1/72 Academy B-17 G Flying Fortress "Carolina Moon"

Gallery Article by Alex Cimenti on Nov 9 2011

 

Hi Gents, happy modelling to everyone!
Just a few months ago I was commissioned by a friend a nice B-17 G in 1/72, for economic reasons (my customer's budget) I chose the Academy kit instead of the Revell one, that in my opinion is the best B-17 of all.

The assembly of this model is quite easy, but anyway required much extra work.  I added some extra internal details using some scratchbuilt parts and Hasegawa spares from an old B-26, but the final result cannot be enjoyed once the two half fuselages were put together...

 

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As many modellers know, the Korean version of this Flying fortress kit has several issues, like the lack of internal details, the wrong rear turret a wrong wing angle once assembled, the engines are not detailed and need some extra, but everything could be corrected with some patient work and more documentation.

The only version possible is a natural metal B-17 G Sr N.4337907 nicknamed "Carolina Moon" that I assume was part of 15th Air Force, in charge of bombing Northern Italy and southern Germany and Austria during 1944 - 45, this information is not available in the instruction sheet inside the box, that are very clear but extremely basic.

On the picture below you can see some details and the extra work I did when the two half fuselages were separate, sadly once the two were joined together and the glass were assembled, only a little part of the internal details can be seen from a close distance!

The decals are thin and of good quality, I had to use some Daco softener during the application, the natural metal patter was obtained using Humbrol Metal Coat 2001.

Happy modelling to everyone and see you next time for a challenging work, building the B-25 J "Oklahoma Betsie" in 1/72 from Hasegawa...

Alex Cimenti

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Photos and text © by Alex Cimenti