Blame the wife - Memphis Belle

[surfsup]

Very nice work. Some beautiful detail with this Kit.....Cheers mark

[thommo]

I was warned in other build threads getting the fuselage to close up is tough, and it did not disappoint. There will be some steps to be removed at the join & much puttying/sanded needed, but for now it dries overnight.

[hughb]

All that interior detail is looking great!

[thommo]

All that interior detail is looking great!

Thanks mate, shame I won't see any of it now it's closed up

Today was all about Tamiya putty (fuselage seam - the whole bloody thing top & bottom) & Tamiya 2 part epoxy resin (the crap fitting belly turret blanking panel).

I use the acetone technique to apply Tamiya putty, using acetone on a brush to turn it into a thin slurry, then applying to the seam (up to 10 times in this case), let it dry then sand. This gives much more control of the application than putting it on neat from the tube. And when dry, that epoxy on the turret blank will need lots of sanding.

The worst seam/step:



Putty slurry applied but not yet sanded & re-scribed:



The poor fit of the turret blanking panel:



Filled with Tamiya epoxy:

[hughb]

That's a great idea with the tamiya putty/acetone mix. Does the acetone give great 'bite' into the plastic and cause it to stick well? How does it compare to using Mr Surfacer 500?

[thommo]

That's a great idea with the tamiya putty/acetone mix. Does the acetone give great 'bite' into the plastic and cause it to stick well? How does it compare to using Mr Surfacer 500?

I've not yet managed to get my hands on any Mr Surfacer products, but am keen to try it some day.

The Tamiya putty - acetone mix bites really well. Never had it come off. I did have a bit of concern it might debond the liquid glue I use (Tamiya or Testors), but it does not seem to do that.

[hughb]

I tried your Tamiya/acetone mix the other day. Worked very well, very applicable to gaps which are too much for Mr Surfacer. Thankyou for the tip!

[thommo]

I tried your Tamiya/acetone mix the other day. Worked very well, very applicable to gaps which are too much for Mr Surfacer. Thankyou for the tip!

It works well, though sometimes it takes multiple applications to fill a decent gap. But you only have to wait 30-60secs between applications. I use the neat acetone from Bunnings.

I've got the wheel wells done, not really much to see esp. as I'll be doing this one wheels up in flight. The destructions are pretty poor here, so take your time & do lots of dry-fitting. I found B-17Fs with various colours in the wheel well, but in the end went for the kit instructions interior green, but painted the tanks alclad dark alum. with light grey straps, then a dark brown Ammo panel line wash over all.

Somehow I managed to break off and lose 1/3rd of the inside vent slots, but it was easy to replace with some made of drink can alum.

One of the wing halves is also decently warped.







Next, I have to re-model a 1/72 scale pilot to look like Capt Robert Morgan to go in the pilots seat.

[thommo]

1/72 scale is a crazy scale to be modifying/painting figures. The Capt looks like he's just seen a FW190 about to fly through his windscreen, but with the naked eye you can't tell. His cap and O2 bag were made with Tamiya 2 part epoxy which is brilliant stuff to work with.

Oh the wife has challenged me to put the gold badge on his cap, so I'll accept the challenge next!

[AndrewDoppel]

Cool! Get a gold paint pen for the cap badge......that'll fix that problem!