B-17 Bomber Repair

I have four junk B-17 kits in 1/72nd scale and I have been rehabilitating them.  Here are two clamps holding the rear end together as I re-glue the two halves.

Some of the wing control surfaces were functional, and some were not, here I am using a bit of modelling clay to hold one in place while the glue dries.  I decided to fix them all in place to make the model a bit stronger.

The wing roots did not fit the fuselage well, so I employed a large rubber band to hold them in place while I glued them together.

Rubber band in the middle and clamps on the end.

About half of the propellers are replacements.  Several of the windows are replacements too.  The big square one is still drying, you can see of opaque lower half after a day, but it eventually dried clear.

B-17 Build

I got four B-17 models from my friend Wyatt the Odd.

They were already assembled but had been in storage for many years.

I have been trying to rehabilitate them.

Most of the parts were present, but many had been broken or fallen off.

This one had split down the middle along the parts line and was missing some "glass."  I replaced some glass with Testors Clear Parts Cement and Window Maker.  I also found if you cover an existing window with the Testors Clear it can help to tidy up the window.  The large square window in the nose is a Testors window that is still drying.  Sometimes it takes a day or two.  I tend to use too much glue.

B-17 Repair

Paint removed and ready for re-assembly.  The plane was cracking apart in the centerline along the original two part seam.  The glass got popped out too.

Decal is all gone.  It took four attempts.  Some when away on the first shot, others took three or four.

Landing gear repaired and glued down.

This one is scheduled to be a KG200 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe.

Seam fixed, much better now.

I have to re-attach the wings, replace some of the machine guns, and repaint and decal.

B-17 Flying Fortress

A little spray on the decal.

A little spray on the fuselage.

A little more spray on the wing.

Leave it outdoors for a few minutes to allow it to work.

Second go around on these.

Sort of looks like they spread foam on it to stop the fire!

B-17 Flying Fortress

 

 Last night I dug through the spares box and pulled out some Revell B-17 parts that are probably 40 years old.  One of the first model kits I ever built was the Memphis Belle.  It's long since gone, but some of the propellers remained.  They will be used to repair some of my old and damaged B-17s.  Once I finished with this Lost World visitor, I did some B-17 work.

It seemed like The War That Time Forgot on my patio today, lizards had taken over my outdoor workspace.

 The yellowed and tattered decals had to go, so a little Easy-Off oven cleaner on the wing as a test job.

 I line a cardboard box with wax paper and spray oven cleaner on it to take off the decals.
 

I did the set up in my kitchen but the actual spraying happens outside in the fresh air.  Thanks to Expert Modeller Tom Seeling for providing the old B-17 kits.  He was disposing of some surplus assembled models years ago, and I am just now getting around to working on them.