Greetings with my first post of 2026!
Here’s my B-17F using the Academy #12495 B-17F Memphis Belle, since the “Belle” is supposed to be a B-17F-10-BO, but the kit is actually styled as a B-17F-,70-BO (with an Astrodome) as I have Revell and Hasegawa kits in my stash, hence the Miami Clipper came to mind and I decided to swap the decals from the kits so that it’s more accurately representing the Fort as it should be!
The B-17 Flying Fortress has always been on the top of my list, since I watched the movie “Memphis Belle“ dating back to to the last century, during half-term breaks I was lucky to reside with my guardian whom lived just a few miles from the IWM Duxford, so during the fine summer afternoons, I was able to watch the B-17 (Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby) doing circuits around the airfield. My first “Fort“ was the ancient Airfix B-17G and also the Revell “Bomber Command“ B-17F, but these are kits of their times and despite Hasegawa, Academy kits coming to the market in the 1990’s, options are limited.
Back to the model itself, since the tooling has not changed from the old Academy kit, the well-known problems with fitting and wing dihedral etc., didn’t hinder me too much with the build, and I’ve tried for the first time to do some “scratch building“ with the interior, and it’s been quite interesting even though you can’t see much of it after closing the fuselage halves.
I haven’t built WWII aircraft for a lo…ng time, so the plexi-glass and gun turrets were troublesome to mask and fit when building. After majority of the construction is done, and with my mediocre painting skills, I applied the decals and finished off with a flat coat.
Hopefully I’ll make a better effort with the Revell and Hasegawa kits later on!
