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Totally scratch built fuselage of a 1:20 scale B17G "Fuddy Duddy"


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Hi everyone

 

The B-17 Flying Fortress, “Fuddy Duddy,” was used as a VIP transport in the Pacific at the end of World War II. It once carried General Dwight D. Eisenhower who later became the 34th President of the United States. In civilian life, it worked as a fire bomber and was occasionally used for motion picture filming, flying on screen in movies such as the 1962 Steve McQueen movie, “The War Lover” and the 1970 blockbuster, “Tora Tora Tora.”

 

Here then is my replication of the fuselage and all the internal detail of the WarBird "Fuddy Duddy" B17G which is at present stationed at The Lyon Air Museum in California.

 

I built it to 1:20 scale and from nose to tail the model measures out at 3 feet 8 inches! ...right from the start I had no intention of building the wings for this model as I wanted to concentrate on the internal detail of all the crew areas. The fuselage was constructed out of balsa wood and plastic and all the internal and external detail was built from plastic card ,wire,card ,aluminium sheets,paper and anything lying around that was useful!  I designed the top part of the fuselage as a cutaway so the detail can be seen. 

No CAD programmes were used to build any part of this model.

 

This project has been a big part of my life as it took me 10 years to complete!....I hope you like the photos!

 

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Thank you for taking a look!

 

Cheers

 

Fozzy

 

 

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Fozzy, if you could be a fly on the wall at the Museum, I'm sure you would hear viewers of this stunning model say something like "... what do you mean this was all built by hand? Every bullet, every seat strap, dial, switch ... everything?? There's no way-y-y! It's way too perfect!!!"

 

I hope the fact that this was built with no kit parts, no 3D prints and all done with your own two hands is stressed by the Docents and the blurb describing this B-17 ...

 

Well Done Fozzy and Congratulations!

Pete

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1 hour ago, Fozzy said:

Here then is my replication of the fuselage and all the internal detail of the WarBird "Fuddy Duddy" B17G which is at present stationed at The Lyon Air Museum in California.

The prototype Fuddy Duddy is at the museum, can this be read to mean that your model is too?

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  • 1 month later...

A master craftsman's level effort - truly fantastic. I have built several models over the years which contained detailed interiors only to feel a little heartache when the fuselage is closed up and all the detail is hidden.  Your method of displaying the interior of the B-17 is inspiring. 

I am glad that the model will be on display in a museum for many to enjoy.  Thanks for sharing it here with us too.

 

Happy Modeling,

John

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19 hours ago, vonjhn68 said:

A master craftsman's level effort - truly fantastic. I have built several models over the years which contained detailed interiors only to feel a little heartache when the fuselage is closed up and all the detail is hidden.  Your method of displaying the interior of the B-17 is inspiring. 

I am glad that the model will be on display in a museum for many to enjoy.  Thanks for sharing it here with us too.

 

Happy Modeling,

John

 

Hi John......thank you for your kind words!...I always try to find a way to display the interior detail on my models but of course  it does mean a lot of re construction! ....

All the best and Happy New Year! 

Martin

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  • 2 months later...
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On 11/1/2021 at 8:06 AM, Fozzy said:

In civilian life, it worked as a fire bomber and was occasionally used for motion picture filming, flying on screen in movies such as the 1962 Steve McQueen movie, “The War Lover” and the 1970 blockbuster, “Tora Tora Tora.”

Spectacular work. I just re-read Martin Caidin's "The Flying Forts." In it, Caidin chronicles how he became involved with resurrecting three B-17s that had been left to rot for years in the Arizona desert. They had become the home of birds and snakes, the tires had rotted and the wheels had sunk into the ground up to the axles, the fabric surfaces were history, they were in terrible shape. They were repaired and made flyable specifically for filming “The War Lover.” Caidin flew as co-pilot on one of the planes in the first mass flight of B-17s since WWII, he lamented that there might never again be a formation of B-17s, I think he'd be pleased to know that they occasionally fly in formation at airshows nowadays...

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