109ROAMING
2nd Lieutenant
C'mon mate! I'm gonna get mine done in time and I haven't even started 
Academy 1/72 B-17E "Old 666" 43rd Bomb Group 1943
- Thread starter dirkpitt289
- Start date
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Night Fighter Nut
Master Sergeant
Matt308
Glock Perfection
Looking great, Dirk. 1/72nd a man after my heart. Well done.
- Thread starter
- #104
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Evening gentlemen. Nothing much to report on this front other then the little bits and pieces.
Some history of the B-17E
By the summer of 1940, the threat of war between the Axis powers and America was becoming too obvious to be ignored, and by the fall of that year the Air Corps had ordered 277 new Fortresses, to be designated "B-17E". Bigger orders were expected to follow.
The B-17E was a major redesign. The lack of a tail turret in the B-17D and its predecessors was a significant flaw, because the easiest way for a fast fighter to destroy a bomber was to get on its tail and hammer away at it. Attacks from other quarters meant a quick pass and tricky deflection shooting. Contemporary RAF bombers had a tail turret to discourage this tactic, but the Fortress was highly vulnerable to attack from the rear.
The B-17E was given a new rear fuselage from the radio operator's position back to the tail, where a new gun position was added. Fitting a full turret was impossible given the narrow real fuselage, so the gun position was in the form of a "stinger" with twin 12.7 millimeter guns with a limited traverse.
The new rear fuselage was about 1.8 meters (6 feet) longer. The tail gunner knelt behind glass windows and manually aimed the guns. The tailplane assembly was entirely new and bigger, featuring in particular a tall vertical tailplane. For this reason, the B-17E and its descendants were referred to as "big-assed" Fortresses, while the B-17D and its ancestors were called "shark-finned Fortresses".
The changes didn't stop there. As the rear fuselage had to be redesigned anyway, the teardrop-shaped windows for the pedestal-mounted waist guns were changed to rectangular windows. A remote-controlled Bendix power turret was installed in the belly, with twin 12.7 millimeter guns controlled by a gunner lying prone and peering through a periscopic sight.
The radioman retained the upward-firing 12.7 millimeter gun, but a new Sperry power turret with twin 12.7 millimeter guns was installed just behind the cockpit. The nose was made longer, and provisions were made for mounting one or two 7.62 millimeter machine guns in the front Plexiglas. The nose gun fit was not very effective, but for the moment nobody could figure out a better way to put defensive armament into the cramped nose.
Although the B-17E was heavier than the B-17D while being powered by the same engines, it was not much slower due to aerodynamic improvements in its design, with a maximum speed of 512 KPH (318 MPH).
The first B-17E rolled off the production line at the end of September 1941. Flight experience quickly showed that the remote-controlled belly turret was impractical. Trying to track an attacking fighter through a periscope was all but impossible, and much worse caused severe nausea and motion sickness.
The answer was to replace the remote-control turret with a Sperry "ball" turret with the 113th B-17E. The gunner crawled into the ball turret after takeoff and sat straddled by the two guns while aiming down between his legs. The ball turret could cover almost the entire lower hemisphere below the Fortress and could be directed accurately. However, it generally required a gunner of relatively small stature, and the gunner could not wear a parachute while he occupied it. Another disadvantage was that there was no room to store spent cartridges inside the turret, and the rain of cartridges from the ball turret could pose a hazard in formation flying.
The new B-17E was dramatically different from its predecessors. The THRILLING WONDER STORIES look of the early Fortresses was gone. The B-17E was a serious weapon and looked like one.
Back to the model
Here are the nose windows have been put in place along with other shots of the interior.
Nose Glass, Top Turret and the Ball Turret
Wings put together
For the next phase I had to crack open my Academy B-17F and harvest its stash of weapons.
Painting the engines
Hopefully the next time I'll have something of more substance to share.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my work.
Some history of the B-17E
By the summer of 1940, the threat of war between the Axis powers and America was becoming too obvious to be ignored, and by the fall of that year the Air Corps had ordered 277 new Fortresses, to be designated "B-17E". Bigger orders were expected to follow.
The B-17E was a major redesign. The lack of a tail turret in the B-17D and its predecessors was a significant flaw, because the easiest way for a fast fighter to destroy a bomber was to get on its tail and hammer away at it. Attacks from other quarters meant a quick pass and tricky deflection shooting. Contemporary RAF bombers had a tail turret to discourage this tactic, but the Fortress was highly vulnerable to attack from the rear.
The B-17E was given a new rear fuselage from the radio operator's position back to the tail, where a new gun position was added. Fitting a full turret was impossible given the narrow real fuselage, so the gun position was in the form of a "stinger" with twin 12.7 millimeter guns with a limited traverse.
The new rear fuselage was about 1.8 meters (6 feet) longer. The tail gunner knelt behind glass windows and manually aimed the guns. The tailplane assembly was entirely new and bigger, featuring in particular a tall vertical tailplane. For this reason, the B-17E and its descendants were referred to as "big-assed" Fortresses, while the B-17D and its ancestors were called "shark-finned Fortresses".
The changes didn't stop there. As the rear fuselage had to be redesigned anyway, the teardrop-shaped windows for the pedestal-mounted waist guns were changed to rectangular windows. A remote-controlled Bendix power turret was installed in the belly, with twin 12.7 millimeter guns controlled by a gunner lying prone and peering through a periscopic sight.
The radioman retained the upward-firing 12.7 millimeter gun, but a new Sperry power turret with twin 12.7 millimeter guns was installed just behind the cockpit. The nose was made longer, and provisions were made for mounting one or two 7.62 millimeter machine guns in the front Plexiglas. The nose gun fit was not very effective, but for the moment nobody could figure out a better way to put defensive armament into the cramped nose.
Although the B-17E was heavier than the B-17D while being powered by the same engines, it was not much slower due to aerodynamic improvements in its design, with a maximum speed of 512 KPH (318 MPH).
The first B-17E rolled off the production line at the end of September 1941. Flight experience quickly showed that the remote-controlled belly turret was impractical. Trying to track an attacking fighter through a periscope was all but impossible, and much worse caused severe nausea and motion sickness.
The answer was to replace the remote-control turret with a Sperry "ball" turret with the 113th B-17E. The gunner crawled into the ball turret after takeoff and sat straddled by the two guns while aiming down between his legs. The ball turret could cover almost the entire lower hemisphere below the Fortress and could be directed accurately. However, it generally required a gunner of relatively small stature, and the gunner could not wear a parachute while he occupied it. Another disadvantage was that there was no room to store spent cartridges inside the turret, and the rain of cartridges from the ball turret could pose a hazard in formation flying.
The new B-17E was dramatically different from its predecessors. The THRILLING WONDER STORIES look of the early Fortresses was gone. The B-17E was a serious weapon and looked like one.
Back to the model
Here are the nose windows have been put in place along with other shots of the interior.
Nose Glass, Top Turret and the Ball Turret
Wings put together
For the next phase I had to crack open my Academy B-17F and harvest its stash of weapons.
Painting the engines
Hopefully the next time I'll have something of more substance to share.
Thanks for taking the time to look at my work.
109ROAMING
2nd Lieutenant
Looking real good Dirk!
Hey that is looking good, keep it moving along mate!
B-17engineer
Colonel
Nice!
lesofprimus
Brigadier General
Keep on truckin Dirk, u can make it man... Its lookin great...
Crimea_River
Marshal
Looking good Dirk!
looking sharp Dirk, well done
ozhawk40
Master Sergeant
Strong progress there Dirk - keep going 
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Some great progress there Dirk. How come you had to steal the guns from the 'F' kit?
B-17engineer
Colonel
B-17 had like 18 machine guns.
It was used for photo recon mission and they knew it was near suicide so I guess basically the thought was "If your gonna die, go down fighting."
It was used for photo recon mission and they knew it was near suicide so I guess basically the thought was "If your gonna die, go down fighting."
- Thread starter
- #114
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
Well Jay Zemer and his misfit crew (The Eager Beavers) wanted to even the odds against the Japanese. Once they finally got an aircraft they planned on volunteering for the most dangerous missions. The ones no one else would dare fly They basically turned their B-17 into one huge gun platform. The standard B17E came with 13 machine guns. Jay and his crew converted the waste guns to TWIN 50. Cals. They also put an extra 50. Cal in the chin for the bombardier. Jay even installed a gun on the top of the nose that he himself could fire. In the end Old 666 was loaded down with 19 machine guns. The academy kit only comes with 13. Now I'm sure I could scratch build the extra guns but I have a spair B-17F kit just sitting here slated to be built as either the Spotted Cow or the Birmingham Blitzkrieg both of which were Assembly ships. No weapons needs for either plane.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Gotcha! I remembered after I'd posted you'd mentioned the extra firepower.
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Coming along great Dirk, get them fiddly bits out of the way and keep it rolling man.
- Thread starter
- #117
dirkpitt289
Master Sergeant
While I haven't officially called it quits on Old 666, tonight's results make me believe it won't be finished on time. I tried to glue together the fuselage halves only to be set back. While placing the halves together t of the windows popped out and there was a gap on the top half that I just can't live with. The best thing will be for me to put it aside and try again later. If I try now it will only become a missile fired into the trash bin. Very pissed right now!!!!!!!
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Dirk, this is sad news, I'm feeling for you………….. Maybe tomorrow things will seem better and you will be fired up to get the bugger done, regardless.
Hey man leave it a day or two and then take another look..
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Re-group....re-group...
As the lads suggest mate, leave it for a day or two. Looking good though!
As the lads suggest mate, leave it for a day or two. Looking good though!
