My B-17

  Hi, I’m Curt.  I built a lot of models when I was a kid but, that was a few (too many) years ago.  I got the bug to start building models again so I go a 1/48^th scale XB-70 Valkyrie to practice on.  Got the hang of it.  Then started on this B-17 … 2 years later I finished it.

  My dad was a mechanic on B-17s in England during WWII (303^rd Bomb Group, 444 Sub-depot).  As I grew up I heard lot’sa war stories and gained an affection for the ’17.

  I wanted to build the model more as a reference piece; something to show people things about the ’17 that they might not have known; like the external bomb racks or the armor plating in front of the tail gunner.  

  I sort’a got carried away with the interior.

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  I read somewhere that building a detailed model is not so much skill as it is patients and time.  I agree with that.  My modeling skills were not very good but, with enough time (and styrene ) you can make just about anything.

  I had the greatest fun with the upper and lower turrets, expecially the ball turret.

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I really got into the small details, like the mass of shell casings on the floor around the waist gunner.  My dad tells stories of having to be careful not to slip when carrying the wounded out because of all the empty shells on the floor (sometimes ankle deep in places).

  When I started this project I didn’t have much modeling experience now … I’ve got a bit more.  

Curt

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