1/48 B-17 Diorama WIP

[redraider56]

I painted up the damaged tail surfaces yesterday. I played around the colors a little bit and finally got it down to what I think looks good/somewhat correct....what do you guys think? yes? no?

 

[spud]

nice battle damage. as for the color if memory servs me right the B17 they have at Duxford is a Much Darker Green. but the color you have on looks good

 

[redraider56]

If you're talking about the interior being a much darker green, then that's ok since there was quite a bit of variation in the interior color of a B-17. Pretty much any shade of interior green or zinc chromate would be found in them. I yellowish zinc chromate wouldve worked better in my opinion for the damage, but since I painted the interior of the plane with Testors flat green, I had to stay consistent with the damage....Thanks for the input

 

[spud]

i ment the main color but that could be shown lighter than it is with the Light

 

[redraider56]

O, well in that case, the main color on B-17s was olive drab, but the fabric on the control surfaces faded much quicker than the rest of the plane and therefore the control surfaces would be a much lighter shade of OD

 

[spud]

ah i never new that all teh same it looks good to me

 

[Quaralane]

Nice work on the damage. Looks good to me

 

[the Baron]

If you dont already have a Pro Modeler Fort, its gonna be pretty hard to find. Once in a while they show up on ebay, but they dont sell for cheap. The figures included in it were in a Revell Germany boxing of the B-24D a few years ago, but that kit is also OOP

"You speak the truth, my faithful Indian companion!" I watch for them on eBay, both the PM B-17 and the B24 kit. There was one of each up last week, I bid on the Liberator but got beat. I have time, though...

 

[the Baron]

The damaged rudder looks good, nice gizmology on the innards! Regarding the color, another thing to consider is whether the part was replaced in the field, so that it was painted with paint from a different lot or manufacturer.

 

[redraider56]

Ack! I was finally finished stripping paint and was ready to shoot some primer when a couple big seams opened up

 

[Quaralane]

Hate it when stuff like that happens

 

[Gundamhead]

http://media.photobucket.com/image/b-17%20damage/jeptoncook/B-17F97thBG.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2576614167_5e08ccfcb1.jpg

http://hellsbelle.com/db5/00403/hellsbelle.com/_uimages/Buccaneer.jpg

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/photos/wings/aileron120.jpg

http://www.airshowmag.com/airshowbriefs/July_Web_Chino_Emch/B-17%20wing%20damage.JPG

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/photos/tail/rudder6.gif

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/attachments/aviation/52926d1299777082t-b-17s-took-beating-sweet-pea-damage-.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a259/KPHB17FE/B-17%20Details/EnclosedWaist2.jpg

http://airpower.callihan.cc/index.php/2010/03/19/b-17-memphis-belle-restoration-photos-from-the-national-museum-of-the-usaf/

http://www.taphilo.com/Photo/Pictures/b17/B-17G-Cutaway-drawing.jpg

The last may be a drawing, but it shows much of the birds anatomy in color. NMF is about 3/4 on the insides. Planes got paint basically where a mechanic could get into, or an area where fluids may build, or where parts moved., and my favorite, where they may have wanted to. So the point of this? Don't let any of the cyber armchair experts out there tell you that anything WWII was definately painted this or that. It might have been or it might not have been. There were always exceptions. There were always shortages, there were always field modifications and replacements. It was a world war, and supplies had to be sent overseas by ships in Nazi and Imperial infested waters, and if you think for a second they would have kept a bird grounded waiting for a correct shade of paint, or paint itself, you might not understand the massive nature of the conflict then. Just sayin' the 'experts' may be good at rivet counting a particular item, but they miss the forest for the trees, and that no two trees were ever identical. Any way, hope the pics help.

 

[spud]

that last link was an interesting read.

 

[Gundamhead]

The Memphis Belle?

I saw her in '91 or so, when she was in Memphis. She was in rough shape then. There was bird poop all over her and pigeons nesting over her. Seems the city just lost interest in keeping it's most iconic nameskae from WWII. I was glad to see her moved and being fully restored. Some good 'guts' pictures of her for modeling use though. 8)

 

[austin132010]

That diorama should look great! I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[redraider56]

I think my project is dead at the moment. I'm just not liking where it's going right now. I didn't get as much detail into the plane as I wanted could've done a better job making battle damage. My modeling skills also aren't where I would like them to be for a project such as this, so I'm gonna put away the whole thing and may end up starting with a new plane whenever I decide to start it up again. The story behind the dio I plan on doing is too good to just ditch the whole project, so it will definitely get done sometime, but just not right now. I've got a few projects I want to get at that kept getting put on hold because of the B-17, so I'm gonna do those to hone my skills so that I can tackle the dio the way I want to.

In the meantime, I gotta finish those 2 fighters that I keep procrastinating on, and then get to that B-25 I've been dying to do for a couple years now

 

[Chris S]

Something that happens to all of us at some point buddy , you're right to do what you're planning ,just take a step back for a while ,do a few other things and think about where you want this one to go ,you're not under pressure and its your hobby ...so enjoy it

Chris.

 

[the Baron]

I hear ya!

Back in 2008, I think it was, I took stock of the projects I had started and which all stalled, and made a New Years Modelling Resolution. There were 12 kits, mostly aircraft, with an aircraft carrier, and I resolved to start no new kit, but only to work on those kits, till they were done. To date, I have finished 3 of them ;D But it did help focus a little and resume work on a couple of them.

But, it's a hobby, so in the end, I don't sweat it. And it'll still be there for you, when you feel like working on it again

 

[redraider56]

Found out today Man O War II had staggered waist windows. Just barely though.....she was a B-17G-25-DL. The block 25s from Douglas were the first G models to incorporate staggered waist windows, and Man O War II was the last block 25 produced by Douglas.

Since the fuselage halves in the kit don't have staggered windows, I have to do a little bit of surgery.
So, after I got done swearing I decided I will in fact start with a new kit whenever I start the project up again. More detail will have to be added to the waist this time since the staggered windows carried a 1 pane window instead of the standard 3 plane glass on earlier Gs. Since I will have to make these windows myself from thin clear plastic, much of the waist detail will be visible. I'll also have to go out and get the Koster B-17 Nose set which allows for all sorts of nose configurations. B-17s made at the Douglas plant had slightly different nose cones and this cone is in the Koster set. The nose cone included in the Revell/Monogram kit is a Boeing one. Call me a rivet counter if you like, but I want this to be as accurate as I can make it 8)