1:144 Boeing B-17 MkIII's

Flying meteorologists over the North Atlantic

The Royal Air Force received the heavy Boeings by a different route from the Americans and also used them differently. These were not daylight raids in tight formations but lone flights over the ocean. The weather reconnaissance squadrons took off from Reykjavik and measured pressure, temperature and cloud on the routes along which the operations of the whole command were then planned. A flight lasted many hours and ended where it began, without a single bomb.

The sheet gives two such machines. Kittie with the code 2-K belonged to No. 220 weather reconnaissance squadron, and Keflavic Cutie with the fuselage number FA712 and the code AD-C to No. 251 Squadron. Both flew from Iceland at the end of 1944. The third item is an aircraft of No. 214 Squadron of No. 100 Group, which worked on radio jamming and decoy maneuvers; its inscription Give it to Uncle captures the style of this work better than any description of the equipment.

Another interesting point is how these machines differed from their American sister aircraft: the British crews removed part of the armament, added measuring instruments and fitted radio equipment, so in photographs they differ in their antennas and their blanked-off gun positions. A model at this tiny reduction will not render that in detail, but the correct codes from the sheet place such a machine at once.

A note on the build

British Fortresses carried a dark night finish or a gray maritime scheme, so the light codes from the sheet show up strongly on a model. A dark surface will at the same time show up the glossy edge of the film mercilessly, so it pays to give the model a matte clear coat once it has dried and to pick out the joints around the decal as well.

The sheet is reckoned for four-engine models at this reduction. Paints and clear coats are not enclosed with it and are obtained to your own choice.