1:144 B-17F/G lying Fortress

Fortresses that were known by their noses

The Boeing B-17 carried the main weight of the daylight bombing of occupied Europe. Crews of ten flew in tight combat boxes, relying on the crossfire of the defensive turrets and on the famous ability of the type to bring a machine home with its fuselage shot through. Nose art was at the same time the only way a crew could tell its aircraft from dozens of sister machines in the same formation.

This sheet brings four particular machines of the Eighth Air Force, with both main versions side by side:

• 42-98008 American Beauty - a late G version with a chin turret
• 42-97880 Miss Mischief - a G version as well
• 42-30857 My Devotion - an earlier F version with a glazed nose and no chin turret
• 42-97976 A Bit O Lace - one of the most photographed pieces of nose art of the whole war

With each aircraft goes the serial and the squadron code letters as well as the artwork itself, so a machine can be built without hunting for further references. The printing is done on a thin carrier film with accurate register, which matters at the width of a fuselage in this scale.

You will get the best results on a smooth gloss surface. Soak the marking you have cut out for a few seconds, slide it into place and blot the excess water off. With softener the marking settles even across riveting and overlapping panels. Once dry, go over the area with matte varnish.