Night Prowler, building the B-29

[Pauli72]

Dear Mr. Duckett,

I just felt compelled to write and let you know how thoroughly impressed I was by the story of Night Prowler on the Vintage Wings web site, and your endeavor to build the Guillow's B-29 as such, for the pilot's son, Mr. Bob Kaye.

Considering your extensive talent for balsa model airplane building, I'm sure this will be a beautiful replica. I very much look forward to seeing the progress of the build here on the Guillow's Forum.

As a WW II history buff, it is especially inspirational for me to see the direct corelation between the story of the individual men who operated these aircraft during WW II, and the artform, that is building balsa model aircraft.

All the best for a successful Night Prowler B-29 build.

Pauli

[cliffm]

Looking forward to watching this build, now if I could get my building area as clean as yours I'd be a clean,organized,and happy builder. Yeah,right, I probably could'nt find anything if it were that neat and clean.

[SteveM]

This kit contained two E part sheets and one D and it should be the other way around. The only part used on the extra sheet is a wing tip and I had to make one set of side keels from stock.

I'm starting to believe that all the B-29 kits were manufactured at the same time in one run because of similarities in the plastic parts from kit to kit. It's not the same plastic used in their other kits and is not generally as well moulded. The copyright on the plans is 1993 so they were probably made around 1995. It's also very unusual for the part sheets to be wrong and they are not wrong in all the kits.

I've got a B-29 kit here with the same problem of two E sheets and one D sheet, but I also have a kit with the proper count of one E and two D sheets. The white plastics in the kit with two E sheets is very shiny with a milky look to it and it feels very brittle. The white plastics in the kit with the two D sheets is like what you find in all the other kits, a flat white color and fairly flexible. Both sets of plans copyright 1993 as you would expect. Some say you can get the date off the back of the decals, the decals in the kit with two E sheets has a hand written "7-2" in small blue letters under the other printing while the kit with two D sheets has large red computer printed numbers "58501 2" repeated across the back.

I knew about the error in the D and E sheets, but the different types of plastic is a new one that I hadn't noticed before. Maybe there were two runs?

[H65 Driver]

For what it's worth, I had never previously inventoried my B-29 kit, though I did recall the plastics being shinier than usual. Upon inspection today, I noticed that sure enough, there are 2 "E" balsa sheets and 1 "D" sheet. Two of the three plastic sheets are shiny, and the third, "Sheet 2" seems to be made of the usual stuff.

Definitely looking forward to watching your build, Mr. D. I have no doubt that you will do justice to the plane while providing a fitting honor to her brave pilots and crew. Thank you for sharing the story of the Night Prowler - a fascinating read.

[SteveM]

Here are some scans of the "good" set of D and E sheets from a kit with two D and one E as well as a scan from the "bad" set of D and E sheets with only one D and two E. If you get confused look at the picture files names, note that the bit of tape is on the left end of the "bad" sheets, and that double D's are good.

The images below have been scale down so if you need to see the original 300 dpi pictures that are about 2.5MB then click here to see the good sheets and then click here to see the bad sheets.

It looks to me like the die for sheet E was not altered, but the printing on it was changed to not point out the extra wing tip E1. The dies and printing for sheet D were both changed to add the missing wing tip. If you have a kit with only one D sheet then that means you're missing half of your keel parts A6, A7, A8, and A8 as well as trailing edge E2, and the stabilizer tip S12.

I've also noticed that the "bad" kit has a catalog with the date "1-93" in the top corner of the order form while the date in the "good" kit is "3-94" and advertises the newly released DC-3 kit.

[Bill Gaylord]

That is an unbelievable amount of inset planking work! I imagine there is a slight break, in that many could be cut from soft balsa using a few templates and pushed into place, as there are many of the same/similar size, but still a lot of work. Worth the effort though, as you don't get a sheet metal covered effect, with tissue covered open framing.

[SteveM]

The width between formers is always the same and the distance between stringers should also be nearly the same for each pair of formers. Thick balsa with sides cut on a bevel create a wedge effect.

[wmikedavis]

I hope you to a break or two between 16 hr 24 min posts.

[SteveM]

You and Patches should look into ordering from National Balsa as you can get 3/32" thick sheets of balsa 24" long and 4" wide for $1.36. Shipping is $10 for orders over $25 and free shipping if you spend over $150.

[SteveM]

Of course, variety is the spice of life. Everyone needs a break from their own cooking from time to time.

[SteveM]

Back in the saddle again...

[Bill Gaylord]

At least you get a little break, with the 4 openings along the wing LE.
You'll have to meet Steve St. Martin. He's one of the few other people that I've seen inset plank an entire Guillows plane.
His famous quote:
"Now you know why I build one of these every 10yrs!"
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... 61&page=10

[Pauli72]

Looking good David,

Kudos to you for the patience to infill that whole plane! I really enjoy seeing the progress you are making on this B-29.

From looking at the build pic. posted on April 5th, I assume you are using 3/32 balsa pieces for infill, and CA to secure them. My question is, do you use that same combination for the entire plane, or do you use thinner pieces elsewhere? Such as, thinner towards the wing tips. Or ever use other glues for slower set times in certain areas of the plane? Just wondering.

All the best on your recovery,
Pauli

[Pauli72]

Chuggin' right along David.

I have another question about your infill process. In determining the size piece (lenght x width) that will go into a certain individual section, do you measure, mark and cut the size, and then make small adjustments as needed to fit properly?

Or after doing so many, can you just kind of just eyeball it? (or in this case, wing it. )

Thanks again for the inspiration to try this technique, and help with the information.
All the best,
Pauli

[Pauli72]

Thank you David.

I appreciate the help and advice very much. At tonights building session I switched to the metric side of the ruler as you suggested, and that saved a lot of time, and saved more than a few pieces from the scrap box too. LOL! I've also found that most of those scrap pieces that got "too close a shave" for their designated spot on the plane, just might be perfect for another infill spot elsewhere.

This technique is definately trickier than I initially thought it would be. Putting the correct bevel on infill pieces that get inserted into the more curvy areas of the fuselage is still a bit difficult. Test fitting, to the point of a good press fit, seems to produce good results for me. I'm still far from being autopilot with this technique, but it is getting easier with the more of them I do. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to leave the exposed surface a bit proud of the level of the fuselage, because it has to get sanded down to meet it. No CA glue for me, yet. LOL! I need all the extra set time I can get.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain the process and help speed up the ol' learning curve.

All the best to your speedy recovery,
Pauli