Mighty 8th GB 1-Nov-2010 - 31-Oct-2011

O dear, things seem to be slowing down a bit round here. Better get this off the second page. The whole GB page seems to be a bit slow lately, guess its one of those times of year when people are planning other things.

If you have been able to make any progress in the last few weeks, please feel free to share, how ever small that is.

Scorpio No worries, i know things can get in the way, i am not even sure when i am going to be able to start my build yet, and think i may have to drop out of a couple of GB's i am commited to. I will leave you up on the front page in case you are able to come back to it. And i hope you will still hang around the thread.

the nicely painted dark OD with red vertical stabs just flew over my house about 6:30 PM this afternoon ...

Guess I'll be making a trip to the Addisson airport tomorroww ... that's where they base when in town ...

pepper

Nice pics. good to see those old gals flying.

I think im going to have to drop out. with everything thats been going on im way behind. Also i think ive bitten off more than i can chew with this 32nd bird. I feel a tad overwhelmed with all the parts and the size of things and yeah its going back into the stash for a while.

Nice pics.  I toured her in the mid 90s when my family lived in the UP and then she flew over our home in central wisconsin a couple years ago

Lovely photos, thanks very much for shareing those.

I live near Oshkosh/Appleton too. My first airplane ride EVER was on the B-17 from EAA. Unfortunatly the year I flew on it the Aluminum Overcast had a crash landing somewhere and was unflyable for awhile. I got to fly on this one.

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Chino2008/Highlights/B17Chino08.jpg

http://members.cox.net/b17brian/b17/FuddyDuddy/FuddyDuddy3.jpg

It is Aluminum Overcast and she's just out of winter overhaul. The crews are getting proficient while shaking her out before she starts her air show tours.

I live a short distance away from Oshkosh near the Appleton airport which sees the B-17 during her spring trials and during AirVenture. She gives rides from Appleton during the whole week of the convention.

Here she is on final for runway 30 as seen from my office window.

I couldn't quite read the nose art clearly, but it might be from the EAA in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; "Aluminum Overcast" is what she used to be called, I think.

NO WAY!! Where do you live? Can I come to visit??  LOL, but seriously. Those are some nice pics. Any idea why that Fortress was flying around?

This was buzzing around my house today.

Great looking P-38, thanks for adding that to the growing list of completed kits.And once again, i will add that to the front page as soon as i can, whci may not be until i gte home in May, but i won't forget.

Awesome job on your P-38!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharp looking Lightning.  I like the way you achieved the feathering between the colors. 

Rick--The P-51 Bs look fantastic! 

All--Here is my finished "Jeanne" flown by Capt. Roy Scrutchfield, 55th FS. 20th FG.

Next up is the B-17  G "Bottome Up"!

Doogs, I agree that the Tamiya P-51B is a great kit to put together.  It is the preferred kit to put together.  The cost of kits was not a factor.  I got it on ebay for about $12.00.  It was a bagged kit.  But there's nothing wrong with the Revell/Monogram kit.  If you consider that I put tanks and the open canopy from the Tamiya kit on the R/M, it was a bit of a hybrid.  I also put a Verlinden cockpit and True Details wheels in/on the R/M which were not really necessary.  But it was fun to cut, scratch and sand a little bit to get the finished product.  There is a lot of satisfaction in doing the extra work.  Building along side the Tamiya kit helped guide the look on the R/M kit.  Now I've got an ICM, Accurate Miniatures, and another Tamiya B model to take a look at in the future.  Rick

No problems red, glad to see you back and look forward to seeing some pics. I haven't been able to get on that much myself.

I have been MIA on here for the last couple months, but I finally have the oppurtunity to finish up both my builds in this coming week

Awesome job on the P-51s Rick  

Love the 'Stangs, Rick!

Of the two, do you have a preferred kit? I've heard great things about the Revell, but I've only built the Tamiya (and it's about as shake-and-bake a kit as I've ever touched!)

Great looking builds Rick. As i have mentioned before, i won't be able to get the pics on the front page for a bit, possably when i get home in May. Think i will use the first one of the two together. But i won't forget. Thanks for taking part in the GB, a great contribution

Great job on both Rick. Love the NMF very very well done.

Hiya Rick:

Nothing short of stupendous ... fabulous work on these 'not too oftern seen' Mustangs ...

Thanks for sharing !! ...

pepper

Wabash:  Both of these aircraft look excellent.  You got some great results with the invasion stripe decals.  It looks like they are painted on.  The stripes really make an aircraft "pop."  It's a nice job all around. 

I was able to finish my two Mustangs over the weekend.  I'd like to share a few angles with the group.  First up is the Revell/Monogram "Boise Bee'.  This is not the old Monogram version.  It has the recessed panel lines and is a little better detailed than the old Monogram kit.  Pretty much straight from the box.  I did give it True Details wheels and the extra set of wing tanks from the Tamiya kit.  Also, I modified the canopy.  I used the kit windscreen, and then carefully sliced the rear canopy panels from the kit's main canopy part.  I added a couple little tabs in the rear openings to give a solid support to the rear window panels, rather than try to just glue them in and hope the edges hold.  I used the leftover main canopy pieces from the Tamiya kit.  The one piece folds down the side of the fuselage, and the other piece is shown lifted up.  It's a nice look for an open canopy. One I didn't want to throw in the spare parts bin.  I only needed to modify these parts slightly.  I filed a little framework off each end and they fit into the rest of the canopy very well.  It's painted with Model Master OD and Neutral Gray.  The stripes are decanted Rustoleum white primer.  Microscale provided the decals.

The "Missouri Mauler" is a Tamiya kit, straight from the box. I did juice up both cockpits with some scratchbuilt boxes and Eduard placards, and added hydraulic lines to the landing gears.  But for the most part the builds were pretty straight forward. I used the Malcom Canopy on this kit.  Alclad Aluminum over flat black primer covered the "Mauler".  It went on very nice through the airbrush, and the Alclad Airbrush Cleaner was the best solvent I have ever seen at cleaning the airbrush and even making my cruddy old mixing bottles look new again I applied Aeromaster Invasion stripes hesitantly, but with a lot of Micro Sol they sucked down pretty well into the contours of the Mustang.  With a little touch-up paint the stripes came out pretty convincing.  Microscale also provided the personal markings for this aircraft.

It was a fun way to do a build.  For a while it was two pretty identical aircraft, but down the stretch the work was quite different as can be seen in the different schemes.

Thanks for lookin.  Rick.

Thanks for posting those pics. Those B-17's look great. I am going off memory, but i am pretty sure the layout on thiose sprues is the same as the acedamy F and G i have. I may just give in a get the resin cowls anyway. I will be sending an order to hannats just before i leave here and that should get to me before i start the F. With the amount of PE i am trowing at it i might as well go the whol;e hog. I will be building the 17 with bomb bays open and a couple of the M6 bomb trolleys close by, but just not sure what to use as a towing truck.

The view from port aft.

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Above.

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And from port front.

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The specific aircraft is based on two photos in Great American Bombers of WWII, published by Motor Books.  She is said to be named "Flagship," and may be the group lead aircraft, since her cowls are painted in all three of the squadron colors.

I think you'll enjoy building the early Academy Fort, although parts often have to be sanded to fit properly.  I was pleased with the way the early Forts turned out, and they are certainly some of Academy's best work. 

Here is an overhead view of Academy's B-17G, finished for "Looky Looky," from the 490th Bomb Group.  I did modify this with parts left over from a Hasegawa kit--the engine cowlings, the props and the main wheels.

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Next is the B-17B, from below showing the open bomb bay.  That's a nice option, but I usually close the doors for wartime aircraft.  My research indicated that practice "dummy" bombs were painted yellow pre-war.

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Bish:  here are the sprues from the Airfix B-17G with unused parts.

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Upper left are cowls for the early Forts--B through D models.  I think they are very accurate for those versions.  Just don't need them in the kit for an F or a G.  The later cowls, for the E through G models are not so accurate. 

Next to them are the horizontal stabilizers for the early models, and below them in the center are the props for the early forts.  Over to the right are various parts also for the early Forts, including floors, seats, bulk heads and even the lower gun tub/turrent that wasn't used after the D model.

I will post pcs of a B-17B I finished a few years ago, along with a G model, both from Academy.

Ye, i seem to recall the lines on the flaps and not very disticnt. Maybe a bit of scribing would be in order. I did get hold of the C/D kit last year, as i plan i doing a Fortress I. I don't remeber what the review site was that said about having the wrong cowls. I found it odd as when i checked, the correct cowls didn't seem to be a piece that was added into the sprue, but looked like it had been there all the time. Maybe the guy writing it had a bad kit.

And have you seen any of the new dragon armour kits. talk about having bit in the box you don't use. Talk about a waitse of plastic. I will check out the Acedamy kits when i get home, as well as the C/D i have an F and a G, and of course i will be building the F.