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In The Wrong Hands GB. Close... but no cigar!


TonyOD

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6 minutes ago, Johnson said:

I recall reading about a B-17 the Germans captured and flew. It’s mentioned in Roger Freeman’s book The Mighty Eighth. A B-17F, 360BS, 303BG, 41-24585. Used to develop fighter tactics. There’s a pic showing the markings underneath which I think was painted yellow.

 

That would be the German equivalent of the RAF EA Flight. The one I was thinking of would supposedly shadow the USAAF formations and act as an AWACS aircraft, talking the fighters onto their targets. As I write, I am beginning to  remember that I read about this in a novel.

 

{Would a model based on fiction be allowed in the GB]

Edited by Bertie Psmith
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We certainly have your cogs turning, @Bertie Psmith! Love your tank model.

 

Is the "German" B-17 this one? 

 

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/495

 

It's be great to see this one make an appearance. I mean, who doesn't love painting vast expanses of yellow? 

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35 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

Is the "German" B-17 this one? 

 

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/495

 

It's be great to see this one make an appearance. I mean, who doesn't love painting vast expanses of yellow? 

 

And HUGE Balkenkreuzen too. That's the real one but the one that's been in my mind is fiction, I'm sure of it now.

 

Thinks: Did the commandos sometimes use captured E-boats or am I now thinking of The Eagle has Landed? Honestly, my head is like an attic in a very large old house!

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10 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

And HUGE Balkenkreuzen too.

 

And the oversprayed and ghostly markings of the former owners. Now that detail tells the story on its own. 

 

That means going 1/72 for time, space and cost reasons. And I don't do 1/72. I really don't. If I go down that road the flat will fill up with V-bombers and all kinds of really interesting stuff...

 

Tony, Tony, Tony! What have you done?????????

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1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

Is the "German" B-17 this one?

 

It is the one Roger Freeman wrote about, and good to see more photos. It would make a good choice for 'someone' (no pressure @Bertie Psmith, but I'm committed to my Bf 109 G-2 'Black 6' in RAAF hands).

 

Decals are available!

 

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/KORD72208?result-token=LeZBR

 

KORD72208.jpg?t=

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8 minutes ago, Johnson said:

Nicest thing said about me in ages! :lol:

 

I've been thinking about 1/72 and wondering why I switched to 1/48 so long ago. It was to put more detail

inside them but I get my super-detailing fix from armour and figures now so what the heck, Bertie, what are you waiting for? 

 

So which B-17 kit is the best, old chums?

Edited by Bertie Psmith
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8 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

I've been thinking about 1/72 and wondering why I switched to 1/48 so long ago. It was to put more detail

inside them but I get my super-detailing fix from armour and figures now so what the heck, Bertie, what are you waiting for? 

 

So which B-17 kit is the best, old chums?

 

I've found several topics on the subject and will use the Academy kit for the fine surface scribing. I'm not bothered about interior details in this scale. Hannant's order going out in a minute and that's all very radical for me. Next Nimrod, Shack, Whitley, .......

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19 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

will use the Academy kit for the fine surface scribing

 

I made the Academy B-17F back in about 1996 and found it very good, the first model I airbrushed (with mixed results). As far as I can tell looking at the timeline on Scalemates, the one being sold now is the same kit with new parts.

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4 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

Back to aeroplanes, I've heard a story of a B-17 being flown by the Luftwaffe, in American markings, in action against other B-17s. I think this one is a myth though. Didn't Churchill or Eisenhower have a Storch?

 

 

Churchill did indeed.  Photographic proof:-

 

spacer.png

 

This was a Storch that was captured in the Western Desert and Air Vice Marshal Broadhurst took it back to England as his personal plane (rank has its privileges....). 

 

Churchill was flown in this, by Broadhurst (that's him on the right), to the Advanced Landing Ground in Normandy just a couple of days after D-Day - and, typically,

Churchill organised to be there before Eisenhower flew there (though I think Eisenhower used a US plane).

 

There are decals for this one:-

 

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Please add me to the list for the group build, as I have both a kit (or three) and decals for this.

 

Philip

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1 minute ago, Johnson said:

 

I made the Academy B-17F back in about 1996 and found it very good, first model I airbrushed, with mixed results. As far as I can tell looking at the timeline on Scalemates, the one being sold now is the same kit with new parts.

 

Do you think the cowlings are worth replacing with after market items? 

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I didn't on mine. I can't say I paid them much attention, they look OK, but I've never compared them to the real thing. But this was pre-internet days so things like reviews and critiques on kits were confined to magazines, and when I bought the kit it was a new release.

 

Are they deemed to be inaccurate?

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3 hours ago, Prenton said:

Please add me to the list for the group build, as I have both a kit (or three) and decals for this.

Thanks Philip, you're in.

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  • TonyOD changed the title to In The Wrong Hands GB. 33 and Bunfight-bound. (Please feel free to post your past builds here!)
1 hour ago, Johnson said:

I didn't on mine. I can't say I paid them much attention, they look OK, but I've never compared them to the real thing. But this was pre-internet days so things like reviews and critiques on kits were confined to magazines, and when I bought the kit it was a new release.

 

Are they deemed to be inaccurate?

 

Some say so and there is a set of resin replacements at Hannants for six pounds. I've ordered new resin engines already. I'll wait until the kit arrives and have a good shufti at the cowlings.

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On 7/24/2021 at 4:19 PM, Johnson said:

Are they deemed to be inaccurate?

Academy's B-17 (and the Catalina) are said to have slightly undersized engine cowlings. 
It's probably noticable if you have several B-17s from different kit companies... I'm trying to find that field of things to be given but it seems to be barren :P

 

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On 7/24/2021 at 10:30 AM, TonyOD said:

It's be great to see this one make an appearance. I mean, who doesn't love painting vast expanses of yellow? 

 

Yellow is a lot easier if you use a pink undercoat. Seriously, see this figure painting video for more information.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmnPkiiswPk

 

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I confess that when I first saw "In the Wrong Hands GB" I thought, "Now THERE'S a group build for me- any model I mess with could be considered to be in the wrong hands!"

 

It only took me nanoseconds to come up with an alternate, and more accurate, interpretation.  And it certainly seems the sort of subject that I might fall for...

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3 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

I confess that when I first saw "In the Wrong Hands GB" I thought, "Now THERE'S a group build for me- any model I mess with could be considered to be in the wrong hands!"

 

It only took me nanoseconds to come up with an alternate, and more accurate, interpretation.  And it certainly seems the sort of subject that I might fall for...

 

I first thought of scalpels, craft knives and solvents - Dangerous in the Wrong Hands!

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y4mBhea7_9c5ujB4XbIjm7Id_J7NzcyVSjTCHnrp

 

It's here! Yes, I know I'm a little premature, but I have to go where the excitement leads me.

 

 

y4m4xPLd5fpFFPQdE1YWFQKe94FyxHeDUbCaDZRB

 

I love the Happy pilot. Who cares if we are in mortal danger, Smiiiile for the camera artist.

 

 

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First indication that I've fallen down the rabbit hole and eaten the 1/72 side of the mushroom. The decal pack is tiny! 

 

The paint scheme will be well worn olive drab and green on top with the USAAF markings applied and then painted out in green, then chipped back a bit for dramatic purposes. Yellow underneath chipped back to grey wherever there was likely to be oil hindering adhesion of the probably poor quality German paint. Repaired battle damage all over the thing too. There's a story to tell in paint.

 

 

y4m4iEOb_f3Q6o13G9ERaILL_KjBDGeotZMksarn

 

And these are the Quickboost resin engines. I have to say they probably aren't worth the bother when cowled up and behind the prop.

 

 

y4mBOwmmDfe40x2Lmb5OT5QlkK9JX0BAx7lztQvi

 

Yep, those would have been ok for me. I'll paint both sets and then decide.

 

 

y4mNqdLIrmnBuqlkKTv5BlSx3tg9lgooGoChhqWB

 

The closed off wing inlets. Doesn't seem much of a problem to open them up and make ducts. Or just paint them black.

 

 

y4mTva152iFIyUU0K9Bci8KPsAwiVQzjTfkBO8Zt

 

But it's all so tiny and cute! I've done Lancs, B-17 and B-24 in 1/48 since abandoning 1/72 in my youth so I was expecting something a lot mightier than this. I think I'm culture shocked. It will even fit in my display cabinet, I think.

 

It might be an old kit but the delicate panel lines are all I'd hoped for. I believe they are still overscale in 1/72 but my artistic license will stretch that far. I'm looking forward to the building but for now, this one goes right at the back of the wardrobe or you just KNOW what will happen... 

 

 

Edited by Bertie Psmith
typo
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On 7/2/2021 at 1:34 PM, TonyW said:

Add me to the list please. I've had a long held fascination for the German aircraft on display in London after the war, this GB would be a gentle shove towards actually doing one or two.

 

Tony.

 

Do you know of any good books on the subject? I've found some random photos online but would be interested to read more.

 

Saw some fascinating shots recently of Moscow displays that lasted until the 50s.

 

On 7/24/2021 at 8:32 AM, Bertie Psmith said:

Here's one I made earlier...

 

y4mTqBKKTvv1BmZ4SlbmLqIRoUOqIYM4F0A4NGEq

 

It's a British MkIV tank, captured, repaired and resprayed by the German army for use against the British as a Beutepanzer (Booty Tank. Which term always makes me smile!). As it happened, the war ended and the tank was seized by one of the right wing Freikorps units and used in the streets of Leipzig against German communists instead. So that's a machine that's been in several wrong hands.

 

I think every turncoat comes with a fascinating back story and I'm looking forward to reading all of them in this GB.

 

[Incidentally, if you consider the background to my picture you see that it's a photograph I just took of this post, posted onto this post. It seems to fit the byzantine nature of these histories.]

 

So this tank was made by the British to fight the Germans who then captured it to use against the British before it subsequently was used by the Freikorps against a common enemy with the British... That surely counts as a double entry 🤔

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7 minutes ago, Tim R-T-C said:

So this tank was made by the British to fight the Germans who then captured it to use against the British before it subsequently was used by the Freikorps against a common enemy with the British... That surely counts as a double entry 🤔

 

...and then reclaimed by the Allies after the Versailles Treaty in 1920 and scrapped.

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Here's one for somebody:

 

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2016/10/19/american-turncoat-the-story-of-the-u-s-army-officer-who-defected-to-the-nazis/

 

“The 23-year-old U.S. Army second lieutenant stole an unarmed reconnaissance plane from an Allied airbase in southern Italy and flew it into enemy territory as part of a bizarre bid to change sides.”

 

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