Bombs away (B17E diorama)
“Flak so thick you could walk on it” . Only over nazi Germany american B-17 dropped over 640,000 tons of bombs during the war. Estimates of German civilians killed only by Allied strategic bombing have ranged from around 350,000 to 500,000.The B-17 would go on to drop more bombs than any other aircraft in the U.S. arsenal during World War II.
The B-17E number 41-9018 was assigned 341BS/97BG Polebrook March of 1942; was transferred to 327BS/92BG Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, UK August, 1942; took off at 09.00 on a bombing mission over Hellemmes' railroad installations. They were hit by German AA fire, causing them to drop out of formation and be hounded by nine German Fw-190s among wich Lt. Walter Meyer and Otto “Stotto” Stammberger, both from JG26. They shot off the tail section and B-17 finally lost three engines, sending the plane down. The pilot held on as long as he could to avoid hitting the residential areas, but finally had to bail out. The B-17 desintegrated over Lannay near the Belgian border. There is a Monument near Mouchin on D955 direction Planard, that remembers the B17 crew.
Pilot Lt Francis H. Chorak (Killed In Action, KIA); Co-Pilot Lt Joseph J. Fracchia (POW); Navigator Lt Grady W. Roper (Captured and evaded); Bombardier Lt Charles G. Kolodzinski (POW); Ball Turret Gunner MSgt Paul R. Gordon (POW); Radio Operator Sgt John J. Dolan (KIA); Engineer/Top Turret Gunner James E. Lane (KIA); Waist Gunner Sgt Donald E. Buckland (KIA); Tail Gunner Sgt Malcolm Culpepper (KIA)
More than 1/3 of total B-17 produced were shot down (aprox. 4000 from a total of 12.731) More than 50,000 Airmen lost their lives in the four years of WWII and the majority of those losses were on bomber missions over Nazi Germany in B-17s and B-24s. Only in the 8th Air Force, of the 3,885 crewmen aboard B-17 Flying Fortresses that went down, 2,114 (54.4%) did not survive. The average age of the crew of a B-17 was less than 25.
The model is Academy B17E with Eduard external PE and crew from Legend productions.
Here you are a 2' VIDEO 360º with the "Bombs Away" diorama
Special thanks to mr. Lee Chan kie from Legend productions for being one of the very few manufacturers making an inside bomber crew.
http://www-legend.co.kr/portfolio/la7202-b-17-flying-fortress-crew-set-10-figures/
See you when next project comes!
SOURCES
American War Museum
http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/1084
Eight Air Force
Awesome display, @caudelguille
The weathering of the B17 is really stunning.
This display shows the real situation above Germany like shown in the last picture.
Well done.
Thanks John,
That was the main goal on this project
Real artistry in your presentation. Very impressive!
Thanks Robert, glad you liked it!
Wars are terrible and the statistics are frightening, this display really brings the horrors to life, excellent modelling.
I do agree with you, George. I am very glad to not have lived these horrible experiences of war. It is touching enough to hear the stories from witnesses
An excellent diorama indeed, Caudelguille!
I agree with @johnb, the representation of the war situation there is very realistic.
Thanks Spiros
We have a fantastic hobby!
That's something different, and well done. Great idea and a fresh way to display a plane in its element. It was brutal over the 3rd Reich, and this does a good job of indicating just how bad it could be.
Thanks, Walt. In a diorama setting I think clouds should be the natural element for aircrafts as terrain does for vehicles
This is really well done, Claude. You put great thought into the structure and layout of this diorama.
Thank you, John. I looked for a smaller base diorama in comparison to the B17 just to put more distance between the aircraft and land below
This is a very nice and gripping diorama and model Caudel.
When things are hard in life and waking up in the middle of the night over anything that created worries, I think of all these brave men that had to do the hard work of defending the free world. With that my worries are puny in comparison and the next day looks all right again.
Work, like yours keeps the realities of conflict alive. Never again.
Great tip on legend production after market personnel too.
Many thanks Bernard, for your comments. Wars are always a complete failure for mankind, no matter the reasons to start them
Beautifully built and photographed! Looks fantastic.
Thanks Greg, happy you liked it!
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
I LOVE dioramas, this one for sure has caught my attention.
Very original work Caudelguille, this one kind of sticks onto
the brain for sometime, as per me ... hard to forget.
Nice work done on the weathering.
Thank you for sharing these images.
Thanks @de4ever for your kind words!
As for the weathering, I felt I had to do something to break that large large piece of green!
Really nice, @fow_models. The plane is very realistic, and the crew really adds a lot to the presentation. I watch movies like 12 O'clock High and wonder what it was like to be in a bomber in these conditions. Your diorama really conveys the intensity of the action.
Thank you, George. To know the crew is inside the model although they are almost invisible -as most interior parts- it would also be part of the so called 'realism'