1/48 B-17 Diorama WIP

[redraider56]

This project has been going on awhile but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

First off a brief history.....On April 11, 1944, "Man O War II" (LG-V, #42-38083) was one of 10 B-17s from the 322nd BS, 91st BG dispatched to Gotthen, Germany to attack a Focke-Wulfe aircraft plant. Due to cloud cover the squadron had to attack the secondary target, the port area of Stettin. Stettin was the target for other 91st squadrons that day as it was hit by elements of the 323rd, 324th, and 401st squadrons as well. Because of this, there would be fierce resistance by the Germans. The 322nd encountered 35-100 enemy aircraft that made 2 hard pressed nose attacks, and intense and accurate flak when over the target. No planes were lost from the squadron, but Man O War II was one of 6 planes from the 322nd to receive major battle damage on this, the plane's 16th mission. My diorama #16 In The Books will depict the bomber upon its return to Bassingbourn. Featured in this build is the Revell 1/48 B-17G with many details added, aftermarket and scratchbuilt, figures from the kit, Verlinden, CMK, and Teknics, and a jeep from Tamiya.

Pics of the actual plane

Where the plane is at right now (had to strip a botched coat of OD paint)

I tried to model an engine with a torn off prop according to a pic and I think it turned out alright

And a couple pics of the diorama components I work on when I get frustrated with the plane

the jeep

and the 16 or so figures in various stages of completion, none of which are done being painted yet

 

[JMac]

Re: 1/48 B-17 Diorama

Good subject. Love the figures - I'd go mental painting 16 or so of them.

 

[redraider56]

I had a lengthy and very informative conversation with a person on a different forum on depicting battle damage, and what classifies as "major damage". I was kinda shady on what major damage actually meant; it seemed like one of those things thats kind of an opinion, but I was able to get a good answer. The answer I got was "Planes with major damage could be operated only in an emergency and/or in a limited capacity under certain restrictions outlined to and approved by the Squadron Maintenence Officer and approved by the Commander". In other words, the damage would keep the plane from being flown for the most part. So I went back and re evaluated the damage I made and decided a needed some more, but its hard to make damage after the plane has been assembled seeing as you must thin out plastic from the inside first. I already had an engine shot out, but as you can see above, I decided to show what would have happened if the prop feathering mechanism failed, which caused the prop to shear off and damage the cowl.

I was also able to score this set of damaged tail surfaces from Teknics off ebay

And heres some better pics of the damage to other areas, but I havnt taken pictures of all the damage, so this is just some

Wing damage and the shot out engine

Damage to the left waist position

And other tail surface damage minus the items I showed above

As you can see theres nothing really too drastic, but there may a few areas where I can still add some damage. I also think it will look the part better after its all painted and weathered

 

[13aceofspades13]

Nice Damage detail, you should check out the B-25 in my diorama XD

 

[DreamKnight]

Loving the battle damage!

 

[Quaralane]

Loving that battle damage. This will be a sweet bird

 

[redraider56]

Loving that battle damage. This will be a sweet bird

I hope so!

 

[13aceofspades13]

Loving that battle damage. This will be a sweet bird

I hope so!

if mine turns out, this really will, it looks pretty good so far.

 

[Junkie]

This is fantastic! Really, really awesome. Can't wait to see more.

 

[DXM]

Ever since seeing the old Shep Paine's Crashed B-17 dio from little booket that came in the Monogram kit I've always wanted to do one, but keep chickening out.
So I can't wait to see this done.
Looking good 8)

 

[schweinhund227]

Ever since seeing the old Shep Paine's Crashed B-17 dio from little booket that came in the Monogram kit I've always wanted to do one, but keep chickening out.
So I can't wait to see this done.
Looking good 8)

I know what you mean !!! I did a replica... or Paine's Crashed B17 back in the days... he was my Hero !
the stuff he could pull out of his Hat... with plain Styrene.... Too bad it didn't survive...

I would love to do it all over again... very gratifying when its done right...

Keep up the good work !!! it looks like their will be a STRONG Light at the end of your Tunnel !

Take your time.... its looking mighty fine... Can't wait for your next update !

Norm..
OUT !

 

[redraider56]

Wow, thanks guys! Progress is going slow because of college but this definitely shot up to #1 on my priority list now

 

[Junkie]

Great!

Do you have a decal of that nose art?

 

[redraider56]

Great!

Do you have a decal of that nose art?

Yup, Eagle Strike has a sheet with this plane. I also have a poorer quality Superscale sheet in case anything goes wrong

 

[SimpleModels]

looks good liking the reference always a good thing ;D

 

[the Baron]

Wow, superb work! And I like your figures, too, many builders who have such great skill shy away from adding the people to the scene. Are they all bashed from the original Monogram figures, or did you get some from other sources?

Going to have to follow this thread, you've got an excellent project going!

 

[Junkie]

If you look closely above the figures he's named them either as kit or verlinden etc...

 

[redraider56]

Yea I guess I did name in the picture. I'm using the kit figures and then figures from 2 different Verlinden sets, a CMK set and was able to finally track down the OOP but highly sought after Teknics kit this past summer. Through these sets I've also managed to collected alot of parachutes, duffel bags, sleeping bags, flak jackets, flak helmets, etc.

That picture above isn't really the best but it has all of them in there. The 10 wearing the yellow life vests are the crew members. The 3 on the right are ground crewman and the 4th from the right is a base officer or something along that nature. The other 2 that are in flight suits are gonna be from another plane that was on the same mission. They're gonna appear as if they have just arrived in the jeep and I will fabricate parachute harnesses and life vests to put in the jeep making it look like they took them off. The jeep will also have a duffel bag or two, a couple parachutes, and some ammo boxes. In order to not confuse these other crewman with the rest of the crew I am going to try to put some nose art on the back of their jackets. Armed with the mission report and partial tail numbers I got the names of the 9 other planes that were on the mission and will get the nose art from pictures and either try to make a small decal or paint it on

And btw if any of the figures look bad its because they're just in the beginning stages of painting and others aren't even completed yet. I would work on and off on them while I was swearing at the plane, so thats why theyre all over the place

 

[the Baron]

If you look closely above the figures he's named them either as kit or verlinden etc...

Thanks, Scott, I saw those but they didn't even register, duh!

 

[panzerman75]

Awesome job on the fortress its looking great.