B-17 Flying Fortress/44-83735 ~ the Duxford resto thread

[bomberflight]

Let's start this update with some answers to the questions .....

Ken ~ Yes the undercarriage has been serviced and can be raised or lowered by hand

3Njeff ~ We don't have music playing in the hangar ~ but if we did it would have to be something to get us "in the mood" wouldn't it

The Inspector ~ This large museum artifact has a number of "features" which would today be deemed bad practice and / or unsafe.
Flypast magazine carries a nice article this month on this restoration and personally ~ I like the way described as a sponge that has soaked
up years of aviation history. Like a wet sponge ~ the more it's handled ~ the more its unique history will drop away

And now for some pictures from this week ......

Let's start at the entrance of Hangar 5



Shall we take a peek through the large window ?

This is the public view of the large spray booth ( I bet it has a better "official" name than that really )



It's here that the painstaking work of degreasing and masking is underway





This is no small task on sections like the inner wing sections .....







and requires hours of patience to ensure the paint finish will be the best that the Imperial War Museum can achieve



More soon

Last edited by bomberflight on Wed Nov 16, 2011 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[APG85]

Great stuff. You are feeding my addiction....!

[bomberflight]

First of all I need to back track a little bit and add something to the comment about the undercarriage units being serviced.

The oleo's aren't charged on this aircraft ~ since this would require the units to be regularly checked and the seals inspected / replaced and
there isn't sufficient people power for this operation on a long term basis.

And now some coverage of todays hangar happenings

A "test" area of wing section is being sprayed with etch primer .....



The low winter sun adds a little drama to these shots





I should point out that I've positioned me and the cameras near the incoming clean air filters and the air borne paint over spray
visible in the shafts of sunlight are being drawn toward the extraction system down the other end.

Well the primer coat looked good ~ so let's see what a little olive drab looks like .....











The top coat represents the later war ( post 1943 ) shade of olive drab ~ I really think it looks great !

I think it shows up a little dark in these images ~ we need it to be kissed by some sunlight to show its "true" color

Next time I'll add some video shot using time lapse photography

More soon .....

Last edited by bomberflight on Wed Nov 16, 2011 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[The Inspector]

Movin' right along! and looking really good. Any plans to vary the tint and tone of the O.D. as every subcontractor's O.D. was slightly different due to local pigments and availablility of specific chemicals. KENWORTH Motors ( now PACCAR, still making KW's and PETERBUILTS) built verticals for B-17's about 1 1/2 miles from the assembly line @ Plant 2, got their paint from the same supplier PRESERVATIVE PAINTS across the field in Georgetown, and the verticals were noticably differnt in tone from the rest of the airframe. And the M-3's/M-4's PACCAR built in Renton were a different shade of O.D. from the B-17 assemblies, again, same paint supplier-
riddle me that one Batman-

[RAMC181]

Just to add to the previous post, some of the first NMF B-17Gs received in the UK were painted in OD and Grey in theatre (the original Mary Alice included), so would likely be the same shade.

[Django]

But how are they going to polish it with all that OD in the way??

[Ken]

Thanks for the answer on the oleo service ... would be great if an internal spacer could be fitted to give her the proper (permanent) leg extension without a charge.

And, since a certain shade of OD is going on, one would think that a paint scheme had been identified ....

Details?

[bomberflight]

Ken ~ in terms of the paint scheme ..... I can share what I know so far !

OD on top and grey underneath

We'll all have to be patient for a little while longer before we know more details

[ZRX61]

Not to pee in anyones cornflakes, but..

Could they not have found a more primitive paint gun? They'd save a fortune if they tried putting more paint on the actual aircraft instead of filling the air with overspray & clogging the filters. Does no one at Dx have a HVLP gravity feed set up like a Devilbis Plus or GTi etc???
From some of the other pics it also appears they are being a tad overly aggressive with whatever they are using to clean/prep the skin.

[The Inspector]

You're looking @ it wrong, the paint gun makes the restoration 100% accurate and period correct

[bomberflight]

I'm going to keep you waiting for the time lapse video ~ I haven't had time to do anything with it yet .....

And that's because things have been moving right along in the Conservation Hangar

Work continued yesterday on the wing trailing edge sections



And final preparation of the inner wing sections prior to painting ......



Which brings us to this morning ( Monday Nov 21st ) and the first wing section is ready for paint !
Or shall I say ~ more correctly ~ to be etch primed prior to painting.



I ought to report that we discovered some graffiti today too. I'm not sure I should share it with you .....



And now ( insert drum roll here please ) it's the etch primer picture show !









End of side one ...... and straight on to side two without a pause !

















You may have noticed there appears to be less over spray in these images ~ that's because I'd deliberately used the shafts of
sunlight and bounced flash at it last time ~ to enhance the effect last time for "artistic" reasons ....

Let's take a closer look at how the etch primer operation went today





So ! This wing section's been etch primed and is just a few more sleeps ( EDIT ~ not one as I originally thought ) away from being painted



Stay tuned folks

Last edited by bomberflight on Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:51 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Ken]

Peter,

I sincerely hope that the Museum takes a sampling of your photos to create a special exhibit next to the eventual B-17 display. Such a display would give visitors a chance to see interior sections of the aircraft, its preservation/condition over the years, and the hard work required to preserve/restore these great aircraft. I certainly have appreciated this unique, behind-the-scenes look. Thank you.

Ken

[bomberflight]

Hi Ken,

The Imperial War Museum has its own professional photographer and he's been there to record every significant milestone in the process ~
so they will have pictures of their own to use for display purposes.

I've just been snapping away because I enjoy doing it. I also appreciate that I'm in a once in a lifetime situation being able to do so on this project.
Sharing them with other interested folk here on WIX is a pleasure

Last edited by bomberflight on Wed Nov 23, 2011 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Django]

Peter, we all appreciate it very much!

[APG85]

I know it's impractical, but it would be nice to see the finished plane assembled outside before it is re-installed in the museum...