Airfix (Academy re-pop) B-17

[HP42]

Hi all,

 

Something I finished last year. It went into WIP and sort of never came out again...

 

There's a story behind this. It was built for a research project I did with the IWM Duxford and was based around this image: http://www.americanairmuseum.com/media/2907

 

Here it is corrected:

 

The image on the website comes from a slide is actually scanned back to front. After much eye straining and research I determined it was the 'Missbehaven Raven', a B-17 from the 34th Bomb Group at Mendlesham. I found artwork from another image and had it reproduced. I then made my own decals (passable -just!). The kit is the Academy B-17 that Airfix re-popped some time back, not a bad kit at all but its biggest fault is the wing dihedral, i.e. shed loads of it. I did a bit of surgery and corrected it.

 

The decals were either home made or from the kit sheet. I also robbed a few bits and bobs from the spares box. I think the wheels were Quickboost, the treads certainly add realism and are a great improvement over the kit offerings.

 

Making the T2 hangar was an interesting experience. I had a look at some real examples. The model is built mostly from card with some careful printing. The trusses were simple to cut out (if you have access to a laser cutter -very fast and simple!) and the hangar door bracing was also laser cut. The concrete base is printed. That Dodge Beep is a white metal kit from Sergeants Mess and the rest of the trestles and engine crane were scratch built. There's also a 'technical latrine' in there, also cut from card. It was always a work in progress and there was still much to do (paint the guys overalls in olive for a start) but time and tide got the better of me and such items are never really finished, they're just abandoned at a certain point.

 

The model sat in the café at Tollerton (Chocks Away -a great place to eat and have a gorp at aircraft) for a while before it was adapted with a new aircraft and went to the museum at Nuthampstead as part of their exhibition. Nuthampstead also had a T2 hangar so it's a fair representation of what stood on that airfield. Now here's a request, I've not been to the Nuthampstead museum since it formally opened. I had a look in the months prior and it was coming along nicely. Anyone got a picture of the model as it now stands? I'd love to see what they've done with it. I know it was going to have a change of aircraft and a few other mods with their resident modeller and I felt it was a fitting place for it to be displayed. They've worked so hard to get that museum opened.

 

Here's some piccys...

 

Missbehaven Raven

Not entirely happy with the weathering but its probably not too far adrift from those mucky engines.

Home made decals, just about got away with it, not easy to work with.

 

 

Here she is in the hangar. I used a mirror in the background to give an impression of more depth.

 

Engine crane a tad overscale but 'meh'...

 

The last shot is one I took when visiting Maddingley cemetery. It's the grave of Leo Bartczak who was killed bailing out of this aircraft only a month before the war finished. The sad irony is that the aircraft made a safe landing and eventually went back to the US. I'm making a guess here but from the descriptions I've read I suspect the aircraft was in the hangar to repair damage after the failed bail-out attempt.

 

 

 

[noelh]

Impressive work. It's great to see models in context with an interesting back story. 

[polo1112]

A really great diorama you made there HP42

Very realistic !!!

Fantastic job.

[CedB]

Very nice model of an interesting subject - god job Sir!

[TonyTiger66]

I have fun out of 'likes'. Nevertheless I can write one  .

 

A lovely model. I didn't know Airfix had re-popped Academy. This is a very nice representation; looks solid, heavy, mean. Not toy like at all.

 

Very nicely made indeed and the figures look great  .

 

Best regards

TonyT

[HP42]

Thanks for all the positive comments chaps. TT66, yes Airfix released the Academy kit for a while some years back, though they have a new-tool on the way I believe. The Academy kit also comes with a host of other superfluous sprues and parts for making an earlier model, though I don't think you could actually make it from what's in the box! Aside the wing dihedral issue it's a half decent kit but lacks detail such as hollowed out intakes. The figures are straight from a Presser issue and I never did get around to painting the overalls but they do look right in pose.

 

I don't have any pics of the complete diorama, there's a quanset hut around the back somewhere and at one point I did have the collection of outer wing panels stored on trestles out front on the right.

 

Thanks Ced, the 34th has been a research project for a while now. I've been to the airfield and walked around it as well as seen the new memorial in the church yard, the old bronze one having been stolen by some scumbag.

[Martian]

Very effective diorama!

 

Martian

[WildeSau75]

Great presentation of this mighty plane - really nice.

 

Cheers,

Michael