B-26 Flak-Bait (Thai Paperwork/NOBI)

[Don Boose]

What a saga! Thanks for all this background info, Anne.

Don

[Siwi]

It's late here and I just got in from conducting the final rehearsal before a concert, but just to say I'm bowled over by the response so far!
Dave, those pictures are much appreciated and show areas of the interior that have been unforthcoming in my internet research so far.


As for Anne - wow, to have a curator who has worked on the actual aircraft, and an iconic historic artifact at that, is an amazing turn up for the books. If you can spare the time I will very likely have some questions as the build progresses.



I did briefly consider making the kit to depict the aircraft as it is currently, in sections sitting on jigs! (It would avoid having to make the glass nose). What I have decided on is to have a removable section in the forward roof so that the radio position and bomb bay can be seen.

[airdave]

Originally Posted by Amccombs3

If you look real close at the last picture Airdave posted, you will see a bunch of lime green marks on the next-to-aft former. Those are bits of masking tape that I used to mark some of the slots.

detail shot attached

[Draco]

Originally Posted by Amccombs3

Meanwhile, I spent many hours designing the patterns for each panel. I started with the blueprints (yes, we had them), but I had to alter them a lot. It was clear that some of the prints were just plain wrong. For example, they omitted the openings for the aileron control cables on one panel.

I made a couple of the panels before I moved on to other projects. Now that I’ve retired, I’ve thoroughly briefed the volunteer who is making the other panels. She’s had to make some alterations to my patterns (which we all expected), but so far she says it’s going pretty well.

I’ll be happy to answer questions.

I read that when they were building the inner panels in the fuel tanks of the concordes after the crash, they found that each concorde had different placements for the cabling, not two were cabled the same.
It wouldn't be the case in the B-26s, so maybe with the rush of the war effort, they simply trained the workers to do it the right way and nobody lost time fixing the blueprints (Remember they were done by hand).

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by Draco

I read that when they were building the inner panels in the fuel tanks of the concordes after the crash, they found that each concorde had different placements for the cabling, not two were cabled the same.
It wouldn't be the case in the B-26s, so maybe with the rush of the war effort, they simply trained the workers to do it the right way and nobody lost time fixing the blueprints.

Even better story about the Spitfire: the Woolston factory was built on reclaimed land (like a lot of Southampton) next to the water, and the floor would move ever so slightly when the tide came in and out, which was enough to create small misalignments between the jigs for the wings and fuselages. Nobody could figure out why this was happenning to start with but when they did, the solution was simply to pair up componants that had been assembled at concurrent tide times. So almost every Woolston-built Spitfire is a very slightly different shape.


A quick update on the Marauder: All fuselage sections are cut out and riveted. I added some windows that are not in the model, specifically the small side windows at radio and navigator positions; two in the rear bomb doors; two retractable panels for the waist gun positions, which I will build in the open position, and two portholes above these. (NOBI: you may wish to paint these on the textures if you do any revision to the kit). These were glazed with acetate and I found a perfectly sized 'bulged' piece for the navigator window blister.


Right now I am figuring out the build order. My plan is to create the interior detail as a 'tray' or two, which will be attached to formers and slid inside before the fuselage is closed up. It might be that I do this in several sections. The kit is already helpful in this respect because the formers are placed where the bulkheads with doors are on the real aircraft. I think working backwards from the nose is going to be the best method so upcoming will be creating the nosewheel bay and the floor of the nose, then the (many) details inside. I will likely duplicate the formers and use them in the 'Polish method' to join fuselage segments in some places.

[Draco]

Originally Posted by Siwi

Even better story about the Spitfire: the Woolston factory was built on reclaimed land (like a lot of Southampton) next to the water, and the floor would move ever so slightly when the tide came in and out, which was enough to create small misalignments between the jigs for the wings and fuselages. Nobody could figure out why this was happenning to start with but when they did, the solution was simply to pair up componants that had been assembled at concurrent tide times. So almost every Woolston-built Spitfire is a very slightly different shape.

[Amccombs3]

Originally Posted by Siwi

As for Anne - wow, to have a curator who has worked on the actual aircraft, and an iconic historic artifact at that, is an amazing turn up for the books. If you can spare the time I will very likely have some questions as the build progresses.

I need to make one minor clarification. I was a restoration specialist, not a curator. Curators are experts on the historical significance of artifacts. They do things like deciding what objects to collect, researching their historic area of expertise, publishing, and writing scripts (a script is the text of all the labels in an exhibit). They’re like a university professor who teaches in museum galleries rather than classrooms. I was one of the hands-on folks who prepared objects for exhibition (the Smithsonian used to call us “preparators” a long time ago). Our expertise is in how to disassemble/reassemble, treat, repair, and support the object (if it needed stands or hanging, for example). For example, a curator could tell you when aircraft turbochargers were introduced and what difference they made, but I can tell you how they work.

I did get to write part of a script once, but that’s a story for another time.

[Draco]

Originally Posted by Amccombs3

I need to make one minor clarification. I was a restoration specialist, not a curator. Curators are experts on the historical significance of artifacts. They do things like deciding what objects to collect, researching their historic area of expertise, publishing, and writing scripts (a script is the text of all the labels in an exhibit). They’re like a university professor who teaches in museum galleries rather than classrooms. I was one of the hands-on folks who prepared objects for exhibition (the Smithsonian used to call us “preparators” a long time ago). Our expertise is in how to disassemble/reassemble, treat, repair, and support the object (if it needed stands or hanging, for example). For example, a curator could tell you when aircraft turbochargers were introduced and what difference they made, but I can tell you how they work.

I did get to write part of a script once, but that’s a story for another time.

Where is the "I like it" button?

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by Amccombs3

I need to make one minor clarification. I was a restoration specialist, not a curator. Curators are experts on the historical significance of artifacts. They do things like deciding what objects to collect, researching their historic area of expertise, publishing, and writing scripts (a script is the text of all the labels in an exhibit). They’re like a university professor who teaches in museum galleries rather than classrooms. I was one of the hands-on folks who prepared objects for exhibition (the Smithsonian used to call us “preparators” a long time ago). Our expertise is in how to disassemble/reassemble, treat, repair, and support the object (if it needed stands or hanging, for example). For example, a curator could tell you when aircraft turbochargers were introduced and what difference they made, but I can tell you how they work.

I did get to write part of a script once, but that’s a story for another time.

Ah, I see. Yes of course that difference makes sense. How did you come to be working on Flak-Bait?

[Amccombs3]

I was working on the fabric panels because I was the most experienced with sewing and fabric. Most projects that required sewing tended to come my way.