1/72 Academy B-17H

Gallery Article by Tadeu Pinto Mendes

 

This is a great model from Academy, which I modified the G version to create the version H (or SB-17G). For this model the main work was the removal of defensive gun, because this one was unarmed.  I made one more antenna in form of drop (you can see two on top behind the cockpit) to make my model look the same as the B-17's of the of FAB (Brazilian Air Force). I chamfered the wheels to give weight idea to the airplane.

This plane was not bare metal and was actually paint totally in Alumilac, that was to give the real plane some protection and it appears as a clear tone of Aluminum.  The colours for this model also included high visibility Dark Yellow - FS 13655; Anti-dazzling in Black - FS 37038; Rudder in Green - FS 14062 and Yellow - FS 13538. Their lateral windows were also Dark Yellow with having delineated in Black.

The model that I made was the first of 12 Boeing B-17H that FAB - Força Aérea Brasileira (Brazilian Air Force) operated from 1951 to '69 in the services of SAR and aerial photograph. Some took a boat under the fuselage that could be dropped for rescue purposes for folks in the water.

Tadeu Pinto Mendes

      

Photos and text © by Tadeu Pinto Mendes