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Revellogram (Revell) 1/48 B-17G Latest Releases?


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Do the latest releases of the venerable 1/48 Revell B-17G come with the pumpkin (aka Cheyenne)  tail turret originally found in the Promodeler version?  I thought it did but I don't have a current copy of this  kit to verify. 

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The last one that did that I’m aware of was the newest version of the visible kit. Had everything from the pro modeler kit minus the photo etch parts. And you have to cut off the tail to use the pumpkin tail. 

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On 6/19/2019 at 6:59 PM, Sleepy said:

Plenty of non-staggered G's got the pumpkin turret in the ETO.  They shipped conversion kits to the depot at Burtonwood.

 

Indeed... here's one of the more notable aircraft with a pumpkin tail turret and unstaggered waist guns albeit not a factory or mod center ship, the result is the same.  You'll recognize her as Little Miss Mischief... B-17G-35-VE (as built).  Note that the leading edge of her vertical stabliizer is NOT black, it's red, just as it should be.

 

4cDO2c3.jpg

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  They are still unusual, and difficult to find with ready-made AM decal markings...

 

  I was looking for ready-made decals merely for a full silver unstaggered waist gun B-17G, no special turret, and even for that, I think the only one I found was for a famous one with the entire tail olive drab... Maybe I finally found a fully silver unstaggered decal option, but I am not even sure...

 

  Full silver unstaggered may have been common with paint striping, but that is of no help if the resulting markings are dull, so that no decals are made for them, which is often the case...

 

  By contrast, unstaggered offers endless options with full Olive drab schemes...

 

  Robertson

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On 6/29/2019 at 9:29 PM, Sleepy said:

The thing is there just aren’t *that* many B-17G decals out there period.  There were thousands and thousands of B-17Gs in the ETO, and only a vanishingly small fraction of them has ever been done as a decal.

 

That's why I make my own decals (nose art, squadron markings, serial numbers, etc...)  I only do 91st BG ships though as that's all that interests me.  Besides, a lot (not all, there are a few very good ones out there...Mike Grant Decals "Hikin for Home" comes to mind) of the commercially available decals for the 91st BG are incorrect in some form or another, some grossly inaccurate.  I'll use what I can from a commercially available sheet (such as "Wee Willie" nose art from Kit's World Decals but I will render the division symbol (triangle "A") and the squadron/plane-in-squadron codes as they're wrong on the Kits World Sheet.  I may even re-render the nose art as I'm not convinced on some of the coloring they used on it.

 

I'm also trying to figure out how to 3D print a B-17F style nose (without the gun ports) as a master, to replace the typical B-17G nose that the Revell (Monogram) kit comes with.  A lot of the 91st ships (as I suspect a lot of other ships in other BG's) used this type of clear plexi nose for one reason or another.

 

The reason why I started this thread was to find out if I could get a B-17G kit in 1/48 scale with a pumpkin tail turret without having to invest my right leg for the ProModeler or latest Visible editions of the kit.  I did acquire one just to have a look and what's been said about it not coming with the pumpkin turret is a  fact; it does not.  I was going to build a B-17G-35-DL from the 91st "Fifinella" but that project is on hold for the time being.  I think I'm going to do this one as "Wee Willie"; another of my favorite aircraft from the 91st.  I could still do Fifinella as there's photographic evidence that B-17G-35-DL's did not come from the factory with the pumpkin turret and also photographic evidence of this production block in action with the standard tail stinger.  This leads to the possibility that Fifinella may have had the standard tail stinger.  There's no photo's I can find of her tail so it remains a possibility...but I continue to search.  All I'd have to do is stagger the waist windows (and make new enclosures which I have already devised a plan to accomplish).

 

DGc4wJF.jpg

 

Well, I just found what I was looking for:  Fifinella had a standard tail.  Oh happy day!  I just left here and Googled the aircraft and up came an image I hadn't seen before.  It's Fifinella's starboard side (42-107030) LG*T, showing her with a standard tail stinger!  I lucked out and Fifinella's ON!

 

 

JeMWvFE.jpg

 

Edited by timc
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The early Gs came with that longer F style nose plexi but I could only guess why later ones would have it, and I'm sure my ideas aren't new-combat damage replacement, or maybe the crew wanted a roomier nose compartment?

 

 Could sure use a few of them myself for some B-17F projects I have in mind. Of course, I think they all have the single .50 in it.

 

 381st BG guy myself but my current long delayed project is a 100th BG bird.

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How early in the G production run are you talking about?  Wee Willie (42-31333) is a B-17G-15-BO and she was delivered with the typical G style nose plexi.  It was then replaced (for whatever reason) with the F style nose later on in her career. The first photo is from early in her career while the second is after she's put on a few dozen missions. Note the BDR patches and the replacement chin turret in addition to the F style nose plexi.  Still haven't figured out why the cooling jackets on the guns were painted white (for that matter, painted at all).

 

SHidvFi.jpg

 

Above photo borrowed from the 91st BGMA (www.91stbombgroup.com) and is for discussion purposes only.  Copyrights remain with owner/91st BGMA.

 

eBEET0i.jpg

 

 

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17 minutes ago, timc said:

Still haven't figured out why the cooling jackets on the guns were painted white (for that matter, painted at all).

Huh, that is odd. I would have guessed non-blued metal instead of paint.
But ...
Now I wonder, if is paint, if it might have been something to indicate gun barrel heating as it discolored from that heat, after all, hot barrels do affect accuracy. 
Might also be a way for the gun maintenance people to tell at a glance which guns have been fired and which have not, they probably needed different types of servicing after the mission.
All I can do is speculate, in multiple decades of being interested in airplanes and in military history this is the first I've ever seen of anything like that.

Edited by southwestforests
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I assumed paint because in a color photo I have of "General Ike", the cooling jackets are red whereas here they seem to be white.  These are obviously late war photos (the red barrel jackets on General Ike and the white barrel jackets on Wee Willie) so it may just be personal/crew dressing as there doesn't seem to be a consistency among the ships in the group.  I haven't really looked at a lot of late war 91st ships but these two just caught my eye; they may be the only ones and they may not be...evaluation continues (until such time as I take the dirt nap).

Edited by timc
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Early. "Sugar" was a B-17G-10-DL: Long nose, no cheeks, flat top turret. One of my favorite B-17 pics as it's all right there. And also of note, the early Gs had the same open waist windows as the Fs.

 

 

Sugar.jpg

Edited by WymanV
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1 hour ago, WymanV said:

Early. "Sugar" was a B-17G-10-DL: Long nose, no cheeks, flat top turret. One of my favorite B-17 pics as it's all right there. And also of note, the early Gs had the same open waist windows as the Fs.

 

 

Sugar.jpg

 

Interesting.... I know most of the characteristics of the early G's but that upper local turret is definitely a new one for me.  Do you know her serial number? I cannot identify her from the photograph.

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 Don't know if this helps, but, the Squadron/Signal B-17 In action (1984) shows, on pg 38, 2 B-17F-75-DLs with chin turret, and small cheek windows. States that these were a carry-over from the YB-40 program.  Later saying that the last  86 Douglas built F models had them.

 

 Also, bulged cheek windows were introduced on the Douglas Block-25, Vega Block-35, and the Boeing Block-60 G-models.

 

 Hope this helps this very informative discussion.

 

-Scott

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Hope this helps this very informative discussion.

 

Yes, all input is welcome.  Helps all of us understand better.  The blocks you identified as introducing the bulged cheek windows are from a production line standpoint.  The UAL Cheyenne Mod Center was installing the bulged cheek windows on B-17's long before they made it to the production line; the same is true of the pumpkin turrets.   Most of those B-17G's not equipped with cheek windows from the factory, received them from the UAL Cheyenne Mod Center (or other modification centers) but the above photo is a G and we can plainly see that not all B-17G's received the bulged cheek windows before being assigned to a unit.

 

8 hours ago, F4DPhantomII said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Revell-1-48-Visible-B-17G-Flying-Fortress-by-Revell-NEW-OPEN-BOX/123812378432?hash=item1cd3caf740:g:sHkAAOSwjBNc70rQ

 

 

 

this one says Revell in header is it the latest release of visible B-17G wth pumpkin turret.Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info.  Although it's a nice model (I had one but sold it years ago), There's no way I'd pay that price for a pumpkin turret.  Anyway, I found out I don't need one anyway.  My subject aircraft did not have one.

Edited by timc
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19 hours ago, timc said:

 

Interesting.... I know most of the characteristics of the early G's but that upper local turret is definitely a new one for me.  Do you know her serial number? I cannot identify her from the photograph.

 

I found her.  42-37791 GD*L.  It appears she was the very first B-17G produced by Douglas after the last production F's (B-17F-85-DL).  It's no wonder she's got a lot of "F" traits.

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 Yup, that's her. The 381st got a few of those very early Gs. All the ones I've seen photos of share the same F style dorsal turret.

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