Looking great!
You mention that it took 3 bottles of Tamiya X-1 to paint it (1.5 for the top and 1.5 for the bottom?). As I read that I thought about modern planes like the C-5A Galaxy and how it takes something like 2000 lbs of paint to cover it!
Fantastic work & build. Bob! As far as the chipped paint, I would make the hole slightly bigger than what you need to cover. Perhaps feather it very, very lightly with some fine sandpaper. Couple of light passes should fix it.
Continuing to work on her, although more slowly. I can’t make a major mistake now!
Fixed the yellow tail stripe; here is a port view:
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
And I peeled the masking off the canopy. I think it came out looking great. I will sharpen up some of the edges with a toothpick, but it really looks pretty good:
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
and a second pic, more from real eye distance:
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
Onwards and upwards! Next it is time to start installing the gun turrets, landing gear with gear doors and bomb bay doors.
cheers, Bob
More progress (gotta love three-day weekends!)
Today she stood on her own wheels for the first time!
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
In addition to the wheels, I installed the bottom gun turrets, the rear gun pod (that 20mm cannon looks enormous compared to the two flanking .50’s!) the skid plate and the radar dome. There was a certain satisfaction to putting the radome in place, as that was the reason my friend was on board the aircraft in the first place.
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
The asture observer will note that I STILL had to prop up the tail! Even after all the weight I installed and all my clever girations with the engine nacelle weight, the gun tubs full of BB’s and a stack of flattened weight in the lower equipment bay, it still is tail heavy. I am at a loss as to what to do now, and am about ready to just install the clear plastic tail prop Revell included and call it a day.
I still have not cemented the upper gun turrets in place, and it is conceivable that I could fill the radio operators space with more weight. I suppose I could start gluing a stack of nickels in there one at a time so they don’t rattle around.
Another pic:
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr
Letting everything dry real well now and will resume after work next week.
cheers, Bob
Well done, Bob! Maybe you could put a bit more weight behind the engines? Maybe between that & a few in the radio compartment you will be good. Cheers!
Thanks! I had a blinding flash of the obvious last night. Rather than put more weight in the aircraft, I will simply drill two tiny holes in the base upon which I mount it, and loop a piece of clear fishing line to the nose gear, in between the two wheels where it is not visible, and tie the nose down. I wonder why I did not think of that earlier?
cheers, Bob
Are the turrets permanently attached? If not you could make a clump of Apoxie Sculpt or Milliput, mix in some steel birdshot and make a mixture that looks like cookie dough. Then you could stuff it in the turret hole.
I suggest this only because I think that no matter what the fishing line will be visible from at least some angle.
I have this kit it my stash for a future build.
I have a question for anyone to answer. Has anyone actually determined how many ounces of extra weight need to be added (and where or how distributed) to move the CG forward enough so the model rests on its tricycle gear?
Curt
Just a beautiful piece of work
Thanks, and the best is yet to come.
Curt, I did not measure precisely, but I have a half ounce fishing weight mashed flat and draped over each engine nacelle, plue five or six more mashed flat in the lower equipment bay. That is not enough. I also have one gun tub for the forward upper turret filled with a mixture of ball bearings and expoxy. Still not enough. I am going to tie the nose gear down to the base and give up on the weight. I don’t think I have enough volume left (that I can still reach) to add enough weight to level her out. I’m reluctant to add more to the engine nacelles because I don’t want to risk wing joint cracks, especially when I transport it across country.
If I was starting over I would use the bomb bay space, either by weighting the bombs, or filling in the space behind the closed doors. It takes a lot of weight.
Today I spent researching fonts and details on making my own decals. I found two photographs of “Sweet Sue” online, that show mission markings on the fuselage of thirteen missions, three Purple Hearts and three Japanese fighters shot down. Those markings were earned on the June 1945 mission where my friend earned his DFC. I also got a font that looks like the font used to paint the crew names on the side, and what those names were. So if I can make my own decals I can really make this his airplane.
More to follow!
Cheers, Bob
God! this looks like a lot of pain. Pain? Sorry…I meant paint. A lot of paint. lol =] Rob, I’ve been following along for a little while now and I’m excited about your build. I would more than love to have one of these, but for now I’ll still just live vicariously through you.
You mentioned the weight still being a problem. Have you considered anchoring the front end down onto whatever you are placing it on… i.e. a base or tarmac of some sort. you could place a rod secured into your base and glue it through a small hole in one of the tires of the front landing gear. Just a thought. There’s definitely more than one way to fix something like that. =]
Looking forward to seeing more from you.
aaaaaannnd of course I just read more of the above discussion…and consequently feel like an idiot. Anyhow, it seems like you’re on the right track. =]
LOL…wish I had thought more about it before I got started!
Cheers, Bob
Bob
Thanks for the info. Sounds like the best approach for me in the future is to mount the nose wheels to the display board. Easiest method, plus I won’t run the high risk of stressing and breaking the landing gear under too much weight.
By the way, you have a great looking build there. My compliments.
Curt
Curt, it seems to me that if you just nail down the nose gear the tail will not sag but what will keep it from shifting left to right and twisting off that nose gear? I would suggest at least a two point mount; or, more is better.
That’s a good point actually. When you do happen to start moving it around, I bet it’d be a good idea to have each gear secured especially if you’ve added weights somewhere along the way.
Would it be hard to drill out some openings in the wheels and insert some of those small but strong magnets? Then you could put the other magnets in the base. Those wheels should be big enough to do that.
Shipwreck is right. If I just attached the nosewheels (either with fishing line or magnets, a screw, or whatever) then the model could easily shift from left to right if jarred, and that would put a lot of strain on the single attachment point.
My plan will be to secure all three landing gear. I plan to drill two very small holes just left and right of the gear centerline, then loop a clear piece of line over the gear axle and tie it off underneath. If I do that to all three gear it should sit pretty securely.
Two more photos of today’s progress. First, I painted the tip of the tail assembly white, which was another part of the squadron markings for 1st Squadron of 9th Group.
image(https://www.flickr.com/people/103213195@N04/)]robertholcomb73 by , on Flickr
You can also see where I have painted the fabric-and-dope covered control surfaces of the horizontal stabilizers. Same for the rudder. I did those in plain aluminum, vice the polished aluminum I used on the aircraft body. I think the contrast is subtle, yet highlights the difference between the fabric surfaces and the aircraft skin.
I did the same on the ailerons on the wings. I also touched up the trim tabs in polished aluminum afterwards, as they were metal vice the fabric:
image(https://www.flickr.com/people/103213195@N04/)]robertholcomb73 by , on Flickr
Tomorrow is Monday so I go back to the old grind again. More to follow next weekend. My plans for then are to turn the aircraft over and paint the stainless steel panels along the exhaust path, then attach the bomb bay and gear doors.
I think I’ll hit the whole thing with a coat of Future before I put the decals on, to give them a smooth surface to cling to.
cheers, Bob
Bob, before you do the coat of Future…I’d recommend you checking out the NMF Group Build going on right now.
Try starting here. That way you’re not wandering through too much boring forum talk. Start there and move forward and you’ll see the general discussion unfold for you between everyone in the group. Generally though you don’t need to apply Future or any type of clear coat to Alclad on account of the fact that you should already have a very pristine surface that is very smooth. The decals will adhere without any trouble. However, should you weather your B-29 and want to protect it, there is a Light Sheen offered by Alclad that wont detract from the shine too much. Just lay it down in light coats…very light coats. It will provide for a weather-beaten warplane that looks the part. =]
That’s the short version. Give it a look see.
Bob, earlier you mentioned that your bird took 3 bottles of Black paint for an under coat. How much Alclad II polished aluminum did you use? I like the way your plain aluminum worked out for your fabric control surfaces. I am ordering some Alclad II to start some practice runs. I expect to start my B-29 by August. Yours is looking really good!
How did the Alclad over Tamiya acrylic work out; especially when pulling up your masking tape?