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Dan DeSilva
72 articles

1/48 PB-1W Conversion

November 11, 2012 · in Aviation · · 11 · 5.6K


This conversion languished for a very long time- about 4 years.

I got the Paragon PB-1W Conversion, and a B-17G, then the kit and conversion sat, and sat.

I got hold of a great reference book- " In Blue: The in U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard Service" by Scott A. Thompson, and then things started to move. I wasn't happy with the shape of the resin radome, so using all the photos I could find of various angles, I reshaped with milliput.

I added the cheyenne turret and staggered the waist windows, using some very clear packaging plastic in order to replicate the later production large single pane observation windows. I added some black boxes in the nose As the equipment seemed to change in this area over the life span of the aircraft in service, I went with a composite of what i had seen in references, as I could not tie down one configuration for the aircarft I was modelling.

I am still not sure of the size of the national insignia for the aircraft and time period I chose- even with photos from the book and the internet!

I am most pleased with the antennae on the nose, and the repurposed propeller warning decals from the Monogram Albatross kit! All lettering came from the 1/48 and 1/72 Aeromaster sheets of white lettering/numbers.

Reader reactions:
2  Awesome

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. Dan,

    Brilliant. Have you had any problem posting more photos?

  2. Not sure what this means?... still not able to Log in with my information requested with my user name and pass word.. what else do I need? thanks c. Wayne Sharp

  3. Great work, Dan!

  4. Well, I learned something today. Never heard of one of these Navy B-17s before now. Nice job!

    • Thanks for the comment Robert. One day I plan to have a second B-17 posted on here. Presently I have a backlog of finished kits I still have to photograph in order to post!

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