Visible B-17, Finally Finished - many large pics

Gigatron

Sr Member

• Oct 12, 2009

• #1

Well, it's been 10 long months, using every last technique I know, but she's finally finished.

Just a few basics; it's the re-release kit that came out last year, it has every PE kit that Eduards makes for it and a ton of scratchbuilt items.

So, without further ado, I am pleased to finally introduce, the completed Visible B-17

and for those who haven't followed, here's a few pics of the inside before she was buttoned up

As always, cronstructive criticisms and questions are welcome.

Enjoy,
-Fred

 

DivineHeresy

Sr Member

• Oct 12, 2009

• #2

Fred, that is amazing!!
She's a beaut.
Very well done indeed.
Planning on doing any other planes in this way?

 

OdiWan72

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 12, 2009

• #3

A piece of art :thumbsup

Markus

 

womo68

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 12, 2009

• #4

wow...the detail on those radio pieces is awesome!

 

Qui-Gonzalez

Master Member

• Oct 12, 2009

• #5

***** Fred...you have insane aircraft modeling skills. Great job.

 

Gigatron

Sr Member

• Oct 12, 2009

• #6

Thanks, guys :$ :cool

Neil, On the one hand, I'd love to do another bird like this, but it would have to be at least 1/32, but ideally, 1/24. Which leads me to the real problem; in order to do this, I'd have to make my own clear half. Which means building a vacformer and finding either clear lexan or clear styrene sheets.

Womo, photoetch has come a long way and has really changed the game in modeling. Eduards, a company HQ'd in the Czech republic, puts out the best PE sets for most of the popular kits out there.


Next up is going to be a real change of pace for me - I'm going to try my hand at an M4 Sherman tank, late variation. Let's hope all my aircraft "skills" translate to the treads :lol.

-Fred

 

PHArchivist

Master Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #7

Stunning detail, Fred! Nice job! Great pics too!

 

IFA

Sr Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #8

Criticisms ???? Who would critic that model ???

Really awesome....I really need to show those pics to a friend, he will be amazed to say the least.

 

Getoninja

Sr Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #9

very amazing, awesome job!!

 

MooCriket

Master Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #10

Awesome detailthumbsup IMHO, well worth the time you put into it. It clearly shows that you enjoyed what you were doing

 

Gigatron

Sr Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #11

Thanks again, everyone.

Hey Rob, I'm working on taking some new pics for submission to FSM magazine. Once I get a few true beauty shots, I'll post them up. These didn't come out nearly as well as I would have liked :unsure

-Fred

 

Firespray

Well-Known Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #12

Wow...Awesome job! :thumbsup

 

DivineHeresy

Sr Member

• Oct 13, 2009

• #13

Gigatron said:

Next up is going to be a real change of pace for me - I'm going to try my hand at an M4 Sherman tank, late variation.

Click to expand...

Cannot wait for this one.
Love Shermans.

 

Last edited: Oct 13, 2009

mjhenks

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 13, 2009

• #14

Very nice. I remember the original pictures and the finished piece is just stunning.

Nice work.

Matthew

 

James Kenobi 1138

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 13, 2009

• #15

Looks fantastic. Amazing work.

 

B

bigbehw

New Member

• Jun 19, 2011

• #16

Good Lord, Fred!
My friend, no matter what you do for the rest of your life nobody can ever take away the fact that you accomplished this amazing feat. I am giddy looking at it. I have been building one for over a year now and have stalled out several months ago. I have a sealed fuselage s what's in it is in it for good. I should post the many photos I took of it before I sealed it. Man I love the navigator's table with the flight route and the notepad. Wow did you ever put some great work into this. My hat is off to you Sir!!

 

Sluis Van Shipyards

Legendary Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jun 19, 2011

• #17

That is awesome! I like the maps you added in there too. Are the .50cal belt feeds photoetched?

 

L

Legion

Active Member

• Jun 19, 2011

• #18

Very nice job! I've always had a love for this plane even as a kid, and if you ever get the chance to ride on one, do it without hesitation. I took my dad on the Nine O Nine when it was here in St. Pete, Florida last March, and it was incredible. I look at the details inside, and it brings many memories back.

Cheers, and great job.

Guy

 

A

azslogan

New Member

• Jun 20, 2011

• #19

Very, very cool. When I was in high school I'd go to the airfield in Mesa, AZ and they had 3 or 4 B-17s that had been converted to slurry bombers for forest fires. Your excellent model brings back a lot of memories.

 

Gigatron

Sr Member

• Jun 20, 2011

• #20

bigbehw said:

Good Lord, Fred!
My friend, no matter what you do for the rest of your life nobody can ever take away the fact that you accomplished this amazing feat. I am giddy looking at it. I have been building one for over a year now and have stalled out several months ago. I have a sealed fuselage s what's in it is in it for good. I should post the many photos I took of it before I sealed it. Man I love the navigator's table with the flight route and the notepad. Wow did you ever put some great work into this. My hat is off to you Sir!!

Click to expand...

Thanks, bigbehw :cool. Most of the detail is a result of boredom from working on other parts :lol. Detailing is the most fun part of a build, for me. So after working on structural detail, I'd just go and do something fun. One day, I just decided the Nav position needed something, other than a boring wooden table. So, I found a jpeg of an old aerial map, scaled it down and drew some lines. I built a navigator's parallel ruler and a clipboard with pencil. Then I got bored and added a Radio Operator's log book and headphones. In modeling, boredom is the mother of invention :lol.

You should definitely post up what you have. It's nice to see stuff other than sci-fi.

Sluis Van Shipyards said:

That is awesome! I like the maps you added in there too. Are the .50cal belt feeds photoetched?

Click to expand...

They are indeed photoetch - and a reall headache because they consist of 2 seperate parts, the bullets and the belt carrier. The carrier is so finicky that it's almost impossible to bend, correctly. If it were a simple, single fold, it would be one thing. But it's a 2 fold, open box design. And that middle fold is so small, it's easy to destroy the entire belt if you're not careful.

Legion said:

Very nice job! I've always had a love for this plane even as a kid, and if you ever get the chance to ride on one, do it without hesitation. I took my dad on the Nine O Nine when it was here in St. Pete, Florida last March, and it was incredible. I look at the details inside, and it brings many memories back.

Cheers, and great job.

Guy

Click to expand...

I'd love the chance to get to ride in one, but there hasn't been a 17, that was offering rides, to a tri-state area show, in a long time .

azslogan said:

Very, very cool. When I was in high school I'd go to the airfield in Mesa, AZ and they had 3 or 4 B-17s that had been converted to slurry bombers for forest fires. Your excellent model brings back a lot of memories.

Click to expand...

Thank you :cool. I'm glad that I got enough of it right, to ellicit such wonderful memories, in so many people

-Fred