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B-17F Nine little Yanks and a Jerk. (100th BG)


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Hi,

Here's the old Revell B-17 in 1/72, with Kits-world decals.

ARCB-17F-1.jpg

I know less about B-17's than most of you in this Group Build.

I had no idea what the history of "Nine little Yanks..." was, I just wanted to use a B-17F option of the Kits-world sheet. I was keen to build one from the 100th BG because I have seen quite a few 100th ARW KC-135 at Mildenhall.

I Googled the 100th BG and found their website. Knowing that the 100th BG was known as the "Bloody 100th", I hoped for the best and feared for the worst as I looked for the fate of my subject.

http://www.100thbg.com/mainpages/crews/crews4/hughes.htm

So, most did survive, but spookily, the guy that inspired the "Jerk" was the only one KIA.

Joseph Boyle forgot to wind in a trailing antenna as the crew arrived in the UK, causing some damage in Scotland.

In the picture, one can see that he was still with them when the mission markings were pretty much as in the decal sheet.

I do not know what the two ducks below the bombs stand for in the mission markings.

I will try to get more of my builds for the Desert Storm GB done, before I really get going on this one.

Cheers, Stefan.

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Nine Little Yanks... certainly seems to have a very interesting story to her.

Welcome aboard, and we'll be looking forward to seeing this build. I'm sure Karl is happy to see something done from the 100th and not another 91st bomber.

Cheers!

Mark.

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Welcome aboard, and we'll be looking forward to seeing this build. I'm sure Karl is happy to see something done from the 100th and not another 91st bomber.

Cheers!

Mark.

Thanks for the kind welcome, Mark.

Funny that you should mention the 91st BG. Years ago, I saw a colour photograph of shiny silver B-17G's with red tail surfaces flying at high altitude. I always found that a very impressive image and I had been thinking about building my Hasegawa B-17G with such a tail which is possible the same Kits-World decal sheet.

That would be "Madame Shoo Shoo" of the 91st BG.

I now gather that the 91st BG is much built in models, so I might give another BG some attention.

On the same sheet is also the 381st BG's "Sleepy time gal" which also has red tail surfaces.

I have a P-47 with the same "Sleepy time gal" art, so I'm more drawn to the "Madame Shoo Shoo" art for the B-17.

Also, I think that "Madame Shoo Shoo" was a late B-17G with staggered waist gun positions (which is in the Hasegawa kit).

I'm not so sure that "Sleepy time gal" was one of those, I'll have to check the tail number and the block number.

Cheers, Stefan.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

Fantastic build threads here, guys! :thumbsup:

I will not engage in some of the fantastic detailing that I've seen in other threads with my old 1/72 kit. I just hope to build it well from the box and paint it well.

In one of the threads, I saw a discussion about how the flying surfaces are when the B-17 is on the ground.

I gather that most are in a neutral position. I also remember that some are interconnected so that if one is up the other must be down.

For the moment I can't find that thread anymore.

Would the B-17 experts please be kind enough to name the yellow, red and blue surfaces on this drawing and say what their positions would be on a parked B-17?

I know that the rudder isn't on the drawing. I gather that was locked in a neutral position when parked?

ARCB-17F-2.jpg

Cheers, Stefan.

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This pretty much goes for all aircraft flying.

Yellow - Ailerons (how the plane pitches from left to right. When one is uo the other is down. These are controlled by turning the yoke left or right.)

Red - Flaps (extended to provide added lift during slow flight. Take-offs and landings.)

Blue - Elevators. (Control pitch up and down. Push the yoke forward or pull it backwards.)

Basically a Fort parked would have the elevators down and that's it. I screwed up on mine and completely went against what I know is true and even physics really and put the ailerons slightly down also. I'm calling them broken and needing maintenance. :thumbsup:

I just got done building that old Fort and I must say for an old classic model it's really not bad. The fit of the larger pieces is quite good. If you plan to do the bomb doors closed you'll run into trouble as there is a big gap. I would suggest gluing them open and doing up the bomb bay.

Mine didn't come with any of the interior parts (bought second hand) so I put in all the windows and just painted over them. I'll come back and accent them with black most likely as if it were a wooden model or something.

I'm finishing up some detail painting on it today actually and will Future it this weekend to get it ready for decals.

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Thanks a lot, BAH. B)

One of the first things I did was closing the bombbay doors. :rolleyes:

My plan was to putty the gap and scribe a fine line in the middle.

Cheers, Stefan.

How was your gap along the sides of the bay doors?

Mine's horrendous but I don't care much. I didn't have a ball turret either so there's really nothing underneath the plane. Barely sanded the seam and just said heck with it.

I got this for 7$ I believe so it's more my test bed/motivator for my big Forts. I'll try out weathering and such on this one. It should still look OK though.

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How was your gap along the sides of the bay doors?

Mine's horrendous but I don't care much. I didn't have a ball turret either so there's really nothing underneath the plane. Barely sanded the seam and just said heck with it.

I got this for 7$ I believe so it's more my test bed/motivator for my big Forts. I'll try out weathering and such on this one. It should still look OK though.

Hi,

Yes, there are gaps there too. I can live with them, though. I'll lessen them a bit with putty when I fill the holes where the hinges are.

I got mine for 8 Euros and I still love the way this old kit looks and feels like.

Cheers, Stefan.

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Good luck on your project!

I'm surprised to see how many of the old Revell 1/72 B-17Fs are getting built for this GB. I recently built one as a "nostalgia build" myself. I didn't worry about the gap in the bomb bay doors, because I was trying to preserve all those nifty operating features I thought were so cool when I first built th e kit as a kid back in the mid 70s.

SN

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

I started to mask the clear parts, but I didn't feel good about it. These old parts are not that crisply shaped. I was also afraid that the windows were going to come away too when the masking tape was removed.

So...I'm going to paint first, then attach the clear parts, assemble the kit and than touch up the central seam with careful airbrushing.

I've sprayed the main parts in OD and I love the look of those classic rivets under a coat of OD. :)

Cheers, Stefan.

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Its funny I was at my LHS yesterday and rumaging through the decals and came a cross the decal sheet for the Nine Little Yanks. There was something about it that made it stand out in my mind.

I didn't say it before so I'll say it now. Welcome to the GB. Bring on the build!!!!

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Dont worry about the june deadline, we're extended till the end of the year.

Hi,

Yes, I know about the extension. :thumbsup:

It's got me thinking about doing an NMF B-17G, so I'd better finnish the B-17F soon.

I had a look at my B-17G's: I was doubting between 42-107112 of the 381st BG or 43-37707 of the 91st BG.

I was leaning toward the 381st BG because it is apparantly less modelled than the 91st. I have a Hasegawa B-17G and I googled these aircraft to make sure their configuration matched the kit.

I found that 42-107112 is part of a formation of which some famous colour pictures were taken, but she does not have the Cheyenne turret.

42-107112 is in the background coded "VE-O", "VE-N" in the foreground does have a Cheyenne turret.

http://forum.armyairforces.com/upfiles/65/asppg_Ej126166933.jpg

So, I checked 43-37707 and found an impressive mission list.

http://www.usaaf-noseart.co.uk/misslist-37707.htm

43-37707 it is then.

Cheers, Stefan.

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Hi,

This is what she looks like today. Will this be a complete B-17 by the 30th of June? ;)

ARCB-17F-3.jpg

The prop blades were airbrushed, 3 years ago I would not thought of doing these with anything but a brush.

Cheers, Stefan.

You can get her done!

Then do more.

You could always leave the windows out for clarity. Having built that kit recently the windows were poop. Otherwise I'd try that clear plastic stock method to do them. I'm sure they'd look better anyway.

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One tip, use masking tape on either side of seam you are filling to minimize the are your filler takes up. This way you have less sanding and dont have to worry about replacing lost surface detail.

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One tip, use masking tape on either side of seam you are filling to minimize the are your filler takes up. This way you have less sanding and dont have to worry about replacing lost surface detail.

Great tip, thanks. :thumbsup:

I'll be using it this afternoon.

The clamps are off and with wings dry-fitted, she looks so B-17 like from a couple of feet away.

Cheers, Stefan.

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Hi,

As you can see, the upper fuselage decided to come apart. I didn't make any big moves with the aircraft, maybe it's the weight of the wings that caused this...

Anyway, she's had some CA glue added and she is clamped up again.

Some rework will be needed on the paint-job too. I attempted to imitate Neil Burkhill's fabulous smoke stains. Behind the infamous vents were strips of masking tape. This created stains with edges that were way too sharp. There are smaller bits of masking tape behind the vents now and I'll spray new stains freehand.

ARCB-17F-5.jpg

Does anyone have a good picture of the stains on the underside? I only have an underside picture of a surprisingly clean B-17.

While I had black paint in the airbrush for the de-icer boots, I also painted the props of my Hasegawa B-17G. :)

Cheers, Stefan.

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Hi,

Stephen,

Thanks for posting the picture. B)

Remarkable how different the inner engine and out engine smoke deposits are.

I've been looking for some blutack from Bostik here. No luck. Maybe some day I'll find some in the UK.

Dirk,

Thanks for the compliment. The effect is pretty much an accident.

I'm not sure if you'd want to replicate it but here's how I think it was done.

a) get a model that is covered in tiny raised rivets.

b have it spraypainted by a modeller with unreliable techniques (different ratios of paint/thinner, different pressures, different distances between nozzle and model).

c) have a modeller with greasy fingers pick up the model repeatedly, holding it by that area.

I'll have to use rubber gloves on my NMF B-17G...

Cheers, Stefan.

Edited by Stefan buysse
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  • 5 months later...

Hi guys,

I need to get working on my B-17F again or it will be 2012 and she won't be finished.

I'll edit this post with a picture tonight.

Some stuff I did on the model since June:

*improved the look of the exhaust stains.

*painted the props with an airbrush, with masks applied for the prop tips. these got a coat of white before they got the yellow.

*handpainted the framing on the ball and top turrets.

Stuff to do:

*Weather the exhausts, they look silver now.

*Add wire antenna's.

*Add wheels.

*Add the turrets and final glass parts.

*Add decals.

Hi,

Here's the picture I promised.

I'm pleased that the framing on the nosecone looks OK from a distance.

ARCB-17GBnearlydone.jpg

Cheers, Stefan.

Edited by Stefan buysse
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