1:48 B-17G Flying Fortress

Two Fortresses that got past the scrapyard

The sheet covers two four engine Boeing B-17G bombers that came through the postwar withdrawals all the way to the era of collectors' aircraft. The first is the machine 44-83872 with the code VP-X, the second 44-85829 marked GD-Y. Both appear today in the colors of combat units of the Eighth Air Force, so the markings on the sheet link postwar care of equipment with the appearance these aircraft had over Europe in the last year of the war.

The Fortress was famous for how much it could take. A crew of ten manned thirteen machine guns of twelve and a half millimeter caliber, and the machine commonly came back with its surfaces shot through, an engine out of action or part of the rudder torn away. The G version added a nose turret under the cockpit to the defense, which filled the blind spot German fighters most often attacked head-on through.

Aircraft with this pedigree have one advantage for a modeler: a great many color photographs from air shows exist for them, from which the exact shade of the markings, the position of the lettering and the look of real metal skin in harsh sun can all be read. Combat photographs from the war, by contrast, are almost always black and white and grainy, so the choice between the two also decides how heavily you soil a model.

Procedure and recommendations

Decide first which of the two machines you will build, because they differ not only in code but in the shades of the markings on the fuselage. The printing is fine and a transferred motif can be adjusted only for a short while, so polish the area around the nose beforehand and free it of dust. Once the decals are dry a thin layer of protective varnish follows, and only after it any accenting of the panels. The contents are printed markings, not a plastic kit or paints.