Joe's 1/72 Academy B-17F Memphis Belle

[papa 695]

Some stirling work there Joe you have been busy

[Dave W]

Nice work Joe.

[Guest]

Lots of work there already Joe! Should be a good one

[Guest]

Belle Belle. Nice work Joe.


Laurie

[flyjoe180]

Interior Assembled and fitted to the starboard side of the fuselage. Windows are already in place and masked.


[ATTACH]109122.IPB[/ATTACH]



I've decided the best way to tackle the upper and ball turrets and their detail are to install the mounts permanently (I'm not going to play 'war' with it so who cares), and mask them off once interior green has been applied as seen above. Once the aircraft is varnished the turrets can be assembled in full. The guns are quite plain, not much I can do with them as they are very small in diameter and flimsy. Certainly won't be attempting to make cooling holes in the barrels!


Then the two fuselage sides were fixed together. The turret mounts and other items lined up perfectly. A nicely engineered kit from Academy so far.


[ATTACH]109123.IPB[/ATTACH]



The only complaint is this step in the fuselage roof over the cockpit/flight deck. Should be easy to fix, but not really acceptable.


[ATTACH]109124.IPB[/ATTACH]



The tail cone fitted along with it's twin fifties:


[ATTACH]109125.IPB[/ATTACH]

[flyjoe180]

The cockpit and radio operator's-section glazing is masked off. This took me into last night:


[ATTACH]109126.IPB[/ATTACH]



And finally filling begins on that nose mounted astrodome:


[ATTACH]109127.IPB[/ATTACH]



That's where I left it last night and now I am about to start again today. Working tonight so a short day.

[monica]

looking good Joe,and how have i missed this one,nice work on the inside,

[Guest]

to install the mounts permanently

Best way I have found Joe. also stops itchy grubby fingers playing war games. How do I know this.


I have found as you have here so many problems at the roof cockpit intersection. Made worse by the fact that this part of aircraft is the most visible part of a model.


Interesting bomb arrangement. Just hope the bottom one got out first and the others in order..


Wow you are flying tonight Joe ?


Laurie

[papa 695]

You are cracking along at a pace with this one Joe. Catching up on lost time no doubt.


Awesome work

[flyjoe180]

Thanks for the kind comments. Laurie yes, work has to pay the bills.


Fitted the cockpit and radio operator glazing and experimented with the wings on a dry fit. They do indeed have excessive dihedral, the most common of complaints about Academy's otherwise good looking B-17 kits. Using some plastic card you can get the angle you need (4.5 degrees). Bit of a pain to adjust, but a good guide is the outboard engines should be no higher than the radio compartment windows.


[ATTACH]109192.IPB[/ATTACH]



[ATTACH]109193.IPB[/ATTACH]



I also put some plastic card into that ugly step over head the cockpit/flight deck, and proceeded to clean up the seams and fill the wings with plastic card and Tamiya filler:


[ATTACH]109194.IPB[/ATTACH]



About to go and have a look to see if it's dry and then it's out with the sandpaper and files for some sculpting fun.

[Guest]

Good to have you on board, Joe, and a lovely subject. Coming along nicely

[colin m]

Wow, that's some work Joe. Hyper speed, but still looking good.

[flyjoe180]

We're getting there, just a light rub of wet and dry to smooth it off. It's been raining hard here for three days, so haven't had much else to do other than a bit of work last night. I'm enjoying this build, so glad I decided to get on with it.


[ATTACH]109223.IPB[/ATTACH]



I've also now fitted the tail planes. No problem there whatsoever.

[Guest]

Joe that's coming on a treat looking very good so far

[eddiesolo]

Cracking looking Belle Joe, you are cracking on with it.


Si