Hello
fellow modellers, today I want to show you my latest model. It is the
famous B-17 in a not so famous paintjob. After the C-46 I showed a few
months ago, I wanted to put it in a diorama with another Bolivian
‘carnicero’ airplane. I could’ve done this with a DC-6, but I
decided to go with the B-17. Mainly because I could get this kit very
cheap from my favorite local hobby store. This ‘cheapness’ would bite
me in the behind later in the build. And of course this is a very
fascinating aircraft, whatever the paintjob.
The
B-17 was one of the most iconic US aircraft in the second world war.
They
were known because of their sturdy nature, surviving lots of damage that
would’ve finished off aircraft of lesser structural integrity. After the
war, many of them were left behind in dumps, scrapped, or soldiered on in
various military and civilian roles. The aircraft I wanted to make
was the CP-891 in the scheme it was last seen flying. A brief history if
this particular aircraft can be found at http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b17registry/b17-446393.html
It is
now restored to static condition and on display with March Field Air
Museum.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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I
bought the 1/144 Minicraft B-17G, as far as I know, the only B-17 in
1/144. Upon opening the box, I immediately spotted that this kit would
require a lot of work to make it look acceptable. Since I didn’t trust
the dimensions of the kit, I printed out some side views on scale to
check the measurements. Side views from various sources were checked, but
they were pretty much all the same. They showed that the fuselage of the
Minicraft B-17 was too short and the vertical stabilizer wasn’t entirely
correct either. So I cut up the fuselage with my trusty JLC saw and used a
few pieces of sprue to glue the parts to the correct length. The JLC saw
did see a lot of more action on this kit. I used plastic card and putty to
fill in the gaps. Also, the chin and ventral turret had to be sanded/cut
off. I used plastic card for the windshield, since I lost the clear part.
The
really horrible part of this kit is that it isn’t symmetrical in any
way! I observed that the left and the right wing had a different dihedral!
Also, the fuselage halves aren’t symmetrical. To correct the wing
problem, I used my JLC saw to cut into the lower part of the left wing,
but not all the way trough. I used a bit of plastic card to form a wedge
to increase the wing dihedral. To add to the fun, I actually had to do
this twice. Also, I had to cut off both of the horizontal stabilizers and
reattach them so they were level. But that was really my own fault.
I
corrected the fuselage symmetry with a little putty and careful sanding.
I
couldn’t use any jigs for this. I only used my eyeballs and a little
help from a ruler. At some point, I thought I was done with the sanding
and someone on a forum made a remark about the windshield being incorrect.
I really did not notice this before. So, out with the JLC saw again and I
cut off some part of the upper fuselage. I used the same side views I had
printed out earlier to cut out a template for the ´new´ windshield to
cut the plastic card to size. But I ended up cutting all the parts, purely
on sight again. This is because not anything on this kit is exactly the
size it should be, or even symmetrical. It took a lot of work, putty and
sanding sessions to make it look right, but I think the effort shows on
the model. The shape of the windshield/cockpit now looks a lot better.
Next
up was the paintjob! This is the first model that I painted with the
airbrush. A few months ago, I invested in a Harder & Steenbeck
Evolution airbrush and a compressor. The nice people of http://www.airbrush-services-almere.nl
sold it to me. I first tried the Vallejo primer on the B-17, but I
must’ve done something wrong. The airbrush clogged up very quickly and
the primer really didn’t cover very well at all, even though I diluted
it. I did not have this problem with the normal paints. I used a can of
Mr.Surfacer (white) as a primer and this turned out to be excellent after
some practice. I then used Vallejo white with a few drops of grey to cover
the entire model. I lost count of how many layers of paint I needed to
cover the entire model. The masking and the bare metal color went on
without problems. The landing gear was next. The main gear from Minicraft
looked horrible, so I looked for aftermarket items to replace it. Since I
didn’t find anything for a 1/144 B-17, I had no other option then to
scratch it myself. I used wheels from the spare box (I think it used
to belong to a long forgotten 1/72 Mustang) and the struts were made with
different sizes of metal wire. When I was done, it looked a lot more
satisfying.
I
then made the mistake of starting with the decals. I designed the decals
myself and the friendly people of http://www.blackliondecals.nl/
printed them for me. The decals went on without much trouble. Although the
cheatline took some work to align. I still had a lot of painting to do and
I discovered that decals aren’t really stuck to the model very well.
Even though they had been sealed with Parket+. (Local variant of Future) I
had to paint the anti-glare on the nose and all the windows. The tape I
used damaged the decals quite a bit. Painting the windows was also a lot
of work. This is because I had to align everything by eye and I couldn’t
brush them all at the same time. Come to think of it, it is a funny
expression: “Painting on the windows”. I also relied on the “Fri
Reyes” titles for the size and alignment of the windows on the rear and
side of the fuselage.
Attentive
readers might already have noticed that I did something weird with the
nacelles. The nacelles in the kit were… well… also horrible. But since
I always intended this model for a diorama, I could cover two nacelles and
use a pair of left-over DC-3 engines for the other side. Of course I had
to sand the nacelles that were not to be covered to the correct shape,
since they were not circular. I will use the second DC-3 engine in the
diorama. I used a pieces of paper towel, dipped in a bath of white glue
and water for covers for the engine. Toilet paper is designed to fall
apart when it comes in contact with water and is unsuitable for this.
Different antennas were scratched with various bits. The pointy
antenna (VHF NAV?) was made with tin foil from a wine bottle. This is
great stuff! I had to cut a few of them before I had the proper shape. The
strut was a bit of Evergreen plastic. The arrangement of the wire antennas
is a bit of an educated guess, since the antennas on the CP-891 could not
be seen entirely on photographs. I think it looks authentic. Weathering
was done with a bit of dry-brushing and a lot of various Tamiya weathering
sets. The paintchips were applied with a small pin and Vallejo aluminum.
This is the same paint I used to cover the underside of the model. These
covered the damaged decals very well.
Conclusion:
I ended up only using the major parts of the kit and none of the
‘extra’ stuff like wheels and props. And even those parts needed to be
modified to make it look like an actual B-17. I will not attempt to build
another Minicraft B-17 very soon. I also learned to paint really
EVERYTHING before applying decals. This B-17 will go into a diorama with
my C-46 wich you can see here: http://www.arcair.com/Gal12/11801-11900/gal11848-C-46-Stam/00.shtm
But the diorama is a different project. I also made a mistake of sanding
the tip of the nose flat. The Bolivian B-17’s did not have this. Also, I
don’t think the B-17 and the C-46 ever sat next to each other with these
liveries, so historical, they won’t fit into the same diorama. But it
will look nice in my living room. The full build (in Dutch) and more
pictures can be seen at: http://www.modelbrouwers.nl/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=37539#.UPLPPPqoGjc
Pieter Stam
Click on
images below to see larger images
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