"Streamliner" - une bd en deux tomes du dessinateur et scénariste Fane qui narre les aventures d'une jeune fille et son père ancien aviateur de la seconde guerre mondiale qui a acheté une station-service en plein désert d'Arizona et qui va être le lieu de rencontres de courses de "rods" américains et de motos au prix de quelques conflits... Ceci promettait la création d'un diorama qui sortait de l'ordinaire... The B-17: the comic book hero—Lisa Dora—which landed in the desert on its way back from a mission and was recovered by her father, who was part of the crew, and placed atop his gas station...
The 46-year-old Monogram kit of the only 1/48-scale B-17 will serve as the model for the diorama...
A Verlinden photo-etched and resin kit will round out the set to "refresh" the model...
First thing: Cut the old exhaust pipes out of the engine mounts to make room for the much more precise resin ones...
Installation of new fittings and caulking inside and outside...
Install the wheels, which on this type of bomber are only partially retracted. We also install the air intakes at the front of the wings. The parts, which are not included, are cut from very fine mesh from the surplus box. We take this opportunity to add translucent headlights to each wing...
An overview, once everyone is in place...
Let's move on to the interior layout. In the comic, the plane serves as an apartment for the girl and her father. So, no seats or other accessories. Only the instrument panel and the front sections are installed. The two 12.7mm machine guns in the front are kept. A bunk and a few pieces of furniture round out the interior...
Paints and finishes...
Inserting into the half-shell...
Gluing the two parts of the hull together and filling the seams. We're pulling out all the stops...
Sanding the joints after gluing...
All the joints have been sanded. This task must be done with precision, because even the slightest imperfection will show up once the paint is applied...
View from below... The plane is positioned on the future set, which will have to be built from scratch. The tubes will be used to secure it to the ground, just like in the comic book...
The plane is positioned on the future set, which will have to be built from scratch. The tubes will be used to secure it to the ground, just like in the comic book...
The airplane's paint job
The goal here is to capture the artist's impressions and colors, not to delve into pure reality. We'll stick with a faded beige for this model, which has been sitting atop the gas station for years.
The base was spray-painted with a neutral gray over the entire kit after filling in the various openings and applying Maskol to the glass parts...
Then, once it’s completely dry, we’ll apply hairspray from a can to the wings. Given their size, it’s best to work on them section by section. After a few minutes—enough time for the hairspray to dry—a coat of Tamiya XF57 is airbrushed onto the top of the wings. The entire underside of the plane is painted with Hobby Color H313 yellow mixed with white...
The "kit" for working with hairspray. A box filled with water. An old toothbrush, 500-grit sandpaper, a piece of Jex cotton... And... a steady hand!
So, wet each part, wait a moment, and then start rubbing gently until you achieve the desired effect...
Details. Once everything is completely dry, apply a "dry brush" using a flat brush with Humbrol 121 + white...
We're taking a break from painting to mount the Wright engines and attach two wires per cylinder to the nine cylinders in each of the four engines. And we're adding one or two extra wires here and there between the cylinders, since the Verlinden kit doesn't include any for them...
...Then the engines are painted, chrome-plated, and given an aged look...
Back to painting, where we apply a wash diluted 70% with burnt umber, yellow ochre, and a little sienna, which we wipe away as we go, more or less...
The result after drying isn't necessarily very obvious in the photo...
The various exhaust trails are created using black pastel powder...
View from below. The ventral turret is unarmed. The photo-etched cargo hatches are glued in the open position...
The Sets
The wind turbine. It was built primarily from a plan enlarged on a photocopier and is made of balsa wood and Evergreen plastic...
Détail de la roue et de son mécanisme peints au produit à deux composants pour simuler la rouille déjà mentionné plusieurs fois sur le site...
Parts positioned before painting...
The gas station
The model is made of cardboard and balsa wood, based on the author's comic book illustrations...
The painting is done with Liquitex acrylic paint...
A view of the installation with the various signs, posters, and pumps...
The tow truck garage. Drawing paper and balsa wood...
The wooden slats and wooden tiles are made of cardboard...
The completed building...
Painting...
...And positioning within the set...
The other buildings are designed using forced perspective to blend into the painted background that will be placed behind them...
The paint. The metal roof is treated like the water tank...
The ground
A first plywood panel measuring 1 m x 0.60 m will serve as the base. A banner inspired by the comic book is glued to the front...
A second sheet of Roofmat (high-density polystyrene) 4.5 cm thick will serve as a base. We draw and lay out the locations of the future buildings and markings...
After applying a coat of wood glue to the surface, sprinkle on some very fine sand (be careful—the scale is small). Paint the foreground...
The background is painted with acrylics...
The background is painted on a panel the same width as the diorama—1 meter—using a brush and an airbrush. Here is the mesa where the dead horse lies, in Monument Valley...
Effects of dirt caused by juice in varying degrees of dilution on vehicle traffic...
A view with the background inserted...
Vehicles
Various models will be arranged to enhance the display. The Escort on the left, which is too “English,” will not be included. The red car is a modified “Tintin” model; it has been fitted with airplane wheels. The tow truck was built from various parts...
The Ford 34 has been redesigned to look like the comic book heroine's car...
A Ford 32 bought online for €11...
It will be heavily modified to turn it into a race rod...
The finished model...
View of the gas pumps and a collage of various vehicles...
The White tanker truck. An old mold from 1956, re-released in 1995 by Revell. The windows and windshield are not included....
The assembled kit is in place. It is added to the diorama...
The painted model with its decals...
The truck and the plane are glued to the base. Nine figures will be added to the diorama...
Evergreen model of the ladder used to access the B-17...
