Popular Post tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted June 17, 2020 Hiya Folks,...... something a bit different,.....I`ve built the 1/72nd Academy B-17E kit as Fortress Mk.IIa(MET), FL455, Z9-A of 519 (Met) Sqn based at Wick, which crashed on the kills above the airfield on (depending on sources) 1st February 1945. Quite a lot of wreckage is still at the scene to this day. Although 5 men survived the crash, two of them died of their injuries in the days and weeks afterwards and four were killed in the crash itself. The aircraft snapped in half at the radio room and those who died had all been in that area, where the heater was and where they were to congregate ready for landing,..... there were three pilots aboard in the cockpit and two were strapped in with one stood behind them. The 3rd pilot was thrown about and received superficial injuries as a result. The skipper was Flt. Lt. F. Keith `Bluey' Humphries and he had been circling Wick trying to land in a snowstorm (which they had been flying in for 4 hrs of their 10 hr sortie) with his engines beginning to ice up when he just ran into a flat boggy area on top of a hill,...... bellying along and the aircraft snapped in half. Due to the risk of fire, the survivors took refuge in the tail section to sit out the storm overnight and next day a local crofter reached them, followed by the RAF Mountain Rescue Team. I first read the story of this aircraft as a kid, but for some reason always thought it was a Mk.II,....when in fact it was a Mk.IIa,........ and as you can see below it had huge red white and blue post war style roundels above the wings, this is one of a series of photos taken of the wreckage; Here is my WIP including a photo of the subject aircraft with `those' roundels!; And here is the model,...... rattle can white, the rest brush painted; Cheers Tony 83 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Cracking build and an interesting story too Tony. I recently bought the MMP book on CC Fortresses and am bewildered by the number of differences across the many variants and roles! Thanks for for the inspiration! Edge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 25 minutes ago, Edge said: Cracking build and an interesting story too Tony. I recently bought the MMP book on CC Fortresses and am bewildered by the number of differences across the many variants and roles! Thanks for for the inspiration! Edge Cheers Edge,..... yeah I have the 1st edition and it is fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Extra nice build. I like the subtle engine exhaust stains. Very believable. The B-17 in that scheme looks truly awesome. To my way of thinking, one of the best Flying Fortress schemes ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 32 minutes ago, SAT69 said: Extra nice build. I like the subtle engine exhaust stains. Very believable. The B-17 in that scheme looks truly awesome. To my way of thinking, one of the best Flying Fortress schemes ever. Thanks mate,.... yeah it is a nice scheme for a Fort,...... and probably not seen by many people in your neck of the woods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Cracking Fortress, Tony. Looks really good in that scheme.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Another beauty, Tony. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, Vinnie said: Cracking Fortress, Tony. Looks really good in that scheme.👍 Cheers Vinnie 4 minutes ago, dogsbody said: Another beauty, Tony. Chris Thanks Chris,.... Cheers Fella`s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Good stuff, interesting story & a nice build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 29 minutes ago, phildagreek said: Good stuff, interesting story & a nice build. Thanks mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Sad story. The model of extra quality as always! I am really surprised that in Feb. 45 already such style of roundels were in use. One can learn something new each day... Regards J-W 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Lovely. The scheme suits the Fortress so well - you’ve done a lovely job. Tom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 18 minutes ago, JWM said: Sad story. The model of extra quality as always! I am really surprised that in Feb. 45 already such style of roundels were in use. One can learn something new each day... Regards J-W Thanks J-W,.... Yeah a sad story indeed,........ the hills of the UK are littered with wrecks and similarly sad stories. I have seen an assortment of roundels on Met aircraft during 1944-45 and I think that the stipulation was to apply red white and blue roundels,....I have seen varying styles with small red dots, larger red dots like this one and then of course the C Type which seems to have been standard by the end of the war,.... I think that its resemblance to the post war D Type is purely coincidental,..... I have seen similar roundels in 1940 too! Cheers Tony 11 minutes ago, tomprobert said: Lovely. The scheme suits the Fortress so well - you’ve done a lovely job. Tom Thanks Tom,.... yeah I think most aeroplanes look rather smart in white coastal colours. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Nicely done, Tony! Always good to see a CC aircraft modelled. Mike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 12 minutes ago, MikeR said: Nicely done, Tony! Always good to see a CC aircraft modelled. Mike. Thanks Mike,...... they look so smart in their white CC colours,..... All the best mate Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunny Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Lovely job Tony - the roundels set off that CC scheme really nicely! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Dunny said: Lovely job Tony - the roundels set off that CC scheme really nicely! Thanks Dunny,..... yeah the upper wing roundels are a bit different eh. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 13 hours ago, tonyot said: . I think that its resemblance to the post war D Type is purely coincidental,..... I have seen similar roundels in 1940 too! Thanks for that insight Tony, as you know, I queried this early in your build, not having seen the photo of the crash site then. Their proportions are very like those of type D roundels when one might have expected them to be closer to type A proportions, as some CC Beaufighters & DAF Hurricanes retained underwing after the shift to type C proportions, so to be more visible to trigger happy troops & matelots. I don't know when planning for a post war roundel began, but possibly an early ad hoc design like this influenced later developments. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) A beautiful looking Fortress, Tony. How you achieve such good results with a white rattle can is one of life's great mysteries. Those 'Type Ds' are very unusual for the period. I wonder how they came about. Anyway, a fitting trubute to those who died in that crash. It must have been very harrowong for the survivors sitting it out overnight knowing their deceased colleagues and friends were just a few feet away. Edited June 18, 2020 by Meatbox8 correcting typos 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Nice to see what it looked like before "disassembly". Great job Tony. Certa Cito and stay safe. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 10 hours ago, stevehnz said: Thanks for that insight Tony, as you know I queried this early in your build, not having seen the photo of the crash site then. Their proportions are very those of type D roundels when one might have expected them to be closer to type A proportions, as some CC Beaufighters & DAF Hurricanes retained underwing after the shift to type C proportions, so to be more visible to trigger happy troops & matelots. I don't know when planning for a post war roundel began, but possibly an early ad hoc design like this influenced later developments. Steve. Cheers Steve,...... who knows eh,...... the earliest I have seen that roundel is on pre war RAF Siskin`s and it was worn by many Coastal Command aircraft circa 1940 including this Lerwick; 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Meatbox8 said: A beautiful looking Fortress, Tony. How you achieve such good results with a white rattle can is one of life's great mysteries. Those 'Type Ds' are very unusual for the period. I wonder how they came about. Anyway, a fitting trubute to those who died in that crash. It must have been very harrowong for the survivors sitting it out overnight knowing their deceased colleagues and friends were just a few feet away. Cheers mate,..... as I said above to Steve,.... I think this roundel was used on pre war Siskin`s and popped up from time to time including 1939-40 on coastal aircraft,...... many met recce aircraft adopted red white and blue upper wing roundels of various styles and they eventually had C Type roundels by the end of the war. The orde was probably given out to add a white ring to the B Type,..... with no measurements? I`ve sat out storms on the hills with injured lads and it seems to last forever,.... not a nice experience and those that did were lucky to survive. All the best mate Tony 1 hour ago, Bullbasket said: Nice to see what it looked like before "disassembly". Great job Tony. Certa Cito and stay safe. John. Cheers John,...... much appreciated mate, Certa Cito 100 Tony Edited June 18, 2020 by tonyot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Great job and background. She looks nice in that scheme especially with those roundels! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Another great result Tony, excellent work on a fantastic looking scheme. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 That's a beautiful finish achieved Tony,always a fan of British operated B17's this has a nice twist with those upper wing roundel's,great work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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