Martin B-26 Marauder by Revell/Monogram in 1/48 scale

[generalgrog]

I have been wanting to build one of these bombers since I got back into the hobby. This one will be near and dear to my heart since this particular Bomber, Flak Bait, was built in the Baltimore, Maryland Factory, where I work. Also the cockpit is on display at the National Air and Space Museum In Washington D.C.

If you want to learn how to fly one.... watch here.

[youtube]azfeFkWWDMg[/youtube]

Some history of the B-26.

It's interesting for me to watch this film, as the film footage shows the same factory floor where we build parts today, and its pretty cool to know the history behind the plant. Also seeing all that unpainted metal is tempting me to build one of these with alclads!

[youtube]p8JQ4j679eU[/youtube]


And finally some information on the Flak Bait Bomber itself.

http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/a ... 9600297000

You can't purchase this kit in 1/48 anywhere but Ebay, so I had to buy it on Ebay. The kit itself is pretty beat up, and the decals are no good, so I will probably end up buying another kit to replace the decals, or wait for the aeromaster set to show up on ebay..(I just narrowly was outbid on set of those last week..grrrrrrr).

I plan on doing this kit up real nice, with the complete eduard photoetch set, and maybe some aftermarket resin.

On to the Spruage!!

the kit is so old that some of the parts have fallen off the sprues..I promise I haven't started on it. Also if you look real close you can see how scratched up the parts are. I'm hoping I will be able to sand this down. Also raised panels lines all over, so another challenge I wanted to master. Thank goodness for the long GB!!

















Surprisingly the canopies aren't in that bad of shape.



And of course the nasty decals which are probably going into the trash. It's kind of hard to tell by looking at the picture here, but the white background has turned brown form age.




I will get started on removing the panel lines when the gun goes off tomorrow!!

Can't wait.

GG

[ModelingMatt]

An oldie but a goodie, will enjoy seeing that classic built.

[timmyw]

Wow you work making planes?

That has to be one of the coolest jobs ever and give you a leg up with modeling hehe.

Good luck with this one

[pedrofernandes]

Very nice "classic" model !!!
Those Decals are showing the years !!!

Great entry on the GB !!!

[Mike00]

I am also doing a B-26. Looking forward to see your build.

[EasyEight96]

Aiyee Lancasters and Marauders are owning this GB come B-17's pick up the pace lol

[T3hGuppy]

Nice subject dude.

Will be interested in how you go about the panel lines.

[generalgrog]

OK finally have an update for you guys.

First off I got some photoetch in













I'm going to have a lot of fun with this stuff..for some reason I really like photoetch.

Anyway..so I started to work on the model by starting on the tail fins. This is a top and bottom glue configuration.



I'm not sure if you can see from the pics, but the fit was less than spectacular. So breaking out the putty filler.



I knew this kit was going to be a challenge so I'm not complaining.

Some pics of my putty/filler work.





After trying the squadron putty, and the vallejo white putty..it's still not to my satisfaction.



Going to try mr surfacer 1200 next. I've never used it, so this will be a learning experience.




I also started rescribing the panel lines...the following pics will show how I am going about it. I'm still learning how to do this, and this model was purchased partially to allow me learn some advanced techniques.

Here are some pictures showing the raised panel lines.





I am using the dymo tape technique. I'm having partial success, but I think a big thing about doing this, is taking your time. As you will see, some of the lines didn't come out that great. (why I started on the underside of the tail fins)

So the technique I am using is as follows.

I bought a box of cheap dymo tape off of ebay.



Measured the area where I am going to tape.



Measured the tape



Cut the tape with a hobby knife



Add tape adjacent to panel line you want to remove.



Then you scribe next to the dymo tape. The trick is to be very light at first until you get a groove going, or you risk the scriber giving you wavy lines.

I'm using a Tamiya scriber II



Some more pics of the technique.







Here are some lines that I need to fix, I've seen some sites that say you can use super glue to fix these areas, but I think I'm going to use mr surfacer 1200 and see how that goes.





Sorry for the quality of the pics..all I have right now is my iphone. But I hope you can get the idea of what I'm doing.

I'm going to continue working the tail fin, and will probably start on the photoetch and fuselage interior next. I'm not going to rescribe the lines of the fuselage until I get the fuselage together, that way I can do one line around the curved surface, instead of trying to mate two lines of each half of the fuselage.

GG

[wally]

Nice start on your B-26 build generalgrog. This kit pretty old and crude, but I see that you doing fine.
Keep up good work. So far looks promising. I will be watching very closely how you be dealing with this. Fingers crossed.

[T3hGuppy]

Thanks for showing how your going about re-scribing.

[Nige201980]

great start to the rescribing mate and i love the look of that PE

[generalgrog]

OK, progress still goes on the rescribing of the tail fins, but since my photoetch has come I started working on the fuselage interior.

Lots of pin marks I had to fill in.






While I was at it, I decided to start on the wings, which also needed to have some ejector pin marks filled. Since I am going for a highly detailed model here, the plan is to get the exterior and bomb bay photoetch as well so I needed the wheel wells to look nice so as not to distract from the photoetch that will eventually go on.

I only filled the divits that will be seen if you turn the model upside down to look into the wheel wells. I also had to sand off the part# and some of monograms copyright words on the wing interior. Not sure what the technical term is?







After priming I had to go back and do some more work.



Finished prime...



I used Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit green for the aluminum primer. I have read that the interior colors varied during this era, and to be honest this cockpit green is really close to the primer we use on the aircraft aluminum where I work. I also started some weathering in using MIG filter for panzer grey, to simulate some built up dust. I'll probably go back later and do a pin wash.







Prepping the two wing halves.



Wings glued together, and now they are ready for me to start to rescribe, which I plan on starting after I finish the tail fins.



Some close up of the wheel well interior.







All for now...I am enjoying this build so far. This kit is certainly not for a beginner, if they are trying to make a show qualilty model.

GG

[Mike00]

Looking good! I am also doing the B-26 and I had a few bad seams that no mater how I worked plastic in dry fits I could never get it perfect. So I am doing a lot of filling and sanding. I hope yours goes together better than mine. Once again nice job.

[generalgrog]

Small update...working the cockpit photoetch. I know I'm jumping around...but that's what keeps my interest up. I get bored if I stay on one section.

Anywhoo..I have almost completed the control console. I have to say this eduard photoetch completely awesome!! I'm going to go ahead and order the rest of the set.

So I started working in the instrument panel.

Stock boring panel. The middle piece between the flight control handles must be removed, and all of the stock detail removed.





A picture of the instructions showing the red areas that have to be trimmed off.



Instrument panel installed



I decided to try a technique of using micro crystal clear in the gauges to simulate glass gauges.



Picture of the micro crystal clear dropped into the gauge depressions.



Here is a picture of the combined control console. It's hard to see in this pic but the micro crystal clear looks amazing as the glass. I will have to take a better picture of that effect with some light reflecting off of the gauges.



I will update some more tomorrow. I think I will have the console completed by then. I just have to add some tiny levers.

GG

[T3hGuppy]

That photo etch really is packed with detail. Should really give a great finish.

How is progress coming on this one?

[generalgrog]

Been trying to close out the Paladin...Haven't done much on the Bomber..

Looks like it's going to be a sprint to get it done...but 2 months should be enough time?


GG

[generalgrog]

Allright guys...I have come to conclusion there is no way I would be able to complete this in time without rushing. And this project is near and dear to my heart so I want to take my time.

Big lesson learned for me here, is that I just do not have the time to take on more than one big project at a time. Same thing happened to me on the panzer II build, as I was also working on my spitfire, and couldn't complete both...in time.

Good news at least is that the Paladin is looking good.
GG

[T3hGuppy]

At the end of the day this is a hobby.

Got to do it for yourself

I will leave the topic hear for now but will keep an eye on your progress.

Great work so far.