1:72 Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress nose art

The Fortresses that survived the war

Of the some twelve and a half thousand Boeing B-17s built, barely fifty have survived to the present day and only a handful of them are capable of flight. It is precisely such machines that stand behind this sheet. These are therefore not markings from combat missions over Europe, but the appearance in which the Fortresses have presented themselves at air shows and in museum halls over the last decades.

The real subjects

The first is a B-17G with the number 44-83872, operated for long years by the Commemorative Air Force association under the name Texas Raiders. It belonged to the very few Fortresses kept in airworthy condition and was a familiar guest at displays across the United States. The second subject is machine 44-6393 from the collection of a Californian aviation museum. Both aircraft came off the production line only at the close of the war and in essence never saw combat use, so their familiar appearance comes from the postwar era.

Working with the sheet

Artwork on noses tends to be colored and multilayered, so it is necessary for a light and smooth base to be under it; over a dark or rough finish it will lose its brightness. Do not treat a fixed area with varnish at once, but only after it has dried completely, otherwise the thinner gets under the film and swells the artwork. If you plan to dirty the model, do it above a varnished decal; dirt applied straight onto the film wipes off it unevenly.

Contents

The sheet alone. Neither plastic nor etched parts are in the package and you obtain the model of the Fortress separately. Given that both subjects are machines of late production batches, the sheet suits a model matching the late form of the type with a chin turret.