Ok so I’m starting on the interior of the 1/48 Revell B-17. Going thru these forums it sounds like the floors of the B-17 were wood. Do the majority of you use real wood (like Balsa) or do you just paint simulated wood grain on the styrene? Also do you usually put the windows in by the waist gunners or leave them out???
As Hans told me do not use balsa as it does not make the correct grain. So I used what he told me which was basswood that Hobby Lobby has with balsa.
Or you could use this technique:
/forums/t/145064.aspx
The B-17 is a fun build, I just paint the wood, most of the interior work won’t be visible once the halves are glued together and I usually leave the window in but that’s builders preference.
On restored aircraft you will find wooden floors lovingly varnished. In real life, they were painted to give some protection from the environment. Most likely colors were Olive Drab or black…
Black top from a picture I saw.
Agreed!
Agreed here to. The floors that were wood would originally have had the black non skid stuff put on. Plywood can get a bit slick at -20° at operational altitude.
Also, the cockpit floor is metal, not wood.
In an issue of Combat Missions Of The Flying Fortress , Fall 1995, it shows two drawings from an early B-17F TO that shows that the plywood floors were not painted and did not have the modern antiskid stuff on them. It even shows the bomb sight platform as having a bare plywood triangle mounted on it.
The waist didn’t have a “floor” per se, just a couple of firing steps for the gunners. As for the windows, they either get installed, or mounted in the open position… It depends on how much work I did in the waist… On the F-models, I just leave them out, as they actually hinged upward, while the G’s windows slid on tracks…
But sometimes, they did a field-mod on them, as seen here on a 100th BG Fort… A single pane of plexiglass has been riveted into place of the factory windows, with a canvas boot for the flex-mount.
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HansvonHammer/Aircraft Profiles/Aircraft details/B-17 Details/Waistwindows.jpg)
As for the non-skid, it was added to the wood floors of the radio and nose compartments for the very practical reason that blood made the floors quite slippery, rather than for any temperature issues…
Hi Panzer!
I’m working on the interior of my B-17 as well (1/48 scale). I’ve been using very thin wood veneer tape that I picked up from a hardware store. It’s easy to cut with both Xactos and scissors as well. Is the grain right? I don’t have a clue. But I’m happy with how it looks.
Eric
Thanks all for the info
PZl66: Tried this idea worked pretty good
Hans: Thanks for the waist gunner info good to know
Eric: What paint brand and color are you doing the interior?
Here is some good info on interior paint colors.
This portion covers the colors themselves
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/01/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us.htm
and scroll down to the section on B-17s for the particulars of that aircrafts interior
http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2004/02/stuff_eng_interior_colours_us_part2.htm
Panzer, I used Testor’s Model Master “Dark Green” FS 34092.
Also, for what it’s worth, I’m pretty much painting the interior as spelled out in that second link that Stik provided.
I hope that helps!
Eric
I call BS on some of the stuff in the B-17 interior section of the ipms link. I’ve never seen any pics showing yellow zinc anywhere in any B-17 including the early forts. And that second pic of a “B-17F at the long beach plant”…please tell me what part of the airplane that is cause I cant identify it.
Pick up the detail and scale B-17 books. Lots of pics of the real planes. And bronze green vs dull dark green, is there really a difference, really?!
That part is pretty hard to identify. It looks like some sort of wing or tailplane root. Perhaps an engine nacelle? As far as the yellow ZC I want to say I saw a pic or two on the prewar sahrk tail types but cant say yes for sure at this time.
But yes there is a difference between Dull Dark Green and Bronze Green. But like hand grenades, horse shoes and nukes, close enough counts and works.
These pictures are from the B-17 we have at Lyon Air Museum. Hopefully they may be of some help.
Catwalk across the bomb bay.
Door to cockpit.
When I can get access to more of the interior, I will have more photos.
A few shots of museum B 17’s.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v300/waynebaker/Fuddy%20Duddy/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v300/waynebaker/Fuddy%20Duddy/Fuddy%20Duddy%201/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v300/waynebaker/California%202006/B17G%20Walk%20thru/
The only time I have seen yellow in inside the wings. If there ever was yellow inside the fuselage it would be one piece and not a section.
Some nice pictures of Fuddy Duddy. It’s good to see it outside with some grime on it.
Man I miss the old days when fuddy was still in geneseo.