WIP: Part 3, UPDATE 11-26-17 (Almost finished!!!) Building the Revell 1/48 scale B-29 in Bare Metal Foil

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/177401.aspx

Nice recovery on the greenhouse, Johnny! Don't you just love those sort of problems that force you to imagineer a solution? 

The B-29 is so unique with that big greenhouse. A great looking airplane.

The only things left to finish are the installation of the guns on the top of the fudelage, the tail gun and the props.

Following is a photo of a tool that was indespensible in building a model such as a B-29. It would probably work for the other 1/48 scale Revell bombers. The tool that I am referring to is the foam block that the model is resting on.The foam block was originally intended for shipbuilders because it has a round recess in it for the ship's hull to rest in. But it is great for big airplanes because the model is securly held in place and it can be easily rotated.

More frustration. The canopy greenhouse does not fit correctly  If you are the type of person that likes to swear, you will be in your glory building this model. If you are the type of person that does not swear, you will be real good at it after building this model. Just a constant stream of problems.

The left side of the greenhouse fit perfectly. The right side did not fit at all.

I dragged out my hair dryer and heated up the greenhouse. While the greenhouse was hot I held it into position until it cooled into the correct shape. I used Gator Grip Hobby Glue to glue the greenhouse to the fuselage. This is a really good glue. It drys clear, does not fog clear plastic and holds really well.

There are two small decals that go onto each prop blade and each decal needs to be in the same location on each blade.. I used a divider from my high school drawing set to aid in spacing the decals. This process took over two hours. Will this thing ever be finished !!!!  One more thing to swear about, the propeller hubs and shafts  on the engine are splined just like the real thing ???????????????? Why Monogram, why???? This results in a very tight fit for the propeller hub onto the shafts. If care is not taken the shafts can break. 

Yes, yes, yes!!!! That is a good hint,

Ooooooooops!!! I made a mistake regarding the decals. This kit comes with two sets of decals. Humpin' Honey is an Army Air Force B-29. Cream of the Crop is a USAF B-29. My model has Humpin' Honey on its nose, plus USAF on the wings. That is incorrect since Humpin Honey is not a USAF B-29. Oh well, nobody that I know will ever notice that. Trying to remove USAF from the wings will ruin the BMF finish. Guess what??? The USAF decals are staying 

That's kind of what I'm getting at. Is the B-29 your building an Army Air Force B-29, or a USAF B-29. 

jmcquate

Curious, how come no red stripe in the national insignia with USAF?

 

Awesome work!When I make planes with large wings and they need to be mounted verticlally I crack the bench vise and pad the face to mount them up.The cushions worked well for you though.

Curious, how come no red stripe in the national insignia with USAF?

Hi Toshi,,

Thanks for the kind comments. To be honest, I'm kind of freaked out regarding how this project is turning out. The round shape of the fuselage really highlights the foil. It is turning out better than I expected.

I do think that any modeler could make this model in foil. Foiling is not that difficult to master. However, a modeler's mindset really needs to change before making a model like this. Before starting a build like this a modeler needs to set their mind to that fact that this model will take months, not weeks, to build, and that there is no way to speed up the process. The foiling process just takes a lot of time and there is just so much foiling that can be done in one sitting before your eyes and back get tired.

Monogram's engineering issues made this kit more difficult to build than necessary.

I am looking forward to getting this thing finished.

This is an impressive undertaking!  I even showed Mrs. Toshi and she literally freaked out and couldn’t believe how beautiful it looked.  We’re both looking forward to your completed master piece!

Your friend, Toshi

Amost finished. The only thing remaining are the cockpit greenhouse, guns and landing gear.

I need the advice from anyone that has built this model. The cockpit does not fit propertly. I need advice as to a proceedure for gluing the greenhouse in place. Thanks in advance.

Great Idea with the cushions Johnny, I wonder if that's how they did it at the factory? lol

It's time to glue the main wings to the fuselage. The wings are long and heavy and the wings have to be in a vertical position as  the glue cures. The question of the day is, "how do I support the fuselage in a manner that keeps the wing vertical"? I know that this may seem nuts, but I stacked some outdoor furniture cushions together and wedged the fuselage between the cushions. It's an oddball soultion, but it worked just great.

The right wing is between the cushions and the left wing is upright.

Super impressive work!

Salivating like a Pavlov dog waiting for the final pictures!

Thanks to everyone for the positive comments.

It looks fantastic. Nice work.

I'm thinking that I may need to hand it on a wall. I just need to figure out how to do that.

Looks good - you're on the home stretch.  Better start thinking about a place to display that big bird!

The kit is getting close to the end (I hope). Time to apply the main wing decals.

I wanted to make sure that the carrier film that is between the letters does not show up on the wings, so I individually cutout each letter. Monogram decals are pretty thick and they tend to not tear.

The decals came out nice, no carrier film.  Please note that the foil on the wings is not as shiny as it appears in these photos.

Here is what remains to be done:

1. Install bomb bay doors
2. Glue wings to fuselage
3. Install cockpit glazing
4. Install landing gear and guns

I'll be glad when this is done. 

Thanks!  Yep, the kit exhaust are nasty 

Really nice jpb on the exhaustsWow Monogram really punted on those!

This kit has a number of engineering problems that make it difficult to build. It is definitely not a kit for a begineer modeler. IMHO, the way the engines/cowlings are attached to the nacelles is the biggest problem.

Monogram did not provide any locating pins or lugs to help locate the engines onto the nacelles. Plus, there is not enough surface area to glue the engines to the nacelles. Somehow the cowlings are to be butt glued to the edges of the nacelles. As I recall, the engines on Revelle's B-17 and B-24 are engineered in the same manner. The problem with the B-29 is that the engines/cowlings are big and heavy and need to be securly glued to the nacelles. 

This is my solution. Yes, it is a crazy soultion, but it works. I took a sheet of styrene and cut it into strips. I then glued the stips into blocks which were glued to the nacelles. This provided a nice flat surface for glueing the rear of the engines to.

The thickness of the blocks of styrene also provided a small gap between the cowlings and the nacelles. This provides for a closer visual match to the 1:1 plane.

One last thing. It is important that the panel lines on the nacelles align with the spaces between the cowling vents. This is not mentioned in the instructions. If this isn't done, the engines will appear crooked when the airplane is viewed headon. This is why it would have been nice if alignment pins were provides. 

Toshi,

Thanks for the kind words. Some people would say that I am obsessive I always enjoy following your work. 

John

Fantastic meticulous work, excellent just excellent!

Your friend, Toshi