Metallic Details B-17 Engines & Turbochargers (for Revell/Monogram)

[Mike]

B-17 Engines & Turbochargers (MDR4854 & MDR4857 for Revell/Monogram)

1:48 Metallic Details

 

 

The old Monogram tooled B-17 in 1:48 is an ageing kit that will benefit from extra attention in the detail department, with Metallic Details of Ukraine having created a very worthy offering in the engine department.  Available as two separate sets to allow you to decide which aspects of the engines you’re most interested in if there are budget cxonstraints, you can buy an engine set and a separate set for the Turbochargers, which are very prominent on the bottoms of the nacelles.  As they’re related, let’s have a look at them both.

 

 

B-17 Engines (MDR4854)

Arriving in a large(ish) card box with a label printed with a picture of the finished set on top, the interior is completely stuffed with resin and Photo-Etch (PE), all safely cocooned in individual resealable bags.  If you read our review of the R1280 engine before this, you’ll recognise many of the parts, which are provided in multiples of four for each of the engines.  There are eighteen large resin parts plus two bags of tiny parts that are too small and too numerous for me to count without removing my socks - ok, there's 103 of them with a few spares for good measure.  There are also five small sheets of PE in a fine gauge to assist with ease of bending as well as realistic thickness.

 

 

Construction begins with adding small arrow-shaped brass inserts that fit between the cylinders, then adding the intake piping to the centre, aligning each tube to the right of the head.  Small parts and harnesses are fitted to the outer surface of the cylinder banks, then the push-rods and wiring harnesses in resin and PE respectively are glued in place to complete construction. 

 

With the cylinder blocks completed, the fronts of the kit engine nacelles are replaced with the new highly detailed units that have the exhaust collector ring moulded in, and for the inboard engines the extension that takes the exhaust gases back past the gear bays is also included with two of them supplied.  The outer engines have their collector rings attached directly to the turbosuperchargers, so they attach directly to the outlet.  With all the engines attached to the square lugs in the centre of the collector rings, the cowlings are fitted with the two curved sets of cooling flaps that operate when the engine temperature rises.  There is a small ledge around the cut-out to give a good strong joint, while the PE flaps give a more in-scale appearance from the rear, allowing a peek into the superb detail of the engines. 

 

All of this sumptuous detail will require painting as it is assembled, and there aren’t any painting guides provided in the set, but there are ample resources online should you need them.  It’s an incredibly well-detailed set of engines for the Monogram kit, and if you are serious about your detail, these are just perfect.

 

 

 

 

B-17 Turbochargers (MDR4857)

Strictly speaking they’re turbosuperchargers, and they’re quite simply moulded in the kit.  This set provides four replacements of twelve parts in a small box, with four cut-out shells into which the mechanism fits, requiring a little kit surgery.  The two inboard units have handed recesses that are marked L and R for your ease, while the outboard units are set centrally in the underside of the nacelles, so are identical and symmetrical.  The units themselves are also provided with two marked L and R, plus another two identical units with long trunking for the outer engines.  All of the central sections are individual parts that slot into the recessed centres for improved detail and easier casting.  Again, the detail is exemplary and with a little care the set can be integrated into the model improving its immensely.  Coupled with the engines themselves, they will be a knock-out!

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

These sets are exquisitely detailed and use the latest 3D printing techniques to create the masters and provide us with such crisp parts that were almost impossible 10-15 years ago.  The kit will need a little fettling to accept the new parts, but anyone with some previous experience of using resin parts in their models and a soupçon of common sense shouldn’t struggle unduly. 

 

Extremely highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of