Air-Borne Cigar (ABC). A 100 Group RAF B17 Mk III - ELINT WW2 Stylee! - Airfix 1:72

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

Dear Fellow Modellers
It's been a while since i've built anything. I've had this Airfix kit in the proverbial stash and along came a reason to build it!

 

I've recently become involved with a charity and suggested I might present a history talk for them , online using Zoom. I do like visiting old WW2 airfields mostly in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Herts. It seemed natural to present a talk giving an overview of these airfields and the part they played in the Air War against the Axis. I did the talk in Feb and to my absolute astonishment nearly 500people joined. The organisers were most pleased with the numbers and also with my presenting 'skills'. They liked it so much that they asked for a second talk. This would be a 'Part 2' and concentrate on the role played by Navigation Aids, The use of Electronic counter-measures and Special Duties /SOE squadrons. I knew of the RAF 100 Group activities and thought i would build this RAF 100 Group B17-MkIII as a teaching aid for this second talk. 

 

Background

The flight crew who were involved in the Air Borne Cigar (ABC) missions were very brave. They were mostly 'yiddish' speakers, German Jews who had escaped the Nazis and due to their unique language skills volunteered for RAF service. They interrupted the German Ground controllers VHF based instructions.  Due to the short range of the radio equipment carried there were many 100 Group aircraft incorporated in to the bomber streams on any given raid. 100 Group aircraft I have read experienced one of the highest 'group' casualty rates during missions partly for this reason.

Consider that if they were shot down they had a 50% chance of escaping the stricken aircraft for a B17 or B24 (for a Lancaster this was said to be only 15%) .If they were captured they faced almost certain death at the hands of the Nazi state . In my humble opinion ,they deserve generous recognition. To escape their tormentors once and then willingly put  themselves in to a position where, if captured by the enemy, they had no options, compared to their fellow RAF aircrew, is quite extraordinary.

Anyway here's the finished model...

I decided to pose it on a diorama with the Airfix USAAF 1:72nd refuelling set.

It's a 'What If..' situation where the RAF B17 on returning from a mission over Germany in 1944 was forced to land away from it's home base at a USAAF Heavy bomber base
due to fog. 

The ex RAF Trolley Acc, inherited by the USAAF, is ready for engine run ups. The Refuelling tanker is making it's gentle way in to position, awaiting the American Technical staff to come from their breakfasts and top off the tanks with some fuel to return to RAF Oulton in Norfolk. A passing B17 bomb load is off to another 'spectacle' loop for a USAAF B17 to be bombed-up for a target in the Pas De Calais....

 

I made the brick building 20 years ago from a kit it's 1:76 scale for a railway! 
The WW2 Pill box I scratch built about 30 years ago ( it's probably a bit over scale for 1:72 or 1:76!) I live on the WW2 London Outer Defence Ring ( an anti invasion set of defences to slow the Germans down )  and there are many pill boxes and defensive positions in the district. I recall going out to find one and measuring it to get the size roughly correct. The empanages are covered by steel doors in many of the original pill boxes. Hope you like it?

Anyway i hope you enjoy the finished product! I certainly enjoyed making it and the kit was not bad at all. 

 

Paints are MIG RAF Brown. Tamiya RAF Green 2. The RAF black comes from a Hataka Red Line WW2 RAF set of paints. It could do a bit of tidying up in places i guess? It was varnished with some sort of floor protector liquid, which i've found to be quite a nice finish, not matt but not full gloss and quite thin . 

 

Suggestions and critique welcomed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Col Walter E Kurtz
additional pictures added

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Beautiful job on this, sir!  You greatly honor the brave men who flew these missions at such great risk.  I can imagine it was not too unusual to land at a USAAF field, and the brick buildings evoke similar architecture I saw at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London, and entirely appropriate.  Perhaps you can build a few more of these electronic-warfare aircraft and go on the lecture circuit!

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

1 minute ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Beautiful job on this, sir!  You greatly honor the brave men who flew these missions at such great risk.  I can imagine it was not too unusual to land at a USAAF field, and the brick buildings evoke similar architecture I saw at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London, and entirely appropriate.  Perhaps you can build a few more of these electronic-warfare aircraft and go on the lecture circuit!

 

Thank you Kenny for your kind comments.

 

Yes you are correct. often 'Home' airfields were, during the English Winters socked in with fog making  it necessary for returning aircraft to be diverted,often to any other USAAF airfields. The brick buildings are similar in design to some i've seen at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk.. 

 

Am already on the lecture circuit.. have taken a few bookings for local groups ! It's nice to get a little money for enjoying our hobbies! 

Regards, Andy

 

[georgeusa]

Really nicely done B-17 in British livery.  I was not too familiar with this group until I did some further research based upon your intro.  Thanks for sharing this kit and the background information.   

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

29 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

Really nicely done B-17 in British livery.  I was not too familiar with this group until I did some further research based upon your intro.  Thanks for sharing this kit and the background information. 

Thanks George.  Glad you liked it! 

It's quite interesting  stuff about these early Electronic Countermeasures and the Navigation Aids like GEE, H2S and OBOE ...

 

Kind Regards, Andy

[Andy Dyck]

Hi Andy ,

 

That's another big one! I like the background story as much as the model and the accessories. . The semi-matt finish fits perfectly. As you say.  Not too matt not too shiny. Very good! The buildings are also very well done. My suggestion would be, when you go there and measure them, take some nice background photos that you can maybe use to set the scene again. What do you think?
All in all, a little treasure! The vehicles also look very realistic. Superb weathering!

Many greetings 

Andy 

[Dave Klaatu]

Well done, love the paint!

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

4 hours ago, Andy Dyck said:

Hi Andy ,

 

That's another big one! I like the background story as much as the model and the accessories. . The semi-matt finish fits perfectly. As you say.  Not too matt not too shiny. Very good! The buildings are also very well done. My suggestion would be, when you go there and measure them, take some nice background photos that you can maybe use to set the scene again. What do you think?
All in all, a little treasure! The vehicles also look very realistic. Superb weathering!

Many greetings 

Andy 

Hi Andy. Thanks for your appreciation.

Yes I have to agree with you. I need to get some nice background pictures. Maybe use a better camera also? i'm using a very old iPad . Glad you liked the vehicles! i used a thing called Citadel Nuln Oil as a wash to weather them.

Kind Regards, Andy

 

 

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

4 hours ago, Dave Klaatu said:

Well done, love the paint!

Thank You Sir! glad you like it!.. i used the blutac 'sausage' method to mask the camo pattern! 

[SAT69]

An amazing and, I suspect, very little known story. The model and diorama are very well done.

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

6 minutes ago, SAT69 said:

An amazing and, I suspect, very little known story. The model and diorama are very well done.

Thanks SAT for your appreciation.

 

Until recently I didn't appreciate the fuller story behind the model. There is much little known info about how the RAF ( and the USAAF in part too ) met the highly efficient German Air Defense system. Much of it being at the time Top Secret. It's a fascinating story, a battle between scientists. 

 

Cheers!

Andy 

[binbrook87]

Very very nice indeed! Great to see something a little different 👍 The RAF bomber camo seems to suit the B17 perfectly 

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

Thanks. Yes I liked it also as it was unusual! Thank you for your compliments. Not my best work but.. always room for improvement!

Cheers, Andy

[Dave Klaatu]

On 3/22/2023 at 1:39 AM, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Thank You Sir! glad you like it!.. i used the blutac 'sausage' method to mask the camo pattern! 

Ha! If I didn't already use it, I'd wonder...blutac sausage? Is that something for breakfast? LOL!

[Hopesdaddy]

Excellent finish, now I want to build a RAF Fortress all of the sudden after seeing how good yours turned out.

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

13 hours ago, Hopesdaddy said:

Excellent finish, now I want to build a RAF Fortress all of the sudden after seeing how good yours turned out.

Thanks for the compliment Sir! The B-17 is one of my favourite 'Heavies' from WW2. 

There is a lot of unused bits on the sprues in this Airfix kit. Ball Turret, Waist gunners glazing. Bomb load, spare nose glazing unused .50 cal machine guns, Bendix Nose turret.. These are good for 'spares' for other kits.

I elected to do mine with closed bomb bay doors. 

These B-17 ELINT aircraft didn't take  a bomb load with them on Ops. I'm reliably informed that the Lancasters performing 'ABC' Roles did however..

Kind Regards

Andy

Edited March 24, 2023 by Col Walter E Kurtz

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

7 hours ago, Dave Klaatu said:

Ha! If I didn't already use it, I'd wonder...blutac sausage? Is that something for breakfast? LOL!

hehehe.. I thought we'd agreed not to mention such things in public... 🤣

[Coors54]

Great work Andy, and as others have said the scheme and the paint finish really suits the Fortress.

 

For those interested in 100 Group Martin Streetly did a series in the old Scale Models magazine about the aircraft and how to model them, it was then turned into a book The Aircraft of 100 Group: A Historical Guide for the Modeller ISBN-10 0709010435

 

It's still the definitive work on the subject despite being written nearly 50 years ago.

 

He did several titles on the electronic air battle over Germany, it is a fascinating story.

 

I don't think B-17's did carry a bomb load on missions, the bomb bay was too small and was occupied by the electronics package. ABC Lancaster's on the other hand did. The aircraft supplied to the 100 Group squadrons came from USAAF 8th Air Force squadrons so were not new and converted in the UK to the specialist role.

 

Dave

Edited March 24, 2023 by Coors54
Spellin'

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

3 hours ago, Coors54 said:

Great work Andy, and as others have said the scheme and the paint finish really suits the Fortress.

 

For those interested in 100 Group Martin Streetly did a series in the old Scale Models magazine about the aircraft and how to model them, it was then turned into a book The Aircraft of 100 Group: A Historical Guide for the Modeller ISBN-10 0709010435

 

It's still the definitive work on the subject despite being written nearly 50 years ago.

 

He did several titles on the electronic air battle over Germany, it is a fascinating story.

 

I don't think B-17's did carry a bomb load on missions, the bomb bay was too small and was occupied by the electronics package. ABC Lancaster's on the other hand did. The aircraft supplied to the 100 Group squadrons came from USAAF 8th Air Force squadrons so were not new and converted in the UK to the specialist role.

 

Dave

Thank you for your kind comments Dave. Much appreciated!

 

Also. The correction regards bomb load . Maybe i've  just got confused regarding The Lancaster v B17 in this role? . I'll have read up a bit more!  I'll see if i can find the book you mention too.

 

It is a fascinating story I agree. Many years ago I went to University. I had lectures in Trent Park Mansion near Cockfosters in North London I found out later that this was where captured Luftwaffe aircrew were interrogated. Some members of KG100 were interrogated there.  They were secretly recorded and started asking each other questions like " Did They mention the beams? " " No not at all.. they'll never find out about how we bomb so accurately"...  Strage to think i was sitting in the same rooms where history was being made.. some 45 years later ..

Kind Regards, Andy

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

On 22/03/2023 at 03:14, Andy Dyck said:

The buildings are also very well done. My suggestion would be, when you go there and measure them, take some nice background photos that you can maybe use to set the scene again. What do you think?

Yes Andy that's a good suggestion!  i definitely need to make up some proper high quality backdrops from real photos.. Thank you for the excellent suggestion!

Kind Regards, Andy

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

On 24/03/2023 at 11:42, Coors54 said:

For those interested in 100 Group Martin Streetly did a series in the old Scale Models magazine about the aircraft and how to model them, it was then turned into a book The Aircraft of 100 Group: A Historical Guide for the Modeller ISBN-10 0709010435

 

It's still the definitive work on the subject despite being written nearly 50 years ago.

I'll try and find this publication. Thanks for the tip!

Regards, Andy

[ColinChipmunkfan]

What a great model and well-done sir on your charity talks.  Unfortunately, you are too far away for me to attend any of them.  I have both the Martin Streetly history of 100 grp and the modelling book.  You have plenty of options for future models.

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

5 hours ago, ColinChipmunkfan said:

What a great model and well-done sir on your charity talks.  Unfortunately, you are too far away for me to attend any of them.  I have both the Martin Streetly history of 100 grp and the modelling book.  You have plenty of options for future models.

Thank you kindly Colin. Yes NZ is a bit far from me ! a lot of them take place on Zoom but then there's the time zone difference between us also. I found the 100 group activities quite fascinating. Definitely more models in the pipeline!

 

Cheers! 

Regards, Andy

Edited July 19, 2023 by Col Walter E Kurtz

[Dave Wilko]

That is superb Sir,very nice indeed.

100 Group are one of the "unsung" wartime RAF Groups,as you say,their attrition rate was very high compared to other Groups.

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

3 hours ago, Dave Wilko said:

That is superb Sir,very nice indeed.

100 Group are one of the "unsung" wartime RAF Groups,as you say,their attrition rate was very high compared to other Groups.

Thank you Dave for your kind comments.

They , 100 Group , deserve more recognition I agree.  I've been offered a WW2 Marconi Wireless set. from a Lancaster. These were used in 110 G a/c for 'Tinselling' missions. Trouble is SWMBOd will noy share in my pleasure at owning a little bit of history! 

Cheers, Kind Regards

Andy