1:48 Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress Bombardier's cockpit (Interior set) (HKM)

The man who decided the last minutes of the flight

On a raid the last straight run over the target was entrusted to the bombardier. He took over the lead of the machine through the link to the bombsight, watched the drift and the speed, and at that moment the pilot in fact merely held the engines for him. The space in which he worked was therefore equipped like a small workshop: a console with the bombsight, controls for the bomb bay, oxygen, a heated suit and right beside them a side machine gun, to which he had to jump as soon as the bombs left the aircraft.

Into a modern mold with high demands

The kit from Hong Kong Models is among the newer renderings of the Fortress and its own detail is decent. It is precisely with such a molding, though, that the difference in fineness stands out: what is limited in injection-molded plastic by the technology of ejector pins and draft angles can be done in cast resin, because the mold does not have to allow for the part being drawn out. The set therefore does not make up for a shortcoming; it rather raises the bar.

• an installation of the nose for the Boeing B-17F, scale 1:48
• measured for the molding of the Hong Kong Models brand
• a finer execution than an injection mold allows
• suitable for a build with the glazing uncovered
• the aircraft and the glazing are not included in the package

First check the play between the installation and the inner wall of the fuselage, because every extra tenth will show in whether the halves finally sit down. Do the sanding dry and with a respirator, as dust from cast resin does not belong in the lungs. Apply the paint to the parts separately and complete the assembly only once it has dried.