So this has what's been occupying me lately..another project ressurected from the "Partially Completed Kit Dungeon." This is a 1/72 Academy B-17C I started sometime in the late '90s. I'm building her as an RAF Fortress I..I just love that Dark Green/Dark Earth over PRU Blue scheme!
Anyway, since the interior is largely invisible, I'm sticking with the relatively decent kit parts. No need to do anything with the bombay, as I'm closing it up. I did add a floor and aft bulkhead to the radio compartment, since there's a big window on top.
The main focus of my detailing efforts is the wings. First off, Academy molds the leading edge supercharger intakes as shallow depressions..these had to be opened up and boxed in. Here's the before and after..with the unaltered kit part underneath. Fortunately, the early 17s didn't have leading edge carberator intakes between the engines, so I didn't have to worry about those.
Like most B-17 kits, the wheel wells were big empty holes, with some pegs to mount the gear struts on. Last spring I was able to get some great photos of Yankee Lady's nether regions for reference (she's a B-17G, but the wheel wells are pretty much identical.) I boxed in the wells, and added some detail (oil tank, exhaust pipe, and a few other fiddly bits.
On to the engines. The kit ones are crap, so I modified the engine from a Hasegawa SBD, made an RTV mold, and cast Alumalite resin replacements. Here's the result, with the master below, a raw casting on the left, and the cleaned up casting with ignition harness made from lead wire on the right.
And the finished and painted product, next to the kit engine. To me, the engines are one of the most distinguishing features of the B-17, and if they don't look right, it just spoils the look of the whole bird.
Oh, and the kit cowls also needed attention. They're noticably too short, and the opening is too small. I extended the trailing edges with a couple layers of .020 sheet styrene, opened them up a bit, and scribed new panel lines (x4!) The kit part is on the right, and one of my modified cowls on the left. Fortunately, I had plenty of spares, since every Academy B-17 comes with two complete sets of cowls (with flaps and without) and the early style aren't needed on the F and G.
My modeling goal for 2009 is to finish a few long back-burnered projects before starting anything new. I'm planning to take another trip to the Air Force Museum this coming Friday to see the only surviving "shark tail" Fort..the B-17D "The Swoose" (I'm taking advantage of being unemployed to take the museum's restoration shop tour, which only runs on Fridays.)
Cheers!
Steve
