1:48 B-17G Flying Fortress

The Eighth Air Force and its daylight formations

Fortresses flew over the continent by day and in tight combat formations that were meant to cover one another's fields of fire. The price of that tactic was losses of a kind night bombing never knew. The groups recognized one another by a letter in a geometric figure on the vertical tail surface and by the two letter squadron code on the fuselage, because among hundreds of identical aircraft there was otherwise no way to find your bearings.

Which units the sheet captures

The sheet covers machines of the 570th Squadron of the 390th Bombardment Group and of the 324th Squadron of the 91st Bombardment Group. The 91st was among the oldest formations committed from England and its aircraft were the most frequently photographed subject of the press correspondents. One of the machines on the sheet has serial number 42-30434 and a cartoon figure of Betty Boop on the nose; the second carries the number 42-37779.

A note on the names on the nose

Lettering was repainted, added to and sometimes the same name appeared on several aircraft of the same group during service. That happened with the pair on this sheet too, so during a build the serial number decides, not the name.

Application

The tail figure is a large continuous area and usually involves the most work. Let a soaked piece rest on the paper so that the film takes up water, and lay it on a surface covered with a thin layer of water, so that it can still be moved.

You will use the leftover pieces from the sheet elsewhere as well. Numerals and letters tend to be printed at a uniform height, so markings the sheet does not offer directly can be assembled from them.