1/72 Hasegawa B 17 F 'Hells Angels', 8th AF 303rd BG 358sqd.

[Heinz]

Thanks fellas!

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice choice Alex! Plenty of info to work with!

 

[Micdrow]

Couple of more before she went back to the USA

 

[Airframes]

Go on, I dare you! Do all the graffiti !!

 

[Micdrow]

Hey Alex, maybe you should do the dare with a counter dare, Terry would have to do a Wildcat, his favorite aircraft.

 

[Airframes]

Don't you start Paul......

 

[B-17engineer]

Things could get very ugly.

Nice knowing you... Paul...




All aside.

GREAT choice Alex.

 

[Heinz]

Thanks Paul!

Thats a scary thought Terry, at least Paul has given me a get out of jail free card!!

Cheers H.

 

[lesofprimus]

LMAO u guys.....

Great choice Alex, looks like alot of good ref material to work off of....

 

[109ROAMING]

Nice shots Paul! 8)

 

[Wayne Little]

Hey Alex, maybe you should do the dare with a counter dare, Terry would have to do a Wildcat, his favorite aircraft.

Don't you start Paul......

Time to duck!

 

[Heinz]

As the Wildcat fur flies I picked up a contour gauge today from a local auto store. Should come in handy when detailing this model and ones in the future for bulkheads and other bits and bobs. Hope to try it out over the next days, there will be pics all being well.


Have also done some more research on the Angels going over the mission report that it last flew during.

The last crew to fly it;

P Glass, Henry F., Lt
CP McMahan, Eugene A. Lt
NAV Pepe, Nicholas A., Lt
BOM Robrock, Paul A., Lt
ENG Patrone, Frank, S/Sgt
LWG Stellato, Francis A., Sgt
RO Miller, Gordon R., S/Sgt
RWG Carbillano, Dominick J., Sgt
BT Michael, David O., Sgt
TG Roberts, James E., Sgt

A section from the mission report for 13th December 1943.

'303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 88
13 December 1943
Target: City area, Bremen, Germany (PFF Bombing)
Crews Dispatched: 40 plus 3 spares
Crew Member Lost: T/Sgt. J.J. Barrett
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 30 minutes
Bomb Load: 42 x M47A1 incendiaries
Bombing Altitude: 28,500 ft
Ammo Fired: 7,905 rounds

December 13th's mission represented an "all-out" VIII Bomber Command effort with
a record number of aircraft dispatched. It also was a record 303rd BG(H) effort.
One aircraft in the 303rd BG-A Group was abortive. #41-24577 Hell's Angels,
358BS (2Lt. H.F. Glass), lost its No. 3 supercharger at the start of the climb over England.
After reaching altitude, the No. 4 engine was leaking oil. When approaching the target, the
No. 4 engine lost oil and the engine couldn't be feathered. The aircraft aborted about 30
miles off the German coast.'

Given that I'm depicting the bomber just after it came back after its first abortive and last mission I reckon some subtle oil staining around no.4 engine will be in order.

Cheers.

 

[Airframes]

It seems all the pics I have of this bird have already been posted, except maybe this one. I checked the half-tone dot percentages on the print, and they show a distinct difference in structure and size in the code letters and the yellow serial number. Also, I had a look at some video footage which includes 'Hell's Angels', and the codes had definitely changed to Neutral Grey when the bars were applied to the stars.
Hope this helps a bit, and I'm still looking, as I feel sure I've got more pics somewhere.
Photo from Freeman's 'Fortress at War'.

 

[109ROAMING]

Nice stuff Terry and Alex

 

[Heinz]

Thanks Terry! Also looking at that shot it proves the profile I posted on page 2 correct in terms of the rudder being a different colour obviously after replacement. Im hoping the code letters arent too different in size. I was going to fix the problem by scanning the kits decals and then printing them out and using that as a template to paint the code lettering on.

Cheers again mate!

Thanks Daniel.

 

[Airframes]

You could always try overpainting the decals in thinned acrylic, then sealing them with acrylic varnish, sprayed on, before using as normal. Scan them first, so you still have the basis for a template, then give it a go.

 

[Heinz]

Noted Terry.

An area Im not to sure on is the radio operators upper glazing. The profile on page 2 shows there still being a .50 in position on this aircraft. So if anyone has any shots of a B 17 with the radio operators .50 up close I'd appreciate it.

One other area is the waist gunners windows, as Im displaying the guns the windows wont be in place. My question is did they slide inside the fuselage, pop out or just used for ferry flights?

Cheers.

 

[109ROAMING]

Only one I found , pretty sure its the navigator's station tho sorry mate

 

[Heinz]

Thanks for that Dan, unfortuntely its the Navigator, still useful though.

Im just curious how the .50 is mounted, Im pretty sure the glazing slides back?

 

[Airframes]

Nope. The radio room roof hatch on the B17F had the glazing removed on operations. There was a retractable wind deflector, just forward of the opening, and the .50 cal was mounted as a free-swinging weapon on one of two types of mounting, belt-fed from a ammo box on the starboard wall. I've got a number of pics, interior and exterior, but can't post them until later tonight at the earliest.
The waist position hatches on the early 'F' model had the hatch panel ('window') on a sliding track, which pulled inwards and slid forward. This was later deleted, leaving an open hatch, or closed, on the ground, by manually mounting the hatch panel into the frame. Glazed, enclosed hatches didn't come in to operation until the B17G. Again, I have detail pics of the early, mid, and late production set ups, where the gun mount and ammunition feed and supply also changed.
Note that the rudder on your bird , in the pic I posted, is the original, with the Medium Green 'splotches', which were also on the leading and trailing edges of the wings, tailplanes and the leading edge of the fin. I should have some pics, probably in colour also, showing this pattern more clearly. This was the standard scheme until mid to late 1943, although it could still be seen on some long-serving veteran ships much later. The Medium Green didn't 'weather' or fade as quickly as the Olive Drab, and actually became more noticeable the older the aircraft became.
Do you need pics of the nose compartment for the 'F'? There were distinct differences in layout, colours and equipment, compared to the familiar pics of the 'G' model normally shown in most publications. This was particularly true of the weapons mounts, and the 'cheek' windows, depending on factory, B.A.D. modifications and field mods. Which reminds me, 'Hells Angels' didn't have the nose astrodome - there would have been a rectangular window on the top centre of the nose fuselage, between the similar windows either side.