My B-17

besilarius · September 24, 2012, 05:33:23 PM

A friend swore that to get a shiny aluminum finish, Krylon Klear Gloss was the best. Never tried it, so may want to try it on a model you don't care about to begin with.

JudgeDredd · September 25, 2012, 01:34:58 AM

I made a P-51 1/48 scale before which was all aluminium apart from forward of the canopy and I'm pretty sure that looked pretty good - even if I do say so myself.

And it was hand painted. I do remember it was a little bit like glue though - having little thread trails coming from between the brush and the model after contact...definitely not an easy colour to paint.

I can imagine doing the B-17 would've been a bear...though I might try one day...I might get another Academy just to try.

Tuna · September 28, 2012, 06:05:08 AM

Looking good Judge, you're making me want to get back into the hobby again!.. You're right on getting an airbrush, it makes it so much more fun!

JudgeDredd · September 28, 2012, 06:23:05 PM

I hope to get an airbrush and compressor for Christmas - of course I'll need to practice!

Jack Nastyface · September 28, 2012, 07:05:44 PM

FWIW....I think the you made the historically accurate choice with the green / gray paint scheme. I don't think the USAAF left B-17's in their unpainted "silver" state until later in the war when they were mostly flying the "G" model (which features the distinctive twin-50 cal Bendix chin-turrent). But I could be wrong about that....

Jack "bandits at 12:00" Nastyface

JudgeDredd · September 29, 2012, 01:36:26 AM

I think you're right - this particular model at that time was mostly olive drab (if not totally) - but it's purely coincidental that it's historically accurate. And you'll see that when I put the decals on :)

I used to prefer the Aluminium look on the B-17 - but I've actually been converted - it looks really mean in olive drab!

Staggerwing · September 29, 2012, 06:22:54 AM

I ran across one source that stated only a few 'F' models were left unpainted.

QuoteOriginal B-17Fs (Without chin turrets)
Dark Olive Drab and Neutral Gray factory finish. Most of the original B-17s had medium green blotching on the wings, tail and fuselage.
Note: A few B-17Fs were delivered with the natural unpainted aluminum finish in late 1943. A very few B-17Fs were delivered with factory or modification center installed chin turrets.

http://www.303rdbg.com/aircraft-markings.html

JudgeDredd · September 29, 2012, 12:24:15 PM

Almost finished. A couple of antennae to paint...I actually have ended up rather impressed with this one if I do say so myself - all hand painted!

I'm not sure what to do about the water marks - they are actually from the Micro Set and Micro Sol - any ideas why it happened? Was it because I didn't put Klear on first and put it straight on enamel paint?

I may put Klear on and then weather it...I've nothing to lose now anyway.

TheCommandTent · September 29, 2012, 02:33:58 PM

^Looking really nice!

JudgeDredd · September 29, 2012, 02:42:06 PM

Thanks. Looking at it now, it's hard to imagine I thought the model was bad at the beginning - but it wasn't a great model.

As you can see one of the wings has a considerable gap between it and the fuselage.

But she's actually scrubbed up really nice. And she's a mean looking machine. I love the B-17 for exactly this reason...

LongBlade · September 29, 2012, 04:26:30 PM

Good stuff, Judge.

JudgeDredd · September 30, 2012, 12:50:29 PM

Thanks LB - I'm going to put some Klear on her, then dirty solution...see how she turns out after that...it could totally screw it up - but there are watermarks on her from the Micro Set and Micro Sol - and someone has pointed out that I should've put a layer of Klear on her before using the solutions.

You live and learn!