News Feed

Roland Sachsenhofer
First pictures of the first steps in the construction of a B-17G, whose mission role particularly appealed to me: I had long been fascinated by the sea rescue missions of this B-17 equipped with a droppable lifeboat! So I was delighted when I found one of the rare kits on the subject here on scalemates.
A few months ago I had already built an Academy 'Flying Fortress' in an early B version, the kit qualities of which I thoroughly enjoyed. The accuracy of fit is not far from 'perfect' and the details that are often missing in these Academy kits have to be added wherever it is important. In this case that means A set of etched parts for the cockpit and nose area, as well as an exterior set, especially for the engines and undercarriage, and resin tyres, also from Eduard. Not to forget: the seat cushions from Kits World were used in the cockpit

Łukasz Gliński
Lucky you! Following

Finn
I'm in

Roland Sachsenhofer
That makes me happy, Łukasz and Finn!
The SB-17G is slowly taking shape. The V-position of the wings needs to be changed: in my opinion, Academy has set a much too steep angle here! The corrected position of the wings also results in the distances at the wing-fuselage bonding points.... the fit here would be excellent!

Juergen Klinglhuber
following 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Das freut mich! 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
In preparation for the surface colours, I have now done the following: I have masked those stripes over the black primer that are to remain visible as black lines separating the NMF surfaces from the large yellow zones using suitably wide Tamiya masking tape. I also masked the areas on the leading edges that carry the rubber 'de-icers'.
Next, the anti-glare areas in front of the cockpit and on the inside of the engine nacelles are sprayed, then.... then come the Alclad metal colours!

Cuajete
Great! 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you!
There was not much to see of the SB-17 for a short time - the application of the yellow required extensive masking!

Villiers de Vos
Very nice progress. I hope that there is no bleeding with that yellow paint 🙂

Robert Podkoński
Somehow I have missed this build... But I will follow from now!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Villiers and Robert! Indeed, I had to sand over the colour edges a little....

Roland Sachsenhofer
At last I can replace the unattractive sanitary towel pictures of the SB-17 with ones that show their true appearance! 🙂
The new pictures are already close: the high gloss level comes from the sealing of the decals.... now it will be adjusted with different clear coats.

Cuajete
Very nice painting job so far 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you, Cuajete!

Łukasz Gliński
Love that colours, waiting for the details

Michael Kohl
Ahh, this is going to be a beauty.

Juergen Klinglhuber
nice one,....👍

Rui S
Looking Great as always 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Łukasz, Jürgen, Michael and Rui: thank you for your motivating comments!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Now the sea rescue SB-17 has been completed!
A final challenge was the attachment of the lifeboat: as the original photos show, the gunwale should be more or less flush with the underside of the B-17, but this was impossible to achieve with the moulds of the kit boat! I have now created a new gunwale with Tamiya masking tape and painted it yellow after cutting it to size. After that, and with careful adjustments, I was able to fit the boat correctly.

I am very pleased to have found this kit here on scalemates from a colleague, so that I have been able to realise an old dream: I have always been very enthusiastic about this version! Thank you for your input and your motivating comments!

Cuajete
Top job one more time. Great result, Roland 👍
Congrats!

bughunter
Great build with perfect masking and painting!

Crazy! The sailors might first lose their ship and then be bombarded with a boat!
Seriously, how did they drop the boat exactly where it was needed? Flying low? With a parachute?

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you both! That is very appreciated! I am attaching a very descriptive link that could answer your question....

planehistoria.com/sb-17/

Robert Podkoński
Beautiful model and photos, Roland! As always from your workshop... Chapeau bas!

Skyhiker
It looks like it's wearing a yellow sweater. Top job as always.

Łukasz Gliński
Fabulous, I'm in envy 👍 Wish I could get this boxing too

Rui S
Beautiful outcome as always 👍

Villiers de Vos
Fantastic work. A real head turner.

gorby
Amazing work!

Michael Kohl
Turned out as beautifully as expected.

Neuling
A masterpiece.

Skyhiker
Still seeing a yellow sweater vest here. Like a nerd plane that saves people's lives.

Pietro De Angelis
Another masterpiece,
mr. Roland no longer surprises us...

Roland Sachsenhofer
Now I can thank you for all your animating and motivating reactions, mates! I am very pleased that you like the 'B-17 in the yellow sweater'! (Thanks for the marvellous association, Skyhiker!) I'm sure you can imagine how pleased and motivated I am - thank you!
What I'm looking for now is a conversion option for a passenger-carrying variant, which I also find unusual and, well , cool.

S B
Very interesting subject and perfectly bult and painted! Very nice job. Congrats.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much- very appreciated!

Hans-Jürgen Haag
Excelent! Flying destiny in person!👍👍👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you indeed for your encouraging wird's, Hans-Jürgen!

Juergen Klinglhuber
An eye-catcher perfectly done - congrats Roland. Good job as always!!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Jürgen, I am happy about your words!

Roland Sachsenhofer
These pictures open the construction of the Wedell Williams Racer. A rather simple model, but efficient, accurate and a well researched reproduction of this elegant racing machine. In respect of simplicity, it is maybe a good match for the origina.! The pictures give it away: the moulding is rather on the rough side and there are not many details in the cockpit - but it is probably close to the original here too!
I've added a few braces to the cockpit frame and belts. The accuracy of fit is, as I said, excellent, once again, I'm very impressed with the Williams Brothers.

gorby
I think I'll follow this one, looks good. 🙂

Alex K
... my usual seat in the gallery, please...

Derek Buckmaster
One of these sitting in my stash... watching on in great interest, looks like a good start! Williams Brothers were ahead of their time... remember that's a 1979 tool!!

Robert Podkoński
Watching with pleasure!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Gorby, Alex, Derek, Robert: thank you very much for your encouragement and interest! You are right, a wonderful aeroplane and a really good kit: I would really like to see more in this category in this quality and in large scale - the racing machines are rather small!
In the meantime the cockpit canopy and the already reworked undercarriage legs are on the plane, I still have to sand the fuselage and the engine cowling, then I'll continue with the colour!

Lex Jassies
I do like these Interbellum racers with there sleek lines and big engines. Good luck with building this beauty 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much, Lex! Sanding the fuselage, the wheel covers and the cowling takes time, but the finishing line is in sight....

Roland Sachsenhofer
Finally something is going on here again: the white, as a somewhat capricious colour, requires repeated application and sanding.... What you see here are status pictures that have meanwhile been overtaken by reality: now the decals have - fortunately without any problems - already been applied; pictures of them will follow soon!

I have improved the propeller shaft: here the kit part shows a wrong, round-capped image. The solution was to drill a hole and fill it with a suitable hollow brass rod.

Roland Sachsenhofer
The finish line for the Wedell Williams recer is in sight: the surfaces are finished and the fragile wings are firmly braced! I look forward to showing you the finished aircraft soon.

Roland Sachsenhofer
The Wedell-Williams was completed yesterday, so I'm pleased to be able to show you a few pictures of it! As there has to be a change from time to time, I have sent a few of the pictures on a journey through time. They came back a bit grainy, but I think that suits Jimmy Wedell's machine from 1931 quite well 🙂 Thank you for your supportive, motivating and helpful comments!

Neuling
Super geworden, auch die Fotos!

gorby
Fantastic! Most of those photos could easily pass for the real thing.

Hans-Jürgen Haag
Sehr schön ein weiterer kleiner Flitzer!👍👍🥰

Robert Podkoński
Great job, Roland. Chapeau bas!

Alex K
Exquisite...!

Ben M
Looks great, Roland. Maybe next time I do a plane I'll pull one of the Williams brothers kit out of the stash, your builds are inspiring. Love the golden age racers. Like Gorby said, your build looks like the real thing!

Mr D
Very nice Roland 👌 Excellent job as usual 👍👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you all very much. I'm so pleased and motivated by your comments- much appreciated, mates!

Andrew Gledhill
Update 01. 16.10.24. Hi folks. Welcome to my latest build. Decided to make a start on this Ryefield Model German Puma Armoured Car. So far, I have made up the axles and running gear on the lower hull. Each wheel is steerable, with the front and rear axles being linked together to position the wheels in a steering state. The steering linkages had to be fitted onto the axles by melting the end of the rods with a heated screwdriver head. Unfortunately, I broke one of the linkages for the rear set of wheels. This means that the rear axle will have to stay in the straight position. I have had to fill in a load of ejector pin marks on the swing arms. I will probably paint this lower hull in the Dark Yellow colour before moving onto the interior of the hull. The kit has most of the interior and a full engine. No internal painting instructions though. So, I will be winging it lol. That's all for now. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill
Update 02. 22.10.24. I have painted the lower hull and running gear etc in the Dark Yellow colour. Then I moved onto the interior. I have assembled most of the internal components. There is another steering wheel to fit in the rear driving position. I painted most of the interior in a White colour with a little Brown added to make a Creme colour. The engine bay was painted with Tamiya Hull Red. I have assembled the engine, but its not glued in place yet. I will do some weathering before fitting the engine. I painted the engine with Mr Hobby Super Metallic Dark Iron. This paint is buff-able once dry. I buffed it up with a soft brush and a cotton bud. This makes it look like cast iron etc. I will probably do some dry brushing on the engine with a Metallic Steel colour. You wont be able to see much of it under the panels anyway. I still have to paint the leather pads and backs of the seats. Then pick out any details. Then I can weather the interior before moving on. That's all for now. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill
Update 03. 14.11.24. Sorry, that I haven't put up an update for awhile. Been some things going on in my personal life. Anyway, I have come a long way now. I did the weathering of the interior, including the inside of the turret. Gun breach etc. Then I finished the majority of the main building phase. I have done all the main camo painting etc. I will be roughening up and painting the exhausts next. These will be made to look rusty. Then I will have to paint and fit all the tools, jack and jerry cans etc. Then it will be time to decal up before doing some weathering. That's it for now. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill
Update 04. 17.11.24. Hi again. I have down some more work on the camo painting. Tried to go in between the Green & Red Brown with some of the Dark Yellow. Wanted to thin the Green & Brown lines out a bit. Not had much practise of trying to do fine lines with the airbrush. So, going to leave it at that. Might go over it with a fine mist coat of the Dark Yellow. After that I did the exhausts. To make them look rusty I used my Mr Surfacer method. First I painted on a thick coat of Mr Surfacer 500 all over the exhaust parts. Let that dry for about 15 minutes. Then I stippled the surface with a cut down old tooth brush. This left the surface all pitted and scored. It was then a simple job to paint them with Ammo Mig Rust colours. Started off with the darker rust colour, then dry brush on layers of the lighter colours. Now I have to paint up and fit all the tools Jerry cans and other extras. Enjoy.

Andrew Gledhill
Update 05. 23.11.24. I have now more or less completed the build. I have painted and attached all the tools etc. Painted and attached the 2 aerials. The PE spoked aerial top was a real pain to glue onto the rest of the aerial mast. I had to try to hold in place with one hand, then blast it with a can of super glue accelerator with the other hand. I decided to do minimal weathering. I just did some chipping, a light panel line wash in places. Then rubbed some dust compound over some areas like on the tyres. I can remove the engine panels if I want. But I have left them closed because you can hardly see much of the engine anyway. There are some extras included in the kit. A couple of fuel drums, oil cans, and a load of soldier gear such as MG's, Helmets, Bino's, canteens etc. I will paint some of these up and I may do a diorama. Well that's it for now. Enjoy.

Villiers de Vos
Following.

Kenneth Gifford
Hopefully Round2 comes through with a new kit, or at least the missing sprues.

Kenneth Gifford
I forgot to post that I went online and sent pictures of what I got and what was missing and within a couple weeks the missing parts were at my door. Thanks Round2

Bozzer
Glad they came through for you, Kenneth! They've improved their customer service, much for the better! 🙂

Robert Podkoński
Cool! (and I love Blackadder series!)

Guy Rump
Great job of an old tooling. What was the fit like? 👍

Tony Stark
It went together alright to be honest!
A few minor issues here and there but I'm building another 1 next year in a what if British Army Tiger Meet scheme for my large project.