Hi, David.
Welcome to the forum.
Indeed, is a good idea to read all posts. There are hardened veterans like Joel, Bryan, Karl, Damian, Gaz (just to name a few) that always are glad to help and together they amassed huge amount of theoretical and practical knowledge.

I'm sure if you open your own blog you will get all the counsel and encouragement you need.

Cheers!
Gabriel

Welcome David,
You're really going to like it hear. Just don't be shy and jump right in. It's way more fun that way.
Joel

What the man said.... and welcome!

*** UPDATE ***

Well, gentlemen, this is the moment I was waiting for three months. All is coming together. Of course, there is still much work ahead, but from here on seems to be downhill.

All internal compartments in place. It was quite difficult to find a suitable angle to take a decent photo. Each compartment has detail photos following.

General view:


Tail wheel:



Bombs bay:


Radio operator room:



Flying bridge:



Navigator / bomber cockpit:



Besides, small other details were worked over: cheek guns in place, tail gun (inner half) in place, upper navigation windows also in place.

No major problems were encountered, except the lateral command panels on flying bridge. They don't have to be parallel with the fuselage, as the instructions manual suggests (also the angle of locating pins), but the upper edge has to be touching the inside of the fuselage. Otherwise, there is not enough clearance between bridge itself and the supporting pins underneath. Fortunately, I could address the issue without any damage, only with some swearing.

Thank you for following, posting, and constructive criticism.

Cheers!
Gabriel

Looking great Gabriel, a significant step forward here! I have been quietly following and watching here because the big birds are not my area of significant interest, but the flow of information from the experts and the techniques you are applying is just fascinating.

Keep up the great work mate.

Cheers, D

That is some amazing detail.

How does the blog work?

Gabriel,
Some very nice paintwork and detailing! Making me wish I was closer to interior work on my Boeing.

Gaz

Thank you for positive inputs, genrlemen.

@ Damian: Thank you. I'm silently following your (many) builds too. If I carefully watch my stash, it looks leaning more and more towards winged models...

@ David: I posted on your blog. Following your build closely.

@ Gaz: Thank you. Indeed, a comparison between heavies interiors will be delicious.

Cheers!
Gabriel

Gabriel,
the interior is looking really quite good. It's always a milestone to reach the point where you're ready to close up the fuselage, and move on to the next phase of the build.

Joel

Very nice work on the interior Gabriel, really eye catching. With the interior work complete the build pace will accelerate.

@ Ernest: Thank you, sir, for positive input.

@ Joel: I wish! Thanks.

I closed the fuselage in three (!) sessions. Generally speaking, the fit is good underside. On top side, there is a lot of work: an ugly sink and seam line between cockpit and astrodome, another ugly seam on the cockpit roof, a large step aft cockpit (I have to rescribe lines there too), formation lights misaligned, another big step between fore tail halves; the rearmost section fits well. I'm in "filling the gaps and watching putty dry" stage.

Thank you for posting.
Cheers!
Gabriel

I can't say I am surprised. Basically the same set of problems with the Revell B-17F kit. "Three Sessions." Yeah. I expect at least that on my build.

@ Brian: Don't kill the messenger! I'm sorry for bringing in bad news.

I think I'm going to install the cockpit windows sooner than initially planed, just to give the roof some support for sanding. Sigh!...

Cheers!
Gabriel

Guys, I sure feel your "pain". Even the Accurate Miniature fuselage halves had some fit issues, and the nose glass is in two sections, where neither section really fit that well, giving me steps to deal with.

Joel

*** UPDATE ***

After some more sanding masking, and fiddling with details, I finally added the stabilizers and the wings. As you can see from the following pictures, my main problem is now handling the thing without knocking everything from my work bench:




The fit is not perfect, but is a little better than expected. The stabilizers fit very well, just a little to fill at the roots, especially under the left side one. The wings fit quite well also, except the leading edges which are a little too much swept forward, generating a quite ugly and difficult to correct step.
The assembly wasn't trouble free, anyhow. The right wing proved stubborn and when I forced it in its place, my fuselage cracked in two places along the weld seam: between upper rear facing gunner post and dorsal antenna slot, and between bomb bay doors and chin turret bulge. The extra thin cement didn't offer enough bond to handle the stress. I re-did the weld with Testor's liquid glue this time. The upper seam healed good and required just a little sanding:

The ventral crack was a little more difficult, but didn't hold me back too much, because I was going to do the filling under the wings anyhow.

One more note on wings assembly: the superior faces fit tight and nicely along the fuselage, but not the same it happens with the under surfaces. The lower wing surfaces are bulged and I had the clamp them tight (upper against lower) to minimize the step between under-wing and fuselage, and only after that I applied Testor's. The result is quite good and the joint seams relatively easy to deal with. The pictures showing all above follow:








Perhaps some of you have noticed also the fact that the rudder is quite much off mark, if compared with the tail turret window. Unfortunately, the solution for this problem is too complicated and surpasses the purpose of this build. Fortunately, reported to the longitudinal aircraft's line, the deviation is almost negligible, and the rudder doesn't have to be in dead center, anyhow.

While watching the putty dry, I hand painted couple more details: the rear facing gun's glaze and the waist gunner glazes.



Next step: filling and sanding remaining gaps (upper wings and stabilizers) and hopefully move to priming and painting.

It occurred to me that I could use silver as primer instead of medium grey I normally use (both enamels from Testor's). Did anyone tested the combination already?

Thank you for following, posting and constructive criticism.

Cheers!
Gabriel

Nice to see the fuselage and wings starting to come together!

Gabriel,
You're making fantastic progress for sure.

One thing to be aware of is that paint isn't primer, nor is primer paint. Primers main function is to bite into the surface for better adhesion then paint normally can achieve, and to create a surface that paint can really bite into. It's also better at covering up putty and different surface colors then raw paint.

I know that I'm in the minority when it comes to using primers, but that's how I learned to paint, and continue to do so.

Joel

Gabriel,
I'm glad to see your Boeing progressing. Your painting of the trim on your clear parts looks great!

Keep it up!

Gaz

Nice progress on your "Flying Fortress" Gabriel. Correcting steps and gaps is one of my least favorite modeling tasks, and it looks like you are doing a good job at fixing them.

Following with interest; lessons here for me. Looking good!

Well done on getting Chow hound's main structure finished.
Sure is big and impressive now that the camera has pulled back from all the detail.

Very interesting build. At first I found the interior wallcolour a bit garish, but it should look stellar through the windows.

Now, just handling that huge beast must be a challenge unless your working space is significantly bigger than mine!

@ Brian: Thank you. Yes, the wings are a little fiddly, maybe because of their sheer weight. If you glue the upper seam first to the fuselage, you have a good chance to get afterwards a good fit on the lower seams.

@ Joel: I'm pretty much aware of the difference. Now a lesson I learnt from my experience: in their promotional paint sets, Testors recommend the use of medium gray as primer. I gave it a try. It worked so well, that I keep using the light flat gray as primer ever since. The bite on plastic is far better than acrylic dedicated primers and sands very well. Anyhow, for interiors, as in this build case, I don't shy away in using Vallejo light gray. Observation: I also tried flat white and flat black from Testors in primer role - both failures; the white peels away as bad as acrylic paints; the black pigment is too "grainy" and you need a lot of sanding for smoothness. Another failure: lacquer primer from Alclad. Literally refuses to spray - I found that it "swells" the airbrush o-rings so badly, the needle barely can move. I just bought couple new airbrushes - time for another try. I also used a home-made enamel primer distilled from Rustoleum gray primer (can). It works superbly but is difficult to strain and has a tendency to separate when diluted over 2:1. For hand painting I use sometimes enamel silver as primer, especially when I'm painting "engine parts" or "tools," followed by acrylics. Never yet failed. Another argument: I've read in a modelling book published by ISM (I can't remember exactly the title, but I think it was Detailing of Scale Model Aircraft). The author sprays every single model with silver first, regardless of final livery, because - he says - is the best way to see the minor imperfections (sinks, rough areas, so forth), after that carries over in the classic way: primer, base coat etc., without removing the silver underneath. Final argument: I always try my primer / base coat combo on a plastic spoon; if it works there, it works anywhere.
Thank you for raising the question - it is the best way to enrich our experiences from others'. I guess I've learnt more from blogs, books and YT than from personal experience.

@ Gaz: Thank you for positive input. Certainly, I hate masking!

@ Ernest: Thanks! I've had one daunting experience with a Roden kit from which I've learnt a lot.

@ Paul: Believe me, I re-organized my bench with this build: all my "auxiliary tools" and less used items had to move against the wall, in a special built cabinet. Still I keep banging the wings against the desk lamp! I need badly a hobby stand, impossible to find on my God forgotten island. I'm going to order one online, someday.

@ Eirik: Thank you for stopping by, Eirik. Well, that "forest green" interior has a story of its own. Since the beginning of this build, I was advised that under the clear parts, the color looks much darker than under naked eye. Other valuable contributions from the blog followers indicated three colors as possible for a B17G interior: bare aluminum (most probable), dark green (hard to tell which green, based on photographic references) or chromate green (least probable). I was very much undecided - I didn't like to much bare aluminium idea, but I couldn't go too wild neither... I called the owner of the kit and after a 10 minutes conversation, he decided for the green (to my big relief)... Indeed, I hope it will make a nice contrast with the green chromate in enclosed visible areas.

Thank you very much for following, posting and constructive criticism.

Cheers!
Gabriel

*** UPDATE ***

I carried out my little experiment:
One cowling sprayed with silver and slightly buffed:


With the paint not completely dried, I applied some random scratches with the end of a sanding stick:

The result is too contrasting (followed by washes and flat coat, it will be OK though for a well battered Japanese aircraft)

The cowling re-sprayed with a medium coat:

I like the subtle weathering - one may guess the aluminum underneath the paint. Whatsoever, I decided against it. I'll go with my proven combination.

My hope it was I can shoot the primer since the day before, but I got tangled in other details: more sanding and another gap, between tail section and main fuselage (I forgot that bit until I reached the "final" masking!)

A not so good looking gap:


Putty applied and watched drying:


At this point I've got so frustrated by the delay, I almost started another build! (a 1/35 VW 82E). Eventually I calmed myself and returned to sanding:


Then I remembered I deleted couple of details and I had to re-scribe them:

I have a scriber, but in this case I used a needle chucked in a drill handle, because I wanted the detail to "pop-up," in attempt to replicate the raised detail. I went close enough, I may say.

That's all for now, folks! Hopefully my next session will be priming (all masking done, but the model still needs a good wash to remove all sanding dust and handling marks.

Thank you for following, posting and constructive criticism.

Cheers!
Gabriel