Boeing Model 247 Airliner in NMF Williams Bros. 1/72

[T Bolt]

The Boeing Model 247 was the world's first modern airliner and also led directly to Boeing's Model 299 which became the B-17 Flying Fortress. It had a very short career as a first line airliner, as the Douglas DC-3 came out a couple of years later and took over with its increased passenger capacity and performance.

This is probably my best effort in NMF to date. I used the same method of two shades of Floquil silver as on my other NMF models. I did the masking off and on over the period of almost a month. There is a full interior in it also, but I wish I hadn't spent so much time on it as you can only see the back of one seat, and have to look hard to see even that.

 

[badbear]

Thats real nice glenn i like the subtle shading in the alluminium panels top job mate.BB

 

[otftch]

Beautiful Job.
Ed

 

[Gnomey]

Good work!

 

[mandoman]

Really nice build, and a lot of great angles to view.

 

[Trebor]

wow! those aluminum panels take my breath away!

and I thought I was the only one who did airliners. lol

 

[Airframes]

Nice work Glenn.

 

[T Bolt]

Thanks all!

wow! those aluminum panels take my breath away!

and I thought I was the only one who did airliners. lol

I've done a few classics from the 1930's. I've also completed a JU-52 in Lufthansa markings, and a Ford Tri-motor. I have a Fokker Tri-Motor, a Boeing 307 Stratoliner (development of the B-17), and a Heinkel He-70 all waiting for paint, not to mention a He-111C in Lufthansa markings still in the box. The problem is that all that masking takes so long that I tend to put it off when the time comes, and end up with a backlog of models waiting.

 

[Trebor]

where did you get the model 307??? I've been looking for that!

 

[Wildcat]

Beautiful!!

 

[T Bolt]

where did you get the model 307??? I've been looking for that!

Its a Maquette kit I bought about 10 years ago from Hobby Surplus. I looked on their site and they didn't have it. I remember seeing it at Squadron within the last couple of years too but it did not show on their website ether. Maybe you can find one on eBay.

The kit itself is the roughest limited run kit I have ever seen. It is just 2 new molded fuselage halves and the wings. horz. tail, and landing gear of the old Frog B-17E The fuselage parts were at least 3/16" thick and like I said, very rough. If I hadn't wanted the 307 so much I wouldn't have even started it. The picture below is where it's at today after weeks of sanding, filling, polishing, and the first coat of silver. The frog engines and cowls are like a toy so I am going to swap them out with the engines and spare cowls from the Academy B-17E kit for which I have resin engines. If you do find the kit, Good luck with it. It looks like it can be made into a decent model, but it is an awful lot of work!

 

[Migrant]

Looks great Glenn, really nice work with the different shades of metal.

 

[Matt308]

Great work T.

Regarding the Stratoliner, don't do what our local Boeing restores did on its first flight... run it out of gas and ditch it into the Puget Sound (ocean).

From you desciption of what you have to work with it sure looks great so far!

 

[T Bolt]

Regarding the Stratoliner, don't do what our local Boeing restores did on its first flight... run it out of gas and ditch it into the Puget Sound (ocean).

I had just read an article on the restoration in Air Classics and had just started building the model when I saw that on the news. I wanted to cry! That restoration was amazing. They even had fabric woven to match the interior. I was surprised they got it back in the air so quickly. I don't know how much damage to the interior there was or if they fixed it. I saw it last year at the Smithsonian at Dulles International and it looked great... The outside anyway.

 

[kgambit]

The NMF on that 247 is simply spectacular. Great job.

 

[Crimea_River]

Turned out beautifully Glenn

 

[mandoman]

Whoa, that is one fat sausage...I mean, bird. It looks fantastic.

 

[dirkpitt289]

8)