Very nice weathering, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman
I'm always impressed by your 'shading' results.

The Holidays have kept me busy and away from the model table a bit, but I have found some time. I have scribed panel lines before, having done a Monogram 1/48 B-25, B-17 and C-47. This, though, was my first time to try and add some riveting details to it. I had purchased the Trumpeter Rivet tool and used it for some minor riveting on some panels here and there. I like the fine pitch of the finest wheel, but I found that the tool is really sub par. The thin rivet wheel due to the pressure exerted during the riveting process caused it to cut into the plastic axle shaft. This, in turn, would cause the wheel to bind up and actually get to point where wheel barely showed at the bottom. I looked on line for other options and EVERY thing was either half a world away or out of stock. I found a package of three made by Excel the looked like they might do the job on Amazon an ordered them.

The only the smallest two are really useful for 1/48th scale and even there only the smallest for most of it. I found them easier to use and control and they put nice rivets in your model. While not as busy at it should be, I think adding the rivets along the panel lines will add interest and needed texture to the slab sides of the plane.

I also cleaned out the interior of the nose compartment and have started adding details to make it busier and more interesting, starting with the inner structure.

What a lot of work with fantastic result, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman
The rivets are an absokute great addition to the aircraft.

Beautiful work on the engines, Walt @luftwaffe-birdman
Good start of another challenging year.

Walt, @luftwaffe-birdman
These various additions / upgrades have definitely been worth the extra effort. They really look great and will be even better once painted. I purchased two of the "Rosie the Riveter" tools and I am very happy with how they work. The only problem I have encountered using them is making rivet lines that go all the way into a corner or a 90 degree right angle. Then the outer diameter of the wheel doesn't allow me to continue with the riveting work, so out comes the old school pin and I'll press each one in by hand.

Did you ever get the tire / wheel combination sorted out ? There's a company in the Ukraine named Halberd Models and they make some really nice aftermarket wheel and tire combinations. I do have a bunch of pictures of the tire and landing gear assembly of the real thing stored on my cell phone. Let me know if you need any pictures and I'll be happy to send them to you via PM.

Spiros, @fiveten
I too hope this year will be much better for all of us.

Now I have some bench time, so please look for me to start working on Tubarao again.

Those are truly wonderful wheels, my friend @luftwaffe-birdman!

Walt, @luftwaffe-birdman
This looks like a very nice set of aftermarket wheels you picked up. I was going through some pictures in my phone earlier today, and I ran across a bunch of pictures that I personally took of the Collings Foundation B-24 named "Witchcraft". These are just a few, I literally have well over 100 similar pictures that show up most of the little details that we as model builders are always fascinated with.

These are some of the landing gear and tire photos I have.




These next two pictures show some of the details in the turbo's.


I'm looking forward to seeing your next installments. Once I get these 1/32 scale Revell Mustangs done, I'm jumping in with both feet on Tubarao.

Hope this helps you.

I have been a little side tracked on my builds since I purchased a resin printer for myself as a Christmas present to me. There is a learning curve, but it really is an amazing tool I hope to be able to utilize more as I get better with the programs and the printer.

The Browning M2 50 Caliber Machine Gun, was a mainstay of American aircraft offensive and defensive armament. The 50 cal guns in the kit are okay, but I found a file on line for a printed 50 cal. It was the vehicle version with out the perforated air cool jacket over the barrel seen on the bomber aircraft but I already had barrels. I looked up a dimensioned drawing of the gun on line and then using the software in the printer to scale out the size. I hit the multiply button and printed up 20 machine gun bodies. These are small, just over a 1/2" or about 13mm but the detail is incredible and more than you get from injection molding. The detail as you can see shows that you can see through the port where the bullet feed is. Really incredible, in accurate scale are smaller around then the kit, the length is about the same.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.