Revell 1/72 Boeing B17G Flying Fortress

[kpisnuts]

Revell B17 I'm going to try and do this as a cutaway model, first thing I notice(planes are not my normal thing) checking on photos of the real thing the callout colourwise for the bomb bay (which is the first part on the instructions is wrong) it says the bombs are olive green which is what I've done them and when I look at pics of the bombs they are a medium green not the nearly black as you can see from the pics, the olive green I've done them (I'm using Vallejo air paints ) also they have yellow banding which seems to vary according to which picture you look at, some have 3 bands in the middle some have one in the middle others have one at the tip and a silver tip in front of that. I wouldn't normally worry too much about that but if I'm doing this as a cutaway it needs to be more accurate, help please.

[AAC]

From what I've read and this is by no means definitive, the bombs were painted various shades of Olive Green, the shade depending on where the paint was sourced and how long it's been sitting outside.

The yellow bands are a little more obscure, to me they seem to indicate where certain parts of the bomb that will need the armorer/loader's attention when working on it. There were bands on the front and rear of the bomb possibly to indicate where fuse and tail assembly needed to be added, obvious I know, but these were American bombs and probably had handle with care stenciled on them too .

The bands in the middle seem to highlight the mounting brackets, the us used two points for and aft where as the Commonwealth forces used a single point in the centre, so the bands may be highlighting the three anchor points (this is a guess but makes sense). Apparently the bombs came with all three points and the unused points would be removed prior to loading.

For your purpose at 1/72 I wouldn't worry too much about total accuracy, just do what looks right

[kpisnuts]

Hi all bit more done to this, trying out some aluminium foil on the inside to see the effect before I try it on the outside, i must say I think it looks quite good.

[kpisnuts]

Hi all well made more progress on the interior, loads more to do (there's a lot of detail in this kit) I'm wondering wether to add some lighting to the internals, its quite dark even without adding the side with the cut outs in.

Done some of the exterior paint ( not my best work as I'm using a brush since my compressor is dead)

[kpisnuts]

Is there any way of getting rid of the white stuff you get with superglue, I ask because I'm trying to do the belly turret on the plane which is moulded in clear I'm using Revell clear glue and it just keeps coming apart when I'm handling it whilst trying to paint it (incidentally how do you manage that it's almost impossible I've had to take it off a load of times as the paint seeps under the masking tape and my hands arnt steady enough to do it free hand) anyway i was thinking of gluing it with superglue if I could get rid of the white vapour stuff you get with it.

[kpisnuts]

Hi all well I've finished the interior and closed it up, trying foil on the silver part of it I figure doing the panels individually may look more realistic (that remains to be seen)

[kpisnuts]

Let me tell you foiling something like this is no easy task, it's only that I think it looks ok that I'm continuing (put me off planes again) the bit where the wings connect was a real pita (Still not that happy with it) can't see how to make it better, I'm hoping the wings will be easier.








 

There's a lot of detail on the inside of the clear parts which I can't see the point of since when painted you can't see it (I suppose it's another part of building planes) I was really looking forward to the 1/24 Airfix mosquito (was going to ask for it as a birthday prezzie) 

[kpisnuts]

Well I'm definitely not going to be any good at planes (will stick to genres I'm more in tune with) (what I don't understand is why planes are so difficult)give me an engine on a bike or car an I can do a half decent job of it, I've worked with them most of my life so know how they should look(maybe that's why the plane engines looks so bad, never even seen one let alone worked on one.