SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

[draken35]

[Second Air Force]

Further work on the gear fairings. The upper and lower sections of the body of the bomb was removed and then a segment was trimmed from each side so that the top could be bent to match the shape of the real thing:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

Once the basic shape was close to correct, I glued the tip of the section to the upper portion to finish the curved top. Next was to cut and fit the two side skirts:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

Here's the bomb half and a completed wheel spat side-by-side for comparison:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

And another view of the interior of the fairing with the inner structure installed, made of Evergreen styrene strips:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

The second fairing is coming along nicely and should be finished yet tonight. Then it's into the parts box with them for later fitting to the landing gear struts and wing center-section.

[Sall]

My friend, your work is so inspired, that i can't explain you how much!
You are doing magnificent job!!

[No.1]

Excellent solution mate

[draken35]

[ta152c]

Great work there, great spatial skills. Bravo!

[Second Air Force]

The second gear fairing is complete and both are ready for priming/filling/etc. Also the small fairings at the aft end of the wings where the wheels rest will be made of another segment of the same bomb that made the big fairings.

I've had very little time to work on this the last few evenings but some small progress is also happening on the outer wing panels.

Speaking of the outer wings, I used a bit of resin to fill the voids when I widened the chord dimension. Turns out that my resin was not viable and is not hardening fully, also has many pinholes.......The best fix was to trim out the resin and replace it with laminated styrene filler material. I didn't think my resin would ever go bad, but I learned a new thing again. Next on the wings will be to make the final cut at each outer panel root and then form the centersection to fit perfectly to the outers.

[Sall]

 

[Second Air Force]

I got a bit bored with the Spitfire/Seafire conversion tonight so I permanently attached the vertical stabilizer to the left fuselage half. After this cured sufficiently I started making the fillet fairings and raised fuselage spine. More on that later. This part of the project has been bothering me a bit as I want to get the aft fuselage shape corrected while the two halves are still unglued. That will let me work on the cockpits in the normal way and then glue the halves together later.

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

[No.1]

Nice to see you back mate

[Sall]

 

[Second Air Force]

Don't tell everyone, but I even built a bulkhead bellframe for the Y1B-17 last night!

[No.1]

I have think about this kit last night... so something is rolling on

[Second Air Force]

Very little, but it never leaves the back of my modeling desk!

[Second Air Force]

Inspiration arrived at my modeing desk (in my brain, more accurately). I couldn't figure out how I was going to build up the fairing under the rudder and then it hit me---I used the other Corsair horizontal stabilizer to build this filler piece and it couldn't have been simpler. I've been fretting over this for a week or more! You can see how these pieces went together by looking at the inside of the fuselage. More trimming in here will be done when making the tailwheel well structure.

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

And the final profile of the fuselage is now complete:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

Here's an inspiration/reference photo from a source I can't remember now. I'll make every effort to find the source and post it when I find it.

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

And, just for fun, an unmolested Corsair fuselage and the B 17 conversion for comparison:

SAAB B 17A In 1/48 Scale

Next will be to design the horizontal stabilizer mountings and fairings and then to move on to the wings.