Putting my 1/48 B-17 to shame! Great work!

E Baker

Putting my 1/48 B-17 to shame! Great work!

 

Thanks E Baker...but I'm sure its not!...all models that we all do are just as good as all the rest...it's just different approaches to the build!

Foz

 

 

E Baker

Putting my 1/48 B-17 to shame! Great work!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks E Baker...but I'm sure its not!...all models that we all do are just as good as all the rest...it's just different approaches to the build!

 

Let me put it this way: Mine is the one people say "oh, that looks cool". Yours is the one people spend 15 minutes looking at, gazing at all the detail! Simply put, they are two very different beasts.

BITS AND BOBS ABOVE THE RADIO OPS DESK

Hi chaps

Another week gone by and more equipment scratched! 

There is so much equipment in the radio room that I decided to break it down into areas.....so today's post will be concerning the gear above the radio ops desk including what would have been on the desk!

So to start with I knocked up the ops table......

....and on this table we first need the Liaison Receiver. ....a 4 sided plastic square with scrap plastic and wire for switches etc!

A bit of paint applied and a paper dial glued into place and hopefully all is well!

So I then scratched the radio ops headset....darn fiddly especially with the small gauge wire I had to use!

Here is the transmitting key and Liaison transmitter master switch (the pin is to show the scale)...........

...and the radio ops light...built using thin gauge wire....

this is the spare turbo amplifier.....

The next few photos are of the equipment so far upon the radio operators desk.....

Here is the Command dynamotor and modulator and its little shelf bracket before and after painting 

The IFF crash switch ( I believe this was activated to destroy all radio equipment in an event of a crash!)

The portable oxygen bottle.........

....and the fire extinguisher....(I have just noticed that when I accidentally knocked off the top of the extinguisher I super glued it back on upside down!ha ha!...will have to fix that later!)

...and finally here is the oxygen regulator and panel......

So that took all week to do!

Rambo

Fozzy once again excellent work, I'm learning so much about the B-17 and scratch building in general from your work

 

Cheers Clint!...I am pleased I am showing you some insight of this marvellous aircraft!

I haven't commented alot but rest assured.....I'm checking in often. Is this going to a museum upon completion? Love your work.......keep it comin'.

mustang1989

I haven't commented alot but rest assured.....I'm checking in often. Is this going to a museum upon completion? Love your work.......keep it comin'.

 

Not sure what to do with it when it's all complete!...I can't think that far ahead!!

RADIO EQUIPMENT ABOVE THE RADIO OPS DESK INSTALLED

Hi guys 

We continue!...............

I spent all this week since the last post installing all the radio equipment I scratched......As a reminder this included ..the radio ops desk that had the Liaison Receiver ,spare turbo amplifier ,headphones ,transmitter master switch ,transmitting key and desk lamp. I also installed the Command dynamoter and modulator ,the fire extinguisher ,portable oxygen bottle , IFF crash switch and the oxygen regulator and panel...I don't think I left anything out!

Here are some photos..............

So staying in this area I will now scratch build all the equipment that can be found underneath the radio ops desk....not as much gear so I will make the radio ops chair as well! 

Hi,

The level of detail that your model shows is amazing 

Thanks guys!

I notice that you post at britmodeller.com. For some reason, I cannot connect to that website anymore. If you could please go to the forum "airplanes ready for inspection". Then go to my post 1/48 P-38 Bare Metal Foil (Johnny_K) and tell everyone that I appreciate their kind words and that I can no longer connect to britmodeller.com.

Thanks

THE EQUIPMENT BENEATH THE RADIO OPS DESK

Hi to all!

Here is the next episode to this never ending saga!

Before I start I want to say that I do realize that this scratch build is not 100% accurate.The interior colours I have chosen are a mish mash taken from hundreds of photos I have collected.The other problem is that it seems that The Flying Fortress's interior used different equipment and placed them in different areas of the aircraft....for example the Tokyo shut off valves. I have placed them on my model beneath the Radio ops desk ...which some of the G variants were... whereas other "Gs" had them on the aft bomb bay bulk head. This of course causes me confusion and I have to go one way or the other. At the end of the day I have to convince my self that this is my own interpretation of this glorious Aircraft and it's never going to be completely accurate and to exact scale as scratch building is really flying blind!!

Reason why I am rambling on is because this project is taking so long and at times I feel that I have bitten off more than I can chew and I have to  convince my self to carry on...regardless!

ANY WAY..............................................

I have scratched all the bits and bobs that seem to be under the radio ops table although as I said ...difficult to know what was and wasn't installed!. ....but starting with the radio ops seat...here it is ready for painting....

here's the scale.......

All painted with the seat straps fixed....

I have labeled whats what with the various equipment in the next couple of photos...the usual plastic scraps and wire were the order of the day!.............

I attached the top section and tried to poke the camera through the back end and sides to get the shots of the equipment!....

I then glued the seat in position and took a few more photos......

OK....so that's that part done! 

Rambo

I'm at a loss of words on your work here. It just keeps getting better and better, I look forward to your next update.

 

Thanks Clint

FORWARD STARBOARD AREA OF THE RADIO ROOM

Hi guys

Another week gone by and another area of the radio room complete!....and another week nearer to starting the rear section of this build!...

So a few things had to be scratched and so I started with the Command Receivers...here they are before painting and wiring up!.........

Being approx 3 cm long it was a bit fiddly...I had to drill tiny holes to accept the pins I used for the cable connectors and switches etc ....here it is painted.......

Above the Receivers there are the Command Transmitters...just as fiddly!

However the tiny Antenna Relay was a bit of a challenge!.....

So here are all the 3 units complete ...........

...and here is the Connector for the Antenna and the cables that will connect to the Transmitters and Receivers.....

The next few photos are of everything in place.........

So turning round now and facing the rear of the radio room I will attempt to build all the equipment that was found in that position.

Exceptional work Fozzi. I’d sure feel for that navigator sitting on a fancified pogo stick with some lap belts on it during a crash event. That’d hurt!!!!

mustang1989

Exceptional work Fozzi. I’d sure feel for that navigator sitting on a fancified pogo stick with some lap belts on it during a crash event. That’d hurt!!!!

 

Cheers mate!

I'm sure he got down on the floor against the bulkheads with the other crew who normally congregate in the radio room in the event of a forced landing!!

EQUIPMENT ON THE REAR PORT BULKHEAD 

Hi Guys

There is a lull in the good weather so I have found the time to do another posting here rather than concreting!

This will be the penultimate posting of the Radio room before I tackle the complicated mechanism above the Ball Turret!....something that's going to be a tough one no doubt!

....but first lets get to today's posting!

Not too much stuff had to be scratched...there is a spare oxygen bottle....Liaison Transmitter ....Liaison Antenna Tuning Unit and a few bits and bobs on the side wall.

So here is the Liaison Transmitter and Liaison Antenna Tuning unit before painting...............

After I painted it this is how the Liaison Antenna Tuning Unit turned out.........

....and the Liaison Transmitter......

Below this equipment a spare oxygen bottle was stowed....(this varied from aircraft to aircraft).......

This next photo is of some of the gear that could be found...I say could be found ...as once again info on the many different specs of the B17s is huge!........

This was now all installed into the radio room and as I usually do here are the photos to show this........

Looking forward now to the last part of the actual Radio room and that is all the Transmitter Tuning Units that are stacked up on the other side of the aft bulkhead.

Rambo

Very nice Fozzy the equipment matches up perfectly to the real items

 

Thanks Clint!

Master craftsmanship right here!

Hi guys

Today I would like to show you the completion of the radio room it self.

This section of the build will still be on going as I have to get the ball turret installed and a shed loads of other details on the exterior....which brings me to a BIG problem!

As normal with scratch building ...sometimes mistakes are made!...well I will own up to my mistake and tell you that the position of the ball turrets aperture is slightly out!.....( it needs to be a tad more to the rear)... I might be able to get away with it but it means a lot of re adjusting which means destroying a lot of the detail I have already completed!

I always thought this next stage would be challenging as I am trying to get the turret installed in two halves because I am building this B17G in two halves!....I find that constructing the aircraft this way makes it a lot easier than the method of Port and Starboard construction. That is until it comes to the part whereas the ball turret is connected to both top and bottom of the fuselage!

I did think of displaying the ball turret separately but then thought that nothing else on this model is separate....at the moment!....no doubt that when I start to install it , possible ideas will float around in my head ...well I hope so else this project will temporarily grind to a halt!!...........no one said that this would be easy!!

So putting that nightmare to one side........lets get to the last of the radio room detail. 

The last rear starboard area of the radio room meant that I had to scratch 5 x Transmitter Tuning Units....a couple of hand cranks and an extinguisher........here are the hand cracks and extension bar before painting... 

A rather laborious task but here are the 5 x unpainted Transmitter Tuning Units.....

The radio room door was made from a sheet of plastic card next. There was 2 doors in the radio room one on the forward bulkhead and one on the rear bulkhead....some information and photos I have seen show that the rear door wasn't always on...this could be just for the War birds so for aesthetic reasons I have left it off!....here are parts all painted and ready to be installed.....

This photo shows the hand cranks on the bulkhead wall........

....and here is an assortment of photos showing everything in place ...including the camera door hatch....

So for me its time to put my thinking cap on and try and sort out this Ball Turret mess.....once I get somewhere I will report back!....could be some time!!!

Rambo

Looks awsome fozzy. If it was me instead of undoing a lot of detail i would display it separate that way you can also fully see all the detail you put into the ball turret

 

Yes I know what you mean Clint!....gonna have to think about this....it all depends on how I am going to display each section...at the moment I am steering towards each section...(ie nose section...bomb bay...radio room and eventually the rear section) seperately on a display board and not butted up against each other like a long train!....if I displayed the entire fuselage that way then maybe the Ball turret could be displayed seperately!.....food for thought mate!....thanks for your input!

Afternoon chaps!

Well after considering all the possible ways of how to build the structure which holds the ball turret to the fuselage just beyond the radio room I came up with some sort of plan!

I had some vac formed molds of the ball turret that were not good enough when I was constructing it........way back it seems!......which luckily I kept. I thought that as it's the correct shape may be I could cut pieces of it to fit on top of the ball turret and then add the bits and pieces on top of that?.....so I went about that idea.

I thought the best plan would be to construct it inside the fuselage above the ball turret aperture.....and then eventually feed the already constructed ball turret up and onto the structure.

Some of the shapes of the parts were a bit of a nightmare to replicate but after a few days of experimenting with different materials I managed to make the parts look half decent!!

I haven't finished the structure at all ....I have just done the basics and to show you what else needs to be done ...here is a photo of the real thing!......

As you can see these bars ...part of the structure that attaches to the top of the fuselage...have yet to be made.....

...and then of course the ammunition cans and oxygen bottle ...not to mention all the other stuff...have also have to be replicated!....got my work cut out!

I have placed the ball turret in place to check what it all looks like in the next 3 photos......

...and here it all is with paint applied!..........

So now it leaves me to figure out how to attach it to the ceiling of the fuselage.....when I sorted that out I'll be back!

Jay Jay

SIMPLY AMAZING ! Another thing that blows me away is that you know what all this stuff is called and used for. I am scratch building a number of parts for my 1/48 Visable B-17 but I had no idea what the stuff was until you posted this info and I am grateful for it. It's as if you actually own and fly a real B-17.

 

Thanks Jay Jay

I wish I did own a B17!!.....as for the knowledge and info on the Fort.....I have been studying the B17 for well over 5 years now so that I could have half a chance when doing this project!...and I'm pleased that I can be of some help to you!