Brian,
Doctor just found another heart issue that meds won't control. just took a Aorta Ultra Scan, and that came back Ok. Up next is a stress test and imagining. Test takes 5 hours. This is my 6th one since the heart attack 27 years ago. No issues until this year. Sure hope that the Ripper isn't behind all of this.

Joel

[/quote]

Brian,
Doctor just found another heart issue that meds won't control. just took a Aorta Ultra Scan, and that came back Ok. Up next is a stress test and imagining. Test takes 5 hours. This is my 6th one since the heart attack 27 years ago. No issues until this year. Sure hope that the Ripper isn't behind all of this.

Joel
[/quote]

Not happy to hear THIS man. I'll write you offline.

Hi Brian, sorry I haven't checked in for a while. I should be able to come up with some info on the wiring of the overhead radio equipment. I just finished fighting with the installation of that cockpit top and it is a bear. Still not 100% happy with it but I had to get it done to take to England next month. I didn't see that damn bump until I took the photo. Too late now to fix it. And like you, I had to shim the aft end.



You can see the white styrene shim aft of the turret opening:



It is going to England as carry on (I hope). The box is within the airlines carry on dimensions. Have to install the wings after we get there. Should be interesting...

Okay, overhead you have the control for the radio compass and the controls for the command radio. The compass control has a flexible shaft and some wiring. These all run down the pilots left hand window post eventually ending up in the navigators compartment where the relay and receiver are located. The command units have three flexible shafts and related wiring. These all run along the right side of the turret structure. Remember the radio units on the the right forward bulkhead in the radio compartment? That is where all of this wiring and the three flexible shafts end up.



Here are the command radio components. The items marked in red are the flex shafts from the cockpit. The blue marked items are antenna inputs. This just a reference for those shafts, this is not in the cockpit.

Thanks Karl.

It is good to see another one of these under construction! Roof "a bear?"

Yes.

Post of this same area coming up.

MORE COCKPIT ROOF WORK

After the last post I decided to return to the radio gear etc. in the cockpit roof and add some wiring. I was pretty pleased with the result.



Not bad, huh? But ... wait, ah, there's might be something a bit "off" here. O.M.G.!

Can you see "what's wrong with this picture?"

It's BACKWARDS, because the roof is upside down.

THAT was discouraging.

Tonight it looks like this.



And its close enough to the images Karl posted.

I did not like the OD color I used on the roof exterior before, so switched to this, which is somewhat lighter:



I still have not decided whether to glue the roof on. But I HAVE decided to save that decision to much later in the build, like after I get the wings on. So, I decided to go for a "close to final coat" of OD on the roof and put the roof aside while I proceed to rescribe and correct scribing errors on the rest of the fuselage.

That means I took the masks off the windows to make sure they were acceptable, because I could not handle the suspense of waiting sooo long to see. Do not accuse me of a lack of patience.

Fortunately, it came out basically OK, as you can see, inside and out.









If I glue the roof on I plan to make the turret removable, and here you can see that one can see all the way down to the non-skid in the tunnel below the cockpit.



In general, one can see quite a bit even with the roof on.

With the anxiety of the roof over I hope to get in at least 15 minutes a day messing around with fuselage panel lines, in hopes of finally getting enough done that I can move on to the wings. For sanity's sake, I am going to defer fitting the nose on and completing the ball turret till after the wings are on.

It remains a marketing mystery to me that we can have a state-of-the-art Soviet IL-4 available



and still not have a decent B-17F (and B-17G for that matter) available. However, it actually resembles the 17 a bit around the cockpit and in the shape of the wings.



I know, I know, there are the 1/32nd HK Models but they are not my scale. Somebody with greater market knowledge will have to explain all this to me one day.

The HK models do not count as "decent" representations of the B-17. People seem think because they are new and big that they somehow are wonderful. The 43 year old Monogram B-17G in 48th was STILL the most accurately shaped B-17 out there until the new Airfix kit showed up. So the Revell 48th F is also a pretty decent shaped kit since it was allegedly copied from Monogram's G. It falls down in the areas of detail and general finish but Brian has shown that can be overcome! Okay, off my high horse... Brian, that looks quite good. Your patience with that sort of detailing is outstanding.

Keep pushing on! The modelling is great and inspiring. As is your tenacity... I just start with redoing smalker stuff but not as much as you. Truly great modelling!

Gr TC

Hi Brian

Some of your detailing in this build leaves me in awe!

I have to say, though, if you were to tackle the Il-4 in a similar way, you'd actually tear the Xuntong Model to shreds - because it's a real "curate's egg" of a kit.

All the best

Rowan

Hummmmmmmmm. Had to look up "curate's egg" [Pause] Really?

I have it but never read any reviews. Sorry to hear this. It looked pretty good in the box.

Perhaps that's why the follow-up kit variants have been long in coming.

Karl,
Your shipping cardboard crate really looks well designed and up to the task.

Brian,
Mr. Color is slowly becoming my go to paints now that I got a new spray booth that I can actually setup in 2 min unlike the old homemade dinosaur that was a royal pain in the butt. Of course I've got to use up my supply of Tamiya and Mig Ammo paints 1st.

Joel

I haven't checked in on your build in some time but it's still going strong Brian. Keep it up !!

Thank you. It's tedious, especially with the demands of my day job. But there will be a brief update this weekend.

Brian,
looking forward to your update as it's been a while.

Joel

Well, here I am again much later than I would've liked. My day job has been pretty tough, as you might imagine for an immigration lawyer working in the Trump era. But I will dispense with that unpleasantness in deference to the "no shop in mess" norm. I offer this update, modest as it is.

The purpose is not to show off my mad skilz but rather to show the work continues. In the tedium of rescribing that is enough I think.

But I can report is that I have basically (and I mean basically) rescribed the fuselage so that it is ready for an overall coat of primer (maybe). Here are some of the areas where I have been doing one of the most hateful things in our hobby.
















Of course, these images are far from perfect, but the work is far enough along that I think I can prime the whole fuselage at this point and hope that I've got most of the imperfections in a state where they are manageable, with "just a bit more work."

This weekend I definitely plan to put the primer coat on so I should have an update for you Sunday or Monday.

I have lost track of the number of years I've been working on this build. And while I have mentioned the Fitzcarraldo analogy before, let me reiterate in the strongest possible terms that this feels like the same thing, in 1/48 scale.



I may have something exciting to say about the wheel wells and ball turret in the relatively near future. So stay tuned.

I also guarantee I intend to beat the actuarial factor on this build. Finishing it gives me a reason to live, though I'm not without other resources



[The wife and her daughter during a recent trip on the Circle Line in New York City.] They are the best Russian models I have!

Brian,
What a wonderful Thanksgiving surprise. it's much appreciated. Hope that you had a great family day. Unfortunately, we spent the day at the hospital as my 95 year old Mother-n-law was admitted with heart failure, fluid in her lungs, etc. We did manage to have our very small family dinner by 7:30 last night.

You've certainly made a great deal of progress, and have finished rescribing, which like you, is my most detested modeling process. One that I avoid like the Plaque. From what I can see with this tired old eye, you did a fantastic job. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the recessed and raised panel lines look once primed. My feeling that they will blend together quite well.

As for your years on this build, it takes a great deal of fortitude, concentration, and dedication to stay for the long haul. I follow a scratch builder on a auto car model racing site that scratch builds 1/8 scale Porsche race cars, and that includes every single nut, bolt,. wire, etc. with no power tools. He just finished his 935 Moby Dick. Only took 6 3/4 years!

I'm really looking forward to your primer update later this weekend.

Joel

Klaus Kinski, what a nice side kick you present as reference for this everlasting epic build. One of the best movies I've ever seen in my life and very well explains your route to the finish.
Get it to the top Brian.

Kind regards,

Robert Jan

I'll get it done! So good to hear from you too. Hang in there with the "elders" and maybe you'll feel "younger."

I keep trying to tell myself that 69 is the new 49, but, well, ah, no.

Brian,
I'd gladly settle for the 69 even if it's not the new 49. I just turned 71


Joel

Brian -
Nice to see you back ! Keep at it - it keeps you young . I guess I'm the baby here at 65 .

Cheers - Richard

Richard My Friend,
You certainly are. I'd kill to be 65 again

Joel

Hell's bells I never realised that makes me the young upstart! I'm heading for 57 next year!

Well young man - I think it's past your bedtime !

It most certainly is.
These days I'm just glad that I actually get up in the morning, and I'm still in my bed

Joel

Robert,

Thanks so much for your kind reply! Yeah, Fitzcarraldo is a memorable film. Just as good in its own way is the movie about making the movie, and how filming it almost drove Werner Herzog as crazy as the character whose story he was telling. It's called "Burden of Dreams."

My goodness, you write all the way from Thailand! Causes me to think of Curtiss Hawk IIIs and 75N kits I have in my stash, and the Franco-Thai air war in 40-41. have you seen them in the Thai AF museum?

Best,

Brian