Revell's 1/48 B-17F/G Flying Fortress "Mini Movie Memphis Belle"
I'm a volunteer at National Warplane Museum in Geneseo NY. I have the opportunity to work on some the aircraft there. I took a flight on their flagship aircraft in the summer of 2018. A 1943 Douglas C-47 Skytrain named Whiskey 7. A true D-Day surviving aircraft that dropped paratroopers over Normandy on June 6, 1944. That flight started my obsession. I became a volunteer there the following year, and have worked on, and flown in Whiskey 7 several more times, and once in the B-17 The Movie Memphis Belle while it was under the care of the museum. A goal of mine was to build a replica of each plane and have them in a display in my living room. I landed up donating the first Mini Whiskey 7 I built to the museum. So I set built another this year, and finally tackled making Mini MMB. I used a combination of the old Monogram G model, boxed as a Revell, and the Revell F kit. The F kit had barely any interior detail to speak of. Nothing past the cockpit, and completely smooth fuse sides. So I added ribbing, and used the interior pieces from the G kit, and scratch made floors past the ball turret, and seats. Then hid all the detail upon closing up the fuse, lol. Paints used were mostly Model Master enamels. It was a custom mix to try and match MMB's faded weathered paint. I used some of the Big Ed PE set. Decals used were a combination of the kit decals from the F kit, and a set from Kits world with the proper "Memphis Belle" in script type font. Other scratch built items are the pitot tube covers, wheel chocks, and ladders. Thanks for looking!
Really nice job here Christina @keyda1981
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Thank you!
Nice build and great display. Its great that you can put your kits on display like that. All mine are boxed up and only come out for shows or to just reminisce. It really is a shame Revell doesn't update the F molds to at least give us the detail of the G molds in the Monogram kit. That's a lot of model to finish and you did a good job, I like the weathering on the engine nacelles, nice work. It sure is a shame you have to close up all that wonderful work you did you in your interior, but it is just part of the fun of the build. If you are interested, I am just getting started on my build of the G kit over in the "Work in Progress - Aircraft". https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/b-17-the-swoose-1944-model-monogram-1-48-b-17g-build-1/
Thank you, and yes they really should fix that kit, lol. I'll check it out!
Very nice build Christina! Great weathering and a most impressive display. I've finished my B-17 as Man o War II and I can recall having a good time building it.
All the best!
Thank you!
Nice work and you have discovered what every other B-17 modeler finds out: other than the nose, a bit of the cockpit and the radio room if you open the hatch, all the detail you put in a B-17 disappears! Very nice result.
Thank you! Good thing I have pictures to prove the detail is there, lol.
Really good build
Thank you!
Nicely done Christina, even thought some of your extra effort can't be seen, you know it's there. Well done.
Thank you!
Nice job. Need a big C-130 now.
Thank you. I actually have one hanging in the corner of my living room with LED's. It needs some TLC, which I'll get to eventually. It was only the 5th model I built, so my skills have gotten much better since then.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Nicely done!
Thank you!
Very cool display. The interior you made for the Fortress looks really nice!
I would love to build a B-17. I think the thing that steers me away is all the interior work you do gets closed off when the fuselage comes together. This is a great build!