This is my third ever build, It's a B29 Superfortress by Monogram. I've been doing it for a few days, and this is the majority of the cockpit and flight deck. Is it terrible? If you were to have control, what would you do to change or improve it?

I think it's awful myself, but hey.

I wouldn't say its bad... in fact your detail painting is pretty darn good

The only thing that stands out to me is the basic green seems to be fairly mono-tone on the flooring and bulkheads.

when i do cockpits after doing the base color I use a black wash to bring out the detail and lend that dirty look to a used aircraft.

the pilots and co-pilots head rests could use another coat or 2 of paint.. u can see the green trou it..
and i'm not sure but I don't think the seats were all metal.. be hard to sit on for a 10 hour mission..

over all its a fairly good start.. and the instrement panals are excellent..

Good great... I like that you've done with the instrument panels. The only thing I would change is the Yokes, they look like they still have a little flash on them.

Otherwise it looks great

Cougar

Overall a very nice start, with what dilbert said the steering wheel (or what ever it's called on a plane) seems a little thick and I think I can see mold lines, I saw a few other mold lines too but nothing major.
As I said a good start.

Dave

All good information... Good to help me learn. Keep it coming.

I can never get "washing" right. I've read differen't techniques by people but it always turns out looking terrible.

Am I supposed to mix some dark color with some thinner (I use Turpentine) and just dab it on corners etc?

That's pretty much what I do. Allow capillary actio to draw the paint along the recesses. Also, the paint will naturally go to the lowest areas. Use tthe wash very sparingly. You can always add more, but it hard to start over.
I'm with Cougar on the flash on the pilot's yoke. Lightly run a sharp #11 blade over the horizontal bar.

same here until miracle struck
judging by the straps on your seats, you wash has to much paint.

if you have spare time, try the following
future, mixed with alcohol(more future than alcohol, alcohol is just to thin and make it flow better)
dish detergent( just a small about ot say you got soem bubles on top
and a few drops of black acrylic paint( i use tamiya)

and the key is having a dirty thinner more than a thinned paint, so keep in my that 90 percent future, alcohol t oabout 10 percent paint!!!

give it a try, since ive tried that out i ve been getting good washes, also migth wanna try future and paitn alone

Frank

just a quick idea..

one of the things I use for washs.. is artist's watercolors that come in tubes at the craft store.. tubes look like the artist oils but is much cheaper....

they make good wash's.. just put a dab in a pallet to thin it... and add just a tiny drop of dish detergent.. (helps the water flow over the parts by lowering its surface tension..

one reason I really like useing artist watercolors for wash's is if you dont' like it or get it on too think... they can be washed off with a wet cloth or q-tip and you can try again..

the downside to the artist watercolors is they take a bit longer than some model paints to dry..

Nokinja - I think it looks terrific! I agree with seeing a little flash on the yoke, but that's an easy clean-up. I really like your instrument panel detailing. Very well done!

One thing that comes to mind - how much of it will really be seen once your put it inside the fuselage and close it up? I know for the couple of bombers I've done, you really can't see everything. Not that I'm suggesting to not detail, but you may not need to sweat every little detail if it can't be seen.

I'm going to attempt a cutaway on the flight deck so you can see the cockpit and radio room. I hate building a nice cockpit and not being able to see it.

Good idea, When I made mine it took a whole bunch of time, now I cant see anything

is it 1/72 ? or 1/100??

I don't know what your standards are But I think that looks dang good.

Nice detailing and clean build. Love the insterment panels.

It actually looks much better than my feeble attempts.

I tried on a B17F Flying Fortress and didn't do half as well.

I think it all looks fine, if a little dark. That's probably due to the wash. That's cool cos that's what a wash will do. What you need after the wash IMHO, is to drybrush, I start with the original colour the go a couple of shades lighter and do a very light drybrushing on the highest points. If you wash is "staining" the parts rather than settling in the lowest confines it might be thet you are washing over a matt surface. I usually give my parts a coat of clear, do the wash, than matt coat then dry brush.
Please keep us posted on your progress, i'm watching eagerly as I have one of these beauts in my stash
Mal

1/48.

I've never done a cutaway on a model before so i'm very nervous.
I'll keep posting pics of my process if you want, but it will take time as it's a HUGE kit.

Excellent job buddy.

Just keep on doing this and we'll make sure to be jealous of your results!

Absolutley fantastic mate !
you ought to be proud of it
the little flash in the recesses of the control column others have mentioned i agree with them
i think your wash is maybe o.k.
i would be satisfied with it
but why not try a little drybrushing in a slightly light green than the cockpit ?
enamels would work well for it
and maybe highlight the seatbelts back up a little ?
but excellent job mate cant wait to see more!

I can't even do that in 1/35. It looks spectacular

Amazing paint job . i like that a lot

Monogram do a B-29! Had i known that i would not have wasted my money on the Airfix one. It
BTW You did an amazin job!


cheers

Philip

I just managed to convince my wife I needed a Dremel.

I did a cutaway on the side so I can see inside at the cockpit. I'll post some pics when I get home I think.

Well, it's not bad as it is, but maybe a little pink here and there and some colourfull ribbons or dried flowers hanging around would give it just that little extra, because all that green is just soo depressing don't you think... :-) :-)


No, seriously, that's a great looking cockpit.
It''s just depressing that nobody will be able to see all that nice work anymore the moment the model is finished.

Here's a question for those of you with too much knowledge.

This B29 came with instructions for two different planes:
The Boeing B-29-5-BW Humpin' Honey & Boeing B-29A-40-BN Cream of the Crop. However, the kit also came with two different sets of propellers but no mention of which set for which version. Does anyone have any idea? Here's a pic of the two different props.

I'm not an aircraft fan but I think it is not bad. Better than some others I have seen.