DocRob Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 What a shame about the zillion rivets gone through sanding and polishing, which HKM claimed to have distributed on that bird. Nice work to get it right though, Ernie. I would have thought it to be a relatively trouble free build, when I was about to choose mine for the GB. What is wrong about the kit astrodome (meaning the top turret, right?)? Cheers Rob 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 The engine nacelles were definitely not an easy part of the build so I know what you went through. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 18 Author Administrators Share Posted February 18 4 hours ago, DocRob said: What a shame about the zillion rivets gone through sanding and polishing, which HKM claimed to have distributed on that bird. Nice work to get it right though, Ernie. I would have thought it to be a relatively trouble free build, when I was about to choose mine for the GB. What is wrong about the kit astrodome (meaning the top turret, right?)? Cheers Rob Rob, there was no astrodome. The B-25 didn’t use them. They instead used the top turret as an astrodome, and when the turret was removed, some units, not all, cobbled a simple bubble in. The top turrets were removed late in the war, as were all non forward firing fixed guns to save weight and add fuel. The engines and cowls aren’t horrible, IF you use the kit parts. Instead, I replaced the gearboxes with AMS Resin (now owned and operated by BiggTim) castings and corrected propeller blades. They are a complicated subassembly though and you have to be careful. The engine cowls are the only tricky part of the build. If you build OOB, the rest of the kit falls together. Very little detail in the main fuselage, but with the waist glass in place, you can’t see anything inside anyway. Just remember, I’m building a modified version of the H. Plenty of Marine add ons and changes. If you build mostly OOB, you can easily build one and finish in time. Grab some 3D panel decals, corrected props, and resin wheels, and go for it! I recommend the kit as they really look the part when complete. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 18 Author Administrators Share Posted February 18 Speaking of forward firing guns, there are plenty of Japanese fighters that fell to the 8 nose guns of these. They’d blunder around in front, and one good squirt from those 8 guns would literally obliterate an A6M. Poof, gone. I can only imagine. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 hour ago, Clunkmeister said: Rob, there was no astrodome. The B-25 didn’t use them. They instead used the top turret as an astrodome, and when the turret was removed, some units, not all, cobbled a simple bubble in. The top turrets were removed late in the war, as were all non forward firing fixed guns to save weight and add fuel. Thanks for clearing this up Ernie. I haven´t started mine and did no further research until now. I will build mine as a PBJ 1H as well and got irritated as many period pictures show them having an armed turret. The ProfiModeler cover shows the same, but I found pictures of Love Bug without one. Hmm, seem I have to dig a bit deeper before I start and thankfully have your log as a reference. I have a lot of PE for mine along the PM-set and of course some resin wheels, but will decide about the engines before I start. This will not be too soon, as I chose the AEG G.IV for the GB, because I don´t like double entries and prefer as much diversity as possible. Cheers Rob 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Ernie Awesome progress and thanks for clearing up the mystery about the astrodome. I never knew. I still wonder in today's age, how manufactures can get things so wrong. if we can figure it out, they certainly should have. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 19 Author Administrators Share Posted February 19 9 hours ago, DocRob said: Thanks for clearing this up Ernie. I haven´t started mine and did no further research until now. I will build mine as a PBJ 1H as well and got irritated as many period pictures show them having an armed turret. The ProfiModeler cover shows the same, but I found pictures of Love Bug without one. Hmm, seem I have to dig a bit deeper before I start and thankfully have your log as a reference. I have a lot of PE for mine along the PM-set and of course some resin wheels, but will decide about the engines before I start. This will not be too soon, as I chose the AEG G.IV for the GB, because I don´t like double entries and prefer as much diversity as possible. Cheers Rob Yes, the power turrets were only removed after the threat of enemy air attack fell to nothing. Most kept waist and tail guns for that purpose. Unless you intend on doing yours with the waist windows removed, don’t worry about super detailing that area inside. You’ll literally see nothing. The kit isn’t anywhere near as refined as the A-20, but it’s still quite buildable. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 19 Author Administrators Share Posted February 19 6 hours ago, Martinnfb said: A mix of G’s and H’s. If they did it right, the make a low pass with everything firing, three abreast, and GTFO. That often meant total surprise and a 100% return rate. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 19 Author Administrators Share Posted February 19 6 hours ago, Martinnfb said: A mix of G’s and H’s. If they did it right, the make a low pass with everything firing, three abreast, and GTFO. That often meant total surprise and a 100% return rate. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 19 Author Administrators Share Posted February 19 Notice the totally armored cockpit? Including the lower half of the pilot’s windshield. A steel plate right across the front. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Aaand , That's how the A-10 was born 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Looking good Ernie, I'm enjoying following along. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 Ernie Awesome progress and keep the operational details comin. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 20 Author Administrators Share Posted February 20 A teeny tiny bit of progress this weekend. So the biggest thing was to blank off the turret opening, and then Cyprus in a hole for an astrodome. The H didn’t have an astrodome, I expect the top turret was expected to serve as such. No astrodome was included in the kit, so I sourced a B-24 clear Sprue from eBay. Perfect! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 20 Author Administrators Share Posted February 20 And it continues…. The nose halves fit poorly. The nose was expected to be posed open. Much work needed yet 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 20 Author Administrators Share Posted February 20 Nacelles have plenty of gaps underneath, but nothing that a quick attack of the Evergreen strip monster won’t fix 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 20 Author Administrators Share Posted February 20 The horizontal tail has similar gap issues, and there was a slight issue with the tail gunner’s hood. Again, a bit of evergreen fixes all. Nothing outrageous here, just some sanding and a wedge fill piece on the port side. The hood overhung the top edge on the port side by about 1/16”. No biggie,.. literally 5 minutes work, and it’ll be another hour to smooth, rescribe and polish. No big deal, and easily handled by everyone here. On other sites, some folks would lose their collective minds over this. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Some.serious progress there Ernie. Nice job on the astrodome fit. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 20 Author Administrators Share Posted February 20 Thanks Carl. Did you have similar issues with gap? Nothing horrible, I’m just spoiled after the A-20 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Ernie, I just took a look at my old pics and it looks like I needed a smear of filler around one of the nacelles and that was about it. But I do recall tweaking the fit beforehand gluing them on. I think I shaved the mating surfaces a bit. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Great progress, the Astro-bubble looks good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Ernie Some mighty nice progress. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted February 21 Author Administrators Share Posted February 21 And here we go again. The other wing this time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Nothing as much fun as filling gaps and sanding. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now