I am curious about these holes. I have tracked them down the be labeled as "Cooling Air Vents" - what do they cool? The firewall and bulkhead are all in front of them.


Thanks

If they are cooling vents, then most likely they are for cooling the air from the turbochargers. Air passing from the turbochargers becomes heated during compression, so intercoolers are used before the intake air is passed to the engines. Cold air (denser than hot air) gives more power when mixed with the fuel. Air to cool the engin cylinders passing out thru the cowl flaps. The turbosuperchargers are located underneath the engine nacelles.

Just my guess.

'Cool' Thanks. Makes sence.

Hi Scott,
According to Squadron's B17 walkaround it simply says "slots in the top of the wing facillitate engine cooling", so Ranger74 has probably got it right. Are you building a B17? if so is it the Monogram 1/48? (if not why not)? :-)
Mal

COOL THANKS
ROBERTO

Hi guys - thanks for the feedback.
And I am building the Monogram B-17G. I love aircraft in 1/48! This one is a very nice kit.

Are you doing it in NMF? if so what method are you using? I have the kit, just need to hone my NMFinishing skills before attempting it. What markings are you doing?
I just love the B17 :-)
Mal

Alright , some B-17 fans. Love this aircraft. Very sturdy and reliable. Has to be one of the best ever built. I just finished the Monogram 1/48 myself. Should have some pics in the aircraft gallery soon. I did mine in the OD and grey paint. If the weathering looks a bit much, it represents 74 missions and i to go (Home). All of the engines show signs of a fire at one time or another and lots of patch work also. Long live the Flying Fortress

I'm back
Holdfast - Honestly haven't decided how to finish mine. I have a smath Bolt that I am going to try foil on. We'll see how that goes before I commit to doing this big bird.
I'd love to, but don't want to tank a beautiful kit.

Scott, have you seen the artical in FSM using kitchen foil and Micro Metal Foil Adhesive, July 2002? Looks really life like, I've conducted a couple of trials and it looks promising :-)

mavrick1124, I can't wait to see your pics :-)
Mal

HoldFast - thats where I got my initial inspiration, then my brother (one of those car guys) gave me a bottle of foil adhesive. That sealed the deal! Have to try it. So I went and got the Bolt specifically to try foil.
It looked GREAT on the P38, hope I can come close.

If you look at the leading edge of the wing you should see a couple of square "intakes" next to the engine nacelles. These led to the engine oil coolers in the wings. The leading edge intakes drew air in through the cooling "radiators" and then passed it out through the holes on the top of the wing. HTH

I built the same kit about a year ago. I'd like to do it again since my modelling skills have vastly improved. I chose to go with the OD/gray scheme with SuperScale decals. I also cut out the bomb bay doors so I could see some bombs internally and cut out the flaps to position them down. Thankfully this subject exists in 48th scale but it bugs me that Revell/Monogram hasn't reissued it with finer detail and recessed lines - like they did with the Catalina. Oh well, maybe one day . . .

...Kevin

:-) HEE HEE I feel a B17 group build coming on :-)
Scott,
During my trials, with foil, I foiled the aircraft name on a sprue with great success. I'm in the process of finding the best way to replicate the different light effects on panels and I might just have cracked it. I've been thinking about doing a P51, just to try out the theory (no wings to do). When are you starting your T Bolt? Yep it does look good on that P38, so realistic :-)
Mal

Slodder , I dug out an old book of WW-II aircraft. It has a cut away for every plane listed. The B-17 shows all of the exhaust from the radial engine routed into one large pipe, traveling thru the intercoolers . The superchargers draw thier own air and have thier own exhaust , all on the under side of the wing. The four vents look to be the main exhaust for the redial engines along with the normal blow by we see back of the engine cowling. Hope this helps, Mav