Rick Martens

I have added everything I wanted to the nose section. 110_4560 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Assembled the crew. 110_4555 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4557 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4558 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4563 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4566 by Rick Martens, on Flickr The tail gunner and the radio operator are like Frankenstein put together from all sorts of spare parts. Rick

I know now that there was noseart om the portside. Not the most clear picture's but good enough to work with Liquid8er 2 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Liquid8er 1 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Rick

Been working on the bombardier's compartment 110_4474 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4477 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4478 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4479 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4490 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I have added the bomb release switch, bombdoor controlls, a portable oxygen bottle and the springs and pulleys for the two machineguns in the nose. Maybe not all that accurate but it looks fine to me. 110_4482 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4484 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4485 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Could't resist a dry fit. That place is crowded they had hardly room to breathe in there!! 110_4495 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4494 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Also finished the Norden bombsight. Only could't get the crosshairs done. Tried stretches sprue, thin wire ( too thick ) and even the dogs hair so I will probably leave it as it is. Rick

Small update, Been working on the bombardeers office, the bombsight ( I haven't figured out yet how to make the crosshairs ) and reworked the chin turret. Question about that when the turret is pointing to the side there are two "black" panels showing in the pictures. Are those clear panels or something like that? 110_4436 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4435 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4434 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4433 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4431 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4430 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4429 by Rick Martens, on Flickr

Hi Phil, yes it did. Magnificent!! l also managed to find the book about operation Chowhound. On the last page my subject and the setup I want for the display 110_4438 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I need to find the top picture in a high resolution somewhere.

Hi Phil I used to have that book, lost in when our house burned down two years ago

Hi Dennis, What a story!! Thanks for telling really enjoy that. Your B17 looks great! Rick

First of all everybody a Happy New Year!! @ Dennis, thank you very much for the story from your grandfather and you input and welcome here! Love the picture of the bombsite and it is a great reference. Wonder how the plywood was attached in the bomb bay. Could it be that they were fixed on the swingingside of the doors and attached to the center bomb shackels?The stories you told us makes me want to know more about your grandfather. Again thank you!! @ Phil and Peter, I found a copy of The Mighty Eight in a secondhand online bookstore for €23,90 including P&P. Ordered it should be here at the end of the week.

Liquid-8-Or by Rick Martens, on Flickr Someone on a Dutch forum found this picture. I guess this means no red band around the nose. About the subject of nose art or something like that. The pictures I know show the plane from the portside. I have not yet seen a picture displaying the starboard side. Does anybode over here knows if there was nose art om the starboard side, or a name and / or mission symbols? Rick

110_4383 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4384 by Rick Martens, on Flickr Rough cockpit layout. Figures are from masterdetail. @ Phil, thank you for the pictures. Maybe the red noseband although I cannot see it on my reference picture, Could it be used only for a certain period of time? @ Gaz that is a lot of metalwork!! Thank you for sharing. Rick

Yes another B17. The subject is a B17G-70-DL serial 44-6954 during operation Chowhound. This operation was launched to save the starving people in the Netherlands because they were dying from lack of food after a gruesome winter. The American and British airforces dropped food after negotiations with the Germans to allow a safe passage for the planes. The bombers flew at a low altitude with marginal crews to drop the food for the Dutch people. air_flyingfortress2 liquid-8-or by Rick Martens, on Flickr This is what I would like to create. I know that the plane was from the 569th BS / 390 BG. Ther name of the plane was Liquid-8-Or. The only coloured image I gound on the net is this one jk_b-17g_ccf-2 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I do not know if this is correct but a yellow rudder and a diagonal yellow stripe on the starboard wing is all? And even more important, the plane was a veteran with over 70 missions. Was there any nose art? I cannot find it maybe anyone her can tell me? I have ordered boxes 10 in 1 menu scale 1/35 and I have a crew, must figure out a way to make a tail gunner and how to fit the ball gunner inside the ball turret. As far as I can see in the picture there is not a top turret gunner. I want to make the propellors turning, where can I obtain the electro engines? It will be a in flight model. the base will be a large picture in black and white taken during the operation. Also a challenge will be the support for the plane. Because of its seize and weight it is something I have to figure out. The support will be hidden from vieuw by the rationboxes, it will also hide the wiring for the engines. 110_4332 by Rick Martens, on Flickr 110_4338 by Rick Martens, on Flickr And it is big 110_4333 by Rick Martens, on Flickr the crew 110_4381 by Rick Martens, on Flickr I made a modest start, added straps to the oxygentanks made out of alufoil. This will be by far the most ambitious thing I have done so far but I am looking forward to the ride! Rick.

I am calling it done. It is my first attempt to a jet and it was a fun ride. Hope you like it. Wishing everybody a merry Xmas and all the best for the upcoming year!! Rick

Hi all, Getting close to the finish I guess. Finished with the washes and gave the plane a matt coat. I am not sure how to continue. As far as I have seen pictures from the Starfighter they were kept quite clean, so how to continue with the weathering. If there is any paint chipping at all where? The same thing with leaking oil and stuff like that. How do you weather an exhaust? Open to all suggestions and critics. Rick

Washes are done and put on the tiptanks. the weather gets worse so I will probably have more benchtime. And because it looks cool Rick

Start with the weathering, in the middle of applying washes wich is more time consuming than I expected. Almost 3 quarters done. Not sure about this, do not want to overdo the weathering, what do you think?

Hello everybody!!! Remeber this? That is almost a year ago and the place has been rebuild and recently we moved back. Last december Juno crossed our path and although she cannot replace the dog that died in the fire she was more than welcome So I have got my mancave back and I have a lot of crazy ideas, but first I want to finish the Starfighter. I put the wheels on and now it is time so start the weathering. Glad to be back. Rick

Hi all, I see that my photobucket is not working also, just as good anyway. I am afraid that the Starfighter won't be done for a while. Two weeks ago my house burned down, we came out allright but my dog did not make it. We live in another house for a year or so untill they rebuild the place. Inside all is lost, my mancave came out allright. Some melted models and smoke damage. So my modeldays are temporarely over I am afraid. http://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20170713_00043391/brand-in-schuur-bij-woning-milsbeek I will check in so every now and then. Rick.

Decals are on.....all of them!! Took me forever. Now I will try to finish this one before the summer is over. Rick

As good as it gets, I won't be doing more because I fear I might ruin the decal. Without the micro it looks ok. Tail done. Rick

After taking a deep breath time to decal!! I have tried some on a spare piece but that was not very convincing but I figured I would have a go at it. I think everything went quite well except the roundel wich is giving me hard times, don't know how to fix that. I took me all day to do one side, that makes me wonder did they fly these planes or read them? Rick.

Hi all, Spent the sunday patching up. Removing decals does ruin the paint. The only problem is that I mix paint just on the eye, so I will never get the same colour I am afraid. So I decided to repaint panels, I figured that in real life damaged panels were replaced or repainted and that those colours would be off also. It is a warplane not a piece of art right? ( at least in real life...) I also painted the pointy things that stuck out of the inlet ( no idea how you call those ) and painted the light panels, I messed those decals up too. I like paint better. And I glued the nose on, just to get my fair share of glue. Could not resist. I got a new set decals from Dutch Decals, again great service!! So decal time. Rick

Decals.....you love them you hate them. After putting the model in Future to make it shining I figured it was time to put the decals on. I had purchased a nice set and I was gonna use Mr Mark setter and softer to make sure that the result would be good. Well, I thought. The first decal went to pieces before I even touched it. I saved them in an envelope and dry and they are a year and a half old, should not be a problem right? Try again. Number two seemed good at first glance but when dried it also was cracked..... This was a kit decal. After drying there was a airbubble. So I punctured that with a needle and applied some more softer. With this result somehow everything melted and the colours went "strange" ......also the softing fluid affects the future so not really happy right now. I just hate decals. Wat is the best way of removing them off the model without ruin the paintjob. And more important what am I doing wrong???? Rick

Hi all, With a long weekend and alone in the house finally plenty of bench time. First some preshading, I just like doing this, and after that it was time to put colours on it. I made a mistake by using the wrong colour gray but I could correct this. After a couple of hours it starts to look like a Starfighter. Like the looks of this one. Let me know what you think of it. Rick

Getting close to paint. It is a nice build. The kit goes together very well, no problems except my own mistakes. I like the way it looks. Rick

Hi all, Made some progress on the 104, finished the cockpit. Thanks to the freezeing weather not much work so bench time available!! Was a lot more work than I thought it would be, The dials are from Airscale because I did not like the decal provided in the box, the rest is what Italeri put in the box. When I was in the airforce I sat in them and I remember a lot of buttons which I dare not touch, hope this gives the impression of a buzzy place. Hope you like it and commends are welcome.