@airbum Erik it seems in the Mediterranean Theater, the De-Icing Boots were removed on many aircraft. That left the leading edges underneath bare metal exposed. You can see it clearly on the vertical stabilizer. Its a bit of an issue, because the kit has these surfaces thicker, and I had to sand them down to remove but still leave an indication that they were there. I would have preferred they remained black, but the silver will just add more interest I think. But yes, I think it will be pretty heavily weathered when done.

Good catch on the de-icing boots Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman). This is a detail I probably would have missed. It is easy to overlook, but once you know about them, its hard not to notice they aren't there. I don't do a lot of research on many of my models, and this is the sort of thing that gets missed.

Well its been a while, but have made some progress after some set backs. I painted the silver for the leading edges on a well primed and sanded primer base. Unfortunately when I went to mask off the areas the Tamiya tape lifted some of the silver. Very discouraging and just made me walk away for a few days and get some things done around the house.

I made the decision to sand the silver off, and save it for last, which sucks because you have to basically encapsulate the rest of the aircraft to avoid silver overspray. I started with the bottom Neutral Gray, using four or five variations of the color over the squiggle black. I used the lightest version to shade panels, it may seem a bit glaring now but it will even out with washes and weathering. In general I am only moderately happy with the results. I would give myself a C+ maybe, but have great hope I can improve it to a higher grade with the detail and weathering to follow.

As usual I don't think the camera captures the color and variations as well as the eye does, but it does show some.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Walt, moderately happy is better than moderately unhappy, right? Looks good on my screen though, adding a lot of interest to the large surfaces.

I agree with the others, Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman). I think the belly painting looks great. It will all come together in the end.

Thanks Greg, @gkittinger considering the age of the molds and the laziness of the builder not wanting to get lost in lots and lots of resin or photo-etch I am generally happy with the way the interior came out. I think buttoned up it looks okay. I am looking forward to building the Hong Kong Models B-17 with its very nicely detailed and crisp molding for the interior.

My compliments on this, Walt.
To me the OD looks very nice.
And what a huge kit this is in 1/48.

Looking great, Walt!