1:32 Boeing B-17 'Two Beauts'

One aircraft, one story

The sheet does not take the route of general equipment but concentrates on a single machine. The Flying Fortress nicknamed Two Beauts was assigned to the unit at the beginning of March 1943 and carried the letters VK on the fuselage supplemented by the distinguishing H. It belonged to the 358th Bomb Squadron, one of the four squadrons of the 303rd Bomb Group, which has a special place in the history of daylight bombing, because it was one of the first to bring its crew through the prescribed number of combat missions.

Molesworth, spring 1943

The base at Molesworth in the English Midlands was at that time full of machines on which the personal nose art was becoming the recognition mark of a crew. It was the period when the American formations flew over the continent with no fighter escort for the whole route and the losses matched that. A modeler who chooses this subject is therefore not building an anonymous bomber but a particular aircraft with a particular day of assignment to a unit and with a fate that differs from the rest.

The practical side

The personal painting on the nose tends to be the largest and most striking element of the whole printing. Stick it on first, while the surrounding area is free, and only then add the fuselage letters, so that their position can be fine-tuned against it. The surface must be glossy and dried out, best for two days. Once dry, give the whole model a semi-gloss clear coat, which makes the transition between the carrier film and the surface disappear. The fuselage letters have a noticeable thickness of print in 1:32, so once dry it pays to go over them lightly with thinned clear coat so that their edge disappears beneath the surface. The goods consist of the sheet alone; the plastic model is supplied separately.