Revell 1:72 B17G Flying Fortress 04283

[Johni044]

I know there is a bombers GB on the go at the moment but I had started it in the fall of last year and only picked it up again after finishing the JU290. So this is a quick progress to date report.

Impressed with the level of detail in the kit and there seems to be parts to make several version of the plane (although there is no option to produce staggered waist gun positions). The instructions only describe the G version.















A little touch up required in the radio compartment then cracking on with the turrets.

John

[RobertA]

Looks better than good, so far... Keep up the good work!!

[Johni044]

Cheers.

Kept finger crossed and did the ball turret freehand, needs a second coat and slight cleaning on a couple of windows.



Wonder if this is where George Lucas got the inspiration for the TIE fighter from?

[RobertA]

As soon as I saw the picture, before I read your text underneath, I thought of Star Wars..

[muskegman]

Very nicely done interior, Looks great

I have this same kit that I won in the first ISM monthly prize giveaway, its a fantastic kit but I wont be building it yet as I am running out of shelve space and need to put up more shelving, so for now I am only building smaller kits. I will be looking forward to watching you build yours though for now



Mark

[Johni044]

Thanks,

I finished the internals of the B17, so this is what’s going to be entombed between the fuselage halves.







Then the fuselage halves were joined and the little filler that was required had been applied and sanded back.





The wings were next to receive attention, experienced some problems which I will come back to later. However before progressing I removed the flaps with the help of my trusty scalpel.



The radiator portion was added and the wing halves were despatched.



Now the isssues, Nothing to do with the kit it's going together fine, it's the instructions which are really begining to get on my nerves for two prime reasons.

Firstly, there are various optional parts but the instructions rarely say which ones to use for which version, for example cockpit glasing parts 67 and 68, astrodome parts 65 or 66, bombardier perspex parts 81 or 82, waist gunner windows 54 and 55 then there are 4 options for the radio room skylight layout but no info as to which to use with which version.

Then there's the use of the same diagram to repeat the process for the other side. that in itself is fair enough but one would assume that the first part number in each option would be to assemble the sub assembly for one side and the second part numbers for the opposite side, this is not always the case. It took me two hours to fettle the port inner exhaust assembly after fitting the wrong part to it (which fitted in the relevant location holes BTW) where the opposite side took about five minutes.

So I'd give the kit 9/10 and the instructions only 5/10.

Still liking the model though.

[Switcher]

Awesome work Thanks for sharing

[portlandjoe]

I love the B-17 and your doing a killer job on yours.

[Johni044]

Thanks, the kits engines are nice little items and are built up of six individual pieces which line up with no problems, after attaching to the engine bays the wings are joined to the fuselage.



A couple of things to fettle. Firstly the exhaust is supposed to join to the collector but this isn't mentioned when you gule this to the nacelle, consequently it is slightly out of line. on reflection I think the instructions should tell you to attach this after the engines.



And a bit of a gap to sort out on the underside of the starboard wing.



Neither major thank goodness.

[cib2265]

That is a cracking build!

[Filmman586]

Great paint job!

[hamish]

Absolutely phenomenal , I envy people who can get this amount of detail. I wish I could 'sit on their shoulder' and watch them in action, what a pity it will never be seen again. Other than having a photographic record are there any other ways used to show the otherwise hidden detail? I.e. cut outs.

[panzerman]

Excellent work on the interior.....nice detail panting. The engines look nicely detailed too.
Enjoy the rest of the build.
Bill.

[JayCub]

Nice bird, and I reckon that your right about George Lucas
Tom

[Ridgerunner]

That's building into a nice ship!

[AussieCol]

Looks FANTASTIC!
Great job