B-29 "Washington", R.A.E. test bed *finished + new pics*

[Wardukw]

Mate that's got me bloody interested now..I had the 48th Monogram B-29 as a much younger person and still want another..this one has me thinking 
This build I be watching very closely   

[Gondor]

If you have or are removeing the lower forward turret then you should remove the lump at the rear of the cockpit floor which is the top of the turret interior.

Gondor

[sandiego89]

If you have or are removeing the lower forward turret then you should remove the lump at the rear of the cockpit floor which is the top of the turret interior.

Gondor

Think the hump will even be visible? 

[Gondor]

It is if you look straight on through the nose

Gondor

[Pellson]

..or you paint the ex-turret cover dielectric and keep the hump to cover your equipment..

Cool project! 

[Gondor]

..or you paint the ex-turret cover dielectric and keep the hump to cover your equipment..

Cool project! 

That would be silly as we are talking about a lump at the rear of the cockpit floor. On the inside of the aircraft. If I manage to dig out my kit of the aircraft I will take pictures.

Gondor

[zenrat]

Heh, those sprues look familiar from the Academy C-97 I keep grokking and then putting back in the stash.

Your pictures are not helping me resist buying one of these...

[Gondor]

OK, Second attempt at getting this posted....

I managed to dig out and take pictures of the part build Academy/Minicraft kit I have. I also have

B-29A  to be built as a SB-29 using a Paragon Designes conversion set
KB-29P to be built as a Tu4/B-29 Washington using Olimp detail sets
RB-50G to be built as per the kit 
B-50D  to be built as a KB-50J
KC-97L to be built as per the kit 
KB-29P to be built as per the kit with eduard etch brass and scratch built detail and the subject of the following pictures. Everything is dry fitted and held together by luck and friction.

First up is an overview of the fuselage with the interior fitted. Note the filler on the top of the cockpit area which fills in the detail for the B-50 in-flight refuelling receptical.



Next up is the mid fuselage gunners station on the bomber aircraft. The white plastic is where I removed the High Chair for the upper gunner in this compartment as it was not needed. The white plastic where the turret was is not to fill the hole, it's to stop the blanking plate from falling through into the interior when it's fitted.



Next is an overview of the interior of the aircraft. The rear most presure dome is fitted to help provide structural strength and to help keep everything in it's place.



You can see in this picture the opening in the top of the tunnel where the Astro dome is. The kit parts for the tunnel provide flat surfaces for this area so the part will fit under the opening yet no hole for anyone to look out of    There white plastic in the floor of the rear of the cockpit floor is where the top of the lower front gun turret was.



Lastly the cockpit area as it is as the moment, a decade or three after buying the kit.

Hope the pictures help

Gondor

[sandiego89]

Heh, those sprues look familiar from the Academy C-97 I keep grokking and then putting back in the stash.

Your pictures are not helping me resist buying one of these...

So far it seems to be a great kit, and with the options to build a regular B-29, a Silver Plate B-29 or a KB-29.  Imagine they used some common sprues for the  C-97/KC-97 and the B-50/KB-50 kits.  Clever kit.  I note the clear sprue has the B-29 nose glazing but also the distinctive B-50 nose glazing. 

[Gondor]

So far it seems to be a great kit, and with the options to build a regular B-29, a Silver Plate B-29 or a KB-29.  Imagine they used some common sprues for the  C-97/KC-97 and the B-50/KB-50 kits.  Clever kit.  I note the clear sprue has the B-29 nose glazing but also the distinctive B-50 nose glazing. 

Lots of bits for the spares box 

Gondor

[zenrat]

I'd build one as a Tu-4 variant.

[sandiego89]

OK, Second attempt at getting this posted....

I managed to dig out and take pictures of the part build Academy/Minicraft kit I have. I also have

B-29A  to be built as a SB-29 using a Paragon Designes conversion set
KB-29P to be built as a Tu4/B-29 Washington using Olimp detail sets
RB-50G to be built as per the kit 
B-50D  to be built as a KB-50J
KC-97L to be built as per the kit 
KB-29P to be built as per the kit with eduard etch brass and scratch built detail and the subject of the following pictures. Everything is dry fitted and held together by luck and friction.

Lastly the cockpit area as it is as the moment, a decade or three after buying the kit.

..........

Hope the pictures help

Gondor

Thank you so much!  You may have a thing about B-29 variants!  As I mentioned in the last post, they seem to have gotten quite a bit out of this mould with multiple B-29/B-50/C-97 variants. 

Thank you for dragging those out and taking pictures, much appreciated. 

Dave

[Pellson]

..or you paint the ex-turret cover dielectric and keep the hump to cover your equipment..

Cool project! 

That would be silly as we are talking about a lump at the rear of the cockpit floor. On the inside of the aircraft. If I manage to dig out my kit of the aircraft I will take pictures.

Gondor

Happily admitting to being silly, what I meant was that a downwards looking radar, such as a Doppler navigation radar for the V-bombers, would have fitted behind a flat(ish) panel seen from the exterior, but obviously still had taken up some volume on the inside. As the hump most likely would have been existing when the B-29 in question was taken in hand for modification to research vehicle, I was just suggesting that the hump was kept unaltered if something else, like a Doppler radar, was fitted underneath.

No offence taken in any case. As I regularly am silly anyway and is getting away with it, I reckon you're just evening out the score somewhat.. 

[McColm]

If it all goes wrong you can try using the B-17F cockpit and a solid nose cone, here's one I built earlier and I hope to have another chance of building it.




Then there's this if you run into problems with the engines ,it's an ongoing build.

[Gondor]

..or you paint the ex-turret cover dielectric and keep the hump to cover your equipment..

Cool project! 

That would be silly as we are talking about a lump at the rear of the cockpit floor. On the inside of the aircraft. If I manage to dig out my kit of the aircraft I will take pictures.

Gondor

Happily admitting to being silly, what I meant was that a downwards looking radar, such as a Doppler navigation radar for the V-bombers, would have fitted behind a flat(ish) panel seen from the exterior, but obviously still had taken up some volume on the inside. As the hump most likely would have been existing when the B-29 in question was taken in hand for modification to research vehicle, I was just suggesting that the hump was kept unaltered if something else, like a Doppler radar, was fitted underneath.

No offence taken in any case. As I regularly am silly anyway and is getting away with it, I reckon you're just evening out the score somewhat.. 

I was refering to it being Dialetric rather than metal. Dialetric panels are often a fiberglass type of material and not necessarily very strong. Metal would also act an a barrier to an extent to RF radiation if some ended up being directed back into the aircraft..

Gondor