Messages

91

Aircraft Modeling / Re: 1/72 Boeing B-29 Bockscar

« on: January 17, 2013, 05:22:46 AM »

Last night I layed out the slots on the other side of the same nacelle I first tried on, scribed them and foiled over it to see how it looked and I didn't like the results there either.  I decided to abandon the idea and filled in the lines I scribed. 

Tonight I got the nacelles on.  The wings aren't nearly ready to go on permanently but I had to stick them on just to see it.

92

Aircraft Modeling / Re: 1/72 Boeing B-29 Bockscar

« on: January 14, 2013, 04:17:33 AM »

Thanks everybody!

I got the turret covers in tonight.  They're all going to need a little work once they're dry but they fit decent.  The side blister covers were molded in clear since they have the small clear opening in the center.   It was pretty easy on mine since the kit came with all the covers.  Scott, are you going to have to fabricate yours?  I got the radome in tonight too.

I had the wings together back in June but the flaps weren't in, I got them in tonight.  My next step is the nacelles and I have a decision to make.  They molded them without the supercharger cooling slots and it bugs me.  There's a $20 photo etch set that would remedy this but I can't justify spending that much for just these few pieces.  I think I'm going to lay them out and just scribe them but I tried one tonight and wasn't happy with the results.  I'm thinking about making a template I could use for scribing.

93

Aircraft Modeling / Re: "What-ifs"

« on: January 14, 2013, 02:50:09 AM »

Hope nobody minds me bumping an old ancient thread but I've been reading through some old ones this afternoon. 

This was a What If build I did a couple years ago - a Rolls Royce Griffon powered Corsair.  I didn't want to hack up nice kits so I picked up a cheap Mustang and a Testor's Corsair kit. 

I added some sheet styrene to give me some extra room to blend the round fuselage to the somewhat square shape of the Mustang nose.

Using some round styrene stock and filler I made the bumps in the cowl that are necessary for the large Griffon's valve covers to clear.

The finished product:

94

Aircraft Modeling / Re: Some modeling techniques

« on: January 13, 2013, 08:36:52 PM »

I'm not big into weathering but here is one technique I tried last year for paint chipping. 

You start with a base coat of silver to replicate the bare aluminum that will show through.

You then apply a small amount of water in the areas that you want your paint chips.  Using household table salt and the water to hold it, apply the salt and water in the areas and shapes that you want your paint chips.  Allow it to dry thoroughly overnight.

After it's dry then paint your color coat(s).  When those are thoroughly dry then go back and pop off all the salt that's now under the paint.  When you pop the salt off you'll expose the silver underneath.

95

Aircraft Modeling / 1/72 Boeing B-29 Bockscar

« on: January 13, 2013, 06:07:21 PM »

Hello everyone!

Quite some time ago I was invited here by a member, I've been lurking off and on and have finally been able to sign up.  I thought I'd share my current project.  I'm not a beginner but don't consider myself anything more than mediocre, hopefully I won't embarass myself too much!

I had been out of modeling for a handful of years and when I returned to the hobby it was because of of my newly sparked interest in World War II.  One of the first models I built was an Airfix B-29 kit, the B-29 being a large part of my becoming interested in warbirds.  As time went on and I got more builds under my belt the poor B-29 started to look worse and worse against the rest of my collection, so last year I decided it was time to do another one. 

I had another Airfix kit stashed away, but as many of you know it has thousands of raised rivets and panel lines that would need to be sanded off and then the panel lines scribed.  I went searching for a better kit that wouldn't require this, and I found an Academy kit with Bockscar decals.  Perfect!

I started the project last spring, but lack of time and some motivational issues kept me away from modeling for the second half of 2012.  I picked it up again a couple weeks ago and have been making good progress this time.

Here is the kit.

Naturally I started with the interior. 

Since nothing aft of the pilot and copilot can be seen through the greenhouse glass and you can't see into the waist I decided to not go crazy with detailing the interior, and I left out everything aft of the bomb bays except for the tail gunner's section.  It took quite a bit of work to get the fuselage halves together even with leaving the large section out of the rear.

Almost eight months after starting I finally got the fuselage halves together last week!

This same kit is reused for mutiple aircraft so it comes with cuffed and non cuffed propellers, provision for the cannon in the tail gun position, gun turrets, etc.  Since my Silverplate B-29 doesn't have turrets I had to cut off the small fairings around the base of all turret locations.

I made some small tabs with sheet styrene and glued them inside the turret locations.  This will give the turret covers something more to glue to and also prevent me from dropping them inside while trying to get them in place.

As of 1 AM this morning I have the fuselage seams all cleaned up and I'll be putting the turret covers in place tonight, then it will be on to the wings.