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  1. Hi all, I am currently building a Revell 1/72 B-17F as a RAF Fortress Mk.II (FA704 serial number) and have got to the point where I need to add the nose glazing but looking at pics of Coastal Command Fortress' I see that some have an ASV aerial protruding from the glazing as well as other aerials under the wings. I have a couple of pics of FA704 but these do not show any aerials, I know they may have been re-touched by the Ministry to hide their presence and I have a feeling that the nose aerial was fitted. What I need to know is if the nose aerial was fitted and if so does that mean that the wing ones were fitted too? I have seen a couple of profiles (I know!) which show a full set of aerials but am obviously unsure of how correct they are. Any help at all will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Craig.
  2. Here's something from Technical Order 01-20EF-2, Boeing B-17 F Aircraft Erection and Maintenance Instructions that I find puzzling: 2. The exterior metal surfaces of the airplanes shall be finished with one coat of camouflage paint, with color combinations in accordance with AAF Specification No. 24114. No priming coat shall be required. The interior of the inboard nacelles and the inside of the bomb doors shall not be camouflaged. 3. Anti-glare coating, one coat of metal primer followed by one or more coats of flat bronze green lacquer of enamel, shall be applied to eliminate glare on such surfaces, as the fuselage deck, forward of pilot's compartment, as the inboard side of the engine nacelles, as required. Does this mean that officially in olive drab B-17s, the panels forward of the cockpit and the inboard nacelles were to be painted with bronze green? What kind of glare would there be if the aircraft is painted in olive drab? Does anyone know if this was ever done in practice?
  3. Wolfpack Design is to rebox the 1/72nd Academy B-17 as Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress - 80th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor - ref. WP17212 Sources: http://www.wolfpack-d.com/catalog/htm/wp17212.html https://www.facebook.com/wolfpackd/posts/341193617814034 1/72 B-17C Flying Fortress (Premium Edition Kit) Sprue parts by Academy Plastic models, 2 A/C markings for the USAAF during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7 1941. Decal Printing in Korea Canopy Masking seal included, A4 8 pages color printing manual included Box art V.P.
  4. Evening all. My latest completion is a real classic: Monogram's 1975 edition B-17G in 1/48th scale. I actually started this a number of years ago for a previous B-17 Group Build, but got side-tracked and never finished it. However, I recently stumbled upon the partially-started kit when rummaging in the loft and thought it was time to finish it off. Despite its age, it builds well and is a good rendition of the B-17. Although HK have recently come to the party with their B-17F and G kits the Monogram kit, in my humble opinion, is more accurate shape-wise and I actually prefer the raised surface details which are a far better representation of the Fortress' skin than anything recessed. Saying that, I do have both the F and G kits from HK and will build them one day! This was made more or less as it comes in the box - you can't see much of the interior so I didn't bother enhancing it at all and just enjoyed building it. I did substitute the cowls from the Revell kit however, as I'd previously used the Monogram parts for a B-17C conversion a couple of years ago. The tail gunner's transparency was also improved as the kit part fits poorly so I blended the whole thing in with Miliput, sanded it all smooth, polished it back to clarity and then made my own window masks. Other than that, it's how Monogram intended. Decals came from KitsWorld as the ones I had in the kit (original 1975 boxing) were well past their best. I've modelled this as "Pistol Packin' Muma" would have looked in early March 1944 when it arrived at Bassingbourn: 42-37779 flew with the 324th Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group. This was prior to the red 1st Division tails and wing-tips being used, the radio operator's gun is still in position and she's only got three missions to her credit. The Monogram kit is actually a later-batch than the real deal, but I can live with that as other than the cheek gun arrangement, the Monogram kit is a pretty close match for this particular aircraft. Paints were my favourite Xtracolor enamels, with decals from KitsWorld. Some light weathering with some pastels give an impression of wear but nothing too dirty as the full on rigours of air combat are yet to ravage her fresh olive drab paint. For those of you with these Monogram classics in your stash - build them: they're great fun! Tom
  5. Available 2Q 2013 - ref. 01E04 - Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Source: http://www.pacmodels.com/news.php And in German langage (HK Models .de page???) and not yet available in the homepage English version, the first testshot - not prototype - pics! Wingspan: 78,79 cm, Fuselage lenght: 98,80 cm... Don't forget HK Models has a 1/32nd Avro Lancaster and a Gloster Meteor IV in project... V.P.
  6. Evening all, I put the finishing touches to this earlier today: the new-tool 1/72nd Airfix B-17G converted to a US Navy PB-1W airborne early warning aircraft. I used the old 299Models conversion which gives you the big radome in short-run injection plastic, as well as blanking plates for the top, chin and ball turrets. The conversion was actually designed and produced long before the excellent new-tool Airfix Fort was released and is meant for the Hasegawa kit. However, with some gentle persuasion, it fits the Airfix kit well. The PB-1Ws were late build B-17Gs taken from desert storage post WW2 by the US Navy and stripped of their bombing equipment. Some retained their tail guns but these were soon removed, and quite crude blanking plates were added to the openings for the top, chin and ball turrets. The main distinguishing feature of the PB-1W was the large AN/APS-20 search radar added to the bomb bay and huge dome slung beneath. In all 32 B-17Gs were converted to PB-1Ws and they remained in service until the mid-1950s when they were superseded by Constellations. The model was airbrushed with Xtracolor’s Sea Blue gloss and decals came from the spares box. I toned it down with a coat of Humbrol Satin (the real things were actually high gloss) and added some oil and exhaust with pastels. All in all a very simple conversion (if you can find one!) and it’s nice to add this unusual Fortress to my collection. All the best, Tom
  7. Figured I'd start a thread for my B-17 that I've been tinkering around with for a month or so now. I've been an on and (mostly) off modeler for the past several years but doing a 1/48 B-17 has been a project I've been researching for a number of years now so over the past 10 years or so I've acquired most of the detail sets for the Monogram kit and and attempted to start that last year but I think I tried to do too much with it and my modeling skills weren't quite where they needed to be to turn that kit into what I had in mind so it got stashed away. Then around Christmas I saw HK came out with a 1/48 kit and after doing a little research I sprung for it and am quite happy I did. Yes, there are a couple inaccuracies like the rear fuselage being slightly too fat and the out engine nacelles sitting a tad high but those don't really bother and quite honestly after having the kit in my hands, I don't think they'll be all that noticeable when the model is finished. The ultimate goal for me is to build a diorama with this. I've done a fair bit of research on the particular plane I'm doing and the history of it is pretty interesting. One such part of that history that I plan to capture is a particular mission in which it had two engines knocked out by flak over France and it had to make an emergency landing at RAF Thorney Island. So that will be challenging but I'm up for it. The plane comes first though. I plan on going slow with this and will be going over the top detailing wise when you take into account what can actually be seen but I've always wanted to go all out on a B-17 and I don't have many other kits I plan on building so I have no problem spending some money on aftermarket bits. I'll start by pointing out the parts of the kit that aren't accurate for an "early" G. 1.) The radio room gun would not have been enclosed on early Gs. The set up was much the same as an F with the hatch open and the gun mounted on a ring that slid back and forth for storage. 2.) The wing tip tokyo tank vents were also not present on early Gs. These were added later and from the pictures I've seen, the two vent version located more in the middle of the wingtip seemed to be more common. 3.) The outer ball turret supports, parts V17 and V18, are incorrect for a G. Fs had the spherical housing over the support but Gs did not. I'm not sure how I'll tackle that yet. 4.) This isn't really an inaccuracy, but the antennas were not a one size fits all deal in that all planes had them....referencing prototype photos is a good idea for these. But all in all I'm really liking the kit and its been pretty fun so far. I'm starting by making the major modifications. The plane I'm building was the last B-17G-25-DL built which was the first production block to incorporate staggered waists windows, so I filled in the kit opening with sheet styrene and carefully cut out the new opening. It's just rough so far and I till need to enlarge it height wise but at least its there. Once the fuselage is closed I'll have to re-rivet the area but that shouldn't be too difficult. MRB_7054 by Matt Bourke, on Flickr MRB_7050 by Matt Bourke, on Flickr I also cut away the elevators from the horizontal stabilizers so I can reposition them in the down position. The other main mod that I think will go a long ways towards having a more accurate looking plane is lowering the landing gear. This photo is post-mod, but both the lowered and raised gears were modeled fully extended which would not be accurate for a plane on the ground. I cut away the entire torsion link assembly since they were undersized anyways and then made a cut at the top of the oleo flush with the collar and then removed about 2.5mm of material if I recall correctly. I was eyeballing prototype photos and I think this looks good for an unloaded aircraft. I then squared up both pieces and then drilled out the center of each piece then CA'ed a piece of brass rod for a strong, solid joint. I replaced part of the torsion links with pieces from the Monogram gears and still have yet to replace the oleo scissors with some styrene. Landing Gear by Matt Bourke, on Flickr Right now, my focus is on the cockpit. Like I said before, I'm probably going over the top but detailing like this is therapy to me and I enjoy it. The center throttle quadrant left a bit to be desired so I've modified it a bit by cutting away the bottom front of it then gluing in some styrene and shaping it into what it should look like. The back part of the top was also cut away and replaced with a portion of a True Details console as I liked the 3D detail better than the kit and also better than what Eduard offers for photoetch. Speaking of Eduard, the sides and top of the console as well as the floor of the cockpit have PE pieces which look pretty good to me. I still have to add all sorts of lever but that will come later. The control columns for the pilot and copilot will also need a little work since I'm not too big on how they look. Center Console by Matt Bourke, on Flickr The seats were next. I tried my hand at using Milliput for the first time to make the seat cushions and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I still have some areas to clean up with a file but they're done for now too (they're not glued to the armor yet, just stuck on with blue tack). Seats by Matt Bourke, on Flickr That's all I've got so far. I'm currently tinkering with the sidewalls. I cut away the half relief oxygen canisters and will be replacing them with Resin2Detail tanks. I'm also trying to replicate the fabric covering on the sidewalls with some aluminum foil. As for markings, the plane I'm doing is "Man O War II" from the 91st BG. The 91st memorial website was down for a while but just recently got back up so right now I'm sifting through the daily mission reports trying to learn more about the crew. If you click on the flickr link, I've included a brief history of the plane in the description for those who are interested. The first "Man O War" lasted only one mission but the 2nd was a bit luckier and managed to complete 77 missions before being shot down. I'm modeling it in late April of 1944 (before the red tail surfaces) when it had between 20-25 missions to its name and was still being flown by the original crew. Original Crew of B-17G-25-DL "Man O War II" by Matt Bourke, on Flickr
  8. Greetings Friends! Here is my latest model completion... The HK Models 1/48 B-17F Memphis Belle... What a kit! It took me full time 3 weeks to build this! I had 2 weeks off between jobs which helped! This is basically OOB with the only changes being the excellent Eduard 'Look' Instrument panel and pilot seat belts. The other change related to decals. The Kit comes with excellent Memphis Belle decals by cartograph. However, the insignias are not properly drawn. The Star was not symmetrical! I substituted kits world Insignia and used the rest of the excellent stencil kit they sell for B-17F's. Otherwise kit decals were great! I attempted to paint it like it appeared in the US Bond drive where there are many photos of all angles of the Belle. The appearance changed a little, and at some point the ship got a repainted or new vertical fin. There are some airframe patches around the plane that I tried to replicate. The paint is Gunsie Mr. Color, Olive Drab C12 and Dark Green C302. The Underside Grey is Testor's Model Master AMC Grey. I hope you like it and leave comments... Hope you guys try and tackle a B-17 in 1/48! Last one I did was the Monogram in the 1970's! It's like a rite of passage for a modeller! I found out after it was done, that it doesn't fit in my display case! I will have to get a new bigger case for this one!
  9. I’ve wanted to build an accurate model of a specific B-17F for some time and have been trying to collect references on and off for a while now. Instead of all this piecemeal, not particularly scholarly, information, is there a better way? Is there a proper reference volume for the production block variations and field modifications within the B-17F model? I’ve found the “B-17 Production” series by David Gansz, but as far as I know the three volumes only cover the B-17G. Specifically I’m looking for references pertinent to B-17F-35-VE s/n 42-5944. Info from various online sources (which are obviously copied-n-pasted across sources) show: “Delivered Long Beach 28/5/43; Tinker 5/6/43; Presque Is 15/6/43; Orlando 9/7/43; Patterson 19/7/43; Assigned 419BS/301BG Cerignola 16/12/43; Lucera 1/2/44; {46m} Missing in Action Blechhammer 30/6/44 with Chas Dodrill, (10 Returned to Duty); ditched Vis Is, all survive.” I have found no other references or pictures of the specific aircraft, although I have collected some good images and information of other 301BG aircraft and operations. My reason for building this particular aircraft is that years ago I acquired a grouping from the estate of Captain Charles Dodrill. In my collection of WWII uniforms I have his flight jacket, flight suit, field jacket, and other small items related to his time in the 15th Air Force. I’d like to make a model of the plane to display alongside his flight gear.
  10. When: 20.10.2018 to 20.01.2019 With the recent arrival of the new Airfix kit and a good supply of Revell, Academy and Hasegawa kits already available in 1:72, oldie but goldie Monogram G in 1:48 and the HK monster in 1:32 scale, isn´t it high time to have the B-17 single type group build at Britmodeller? @old thumper can dig up a Matchbox one . I don´t even start to list the options there are for these builds... As 2017 will be the year of the jets, why not counter attack with quadruple props in 2018?! Regards, 1) V-P 2) old thumper 3) wamwig 4) PhantomBigStu 5) Arniec 6) specky 7) theplasticsurgeon 8 mungo1974 9) DaveJL 10) modelling minion 11) Romeo Alpha Yankee f.k.a. TrojanThunder 12) jrlx 13) tonyot 14) S48 15) JOCKNEY 16) rob85 17) SleeperService 18) Sgt.Squarehead 19) Sabre_days 20) Sobby_23 21) RJ-WobblyHands 22) pizzapaolo 23) Graham77 24) Rafwaffe 25) DarylH - thank you! 26) Enzo Matrix 27) tomprobert 28) Thom216 29) TonyTiger66 30) Harrywilliams 31) Rabbit Leader 32) stevej60 33) DJJunis 34) DaveyGair 35) neil5208 36) MarkSH 37) Canso65 38) Tweener We're going in!!!
  11. Good evening Gents! Currently building an 1:72 Airfix Fortress mk III, 2016 mould nice one. I didnt like kit wheels and purchased Eduard resin set. But later I realised that on internet, they used radial pattern wheels or many pictures were blurry. So, It will be wrong if I use diamond pattern wheels on British fortress Mk.III? Thanks for reading. Flogger
  12. Hi all, having just received the two Airfix B-17s from The Works, I couldn't help but start thinking about what markings I wanted for them. I wasn't massively inspired by the kit choices, to be honest. While the 91st BG example fits my local aviation history interest nicely (Bassingbourn being less than fifteen miles away as the crow flies), the world and his wife have done the 91st to death, whilst the 100th BG is also a popular choice, if not particularly colourful. A look through my decal stash revealed plenty more 91st BG aircraft, a lone 447th machine and several 490th Gs. Still, nothing really inspiring. So, what's out there? A look through what Hannants has to offer showed up a number of decal sheets, the vast majority being by Kits World. Some of you might know where this post is headed next. I have very mixed feelings about Kits World. On the one hand, they offer a good range of subjects, many of which I am interested in. On the other, I have found their research sorely lacking, with more than their fair share of schoolboy errors. Now, while some of you might think I have a one-man vendetta against KW, I really want to like them! Anyway, I thought I'd have a look at what they had to offer and one particular sheet, KW172173, looked interesting, having one aircraft from the 306th BG based at nearby Thurleigh, plus another one with an attractive diagonal yellow stripe on the tail. Okay, time for a closer look. The markings and info for 44-6585 seemed to tally with what I could find. Kits World helpfully show a couple of photos of the nose art on the web page, which is a nice touch. So far, so good! The other aircraft with the diagonal yellow stripe, 44-8648 is shown as being from the 324th BS/306th BG. Wait, what? The 324th BS was part of the 91st BG, not the 306th. And the 306th didn't use a diagonal yellow stripe, the 401st did. However, they might just be typos, so let's move on. What about the decals themselves? Oh dear. Squadron codes are depicted as DF, which were indeed used by the 324th BS. A search on the internet showed that 44-8648 joined the 401st initially with the 613rd BS in January 1945, coded IN*M and then transferred to the 615th BS at the end of February, coded IY*N. It was later transferred to the 305th BG in May, when it was photographed with the nose art. From what I read, there are no known photos of 44-8648 whilst with the 401st, and the two photos of the nose art are likely from her time with the 305th, but there's nothing to show what the rest of the airframe looked like or how she was coded. All in all, there's one option out of two on that sheet that has any hope of being vaguely accurate then. Oh well, what else is out there? Another sheet, KW172332, looked appealing, as one of the aircraft had prominent, yellow areas on the empennage and wings. 43-37975 is shown as being from the 839th BS/487th BG. Squadron codes are shown as RS*A. Uh-oh. The 839th used R5. OK, maybe it's hard to tell from a photo, but the information can be found in literally five minutes on the web. The instructions showed the RS ahead of the national insignia and while most of the photos I could find of 487th BG a/c showed the squadron codes aft, it seems that some were indeed in the fore position, including sister ship 43-37974. Well, at least that one can be used with a little modification. Overall though, I found the choice of subjects available from any manufacturer disappointing, with many bomb groups completely neglected. The double-striped birds from the 45th CBW, the colourful diagonal stripes of the 94th CBW, the variations in red tails of the 93rd CBW (with the exception of the 490th BG), all ignored. I have wondered out loud several times on Britmodeller regarding the apparent lack of imagination when it comes to 8th AF Fighter Command decals, with some groups having dozens of choices and others being criminally ignored. It seems that it is the same for the bomber groups too. Anyway, enough of the ranting. If anyone knows of any decal sheets that have markings for colourful 8th AF B-17Gs, in particular the staggered waist window, Cheyenne-tailed machines, please do shout. And how do you tell which Gs were built thusly? Cheers, Mark.
  13. Hi Everyone, I'm quite far through my Memphis Belle build in 1/72 and I'm having a dilemma. I'm not sure I like (I might hate) my OD. It's worse when I think about it to when I go back to and see it again, but thought I'd get some honest advice from you lot before I continue... I know there are lots of variations and I know that sun bleaching and fading took its toll overtime but I think it looks too dark. Considering the work I will have to do, to re-spray a lighter colour, with decal masking (oh god) and repainting the medium green camo, I'm verging on not! I've taken the pictures in various light, so, what are your thoughts please?
  14. An old and flawed kit, but one that has a special place in the memory banks for me – when I was 12 we were told we could have a home made mascot on our desks for end of primary school exams. I persuaded my parents to get me a Flying Fortress model kit for my 13th birthday and by exam season it was ready. Despite my teachers’ horror at such an oversized mascot, they were amused enough at the odd child with the plane to let it slide, and it sat on my desk proudly for my entire Common Entrance exams (which went well enough to get into the school I wanted). Despite many moves since, I still have the old B-17 ‘Memphis Belle’ sat in my workshop at aged 30, looking more than a little tired. So I figured since I’d got back into model making after a 10 year absence about 3 years ago; it would be a nice thing to find the same very old Revell kit and make it again – to keep the old and the new side by side. I don’t normally do 1:72 scale as I find weathering effects tricky when going below 1:48, and the detail starts to go. Am really pleasantly surprised by how this came out though – despite the atrocious kit transparencies, lackluster detail which necessitated quite a bit of scratch built detail near the windows, and the strange panel texture on the nose. One issue was right at the end, I dropped superglue on the right wing when trying to rig up the radio aerials, which left a very ugly mark and meant I had to eventually sand down and paint over the whole panel. I couldn’t match the colour or weathering again so I tried instead to represent a battle-damage replacement panel with un-faded Olive Drab. Short video build summary video is available on my YouTube channel if folk are interested - BritFlyer.
  15. This is a placeholder till I complete some of the builds in virtually every other GB that running at the moment ! The aircraft and kit need no introduction from me, it was pride of place on my bedroom ceiling with Jerrys attacking from one side and Japs from the other, suspended with fishing line and drawing pins. I wonder if Mrs Jockney would be amenable to allowing this one to go on our bedroom ceiling.... Heres the kits, love the box art, good luck everyone Picture from Scalemates Cheers Pat
  16. Kit: Revell (Germany) B-17G Decals: Lifelike, Kits World Paint: Alclad, Gunze/Mr.Hobby Interior shots here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234921988-boeing-b-17g/ A full detailed build review will be featured in the next edition of IMPS Austria's "Panorama" Magazine. Thanks for looking. Roman
  17. BIT O LACE The original Airfix B-17 Flying Fortress kit dating from around 1962. Bit o Lace, a classic kit that no doubt everyone over a certain age will remember. My aim is to build the model up as neatly as possible while keeping the original look and feel of the kit, I want the finished build to be neat but still easily recognisable as the 1962 Airfix kit. This will include. 1) No after market goods. 2) A tiny amount of scratch building. 3) The possible use of scrap and spares, most likely for small parts such as guns. 4) Retention of the riveted surface, although toned down. 5) Inclusion of as many character parts as possible, such as aircrew. 6) Retention of the kits historical inaccuracies. 7) Minimal weathering with fresh paintwork. If I finish this build in time then I plan to follow it up with an old Airfix B-29 Superfortress build . The kit cost me a tenner but comes with very stagnant conservative 1980's box art. I much prefer the original box top myself. The parts. I have done a bit of dry fitting and it actually looks like a much better kit than I remember. As far as I can see all the parts are there but two of the props are broken.
  18. Today i saw in my favourit model shop a special/limited of Airfix 1/72 B-17. On box is round sticker and on box are added two NMF B-17. With - pin ups. One is a classic Vargas girl, in light nightdress and second is here a full naked - or with blue panties. Both pin up nose arts are VERY GOOD printed, very very detailed... For me is a B-17 a symbol of USAAF and American life style... Don´t forget - Esquire, Playboy or Penthouse coming from U.S.A.. (Yes, i know, in WW 2 exist a Esquire only - and here was a pin up girls.) American warplane from this time must be - BIG, SHINY and with BIG Pin Up, especialy when it is a bomber. Many airman in WW II was very young, why don´t speak - a "Virgin Mochitos" and they flying, fight, kill and die on Sky over Europe. Many never have a Girlfriend, many have Wife and Baby... They flying with Big Shiny Bombers over Germany or Japan - With Big naked pin up girls painting with full frontal nudity - topless, with bare buttocks - and Very Sexy. When i was a boy, and i live in post - communist era Czechoslovakia a symbol of USA in WW2 for me was a Memphis Belle Bomber, from famous 1991 movie. On one side with a Ginger telephoned with her lover, on other side a really BIG blondie with big - breasts... (t.t.es, b..b.s). And today - i saw on this new L.E. B-17 - a small sticker, with B/W photo and text - This camo isn´t suibtable for person under 21 years !!! YES !!! TWENTY ONE !!! I read this for second, third... - no this isn´t a dream - really !!! I know, when you under 21, you can´t drinking.... in US... But - you now you can´t - in our internet - youtuber - rap and i-net celebrity - who often build it´s glory on big breast a big buttocks - build a 70 years old bomber, flying in WW 2 post-teen Airmens.... I´am shocked ! In my country on end (before fall of Communism) was on three MiGs and one Frogfoot attack Airfplane pain (for very short time) a WW 2 style pin ups.... In MiG´s Topless, one too in negliché, and Anča (Annie) on Su-25 (Never flew with this Nose arts) have big bare butt - in this time, when regime colapsed it was a symbol of rebelion, agains puristic regime, who censored nudity... And now, in 21 century, in England, was really pin up (1cm long) not suibtable for 21 old persons ? YOU KIDDING AIRFIX ?! In 21 years have many people first Kid ! Are in half time of University (2-3 year), and in WW 2 was many of this guys who flew pin ups decorated bombers and fighters - DEAD !!!! In past time i read a memory of one british Lancaster pilot - I was 18, i can flying with twin engined monster in night over Germany and kill peoples -and naturally - be killed - but i can´t drink and drive car ! What is bad on nice young - and naked - girl ? Especially when is she only painted on Airplane - on - after 75year later - printed in decal sheet ? Two years Playboy banned nudity on it´s magazine -and now are nudity back - because Playboy without nudity isn´t playboy and topless or naked girl isn´t porno... AIRFIX - Please - removed a text from box of L.E. B-17... it is a SHAME ! BIG SHAME !!!! Be normal !
  19. I got this kit as part of a spares / scrap joblot on Evilbay some time ago and despite some damage and a couple of missing parts thought it had potential so was worth rescuing. The aircraft is a B-17C Flying Fortress Mk1 with RAF Coastal Command, servings in Nuts Corner, Northern Ireland 1942. It was built for the recent B-17 Single Type Group Build here on BM, link below. Here it is finished, biggest kit I've built for a long time, let me know what you think cheers Pat
  20. I confess to spending much time (waaaaaaaay too much time) appreciating so many fine projects from others but not finding any time at the workbench... until this B-17 group build came along. It's about time some worthy cause inspired me to dust off the toolbox and break out the brushes. I have several of these Monogram 1/48th Fortresses in the stash but I'll just start with one until I'm sure I can still do it. Besides, this finally gives me an opportunity to use all the reference pics I have been shooting -- so far I am up to 33 on my "Personally Photographed B-17s" list (and counting!). I realize virtually all the Forts today are restored and shouldn't be trusted blindly, but it's nice to have good clear shots at my disposal with some common sense. Anyway, on to the model! I will be building to represent my grandfather's plane: B-17G 42-31582 Ol' Scrapiron. He flew 30 missions with the 447th BG out of Rattlesden starting with the Group's toughest day, April 29, 1944. Just to see if my vision was still up to building models, I traded my bifocals for the Optivisor and started with the engines. A little rough at first, added some brass wire... - Then the wires were trimmed (left) and painted (right) and some wash added and a bit of engine oil form AK - I am not concerned that one wire should enter the top front of the cylinder and the other goes behind. I figure at this scale the cowling will take care of that. Here's a bit of the look I was going for (my pic of B-17F 42-29782 Boeing Bee here in Seattle) or this shot of B-17G 44-83735 Mary Alice (or whatever she is painted as these days) that I took during a trip to the IWM Duxford back in 2008. ---------- That's all for today. I look forward to seeing everyone else's progress for the next few months and hope I don't embarrass myself along the way.
  21. Time to stake my place in this STGB as I signed up for it earlier this year. I do like the B-17 but I don't have any completed ones in my collection and that is something I need to remedy. I have 5 kits in the stash in the form of Monogram's 1/48 classic B-17G, 2 X Academy/Italeri 1/72 B-17C/D's, Airfix's new 1/72 Fortress Mk.III and the subject of this build, Revell's 1/72 B-17F. I don't have a box for it, no big loss with Revells' useless end opening boxes, but here are some shots of what I do have, all of which is still sealed in it's cellophane packaging, starting with the instructions which also has the original decals included; And a shot of a couple of bags of still sealed sprues; Now I do like the options in the kit, at least one of which is already being built in this GB, but fancied doing something a bit different so I bought this set from DK Decals; As it says it has markings for 16 different RAF/RCAF B-17's ranging from early Mk.1's right through to Mk.III's in use at the end of the war. There are a couple of Fortress Mk.II's (the RAF designation for the B-17) and I'm torn between either of these Coastal Command options (8 and 9 on the instruction sheet); And these two options in use by Bomber Command for jamming purposes (10 and 11 on the sheet); I do like option 8 a lot but it has different windows in the nose than those provided by Revell in their kit so I might stick to either options 9 and 10, we will see. I am in the middle of building a Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter at the minute so progress will not be dramatic to start with but bear with me as it is one I really do want to build. Thanks for looking in and any and all help with the build is gratefully received. Craig.
  22. It is the first B-17 loss in that has crashed in occupied Europa. I had a hard time finding at photo of the accual plane, manage to get at not very sharp clip from youtube. 90.Squadron RAF WP-D/AN 525 "D-DOG" 08.09 1941 Crew: F/O David A A Romans (RAF)- P/O Frank Gordon Hart (RAF)- Sgt. John Brown (RAF)- Sgt. Peter Barnard Corbett (RAF)- Sgt. Robert Henry Beattie(RAF)- Sgt. Walter George Honey(RAF)- Sgt. Henry Merrill (RCAF). Their target was "Admiral Sheer" wich was in Oslo for repair. Plane shot down by Jacobi and Steinicke of 13./JG.77 in their bf.109T-2. https://ktsorens.tihlde.org/flyvrak/bygland.html Cheers Jes
  23. Hi all, My last build for 2018 is a Revell 1/72 Boeing B-17F which I have finished as an RAF Fortress Mk.II operated by 206 Squadron in June 1943, in fact on 11th June whilst flown by Wing Commander R.B. Thomson she attacked and sank U-417 South East of Iceland but was herself brought down by return fire from the U-boat. All the crrew of the B-17 were rescued 3 days later by an RAF Catalina after a US Catalina crashed trying to rescue them, the US crew were rescued a few days later. The Revell kit is excellent and has great interior detail from the box but I have had to scratch build the ASV aerials for the nose and under the wings from brass rod, they are not perfect but they look okay to me. I used decals by DK Decals which are excellent and went on with no issues at all, I just wish their instruction sheets were bigger! Anyway enough waffle here are the pics; I've built this as part of the ongoing (and excellent) B-17 STGB which you need to check out as there are some great builds going on there. For those of you interested here is a link to my build; Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. A Happy New Year to you all. Craig.
  24. Morning all! Whilst up at Hack Green, the not so secret Nuclear Bunker, just west of Natwich in Chesire for the "celebration" of my 38th year of being ejected into this world, I spotted this unusual variant of an RAF B-17. I'm guessing it was adapted for the Royal Oberserver Corps during the late 1940's early 50's. Maybe an idea for someone to adapt a B-17G? DSC_1839 DSC_1840 DSC_1841 DSC_1842 DSC_1845 I hope I managed to get some decent shots? There was also a fantastically HUGE model of a Shackleton when you enter the bunker too. DSC_1847 DSC_1848 Also, on gaurd duty, a nice little Jet Provest. DSC_1850
  25. I would like the build the Academy B-17C in Coastal Command colours but wanted to know if these aircraft were covered in antennas like the Whitley and Sunderland ? The picture below (2nd one down) does show any and there are none in the kit. Any assistance greatly appreciated cheers Pat
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