Verlinden's B-17 Waist Gunner

[Antlion]

Verlinden's B-17 Waist Gunner
I'm new to this forum, and thought I'd post my latest project. This is a fantastic kit, but not for the feint of heart, as final assembly is a tricky alignment and patience tester!

I scaled down some vintage magazines and a Vargas pin-up girl from the website. The gun sight is scratchbuilt from a soldered wire and stretched sprue for cross-hairs; this replaced the flat photoetch provided with the kit.

I painted the kit with Humbrol and Testors enamels, and a custom decal for the 8th Bomber Group supplied by QuarterMasters Depot along with their pigments for weathering.

Thanks for looking...
Bruce

 

[Antlion]

Verlinden's B-17 Gunner...
Second View...

 

[Antlion]

Verlinden's B-17 Gunner...
Third View...

 

[Pete_H]

Heeeeeeeeeeey, pretty cool! I really like the pin-up (no, really? :lol: ) and the magazine - they add a nice touch to the piece.

 

[Larry R]

Outstanding Job!

 

[KeithP]

Looks great. How about some close ups and side shots?

Keith

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Very nice!
Oils or acrylics?

Patrick

 

[Rob Brown]

Well Done Bruce! The magazines and pinup are a nice touch.
Rob

 

[Guy]

Hello Bruce and welcome to the planet. I have seen several of these painted and I have to say yours is the first one I have liked. Very well done.

 

[johnbrewer]

Bruce, really nice work. I love the way you have got in the pictures. If I could be so bold as to make some suggestions, a few more spent shell cases and it looks too clean to me. But this is me just being picky it is a superb paint job. Please please some more pictures.

 

[yeo_64]

GOOD JOB,Bruce !! Like John said,perhaps a few more spent shell cases ? Excellent,nonetheless(LOVE the jacket !) Post more,please ! Cheers.
Kenneth :lol:

 

[Edson]

Looks GREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! man!!!, I want that kit!!! :lol: good job man

Cheers
Ed :lol:

 

[Pete_H]

Very good observations, John. I concur with you.

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Bruce,
Any problems with the figger in terms of fit, molding or clean up? I have this piece and am interested to hear some feedback before I start working it so I know what I may or may not be in for...
Thanks

Patrick

 

[garyjd]

Bruce, Clean or not it's very nice and the pin-up and magazines are a great touch.~Gary

 

[Mongo Mel]

Bruce,
First, welcome to the site. Looks to me like you'll be a great contributer.
Second, I really like the work you did on this piece. I'd also like to see some more pictures if possible. Especially close ups of the figure.
Thanks for posting these.
Craig

 

[Antlion]

Hi, Patrick...
The final product, after assembly, really makes for an action-oriented piece:

Here are some things to consider when building it...

1) The upper and lower fuselage halves in my kit had a slight distortion, so you may find that the display brackets don't fit properly, and shaving them down may cause even more of a headache.

2) Upper and lower fuselage halves don't create a continuous curvature, causing the lower floor to sit at a very slight angle - I've noticed this on all build-ups of this kit - there's really nothing you can do about it...it's just a note. Also, align the outer fuselage for a flush fit, and let the inner shelf cover the major seam.

3) Aligning the final assemblies of the gunner's hand/machine gun/machine gun mount and length of pole, and floor simultaneously will try your patience! I started w/ a longer length of pole then suggested, and gradually reduced it until there was an alignment. you might even consider cutting the hand off that holds the gun and attach it directly to the gun, letting it determine where your figure will be positioned; the figure, in it's original cast form, has a slight angle at the wrist, which causes problems with the machine gun's canter.

4) For the window assembly, be sure you have a slight edge of equal distance on the inner window frame so that a piece of clear plastic can be easily inserted on the reverse side.

5) A couple of things that may be worth adding/scratchbuilding: a) a portable leg-mounted oxygen bottle, and b) a communications junction box for the headphones.

Here's a link that may also help...
http://www.squadron.com/old/vebandits/vebandits.htm

It's really a great kit, good luck with it!

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Thanks Bruce...
Really appreciate the insights on the kit and will definately take your lessons learned into account as I start the clean up and dry fitting...Thanks again for your time, and the help.

All the best

Patrick

 

[atitan_to]

This is really a nice work, but can you tell me more on the color you use on this figure/diorama?

 

[Guy]

Thanks for the comments Bruce. I am thinking about this kit for a small box-diorama and the problems you ran into I was not aware of before.