B29 Build Progress

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
141

bvallot: I did check out the NMF group Build you suggested and it was great, thanks so much for steering me there. Lots of good ideas and tips. Best thing about this forum!

Shipwreck: I used two 1 oz. bottles of Polished Aluminum. A little goes a long way. The Alcald did OK over the Tamiya gloss black. I did not have any Alclad surfaces pull up when I masked them later. Last night I sprayed some of the lower engine nacelles Stainless Steel, and had to mask over the original Polished Aluminum; the masking came off just fine with no issues.

However, the original purpose of putting the Stainless Steel down was to emulate those panels that were stainless to disseminate heat and I did not get that effect. Instead, it looked almost just like the Polished Aluminum that it was sprayed over. I figured out (later, of course) that I should have put more Gloss Black down on the masked portions. The Stainless Steel was reflecting the undercoat it was on, which was Polished Aluminum. Lesson learned here is to re-apply the base coat on any panels you want to overspray with a different Alclad color. Probably should have figured that out beforehand, but I didn’t. Story of my life [*-)] So I guess I will get to re-mask and do it all again.

Cheers, Bob

142

Bob -

You and other folks here make a good point about mounting all three landing gears. Sounds like the method you plan on using will work. I’ll be very interested in the results.

Curt

143

Curt: I did a trial run today on the mounting, pics below. I cut a small piece of plywood as a sample base, just to have a way to work with the model in the last phases, including being able to put it on a turntable for ease of access. This is NOT the finished base, just a working base.

Below you can see the nose gear tied down. I had to relearn my Boy Scout skills a bit and did not get the knot quite tight enough; you can see the wheel is up about 1/8-1/16". I used thread for this trial run, rather than clear fishing line (which is my plan for the finished product).

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

The next pic shows all three wheels tied down and the model, with its new plywood base, setting on top of a small turntable.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I spent the little time I had this weekend attaching the gear doors and bomb bay doors. After I had them glued in place, I mixed up a touch of epoxy and put a drop on each of the hinges for all ten doors, to strengthen the joint a bit in case of bumps.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I made up some decals on my printer and got clear decal paper and a sealer. This will be another first for me. I am breaking all sorts of personal new ground on this build!

Recall that this is for a friend who won a Distinguished Flying Cross (and four Air Medals) in this airplane. I thought some sort of identification of his achievements was necessary, so I procured the full-size medals of each award (including the three oak leaf clusters on his Air Medal), along with a set of enlisted observer wings. I plan to mount the wings, and medals, alongside a brass engraved plaque with his name on it on the actual base. I don’t plan on doing a diorama base, just a plain wooden one. There should be plenty of room!

Stay tuned, film at eleven…

cheers, Bob

144

Wow! Looks great. I hear you on relearning Scouting skills… But I just have to remember them… even though I’m still involved with Scouting!

145

Just thought of this.

You could hide the string/fishing line using wheel chocking blocks.

146

That’s a great idea! I’ve found some balsa stock at Hobby Lobby that is milled to a trapezoidal shape. Cut to size, prime and connect with some thread (rope) and presto! Wheel chocks to conceal your line…[:D]

Gary

147

Another weekend of progress. I did something new (to me) this time: I made my own decals. I wanted the airplane to reflect his own aircraft, so I did research to find the names of the aircraft commander, crew chief and navigator and put their names on a decal sheet to scale. I also made three Purple Hearts to put on the nose, as my research indicated that they painted those on the nose after the June '45 Kobe mission (where they shot down the three Japanese fighters and all the crew received Distinguished Flying Crosses).

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I also put the remainder of the decals on the aft end of the airplane, most visibly the “Circle X” of the 9th Group:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I noted in one pic that Monogram has a sense of humor. Underneath the pilot’s names, I installed the kit-supplied decal of the model of the B-29, sort of the Air Air Corps version of the “dataplate” to identify the type of aircraft. Note the bottom line:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Anyway, it is well on its way to completion now. I still have to install the engines and have been giving thought to a base. I think it will be cherry plywood with a molding border to provide a lip, and an acrylic cover that sets within said lip. I’ll also include a full sized Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and his enlisted observer wings.

cheers, Bob

148

After further review, I noticed that my humor is not likely to be noticed. I blew up the decal in question:

IMG_2063 - Version 2 by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

The last line says the aircraft is “suitable for aromatics”. I suppose the actual marking says “acrobatics”, but what the heck do I know?

I then moved the model to a large counter and marked off a 27" square base in blue tape. I wanted to position the medals and a brass plaque (represented by a piece of white paper) to see if the arrangement made any sense:

Untitled by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Still haven’t glued the engine cowlings on.

cheers, Bob

149

It means that it able use aromatic fuels. Aromatics are carbon ring compounds such as benzene. They get their name because they are smelly, sometimes nice, sometimes not so nice. They also burn with a smoky flame.

Aromatics have very good octane rating. In Europe between the wars, before tel became available, the way of boosting the octane rating of fuels was to add Benzol. Benzol was the commercial name for a mixture of benzene and toluene derived from coal tar. The disadvantage of using aromatics to boost octane rating is that large quantities have to added as basically you are adding high octane fuel to a low octane fuel to raise its octane rating. In contrast only small amounts of tel need to be added.

When American aircraft were first brought to the UK the engines sometimes encountered problems running with the high aromatic content fuels is use and adjustments had to be made such as replacing the jets in carburetors.

Gasoline used to contain, IIRC, about 60%-65% aromatics but in modern times this has been reduced to about 35%-40%.

150

Great looking build, and aromatics is referring to fuel.

151

That is why I love this forum! I did not know that and had never heard of that before now. So I guess Monogram gets high marks for accuracy and not humor…

thanks for telling me something new!

cheers, Bob

152

You could find a printed tarmac sheet ,or simulate your own.There are companies out there that make sheets to scale.At least there were a few years ago.

153

Well, disaster struck yesterday. I was moving the model to my workbench to install the engines and it fell to the hardwood floor. [:'(] Several smaller parts broke off, but that wasn’t so bad. Worst of all is it landed directly on the glass nose and the whole glass cockpit area came off and the centerline seam down the top of the fuselage cracked open.

That area. of course, is the centerpiece of the whole B-29 visually, so any flaws there will stand out like a sore thumb. I am having a hard time convincing myself that I can repair a natural metal finish in that area and repaint it to match without it being obvious, especially since it is already decaled. After thinking about it all night I am about ready to concede that I have to get another model and redo the whole fuselage and wings portion. I can save some time by re-using many of the existing parts, particularly the engines which are undamaged and the cockpit. I can also close the bomb bay doors and so avoid having to do any of the bomb bay area, which is unseen.

I feel like Churchill when he was ousted as Prime Minister in 1945. Clementine said “Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise”. He replied “if so, it is certainly very well disguised.”

If there is any silver lining in this, it is that I have nine months more experience than when I began this last time, and that I have sufficient time to recover before I am scheduled to deliver the model to my friend. But other than that, I feel pretty lousy. I was going to post a pic but can’t bring myself to do it.

Cheers, Bob

154

Bob. So sorry to hear that. You sound much more optimistic than I imagine I’d be in your shoes. Don’t let it beat you. Next time around you’ll make it better and improve on the little things. I for one will be excited to see this monster done. =]

Good luck! take some time to grieve. lol Come back fresh. =]

155

Bummer. [:(] If it’s any consolation I’m sure most of us have been in your shoes before.

156

Bob, so sorry to hear of your mishap. My last two P-51’s crash landed on a hard floor in the final stages of production. Now they both rattle, but they are just fine if you do not shake them! So you put a lot of good work into this bird and she was looking real good. BTW, real planes crack up and their ground crews patch them back together again and again and again. I want to encourage you to build up more experience by repairing what you have. The aluminum panels on that plan varied, so you can take advantage of the new panel variation scheme of your repair. I can not image that any bulkhead damage would even be noticeable once she is closed up again. If all else fails, then you can buy you another kit!

157

Thanks to all for the sympathy in my plight; I am sure I am not the first to go through this and I doubt I will be the last. I would like for this to be the last time it happens to ME, though!

I was not so pleasant to be around last night. The Missus wisely left me alone to stew. I finally decided that what I am going to do is to procure another kit and build the fuselage and wings from it, but re-utilize the cockpit and assorted interior parts to save me some time. I can probably get the seams and paint job better this time around, so I’ll focus on that now that I have the recent experience.

In addition, I will try to repair the fuselage on the old bird as well, just for the practice. If it turns out well, I’ll keep it for myself as a memento of this experience. If not, I can probably learn some valuable techniques on it. I’ll continue the blog so those who have been curious can continue to follow my mishaps and progress.

More to follow. I have to go make a new plan…

cheers, Bob

158

Welcome to my world. We’ve all been there. My sympathies. Maybe the “wreck” can be turned into a wreck when you get the time? “Bone yard” ship? Bob

159

Sorry to hear about that.

I’ve been in this position before. When I’ve decided to do what you’re doing…buy a new kit but reuse some parts from the old kit…I end up doing the kit way better the second time around. I learn from the mistakes I made on the first one and correct them on the second one.

160

Bob,

Don’t let it stop you. Continue with another Monogram B-29. You’ve learned too much to NOT complete a 1/48 B-29. Don’t let it get you down. Your next B-29 will be that much better!