SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

[Sall]

Work in cockpit is greaaat!!

Hope that everything is ok with car.

[draken35]

[Second Air Force]

Thanks, y'all!

The Jetta is fine, just normal scheduled maintenance to be done before winter sets in again. I'm on vacation this week so all such work is being done......along with other things that I've put off all summer since it has been so HOT here. There's still a little time for the modeling bench, though, and I'd really like to complete the two cockpits and apply interior paint this week.

[No.1]

[memitus]

Scott,

Excellent!! I find awesome the way that you are resolving this project. Really interesting!!

See you here!!

[Second Air Force]

Thanks, y'all.

I have the weapons bay almost finished now, and the tailwheel compartment is also nearing completion. Probably another two or three hours of small parts installation and the paint can be applied to the interior. I'm taking some time off for other work but will update when I get a chance to start on this again.

Thanks for the interest, as always!
Scott

[Second Air Force]

Latest installment. I decided to work on the landing gear fairings once again as well as building the tailwheel interior. First a photo of the tailwheel after fabricating the interior trusses and fitting the tailwheel assembly. The tailwheel I'm using will be a modification of the SAC part you see here, sourced from an Fw 190 upgrade set:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

Next was to tackle the aft fixed main gear fairings. These are riveted to the underside of the wing and house the tire when the gear is retracted. The first photo gives an idea of how they really look on the airworthy B 17 with the 1/48 fairings for comparison:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

These small fairings were built in the same way as the larger sections, from a spares box bomb sectioned and enhanced with styrene sheet and strip material:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

The next step was to fit the wing trailing edge extension. I purposely left this area 1/4" short with the idea of gluing on this thin strip of .010 thick styrene. This gives a much sharper trailing edge to the wing and also allows me to add the upper part of the gear fairing all at the same time:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

And finally, (a poor photo, but it gives an idea) I've offered up the gear fairing to the new wing extension. Next will be to detail the bottom of the wing and gear attachment points, then a bit of fitting/filler/sanding, etc.

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

[Ernie]

Nice progress Scott! I admire your ability to "see" the shapes you need in ordinary parts. Your scratch building is top notch as well, but I am still amazed at how you can take various kit parts and turn them into a compleately different item. 
Ernie

[Second Air Force]

Thanks, Ernie--I have always enjoyed digging in junkyards and boxes of spare parts for things that can be re-used. I reckon it is my upbringing on the farm where we always fixed our equipment with what we had on hand.

As far as this model is concerned, the list of "difficult" scratchbuilding projects is dwindling. The hardest tasks left are to build up the canopy sections and scribing panel lines in the entire airframe.

[Sall]

 

[draken35]

[Second Air Force]

Tonight the rear wheel pants and small forward fairing were installed on the center section wingstubs. Still a lot of work needed on these but the major parts are now constructed:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

For a bit of fun I mounted the stubs to the fuselage--it's actually starting to look a little like a B 17!

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

[No.1]

Fantastic work

[Sall]

This is really excellent!!

[draken35]

Really stunning!