NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Many of the people who look here will already have seen this work on another forum. As I am no longer a member of that particular forum, I thought I'd put up some of the work done here. I will start by saying that this thread is not a kit bashing rant or intended in any way to disrespect the work of HK Models. We are all aware that there are issues with the kit and we are also aware that many people are happy with the way it looks out of the box, I for one am not happy with the appearance, so I am pulling out all the stops to correct it and make it a little more pleasing to my eye. I want to build this model as little Miss Mischief, but may have to change my mind as the NMF will be very difficult to achieve with all the cutting and modifications that are being done to the fuselage. We'll have to wait and see..... The first thing we notice if we want to build LMM (Little Miss Mischief), we need to move the starboard waist window back to create a non-staggered waist window fuselage. The recessed area for the glazing will be very difficult to reproduce, so I have decided to cut the window aperture out, along with a corresponding piece of plain fuselage and simply swap them over.... This is the inside of the fuselage, where I have marked out the lines I will cut. Note I've used the ribbing as a guide to keep everything square. Following some careful scoring and cutting with my razor saw, I have a £250 model with a big hole in the side!! Now, if we turn the cut out part over, we can refit it into the hole and hey presto, job done... No.. note the moulding for the clear part is different top and bottom... We need to cut the removed section in half and replace the front with the rear and vice versa... here's an interior shot to show what I mean. the plastic stock is there to lift the aperture into the correct position and to fill the gaps resulting from the saw cuts. Here we are, a non staggered waist window fuselage.. If you intend to build this kit this mod should be considered as it will really open up your options for the finished scheme, especially if you don't want to build it in NMF. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmayhew Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Wow Think that about sums it up? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James H Posted January 12, 2014 Administrators Share Posted January 12, 2014 Lovely, and very brave work Nige. I remember seeing your work on the tail chord and rear fuse section. That was quite something, and I hope you can share some of that with us too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 So, you wanna see all of it?? I don't want to bore anyone, or start any bad vibes... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Oh Yes! go for it .... G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUY5Y Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Yes please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timc Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Show all of it Nige! It's great reference material for those who'd like to take on the challenges that this kit offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 OK guys, I'll take this one step at a time. There are a lot of errors that I have corrected and this will turn into a long thread. as already mentioned, this kit will build into a great model of a B-17G, but I have decided to correct whatever I see is wrong. I'll start with what I think everyone considers to be the biggy, namely the round nose. Basically the kit's nose is round in section, whereas it should be flattened over the top from the Perspex nose back to the windscreen. The front station, where the Perspex joins the nose is round, but from there back to station 3 which is the instrument panel bulkhead, it's flat. A very kind gentleman on another forum posted the blueprint dimensions for the fuselage. I have taken the measurements and scaled them down to 1/32 and then accurately reshaped the front section of the fuselage to accurately depict a real B-17G. Here's the round fuselage form with the correctly shaped IP sitting inside. I have then cut down the top of the bulkhead to match the IP You may have noticed another error here.. the access door into the nose section should be offset to starboard, so here we have the door moved over.. And now the bulkhead placed inside the fuselage, with rubber bands holding it all together. the sharper eyed amongst you may notice the extra work on the bulkhead and also the position of the bulkhead within the fuselage....more on that later... Before the nose itself can be reshaped, we must remove the astrodome mounting and then refit it after all the surgery is done.. That's all for now folks. Tomorrow I'll show you all how I reduced the diameter of the fuselage because the kit is just too fat, it's also too long in the nose and tail area's. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawman56 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 First and foremost, Nigel, I'm so glad to see you here, I thoroughly enjoyed, and learned quite a bit, from your "self-funded" reviews! I like how you flipped the waist window. I"ve been struggling with the NMF vs. OD issue myself, but you've shown me a simple fix. Thanks! Opens a whole new set of options for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Thanks Lawman, Up until these last two, all my reviews have been self funded, but Eduard have now kindly agreed to supply any large scale sets I request, so at last I'm getting some recompense for the hours spent putting all this together. I'm glad you're going to have a go at the staggered window fix. It really is quite easy, just think of it as a lump of plastic rather than a £250 kit!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James H Posted January 12, 2014 Administrators Share Posted January 12, 2014 So, you wanna see all of it?? I don't want to bore anyone, or start any bad vibes... Hahaha!! No bad vibes! I think it's great to see how something is totally deconstructed and rebuilt, and your rationale behind it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave J Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Fantastic Nige! Looking forward to you continuing this here on LSM... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Dollar Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Hey Nigel. Man am I glad to see you start this thread over here. I've missed you over at you know where along with a number of your other admirers and B-17 builders over there. They've expressed how much they missed you also. Thanks so much for continuing this tutorial. I've started a second kit to correct a bunch of the errors that I'll be able to deal with. There are a heck of a lot more internal problems than I thought with this kit. Fortunately, those errors are very easily fixed with a little scratching. I may have to leave the bigger errors alone due to lack of time and because of their extent. Still, I'll follow ever step in this tutorial with great admiration and respect. Keep working that sharp eye. It's one of the best tools in the armamentarium. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 So, you're not bored yet then ?? Over the next few posts I will be showing you all how I've corrected the cockpit floor length, cockpit sidewalls, bomb bay bulkheads, angle of the bomb bay bulkheads, long nose, long tail turret, long tail, incorrect ratio between elevator and tail plane, step removal in radio room, window size and position in the nose, fat fuselage, tail wheel position, tall turtle deck and anything else I can't think of right now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Hey SD, great to see you over here on LSM. Please post some of your amazing foiling skill here, I'm sure we will all be amazed at the work you do!! I am being nagged to get the B-17 on here so that's exactly what I'm doing. They're a really friendly bunch on here, it appears that you can correct a kit without being slandered for doing it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James H Posted January 12, 2014 Administrators Share Posted January 12, 2014 Hey SD, great to see you over here on LSM. Please post some of your amazing foiling skill here, I'm sure we will all be amazed at the work you do!! I vote for that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I vote for that! Me too ... I love seeing how it's done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawman56 Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I am being nagged to get the B-17 on here so that's exactly what I'm doing. They're a really friendly bunch on here, it appears that you can correct a kit without being slandered for doing it! Anytime you feel slighted, Nigel, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to toss some slander your way..... Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Dollar Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Thanks for the invitation. Let me go through my stuff and I'll see what I've got to post. Then I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingco57 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Nice reunion here LOL. Great to see you post you terrific work here. So we can all understand the B17's construction. Cheers Cees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Nice reunion here LOL. Great to see you post you terrific work here. So we can all understand the B17's construction. Cheers Cees I think you understand it all too well Cees!! Maybe you could help me out... It is a nice reunion, only wish it was an actual reunion with all our models on show!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Anytime you feel slighted, Nigel, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to toss some slander your way..... Joe Oh go on then, make it really bad so throw my toys out the pram and go away forever!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelR32 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 As promised, I'll give another update on some corrections in the cockpit area. It all began when I started looking at the cockpit and dry fitting it all together... I realised that the way the kit was made, the pilots legs would need to be very long indeed.. just look at an unmodified cockpit and you'll see what I mean. This was before I got the dimensions off the blueprints. Then this struck me.... Notice the position of the rear of the IP in relation to the window.. compare this to a real airframe.... So, I move the bulkhead back by about 4mm from memory, this entailed shortening the cockpit floor to allow the move, therefore bringing the pedals and IP into the correct position in relation to the windscreen and seats. Here's a shot of the IP rear against the window now.. It was at this point I thought I'd do something about the very visible rudder pedals, as I felt the kit parts were very basic.. And the scratch built pedals and supporting framework. Note also the framework on the bulkhead which will be visible through the lower hatch in the port fuselage. The location of the hatch is spot on in the kit. Staying in the cockpit, I wanted to replicate the sidewalls better than the OOB parts, so I basically studied many pictures of restorations and came up with this.. Note the shorter floor, the lowered walls on the floor entrance and the removal of the "lump" in the kit floor at the front of said entrance. The seat frames are to sit on top of these angled walls rather than to the side of them. If you're really interested, and are still awake, just ask and i'll post any shots you may wish to see if you also want to superdetail your kit. thanks for looking. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James H Posted January 13, 2014 Administrators Share Posted January 13, 2014 This is great stuff Nige. Did you manage to sort out the forward cockpit to nose step that resulted? Great photos, and a real education Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougN Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I'm very glad to see this build continue here Nigel! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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