oh wow...that's an awesome job! i love to see the wee tiny models. b
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On May 30, 2:12 pm, "John and/or Marzlie Freeman" <[email protected]> wrote: > I have succumbed again to the charms of Olli. Well, his design work, > actually. This little diorama is a scene from WWII. A Boeing B-17 Super > Fortress under way accompanied by an escort P-51. > > Olli's long suit is in designing very simple models, sometimes not terribly > accurate, but still very recognizable as what they are. Some of his ships > are very nice, but I must admit that his airplanes are mostly not to my > liking. His striving for simplicity with planes leads to square fuselages. I > just can't do square fuselages except, of course, for those craft that > actually have them. > > So I did what anyone would do--I made the fuselage round. Of course it > presented problems, and there are some not-so-good spots, though I'm not > going to point them out to you. I also rounded the square nacelles. Also the > top turret, and the Sperry Ball hanging under the belly. All in all--good > fun. > > Until I got around to adding the appropriate machine guns it hadn't really > sunk in on me how many there were. No wonder it was called the Super > Fortress. The guns sticking out all over this plane would make a porcupine > proud. > > I had a friend who was crew chief on an A-26 in the Pacific War. We > discussed the Sperry Ball. Always manned by the smallest guy in the unit, it > was a tight fit even then with the poor guy sitting for hours on end with > his knees up by his ears. He told me they lost several of these guys in > gunnery school while he was there at the air base in Washington State. The > guy manning the ball climbed into it while it was still up inside the belly > of the beast. Once under way, with the ball lowered into operating position, > if any damage happened to its suspension system the operator was a dead man. > There was no way to retract the Ball into the fuselage mechanically, and it > would not clear the ground if the plane landed with the Ball in the down > position. What a lousey decision to have to make! > > Go to Olli's site at http://olli.maquettes-papier.net/ and check out his > fun stuff. This is my fourth Olli model--all were fun! Thanks Olli! > > -- > John and/or Marzlie Freeman > Check us out at--http://2oldkiters.smugmug.com/ > > 1 sm.jpg > 55KViewDownload > > 2 sm.jpg > 41KViewDownload > > 3 sm.jpg > 54KViewDownload > > 4 sm.jpg > 72KViewDownload -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Papermodels II" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/papermodels?hl=en.
