B-24 Witchcraft from my Son! 1/48th Dell

[John Dell]

It is coming along great. A lot cleaner looking than the one I threw together. It is also interesting to see how it printed out. I have access to laser printer which prints on the darker side. Your colors look closer to how the artwork looked on my computer screen. Keep up the good work!

[missileer]

Your build is really VERY good. You have convinced me that my next build (after I finish the two projects in work) will be one of John's B-24s.

[smithdr]

Thanks, Folks...this has been a fun build. My only complaint is that it goes too well and therefore too fast! It's fun to see a plane develop out of sheets of paper. I still can't get over that especially after building plastic (and still doing so) for 45 years. I want to go compare it to my Monogram kit in the garage. I'll paint that one in my Dad's colors and this one will be for me and my Son. I think I'd like to get a "D" and another "J-H" with coastal command colors. Those would look great and I'd do the bomb bay better.

Hi John...

I found that my printer would always print way too dark on my paper card stock. I think it was thinking too much for itself so now I just tell it to use plain paper and I get much better tones. The PZL I want to build from Andrey's site was put on hold since it came out REALLY dark and just didn't look good. Now I think it will be just fine.

I love the artwork on your Liberator. Really realistic and yet very characteristically a paper model. Cool Beans.

More soon,
Dan

[smithdr]

A bit more before going back to work tomorrow...

You can see the typical nacelle parts and next some induced curving using my palm and blade handle of my #11...and finally, one in place on the wing and the outboard waiting it's turn.







The outboard has been my first problem on the kit. It could be my horrible wing profile rearing its ugly head. The inboard fit well! But the edges of the outboard don't seem to snuggle up to the leading edge. The stagger of the wing cut outs don't seem to be correct. I'll keep playing and cut out the other one to see how it fits.

Still moving along, though. I can't wait to see it all finished. Too fun!

Cheers,
Dan

[John Dell]

When I built these Kits, I would glue the inner wing to the fuselage and then glue the engine nacelles in place. I would use a down to get the wing to join to the nacelle properly. The outer wings would be glued on later in the assembly. I have limited space so this works for me. You should reference the build thread by Swampfox that I posted earlier. He attached the outer and inner wings as one and then attached the engine nacelles. His technique may be of use to you.

[smithdr]

Thanks, John...though I did look at your link, I admit I didn't go through it in great detail. I'll go check out the nacelles now.

Much appreciated!

Dan

[smithdr]

Tiny update tonight...I finally go the nacelles and engines on. I found that, for me and my wonky wing, the best thing to do was to glue the basic nacelle parts together (just not top to bottom) and then slide the bottom part into the top while cementing the top part of the nacelle to the top wing making a nice connection. Then I moved the unglued bottom half to the bottom of the wing since it was already trapped. This way I got a better seal between the wing leading edges and the nacelles.

Well...it makes sense to me!

Anyway...here she is!



Pretty close now. Should be done very, very soon!

Cheers and thanks for looking...Dan

[Don Boose]

This seems to be an important technique, Dan, but I do not fully understand.

Since I am about to begin my second attempt at B-17C 40-2074, and since I had problems with getting a clean nacelle-wing join on the first attempt, I would be grateful for some additional explanation.

What does this mean: "glue the basic nacelle parts together (just not top to bottom)"?

How do you "slide the bottom part into the top"?

Don

[smithdr]

Sorry, Don. That was a terrible and unclear text. Let's see...here are some pictures that might help.





The second picture text has a typo...I highlighted where to glue the top nacelle onto the wing in black not red. Sorry.

My point was that if I assembled the top and bottoms nacelles together with glue before offering it up to the wing, I couldn't get a good joint at the leading edge. Leaving the lower nacelle unglued and sort of "hinged" allowed me to get the top nacelle join pretty good and then tackle the underside separately.

Let me know if this is useless!

Dan

[John Dell]

The model is coming along very well Dan. I’m glad to see you had some time to work on it again.

The nacelles for the B-24 and B-17 are completely different, so I don’t think Dan’s technique will be of much use to you Don. The B-17 nacelles are, for the most part, one piece.

I’ve always assembled and attached the engine nacelles before I attach the outer wings. This way I can slide a wooden dowel or the handle of a paintbrush into the front of the wing to get the nacelle and wing to join tightly.

Here is a link to Swampfox’s B-17 build thread that may be of use to you Don.

http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/aviation/32588-b-17g-little-miss-mischief-1-48-build.html