1:48 B-17F/G

Two Fortresses, two forms of nose

The sheet brings together two Boeing bombers. The first is a B-17G with serial number 42-32024, the code WA-L and the name Swamp Fire of the 524th Bombardment Squadron of the 379th Bombardment Group. The second is the earlier B-17F 42-5077 with the code OR-T and the name Delta Rebel II, which served with the 323rd Squadron of the 91st Bombardment Group. Both units belonged to the Eighth Air Force and took off from bases in eastern England on long range daylight raids.

How the G differed from the F

The G version received a gun turret with a pair of machine guns under the nose, an answer to the head-on attacks by German fighters which the earlier form had revealed as its most vulnerable point. The F still defended itself only with movable weapons in the glazing of the nose. From the sheet a builder therefore picks which variant to build, and the markings of the second aircraft stay in reserve for next time.

Recommended procedure for application

The fuselage of a Fortress is covered in rivets and overlapping skin panels. Once a motif is settled, a decal softener helps draw the film into the pressed contours, so that it does not stay stretched over them like a membrane; after it, leave the decal undisturbed for at least forty-five minutes. Apply varnish in thin coats, otherwise the small technical lettering will blur and lose legibility.

What service with the Eighth Air Force involved

Daylight raids without a fighter escort cost the American groups heavy losses during 1943, and that is exactly why the armament and armor of the Fortresses gradually changed. Crews named their aircraft, painted artwork and mission marks on the nose, which for every example was unique and unrepeatable. For a model carrying markings like that, the home station, the code and the fate can be traced, and the build thereby gains an entirely different dimension from an anonymous gray bomber.