If anyone else has opened the bomb bay doors on a Monogram B-17--you're NUTS!
The kit really was fun to build back when common sense overcame temptation. Nevertheless, here is a progress report on the centersection of this %#@!% relaxing project.
First, the real bomb bay is circular so you have to build an upper panel to cover the turtledeck opening. Then the internal structure has to be built to replicate the former rings and stringers in the bay. Here is a rough idea of how that looked during the process. The white panel is the filler for the turtledeck area.
The forward and aft bulkheads also have to be built from scratch in order to completely plug the fuselage forward and aft. Flat covers were made to cover the wing root-to-wing junction on the inside of the fuselage, and the ears on the wings have to be trimmed so they don't impinge too far into the bomb bay. More on that area later.
Next I started fabricating the center keel truss assembly. I dug out a visible B-17 kit so I could use the keel and bomb racks for a guide, but that wasn't really of much use. Fortunately I'd taken lots of photos of TR last year and have some good YB-17 references, so the truss is starting to take shape. Here is the aft wing carry-through getting started:
And this is the forward carry-through mostly complete. The lower beam of the centerline truss can be seen in the middle of the bay. The racks will fasten to this and the top of the fuselage later.
Scott
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