I am attempting to convert Revell’s 1:48 B-29 Super Fortress Kit 5711 to the Silverplate Enola Gay. My vision is for an inflight model just after releasing the Little Boy bomb over Hiroshima. The rear bomb bay will be closed and not be detailed; the rear compression chamber will be left empty because it will be totally closed up and would be a difficult and iffy conversion. There will be an eight man crew on the flight deck and a tail gunner. The three remaining crew members would be in the aft chamber which is not represented. I hope to share my progress with you. I am currently several months into the project. I do not know how this will turn out, but I am having fun! Question and/or feed back is welcome.
I did want to intoduce you to the kit before I messed it up. The parts are spread over a 36 inch card table. It is onle big bird. The parts count is 105, but I have exceeded that with crew and scratch built additions.
One difficult task is to chop up the turrent and blister mounts.
Wow, it still has that ‘new styrene smell’, and you’ve already fired up the chain saw!!
Following.
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
I’ll be happily watching Shipwreck. =]
After cutting holes they need to be backed up before filling. I have used stripes of styrene stock, attachched with liquid glue and CA. Pieces of sprue work too! Besides backing up holes for the missing gun turents and blisters; the aft bomb bay is closed and is also supported with styrene.
Looking good so far, can’t wait to see the future of this kit
IT’S ALIVE…
Watching your build with keen interest Shipwreck. The Revel B-29 is readily available and priced within my budget for me and the Enola Gay is one I would like to build also.
The only major modification to the flight deck was the removal of the hump from the forward belly gun. Once that was removed the navigators table did not need to fold down; it was fixed by an extra set of legs. The typical yellow line around the exit hatch is questionable for the Enola Gay. Sometimes it was represented in the restoration, sometimes not!
The plan is to have this bird in flight: back then they needed a crew. There were eight crew members crammed on the flight deck, three in the aft section, and a tail gunner. So far I do not plan on building the aft section (it will be closed) or its’ complement of technicians! The crew members will take on their own identy as the build continues.
Hey, Shipwreck! I’ll watch this with interest! This bird looks vaguely familiar…good luck with your build.
Cheers, Bob
Very good! This will be fun and educational to follow.
Watching with much interest, Shipwreck. Hope the fun doesn’t get lost on this… Good Luck!!
This is an update on the Silver Plate Progress. The first photo is of a semi-finished flight deck. Then there is a crowded complement of eight crew members as they might have reacted just after the relese of the bomb. In order to fit the bomb in the bomb bay they had to cut out a notch in the tunnel. The bomb bay photo is in-process as I try to duplicate the hardware that was built into it.
This is the 8 man crew on the flight deck. There were 3 in the aft chamber (which I am not building) and a tail gunner for a total of 12.
The aft bomb bay will not be detailed, but I could not resist installing the fuel cells.
Shipwreck, I too will be watching this one with great interest. You will save me a lot of research time. I have an autographed picture of the Enola Gay on the wall above my computer screen. I got Paul Tibbets autograph at his air charter operation while he was still alive (about 20 years ago). He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I have been wanting to do the Enola Gay for a long time and your build may be the inspiration I needed. Thanks and keep on sharing your progress.
The main gear doors need to be closed on this project. I started with the main extension door. It was smaller than the slot that it was to go in; so it had to be shimmed with styrene sheet. If I had shimmed both sides; it would have been centered better!
There are no provisions to attach the main doors in a closed position. That necessitated a substructure built of rod and sprue. The shape of the doors was only close to the shape of the holes they were to close into. That required some filing and sanding in order to come close to the correct fit!
In order to securely glue the doors, I first set them up with tube and liquid styrene glue. Twenty-four hours latter I over glued them with CA. Then after another twenty-four hours I coated the seams and rod joins with epoxy. The strength is needed to withstand pressure from sanding the outside surfaces!
Shipwreck: looking great! I loved the flight deck figures. You’ve really done your homework on this build. Keep it up!
Cheers, Bob
After a month it is bomb away; or my attempt to build a replica of L11, better known as Little Boy the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The kit bomb is comprised of three parts. The tail fins are misaligned to the rest of the bomb and there is little detail. The final parts count is north of forty. If the L11 (the script) looks sloppy it is because it was painted on the real bomb free hand with a paint brush. Now I can close up the fuselage and complete the bomb bay and flight deck.
I like where this is going Shipwreck! =] I’ve often thought of building these bombs either by themselves or with the B-29 that dropped it. Can’t wait to see more…
Looking good, Shipwreck!