Virtual WWII B-17G Bomber Project

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Virtual WWII B-17G Bomber Project

Digital modeling of a late war B-17G bomber.

04/04/2024

Pivoting back to 2D drawing for a bit to keep things fresh. With the Rear Fuselage pretty much done, heading to the Forward Fuselage. Here's a closeup of the chair in the Radio Compartment.

01/04/2024

Ball turret power unit assembly

26/03/2024

Elevation Gear Housing Assembly

24/03/2024

Newly remodeled Azimuth Power Gear Assembly. Feels even more flushed out with hardware added now.

20/03/2024

I've been working on components for the Ball Turret. It's quite a challenge because so many of the parts need to be taken together not individually. Much of the modeling I've done to now has been by educated guesses as I don't have any of the parts in front of me.

Thanks to the folks at Hangar Thirteen I've been able to get some reference dimensions from actual components.

The first image shows my original model. Second is a NTS drawing. Last is the current WIP of the updated component with accurate dimensions. This does require rework but it will be worth it in the end.

28/02/2024

That's starting to look like something.

27/02/2024

Most of the Stabilizer structure is now modeled. I linked in the Elevator to see how the whole shape is looking. Once this is done I'll still need to add lights and run wires, but that will be for the electric components scene.

26/02/2024

Stabilizer is surprising complex in certain areas. It's always interesting being able to visualize the construction like this, which you don't get from the 2D drawings.

22/02/2024

Laying groundwork to complete Stabilizer. I had some of the outer framework done but the interior was completely empty.

14/02/2024

It's hard to get a full view of an area like this. Over 500 objects for the Rear Fuselage.

The full aircraft just passed 20,000 objects which is surreal.

11/02/2024

Further enjoying the fruits of the labor of creating an asset library. These are the Recognition Lights on the underside of the Rear Fuselage, under the floor of the waist gunners.

Been wanting to get these in since before I made these assets.

07/02/2024

Updating floor and guard around Ball Turret. Also updating Trailing Antenna components.

04/02/2024

Going back through Rear Fuselage. Still quite a bit of interior work to do. Trying to focus on exterior as much as possible for the moment.

01/02/2024

Mostly done with the camera doors. Now I have that hole closed.

31/01/2024

Latch, Lever, and mechanism for operating Camera Doors.

28/01/2024

References for this camera mount are definitely hard to come by.

25/01/2024

I've spent some time exploring Geometry Nodes in Blender. Nothing fancy, but sometimes simple pays off in the long game.

I thought this area looked cool. I have some more exterior structure here to complete but figured I'd finish the internals while here.

18/01/2024

Basically done with the Rear Fuselage barring specific requirements to airframe "Lucky Thirteen". A few minor things to clean up and finishing up the Ball Turret, borrowing details from its Handbook of Instructions.

Think I'll take a break from this before tackling Forward Fuselage.

17/01/2024

Slowly ticking along in between things. The few larger detailed areas left are Tail Landing Gear Treadle and the Ball Turret.

I think I might fully draw out the Ball Turret rather than the cut off outline originally done. I have the space and it would look great.

Then the Forward Fuselage. That will take some time.

15/01/2024

A bit more. This drawing must have originally been pretty large. The type for my labels is 7pt and is still twice as large as the drawing.

I am taking advantage of digital technology. For instance this spring which would have taken quite some time to fully draw on paper, was drawn with enough information for you to know what was going on. Digitally I can create a few shapes, duplicate, and have the full spring.

12/01/2024

Well I guess this is happening.

10/01/2024

Working on a technical illustration for the team at Hangar Thirteen. Starting with a scan of the original blueprint, this ~80 year old drawing now exists in modern vector, digital format.

08/01/2024

Coming along.

06/01/2024

Pilot's Enclosure. I started this some time ago but am returning to it now. It's quite complex and requires more than a simple primitive and some booleans. Created front window and side windows as separate parts to later combine together with a separate top.

03/01/2024

Experimentation for rivets. These always present a challenge.

31/12/2023

I've been working my way around the fuselage area where the wing attaches. Revising geometry in Radio Compartment and Life Raft Fairing, and adding geo for Life Raft Auto Ejector System.

I've also made some needed adjustments to nose area. Still haven't finished that area. There's quite a lot going on to get the shapes just right.

See you all in 2024!

23/12/2023

Gear Retract Mechanism. Still replacing old geo. I might leave the limit switches out for now to speed things up. They would only be visible if I do an x-ray animation anyway.

21/12/2023

Reworking a lot of geo on MLG.

19/12/2023

MLG temporarily put into place.

01/09/2023

A rough connect on the flap system. Also have the flap motor limit switches and shaft in place.

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