a D out of a G.... HK's B-17 conversion

[brahman104]

21 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Craig

So glad you will be posting your B-17 build here as well - simply amazing work and there are countless tutorials surely coming our way. Looking forward to sitting front row centered as before.
Just a treat catching up with a few PM’s - a good reminder how times does fly.

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

Thanks Peter, indeed time does fly!

A few more progress photos to get you up to speed. My apologies, these will be all over the place, but they're more to give you a bit of a summary of what's gong in to getting to the point above so far....

As you can see, once I redrew the nose to fit the kit nose-piece (which was surprisingly pretty close to being correct) and placed the two side by side, there really wasn't any choice but to remove the old one and attempt to graft the new one on.

It worked, but it took a HUGE amount of filing and sanding to get right. All up it took the best part of a month, working on it every day (during lockdown) to return to where I was previously, but sooooo worth it!

I used the eduard brassin resin engines, which are lovely, but according to my information, also wrong. The crankcases were a bit too long to fit in the early cowls (which I also had to redo as they are different to the E model ones HK provides you with) so I redid those in resin too.

Eventually had them looking presentable...

This probably better explains my corrective work to the outboard nacelles to lower their position in the wing, yet still allow me to use the eduard turbochargers.

And some corrective work on the inner nacelle exhausts which include 3 "boilers" present on the early models but not the later ones.

 

And the finished product  :

I then embarked on the super involved process of adding aluminium skin with raised rivet detail. I had to modify my silhouette curio to achieve this, but with a lot of trial and error, I started to get results...

This process takes a few stages:

1. trace the shape of the panel,

2. Import into a CAD program and correctly scale,

3. Transfer into the Silhouette proprietary software and convert the lines to dots with the correct rivet spacing.

4. create the above,

5. cut out the panel and deepen each dot with a beading tool

6. turn over (onto finished side) and with a suitable piece of stainless tube, push the surrounding area around each rivet back down. This really makes them stand out.

This is best done under a microscope, but then you end up with a really nice row of rivets like this:

7. Then work out the correct order to achieve the right overlap, and add each piece one by one....

As you can imagine, this all takes an exhorbatent amount of time, but the result speaks for itself...

 

 

I've also been working on the lighting. No point in going to all this effort if you can't see it right?

And almost back to the present. The tail wheel retracted opposite to the later models, so it was scratchbuilt too, along with a smaller diameter tailwheel.

Yet another issue is the landing gear leg length. HK has the position without weight, which just makes the fort look plain weird on the ground! So another correction

 

 

And lastly, work resumes on the interior. Lots more to go, but it's a start!

There you go guys. Apologies for the big post but that's a very quick summary of what you've missed out on to get to where I'm at in the previous post. As you can see, she's far from finished, but when she is she'll embody everything I could possibly do in my power and skill level to make an accurate early model B-17!

Cheers,

Craig 

 

[Peterpools]

Craig

I’m speechless - your building skills are extraordinary enabling you to incorporate all the corrections and missing details. Thanks for bringing us to date

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

[GazzaS]

Holy smokes!  That metal skin looks so freaking awesome!  Your way of making raised rivets really does make them pop!  I have one fear...   I fear that at some point you're going to paint it OD.

 

This build rocks!

[Drifter]

Jeepers, my mind can't quite grasp what I just saw. Brilliant.

[FME erk]

Craig

Your statement  . . ." i am not the worlds greatest modeler " isnt to far short of the truth.

I would love to be able to add a fraction of the detail that you have on to any of my kits . . . 

cracking build I must say 

Ian

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks for the update. I can't believe you basically started over on the nose. Looks absolutely stunning along with the rest of your work. 

Carl

[Kaireckstadt]

I can’t find the right words to give you a feedback for the work you did. 

Awesome, stunning and gorgeous are not enough to describe it.

Have never seen something like this before. Just sitting here and watching the pictures with an open mouth.

This is more than brilliant! 

 

[brahman104]

14 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Craig

I’m speechless - your building skills are extraordinary enabling you to incorporate all the corrections and missing details. Thanks for bringing us to date

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

Thanks Peter! It's certainly only with the emergence of 3D printing and having access to original drawings through Aircorps Library that this build could really be possible. There are talented people out there who could carve masters to vac form the fuselage sections (as I was going to) but there's no way I could have got it looking as good as what it does  

13 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Holy smokes!  That metal skin looks so freaking awesome!  Your way of making raised rivets really does make them pop!  I have one fear...   I fear that at some point you're going to paint it OD.

 

This build rocks!

Fear not Gazza, this will very much be natural metal and pre-war  

10 hours ago, Drifter said:

Jeepers, my mind can't quite grasp what I just saw. Brilliant.

Thanks mate

9 hours ago, FME erk said:

Craig

Your statement  . . ." i am not the worlds greatest modeler " isnt to far short of the truth.

I would love to be able to add a fraction of the detail that you have on to any of my kits . . . 

cracking build I must say 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian. This build has taken me over 7 years so far to get to this point. If I can give any advice it's that you shouldn't be afraid to attempt something like this..... I've grown my skillset with this build, by gaining inspiration from the myriad of super talented modellers out there who are doing even more spectacular things. Sure, I've got a pretty capable workshop that I've built up over the years, but I failed quite a lot before I got to what you see here!

 

6 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Thanks for the update. I can't believe you basically started over on the nose. Looks absolutely stunning along with the rest of your work. 

Carl

Thanks Carl! Yeah it was a big call but once I saw how well the print came out I was sold on the way forward. My main aim in this project was making a B-17 that looked like a B-17, so to accept anything less was selling myself short!  

1 hour ago, Kaireckstadt said:

I can’t find the right words to give you a feedback for the work you did. 

Awesome, stunning and gorgeous are not enough to describe it.

Have never seen something like this before. Just sitting here and watching the pictures with an open mouth.

This is more than brilliant! 

 

Thanks mate! I'm just glad you're enjoying the progress  

Cheers,

Craig

[GusMac]

Astonishing work Craig, especially on the skinning. Just amazing to even go to the trouble of pushing the areas around the rivets back down to get the results you have.  

[Peterpools]

Craig

Your talent and skills are extraordinary.

I only wish I had half of them and know I never will

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

[brahman104]

On 7/7/2021 at 9:24 AM, GusMac said:

Astonishing work Craig, especially on the skinning. Just amazing to even go to the trouble of pushing the areas around the rivets back down to get the results you have.  

Thanks Gus. I've been playing around with the technique (can't claim it as mine though!) for some time. I've found that if you don't push the area around the rivet back down it just looks wrong, and the rivets will deform the whole panel considerably. So while it may be painful, it's worth it!

On 7/7/2021 at 10:32 AM, Peterpools said:

Craig

Your talent and skills are extraordinary.

I only wish I had half of them and know I never will

Keep 'em comin

Peter

 

Thanks Peter  But you know you've got it all over me for photography right??????

A little more progress under the cockpit floor. References are sketchy at the best of times for this area, but it looks as though the early B-17's had almost a filing cabinet arrangement to conceal various avionics items such as autopilot components etc. Quite tricky to fit with everything else into a fairly confined area, but I got it sorted eventually!

 

 

Same area viewed from the front

Now back to the rear fuselage....

Cheers,

Craig

[GazzaS]

That's just amazing! 

[Kaireckstadt]

Copy Gary; unbelievable! 

[Peterpools]

Craig

Astonishing, nothing is overlooked and so brilliantly done.

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

[brahman104]

On 7/10/2021 at 8:13 PM, GazzaS said:

That's just amazing! 

 

On 7/10/2021 at 8:25 PM, Kaireckstadt said:

Copy Gary; unbelievable! 

 

21 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Craig

Astonishing, nothing is overlooked and so brilliantly done.

Keep ‘em comin

Peter

You guys are too kind! Thanks for looking and hopefully I'll have some more progress to share in about a week or so!

Cheers,

Craig

[brahman104]

A little update. Minor but nonetheless important.

It became apparent to me that I'd need to sort out my missing radio room windows and the window directly opposite the rear cabin door. Luckily I'd had similar experiences with creating the nose windows by gluing in a thick piece of acrylic and then sanding back to make the outside flush.

After that was the time consuming process of polishing them back to a nice clear finish. Pretty happy with the result!

 

As I said, not a very big step, but just one more necessary job in the lead up to those fuselage halves being permanently joined!

Cheers,

Craig

 

 

[Wolf Buddee]

Craig,

As others here have said “amazing, incredible, and astonishing,” I’m going with insane! I mean insanely good and my kind of insane Craig but I know I couldn’t do what you’re doin’ here! Just WOW!

Cheers,                         
Wolf

[Peterpools]

Craig

Speechless as usual and that's something for me to say❗

The radio operators room window is perfect. Looking so good

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Kaireckstadt]

One has to develop a new word for describing the quality of your work!

I‘m speechless as Peter! 

Waiting for the next update and I hope it comes soon…

[Bomber_County]

Craig……..unbelievable…..superb……….words fail me…..

[harv]

On 7/6/2021 at 1:22 PM, Kaireckstadt said:

I can’t find the right words to give you a feedback for the work you did. 

Awesome, stunning and gorgeous are not enough to describe it.

Have never seen something like this before. Just sitting here and watching the pictures with an open mouth.

This is more than brilliant! 

 

About sums it up for me  !  Geeezzzz......harv 

[Martinnfb]

Holy smoking Jozef.................... deafening silence...................I am speechless. 

 

[brahman104]

On 7/24/2021 at 4:55 PM, Wolf Buddee said:

Craig,

As others here have said “amazing, incredible, and astonishing,” I’m going with insane! I mean insanely good and my kind of insane Craig but I know I couldn’t do what you’re doin’ here! Just WOW!

Cheers,                         
Wolf

Thanks Wolf! but you know I'm not sure you couldn't...... I've seen those spectacular little latches and things you conjure up.... puts me to shame!  

On 7/25/2021 at 2:11 AM, Peterpools said:

Craig

Speechless as usual and that's something for me to say❗

The radio operators room window is perfect. Looking so good

Keep 'em comin

Peter

Thanks Peter! always trying to get better at taming transparencies, but I feel like I'm slowly learning  

On 7/25/2021 at 4:42 AM, Kaireckstadt said:

One has to develop a new word for describing the quality of your work!

I‘m speechless as Peter! 

Waiting for the next update and I hope it comes soon…

Thanks so much Kai!  

On 7/25/2021 at 7:12 AM, Bomber_County said:

Craig……..unbelievable…..superb……….words fail me…..

Thanks mate!

On 8/2/2021 at 7:52 AM, harv said:

About sums it up for me  !  Geeezzzz......harv 

Thanks Harv!

On 8/2/2021 at 5:19 PM, Martinnfb said:

Holy smoking Jozef.................... deafening silence...................I am speechless. 

 

Lol! Love it Martin!  

I suppose I owe you guys a few more photos after all that praise..... I've been working on the miscellaneous equipment in the rear fuselage... with the big, teardrop shaped waist windows, you can actually see quite a lot so the effort is justified

Firstly, one of the most important parts of the plane.... the toilet.

 

Then came the boarding ladder and engine work platforms. I suspect these would have been ditched pretty quick in the field, but they add some nice, if complex detail to the rear end...

And all painted up....

 

Bit of a juggling act to get everything sitting where it's supposed to be and still make sure the fuselage closes properly.....

View from the waist positions looking aft...

And looking forward with the boarding ladder in position. Thinking about it I probably should have left it free to place next to the entry door once the thing is finished, but then there'd be a weird empty space on the wall!

And looking through the cabin door...

That's it for now, should be getting pretty close to doing some gun mounts in the future. Slowly ticking off all the little details that need adding prior to closing her up for good!

Cheers,

Craig

 

 

[FlyinBryan]

On 6/11/2016 at 9:13 PM, brahman104 said:

Back for a little more!

 

I haven't had a great deal of time lately, but I've managed a little progress on the cockpit section. This time around I've been experimenting with lining everything in aluminium sheet, as opposed to painting like I did last time. 

 

This a a few advantages; firstly, I don't have to paint a metallic colour (which as we all know can be fraught with danger), secondly I can emboss surface details like rivets into it and thirdly, I don't have to worry about trying to clean up in the corners of the print, which is pretty much next to impossible.

 

Anyway here's the pics

 

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii532/brahman104/IMG_2039_zpsmgg710vl.jpg

 

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii532/brahman104/IMG_2037_zpsg6ysjh0j.jpg

 

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii532/brahman104/IMG_2040_zpseqqel36h.jpg

 

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii532/brahman104/IMG_2041_zps6jlwlutc.jpg

 

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii532/brahman104/IMG_2043_zpsrhtjh50q.jpg

 

Once you get into it, working with metal is actually quite fun and not overly difficult, but if you take you time and work neatly, it can produce some pretty good results. Compared with my first effort, I think I'm on the right track

 

I'm also trying my hand at painting the wooden panels, so hopefully they come out okay. We will find out soon enough!

 

Cheers,

 

Craig

Binge following/catching up here...but had to chime in to say your metal work here is phenomenal on top of the incredible scratch building and 3D printing work. 

[brahman104]

10 hours ago, FlyinBryan said:

Binge following/catching up here...but had to chime in to say your metal work here is phenomenal on top of the incredible scratch building and 3D printing work. 

Thanks Bryan! It's been quite the learning curve and metal can be a difficult beast to tame at times, but it certainly adds a whole new dimension to building.

Craig