresthill, IL told me about Micro Foil Adhesive.  It comes in a bottle and is very similiar to white glue.  Goes on easy and cleans up well.  You can see the bottle in the photo with the other tools I use.

When making my panels, I would usually cut a strip of foil approximately 3 inches wide and 5 inches in length.  I would make my pattern of rivets length wise along the entire strip aluminum.  After measuring, I would then make the width rivets and  cut the piece to fit.  If I messed it up, I just went back to the foil strip which had enough on it for several more tries.  

Did that make sence?

I admire your patience with the riveting, but the results are well worth it. I have foiled a couple of planes and know how time consuming it can get. Rosie the riveter may have to be bought too.