Memphis Belle - My First Model

Image thanks to the National Museum of the United States Air Force 

Image thanks to the National Museum of the United States Air Force 

Image thanks to the National Museum of the United States Air Force 

Image thanks to the National Museum of the United States Air Force 

Image thanks to the National Museum of the United States Air Force 

 

The kit 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Model tools for sprue removal, sanding, tweezers etc... 

The painting stand 

 

 

The spray booth fortress 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine detail brushes arrived 

My first mistake - I accidentally glued my piece to my spray booth 

My damaged spray booth 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First layer of gloss before decals 

 

Second layer of gloss before decals 

 

 

 

 

New LABFISH mixer, 2100 rpm up to 60 ml of liquid for my paints. 

Just a bit of work on the one fuselage tonight. 

Figured out how to apply decals 

Thinning my paint really helped with the brushwork 

Detail painting is progressing 

 

watched a video on dry brushing last night, love the technique and its results. 

Ready to glue the interior 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I managed to glue for the afternoon, it takes longer than I expected 🙂 

Trying a magnifying glass to see if it improves my detailed work 

Decal time 

Settin 

Done 

My work for this Sunday evening 

Final work for today 

The instructions say to glue one side of the bomb bay and then slowly add the rest of the interior. The bomb bay was not fitting as well as I wanted so I wrapped the model to hold it in place while the glue set. 

A little bit of gluing before the 24 hours is up and I can check out the bomb bay. 

Opened it up and the seam on the bomb bay came out perfectly. 

Another window taped and painted. 

Glued everything into the turret. 

Glued all the radio equipment onto the back of the bomb bay. 

The next "big" step, glued the cockpit into the one side of the fuselage up against the bomb bay. 

Another 24-hour wait as the glue sets fully. 

Practicing varnishing all the interior pieces in preparation for the exterior. One drop of satin for every three drops of ultra matt. 

The latest round of decals has gone on. 

A few more pieces are necessary to glue the fuselage parts together. The tape is still on the glass portions (mostly).
 

Learned from others on the site and washed the rest of my parts all at once 🙂 

24 hours later and the glue came out perfectly 

The next and final 24-hour glue (for the interior), is the motor room. I am going to try and do some weathering on the interior before I finish. 

I knocked the chair in the very front out of its spot and had to reglue it (not very well) back into place 

One of my first major disappointments. I forgot to use canopy glue AND I managed to get a bit of paint spray underneath the canopy. It did not turn out very well. 

Tested out the modeling paste. I will definitely need to buy a good range of sand paper before I do the fuselage. 

More sanding needed 🙁 I have put in an order on Amazon for fine grit sand paper - should be here tomorrow. 

 

 

This "window" worked out much better. 

 

 

 

The motor is added to the motor room finally 

 

 

 

 

 

Used an oil wash of buff coloured paint to produce a faded and worn look on the interior parts. 

Used an oil wash of buff coloured paint to produce a faded and worn look on the interior parts. 

 

 

 

Used Tamiya buff heavily watered down and my 0.2 needle to add some "dust" in key areas. 

 

The new brush, smaller than any of my older ones, it gives me much better control. 

Used a dark wash to add definition to the details and a "dirty" appearance. 

 

 

 

 

 

I glued the last of the pieces and added weathering to the interior tonight. The interior is officially finished! 

The interior is finished!! 

My riveting tool arrived this morning, just in time for me to work on the body of the plane. 🙂 

Thank you Skyhiker for the suggestion to get a magnifying headset. Going to try it out tonight. 

No model work tonight, but time for a cleanup. Bought shelves... 

And now I have an organized space once again. 

The modeling paste is going on tonight. 

Starting to apply the modeling paste tonight. Doing the top tonight, bottom tomorrow. 

Blueprint one in prep for riveting 

Blueprint two in prep for riveting 

The real test will be when I put primer on, but it came out rather nicely I think. 

 

 

 

 

Is this better? I used all the way up to 10000 grit. It feels super smooth. 

 

Went back with graduations of sandpaper from 180 to 600 grit and cleaned up my seam line! It looks so much better now. 

Went back with graduations of sandpaper from 180 to 600 grit and cleaned up my seam line! It looks so much better now. 

Resanded the tail 

Did the bottom seam 

Did the bottom seam 

My assistant is cheering me on. 

Finished priming the wings, just have the tail wings and fuselage to prime, and the rivets are next. 

Couldn't sleep, so I primed the fuselage 

 

I promised myself a decent airbrush if I used my starter kit enough... 

Ready to go up to step 58 

Once again it is time to use some glue 

 

It's starting to look like a plane! 

Going up to step 70 next. 

 

The base that I am going to use to stage my finished model just arrived! 

Painted and started gluing the engines tonight. 

The rest of the engine pieces are all painted. 

Everything is ready for rivets. 

My newest secret weapons when doing detail painting. The psycho makes a big difference. 

A temporary safe space for everything until my clear plastic arrives. 

 

 

Traced my model on the styrofoam 

Finally seamed cleaned to my satisfaction. Time to glue the engines in. 

 

 

The wings are officially glued on. Oops, realizing I should have done the rivets before gluing everything together. 

Seam lines between wings and fuselage are all covered. 

Seam lines between wings and fuselage are all covered. 

Seam lines between wings and fuselage are all covered. 

Seam lines between wings and fuselage are all covered. 

Getting ready to apply the rivets, glued some styrofoam together to fit the model and found an old towel to put on top of the styrofoam as well. 

Made the impression of my model in the styrofoa 

Put a towel on top to help 

Started with the densest area of riveting on the wing 

Started with the densest area of riveting on the wing 

Started with the densest area of riveting on the wing 

Started with the densest area of riveting on the wing 

Started with the densest area of riveting on the wing 

Built a cat-resistant space to display the model when it's done (and to keep it safe for now). 

Built a cat-resistant space to display the model when it's done (and to keep it safe for now). 

Finished the tightest rivet pattern on the other wing. 

Finished the tightest rivet pattern on the other wing. 

Finished the tightest rivet pattern on the other wing. 

Finished the tightest rivet pattern on the other wing. 

I started to work on my B-17 again and finally put on some more rivets. 

two-thirds of right-wing done 

Right-wing finished. 

Right-wing finished. 

Left-wing finished. 

My supervisor told me to take a break tonight. She was not allowing any model work. 

The exterior painting begins. 

The exterior painting begins. 

Canopies are being prepped, and guns being glued in place 

Canopies going on 

 

Only one left to go 

Only one left to go 

The final canopy is in place, and it's ready for paint. 

Prepping for the first layer of exterior paint. 

First layer of exterior paint goes on. 

unmasked 

unmasked 

unmasked 

unmasked 

painted the underside 

It's generally good but will need a bit of touch-up in a few places. 

It's generally good but will need a bit of touch-up in a few places. 

all cleaned up 

all cleaned up 

all cleaned up 

all cleaned up 

all cleaned up 

Seam filling as suggested by a helpful mate. 

Working on cleaning up the nacelles and tail. 

Working on cleaning up the nacelles and tail. 

first one sanded 

mostly cleaned up 

mostly cleaned up 

0.04 and 0.08 mm scribing tools were purchased. 

 

Key lines scribed back into place. 

Key lines scribed back into place. 

Key lines scribed back into place. 

Key lines scribed back into place. 

I'm going to do a bit more cleanup around the nose, and then it is Camo time! 

Nose cleaned up 

Putty in place 

I officially declare the first round of camo a success. 

Second round of camo prepped  

 

Second round of camo do 

 

Third and final round of camo for the day. Which is all wrong ☹️!! 

Sticking with this colour. Revell may be wrong but I like it. 

 

slow and steady, one more round of camo completed tonight 

two more rounds of camo were completed 

finished the camo 

finished the camo 

Added the stripes 

 

 

did a bit of cleanup 

did a bit of cleanup 

first layer of gloss varnish applied to top 

First layer of gloss varnish applied to botto 

I officially have a "stash" 

Second layer of gloss varnish on top 

Second layer of gloss varnish on bottom side 

Decals are hard. Put one upside down and in the wrong spot. 

Put one too high up 

Put the other in the wrong position so it matches 

I have done the next 30-ish without issue but it was a rough start. 

I have done the next 30-ish without issue but it was a rough start. 

They are so tiny you can hardly see them. 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

I am finished the decals 

Two more layers of gloss varnish to go over the decals. 

New Tamiya side cutters - they cut the sprue like butter 

A little before and after shot, I am getting much better at cleaning things up coming off the sprue. 

I bought a dehydrator to speed up all my "drying" times. 113 Degrees for 2-4 hours. 

Two minutes to dry acrylic paint - I love it. 

With weathering. 

With weathering. 

With weathering. 

With weathering. 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

In the sunlight 

Final coat of varnish to go on 

Last bit of weathering to do 

All the final bits of pieces to go on were painted today. 

Before weathering 

Landing gear and propellers with weathering wash 

After weatherin 

After weathering 

After weathering 

Little bit of rust 

Smoke, rust and oil (wet so really showing up in the photo - lighter in real life) 

Smoke (wet so really showing up in the photo - lighter in real life) 

After drying - should look even better in sunlight 

After drying - should look even better in sunlight 

After drying - should look even better in sunlight 

unmasked the canopy and windows 

unmasked the canopy and windows 

unmasked the canopy and windows 

unmasked the canopy and windows 

unmasked the canopy and windows 

Final decal = a bit more weathering 

The finished model 

The finished model 

With diorama 

With diorama 

With diorama 

With diorama 

Diorama complete! 

Painted my diorama's base black. The display case should be here by mid-February. 

It's officially in It's display case.