WIP: Part 2, UPDATE 7-18-17 (Nose Weights) Building the Revell 1/48 scale B-29

WOW!

Wow,

That looks great.

Pat

I finished both horizontal stabilizers before I started on the main wings.

Above is a photo of the 1:1 plane and a photo of the wing of the Enola Gay.  Note that a portion of the main wing is painted an aluminum color. I contacted Brad Pilgram of the Commerative Air Force regarding the painting of the B-29 wings. He was nice enough to reply with the fillowing, "The part you are talking about was a different alloy with aluminum lacquer on it. Pretty much the rest of the airplane is bare metal. "    I will try to duplicate the look of the actural airplane's wing.

First I added rivets to the wing.

Then I masked the portions of the wing that will not be painted.

I painted the wing with Testors Metallic ALuminum paint and then sealed the paint with Testors Metallic Sealer.

Then the real work began. Bare Metal Foil was added to the wing. Most of the foil is Matt Aluminum, but I also used Bright Chrome on a few panels for visual contrast. The top of this wing is almost finised. Note the contrast with the unfinished wing. The quarter was added to the photo so that you can have some idea of the size of the wings. Time to start on the underside of the wing.

Beautiful job!  That is going to be one big bird when finished! 

WOW, its  been a long time since I updated this post. It's Summer and there is a lot to do outdoors.

This is the fifth airplane that I have finished in Bare Metal Foil, and it taking a really long time. Way more than I expected. It has taken more time to foil the one main wing of the B-29 than it took to foil the entire P-47. Plus, I have used a lot of Bare Metal Foil so far. 

I did not like the way the kit supplied exhaust stacks looked. Plus, the kit did not provide the supercharger exhaust, so I decided to make new exhausts from aluminum tubing from Hobby Lobby. 

I cut the tubes on an angle and weathered them with rust and flat black.

Next I drilled holes in the nacelles on an angle and filled the recessed area with wood putty.

The finished product looks really good. The entire nacelle is finished in Bare Metal Foil.

The center area of the top of the wing was painted to prevent corrosion. I finished the remainder of the wing in Bare Metal Foil.

Almost the entire bottom of the wing is finished in Bare Metal Foil. The only area of the bottom of the wing that was painted was directly adjecent to the fuselage.

After  the Bare Metal Foil is applied it is burnished with a paper blending stick. After that it is lightly brushed with 0000 steel wool. It took almost two sheets of Bare Metal Foil to cover the one wing

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to attach the engine/cowling to the nacelle??? There are no locating pins or slots. 

I'm watching, the metal stuff is really cool!

Max

Impressive work indeed!

Shipwreck

Jonny, you did a great job on those exhausts. I used plastic tubing, so I know a little about what you went through! The results are certainly different with foil; I used lots of Alclad 2. It is a good model; good luck with it!

 

JohnnyK

I purchased plastic and aluminum tubing. I liked the aluminum more because the walls were thinner. 

The metal tubing is certainly superior to the plastic.

Hodakamax

I'm watching, the metal stuff is really cool!

Max

 

First I used Testors Metalizer to simulate NMF. I never liked the results. Then I tried Alclad. That was a big improvement, but IMHO, it still looked like paint. Then I tried Rub-N-Buff  (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234944554-b29a-pacifique-1945-148-monogram/). That didn't work for me. Next I tried gluing  kitchen foil to the model. That was a big mess. Then I ran across an article about using Bare Metal Foil as NMF. I liked the results and did not return to paint. The best thing about BMF is that it is possible to slightly alter the appearance of each panel on the airplane. Just like the real thing. The only downside is that it takes sooooooo long to apply the BMF.

Shipwreck

Indeed, the metal tubing is superior to the thick walled plastic.

 

Both are easily thinned out to a more scale appearance with a round needle file.

Using the metal tubing for the exhaust was brilliant.  The bare metal foil looks superb!

Toshi

I am very impressed with the work you're putting into this kit.

I don't know the answer to your question but perhaps someone will chime in with some suggestions.

Toshi

Using the metal tubing for the exhaust was brilliant.  The bare metal foil looks superb!

Toshi

 

Thank's so much for the kind words. 

JohnnyK

The finished product looks really good. The entire nacelle is finished in Bare Metal Foil.

 

Actually Johnny, I keep going back to this photo. It is really better than good. I have never used BMF; I am looking at the panel that immediately surrounds the exhaust pipes; is that foil over the kit raised panel lines and rivets?

I noticed that you inquired on how to attach the cowlings to the nacelles. If you have not resolved this issue, the answer is carefully! I lined the inside edge with liquid solvent glue and made sure the cowling was setting square relative to the panel line around the front of the nacelle. When I was satisfied, I filled the area under the flaps with thin CA. Managed to knock one off anyway, but they are pretty secure!

Shipwreck

 

 

JohnnyK

The finished product looks really good. The entire nacelle is finished in Bare Metal Foil.

 

 

 

 

Actually Johnny, I keep going back to this photo. It is really better than good. I have never used BMF; I am looking at the panel that immediately surrounds the exhaust pipes; is that foil over the kit raised panel lines and rivets?

I noticed that you inquired on how to attach the cowlings to the nacelles. If you have not resolve this issue, the answer is carefully! I lined the inside edge with liquid solvent glue and made sure the cowling was setting square relative to the panel line around the front of the nacelle. When I was satisfied, I filled the area under the flaps with thin CA. Managed to knock one off anyway, but they are pretty secure!

 

I did not use Bare Metal Foil at the louvers adjacent to the exhaust stacks because the BMF kept tearing at the louvers. Instead I use an aluminum tape that is used to seal seams in HVAC ducts.

I am getting bored working on the wings, so it is time to work on the fuselage.

The first task is to figure out how much weight is necessary to kee the plane from sitting on its tail. I temporarily assembled the aircraft, including the main landing gear. It is amazing how large this model is when comparing it to a P-51.

I bought one pound of split shot from Cabelas and started to add the shot to a small plastic zip bag until the nose of the plane tipped over. This is an easy way to figure how much weight is required. I used about 12 oz. of weight. I plan on puting the weight in the front bomb bay, so I placed the bag in the general location of the bomb bay.

I test fit the bag in the bomb bay. Now I need to figure out how to fasten the bag to the inside of the bomb bay.

If your going to fill the bomb bay with bombs why not put the weights in the bombs ?

Wow, I think this B-29 is on it's way to being model of the year stuff.  Some really professional techniques you're demonstrating.

Johnny, I did something like that with my B-26. I put the weight in the navigator's compartment, just ahead of the bomb bay. If I were to do it over I would put as much weight as possible close to the nose and work back. The reason is pure leverage. The further back towards the main gear; the more weight you need. More weight translates into more stress on the landing gear (a 1/48 B-29 is heavey enough without added weight). Because of where I added the weight; the B-26 weighs more than it need to. My B-29 was no problem; she is in flight!

This is some top notch work.  Very impressive. I can imagine the foil application getting tedious, but the result is phenomenal.

Yes, applying the foil can get tedious. This is a very big model. I did not realize how much foil I would need. I think that I am on my third sheet of foil. I figure that I will need 9 or 10 sheets.

I agree with you regarding locating the weight as far forward as possible. On the B-29 I would need to remove the portion of the cockpit outlined in blue in order to locate the weight closer to the nose of the plane. That would make the weight visible through the opening in the bulkhead behind the pilot's seat. I guess that I could blank off the opening with a piece of plastic.

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JohnnyK

I agree with you regarding locating the weight as far forward as possible. On the B-29 I would need to remove the portion of the cockpit outlined in blue in order to locate the weight closer to the nose of the plane. That would make the weight visible through the opening in the bulkhead behind the pilot's seat. I guess that I could blank off the opening with a piece of plastic.

 

Well, I will tell you Johnny, My B-29 was a conversion to the Silverplate bomber, Enola Gay. There were modifications all over. in addition to the rear of the flight deck was the flight engineer, radio man, and navigator plus two specific scientific bombardiers. After hours of work; you cannot see them!

The fist place I would look is for any space between the nose wheel box and the fuselage. If you were to line up a string of those metal balls along the perimeter of the rear section of the flight deck and painted them your interior color; you would be the only one to know! You could also stash some on the floor of the engineers area and under the navigator's tables. Worse case, if anyone could see them; you could just say the crew is a bowling team.

If you were to load as much weight as forward as you can and then re-do your balancing act; I think that after you make adjustments to the weight needed in the bomb bay, your model would end up a bit lighter.

You really do not want to remove any plastic along the deck. You will need it to support the extra weight. I mean to securely glue the weight along the edge of the floor and walls. Secure is a key word; or you will end up with a rattle can (I found out the hard way). And rember all the additional plastic thhat you are going to glue adds to the forwad weight. With your bird you have four engine assemblies, crawl tube plus guns, wheels, and clear plastic plus!

Hi;

 The attachment point for the engines and cowl , is the item sticking out . Now if you want you can do this .Get some H.O. scale 1x1 from Evergreen .Place little blocks in three locations on the rim , just inside the cowl flaps .One at the top and the other two at a equal distance .This will form a triangle when viewed from the front .

 Now thin the cowl flaps only and mount the nacelle . .P.S. You can go to the housewares of you're local Meir's or Wal - Mart and buy the heaviest Foil broiling pan you can find . Make your Cowl flaps from that .

 Now for weight . Put a piece of plastic in and block the door aft . Use Pine Derby car weights for weighting . It will stack nice all the way to the top of the bulkhead AND you can shape it accordingly . Paint it Flat black . No one will see it  .

 Another P.S. Make sure you deal with the Nose Gear . after adding a big group of weights it might be comptomised . I drilled a hole straight through it and put a solid brass rod down the center . Yes , it also goes through the tire and wheel .

Thanks to everyone for advice regarding the nose weights. I added pinewood derby weights to the underside of the cockpit floor.  I am sure that I will need additional weights.