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B-17F 42-30434, 570th BS, 390th BG


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"Betty Boop, the Pistol Packin' Mama"

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Betty was named after original pilot, Captain James Geary's wife. She flew her first mission on 12th Aug 1943. She would go on to complete 61 operations, many times flying as the lead aircraft in the group, until 25th Feb 1944, when she was shot down on a mission to Regensburg by enemy fighters. Pilot Robert Bowman and tail gunner Carl Phillips were killed and the rest of the crew would become prisoners of war.

A General once passed the aircraft and noticed the nude pin-up on the side of the nose. He ordered them to "Put some pants on that!". Somehow, she seems to have remained sans underwear, though.

I'll be using the Revell 48th B-17F to represent Betty.

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Anyone who is familiar with this kit, knows that it's pretty good shapewise, but the detail is a bit lacking.

Here's a comparison with the Monogram 48th "G" model.

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So, some work will be needed on the interior. For this task, I shall be using some of this stuff, along with a little scratch work.

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As you can see in the above picture, I'll be using the Kits World decal sheet for the markings.

Revell's Fort represents an early "F" model, (like the Memphis Belle). Some modifications will need to be done around the nose. Betty had the later style cheek guns and a single .50 mounted in the nose blister. She also had the astro dome on top of the nose. Luckily, Koster do all the required parts in their excellent B-17F nose job set. So, I acquired one of those, as well.

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I've wanted to do a late model B-17F, for a long old while. I was hoping Revell's new 72nd kit would come with all the bits to finally enable us to do it, out of the box. It wasn't to be though, so we'll just have to do it this way.

I think I've got everything I need. :hmmm:

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Looking forward to this one as any B-17 build is always a treat.

It does make me wonder now RoG have released their new tool 1/72 B-17F that some enterprising aftermarket guy does something similar to the Koster set in 1/72 so we could use this nicely detailed kit as a base.

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It does make me wonder now RoG have released their new tool 1/72 B-17F that some enterprising aftermarket guy does something similar to the Koster set in 1/72 so we could use this nicely detailed kit as a base.

I really hope so. So many markings... so little shelf space.

I can't do them all in 48th :D

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Wow, I didn't realise how 'sparse' the Revell F was compared to the Mono G! That's extraordinary. You've nicely loaded up with aftermarket - I will definitely be watching, Paul

Edited by AndyC
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Wow, I didn't realise how 'sparse' the Revell F was compared to the Mono G! That's extraordinary. You've nicely loaded up with aftermarket - I will definitely be watching, Paul

Yeah, there's not much inside. You get a basic cockpit and nose compartment, but further back, you've got nowt for the radio room or waist gunner areas.

So, before I start on the internal ribbing, I need all the compartments basically mocked up, to give me a reference to where the ribs should go. The missing radio room seems a good place to start. I took the Monogram parts for this area and used them as templates to make duplicates out of thick plasticard.

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I've then used some thin card and strip to lay in the basic details.

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The majority of the other detail on the bulkheads will be done using the Eduard set.

Next job is to start cleaning up the resin bits for the cockpit and the waist positions.

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The resin cockpit is okay (you probably won't see much here when it's altogether, anyway), but I'm not too impressed with the waist gunner set. It looks as if some of their moulds were pretty worn out when it was cast. I might end up doing the ribbing myself and just add the detail pieces from this set.

I'll have a little think and come back to that. :hmmm:

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Very nice project indeed! And I agree completely on those waist gunners areas.. really worn out! With this kind of detailling you are way better off remaking them yourself!

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Been working on the old girl. Nothing exciting to see yet though, as it's basically all prep work at this stage.

Made a start by cleaning up the resin components for the cockpit and doing some basic assembly. I've drilled and pinned these parts for strength.

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It turns out that there is a part missing from the TD set. Part J is shown in the "instructions", but it's not shown in the parts breakdown, strangely. I just laminated a couple of bits of thick plastic card and stuck it down. I've blended it in with some filler and I'll add some detail later.

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Speaking of filler, there was a nasty sink mark near the ball turret opening, which needed taking care of. I used masking tape to protect the panel lines, as I'm not planning on rescribing the kit. I did it in two stages, masking the upper area above the panel line and filling/sanding the lower area first and then then vice versa.

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The inside also needed a fair bit of work to get a smooth surface. The ejector pin marks have been sorted and various imperfections sanded out. You can see the source of that sink mark on the inside here (the mount for the ball turret).

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I've begun filling in the unwanted upper windows in the nose, using plastic card, sanded to shape. Then I'll need to make the opening for the Astrodome.

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The windows will also need to be cleaned up on the interior as well, so I'll have a smooth surface to do the interior ribbing. Speaking of which, I have a quantity of Evergreen strip on order, which I'm hoping will turn up in day or two. Then I can get started properly on the ribs and stringers.

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Forgot to mention, while I was doing a bit of research, I discovered that a documentary had been produced about Geary and the crew of Betty Boop, entitled "Pistol Packin' Mama: The Missions of a B-17.

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It's available on DVD, but an online search revealed it only seems to be available in the US, I placed an order direct HERE ( I also ordered Fighting 17: The Jolly Rogers, at the same time).

It arrived less than a week later and I sat down and watched it straight away. The main focus is of three raids... Schweinfurt, Regensburg and Munster. This isn't your average talking head documentary. At times humorous, moving and chilling, five surviving members of the crew give an honest account of some of the 8th AF's fiercest daylight bombing missions. It's well worth seeking out and I thoroughly recomend it.

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Oh nice start! Saw this kit once at a modelshop and it was completely flashed over. Looks like you're going to re-draw that experience

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