1/48 Revell B-17 Memphis Belle

[tcoat]

Done up as the movie aircraft without the blotchy green camo of the real thing.
This specific 10 seconds of the movie was the inspiration.




























Some build shots.
Interior is OOB with just some heavy highlights to make it look like there is more in there than there is. 






Some basic scratch built details for the dropped flaps. Nothing crazy just enough to give an idea of structure.



Holes cut for damage and covered with heavy aluminum duct tape. Tape will be poked through after paint to simulate torn aluminum skin

[Leon]

WOW....I really like this

[Tobi]

Maybe you want to show us some of your aluminum foil techniques, materials, tools in a separate SBS at a later time?

[mustang1989]

Mar 9, 2023 6:17:25 GMT -5 Tobi said:

Maybe you want to show us some of your aluminum foil techniques, materials, tools in a separate SBS at a later time?

Now THAT .....I would be interested in seeing. This is just magnificent stuff. A tutorial would be great on that process bud.

[tcoat]

Mar 9, 2023 8:58:31 GMT -5 mustang1989 said:

Mar 9, 2023 6:17:25 GMT -5 Tobi said:

Maybe you want to show us some of your aluminum foil techniques, materials, tools in a separate SBS at a later time?

Now THAT .....I would be interested in seeing. This is just magnificent stuff. A tutorial would be great on that process bud.

Well I do have an A-10 that I was going to beat up so I can document the process as a tutorial. I will see if I can dig it out this weekend.

Sort of an amalgamation of these.

 

[mustang1989]

Mar 10, 2023 22:38:49 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Mar 9, 2023 8:58:31 GMT -5 mustang1989 said:

Now THAT .....I would be interested in seeing. This is just magnificent stuff. A tutorial would be great on that process bud.

Well I do have an A-10 that I was going to beat up so I can document the process as a tutorial. I will see if I can dig it out this weekend.

Sort of an amalgamation of these.

 

I'll be looking forward to that Tony!! Glad you're here man.

[tcoat]

The Memphis Belle has returned home to me as the gentleman I built it for passed away and his son has no room to display it. I also have no room to put it and do it justice so it now languishes in a box with the wings removed (I left them as click in so it could be transported).
There are no places around here that would be interested in it so I thought (just a thought at this point) I may try to sell it on eBay. It seems builds such as this can get a pretty penny in auction. I have never even considered doing this before but I have to draw the line at what I keep someplace as my house is not that large and I would like to keep what space I have for the projects I am most interested in.
Have any of you ever done this? Is it even worth the time?

[mustang1989]

Apr 13, 2023 9:24:37 GMT -5 tcoat said:

The Memphis Belle has returned home to me as the gentleman I built it for passed away and his son has no room to display it. I also have no room to put it and do it justice so it now languishes in a box with the wings removed (I left them as click in so it could be transported).
There are no places around here that would be interested in it so I thought (just a thought at this point) I may try to sell it on eBay. It seems builds such as this can get a pretty penny in auction. I have never even considered doing this before but I have to draw the line at what I keep someplace as my house is not that large and I would like to keep what space I have for the projects I am most interested in.
Have any of you ever done this? Is it even worth the time?

I have done it but remember that Ebay gets 10% right off the top so build that into the cost and you should be fine Tony.

[tcoat]

Apr 13, 2023 9:49:28 GMT -5 mustang1989 said:

Apr 13, 2023 9:24:37 GMT -5 tcoat said:

The Memphis Belle has returned home to me as the gentleman I built it for passed away and his son has no room to display it. I also have no room to put it and do it justice so it now languishes in a box with the wings removed (I left them as click in so it could be transported).
There are no places around here that would be interested in it so I thought (just a thought at this point) I may try to sell it on eBay. It seems builds such as this can get a pretty penny in auction. I have never even considered doing this before but I have to draw the line at what I keep someplace as my house is not that large and I would like to keep what space I have for the projects I am most interested in.
Have any of you ever done this? Is it even worth the time?

I have done it but remember that Ebay gets 10% right off the top so build that into the cost and you should be fine Tony.

Did you set a price or just straight auction? Maybe I best make a new threads for this subject. 

[mustang1989]

Personally, I usually just set a price but others do it differently. A thread like that would gather lots of input alright.

[robbo]

What a superb build, I like the green better than the camo

[tcoat]

May 3, 2023 11:38:00 GMT -5 robbo said:

What a superb build, I like the green better than the camo

Yes. It is modeled after the movie version which did not have the field applied "camo".
The museum version of the paint looks like a very poorly done model and I don't like the appearance at all.



The real camo is of course much more weathered and would be more interesting.



I did try to capture the replaced section of the vertical stabilizer and lighter colors of the fabric covered surfaces which the movie version didn't show well so I did a sort of combo of real and movie.



The damage is all from the mostly fictional movie as well since it never received all the damage at once as depicted. 

The real thing is well documented!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6jP8Xv_dCE 

[robbo]

Me neither, wonder why they changed it for the film

[tcoat]

May 3, 2023 12:00:34 GMT -5 robbo said:

Me neither, wonder why they changed it for the film

Well for the movie they changed the crew names, the missions, the real damage, the actual injuries, the dates, the base, and just about every other factual aspect so why not the paint?

[robbo]

Yeah that explains that

[tcoat]

May 3, 2023 12:04:02 GMT -5 robbo said:

Yeah that explains that

Probably the camo messed with the filming or something. 

[406 Silverado]

May 3, 2023 12:02:57 GMT -5 tcoat said:

May 3, 2023 12:00:34 GMT -5 robbo said:

Me neither, wonder why they changed it for the film

Well for the movie they changed the crew names, the missions, the real damage, the actual injuries, the dates, the base, and just about every other factual aspect so why not the paint?

WOW!! All of that I did NOT know. Wonder what's up with all that??

[tcoat]

May 3, 2023 19:41:33 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

May 3, 2023 12:02:57 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Well for the movie they changed the crew names, the missions, the real damage, the actual injuries, the dates, the base, and just about every other factual aspect so why not the paint?

WOW!! All of that I did NOT know. Wonder what's up with all that??

Hollywood. The movie was always intended to be a composite of all B-17 missions crammed into 2 hours not a factual account of the Belle.
The real story of the Belle is actually sort of boring.
Although damaged it never was serious. The worst damage to took was from a prop strike that tool out the tail.
Through the 25 missions of the aircraft it was crewed by 50 different people not one consistent crew.
The "normal" crew flew 5 missions in other aircraft. Other crews flew several missions in the Belle.
The crew that flew it back for the war bond tour was a mix of different crews that had served in her at different times over all the missions.
Only one person was ever injured. The tail gunner got a cut on his head from the plastic shattering from a bullet strike. That was it.
The wartime film is pure propaganda. It was not the 25th mission they filmed but the 24th! The real last mission was flown with a whole different crew. 

[406 Silverado]

I was wondering about the wrong names and you answered that for sure. Hollywood does take a lot of liberties and tends to hack stories up

[chromdome35]

Very interesting I haven’t ever heard any of that before, thank you!

Beautiful build, it’s sad that it’s languishing in a box. What would something like that sell for on eBay?

[tcoat]

May 4, 2023 7:36:40 GMT -5 chromdome35 said:

Very interesting I haven’t ever heard any of that before, thank you!

Beautiful build, it’s sad that it’s languishing in a box. What would something like that sell for on eBay?

I didn't know either until I started researching the build. The whole story is well documented but distorted by wartime propaganda at the same time. 

I would love to display it but I just do not have the room. No idea what it would sell for but the reality is that I will probably never part with it anyway. 

[stikpusher]

May 3, 2023 20:04:04 GMT -5 tcoat said:

The wartime film is pure propaganda. It was not the 25th mission they filmed but the 24th! The real last mission was flown with a whole different crew. 

The film crew actually followed several different aircraft, “just in case”. Not to mention that the Belle wasn’t the first B-17 in the 8th Air Force to reach 25 missions. That milestone honor fell to the crew of Hells Angels of the 303rd Bomb Group. 

[tcoat]

May 4, 2023 12:11:34 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

May 3, 2023 20:04:04 GMT -5 tcoat said:

The wartime film is pure propaganda. It was not the 25th mission they filmed but the 24th! The real last mission was flown with a whole different crew. 

The film crew actually followed several different aircraft, “just in case”. Not to mention that the Belle wasn’t the first B-17 in the 8th Air Force to reach 25 missions. That milestone honor fell to the crew of Hells Angels of the 303rd Bomb Group. 

Yep to both. They didn't take any risks that the crew(s) or aircraft wouldn't make it. The whole movie (WW2) was really just a long commercial for war bonds. 

[deafpanzer]

Outstanding! Thank you for directing me to this cool thread!!! Karma +1

[Medicman71]

Very nice!! I had started the Academy 1/72 Memphis Belle but it's been on the shelf of someday.

[tcoat]

Jun 6, 2023 9:23:07 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Very nice!! I had started the Academy 1/72 Memphis Belle but it's been on the shelf of someday.

I have a 1/72B-17 that I should take some pictures of someday. It is the new Airfix mold and very nice compared to this poor old Monogram kit. 

[406 Silverado]

Jun 6, 2023 9:30:06 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Jun 6, 2023 9:23:07 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

Very nice!! I had started the Academy 1/72 Memphis Belle but it's been on the shelf of someday.

I have a 1/72B-17 that I should take some pictures of someday. It is the new Airfix mold and very nice compared to this poor old Monogram kit. 

I would be interested in seeing shots of that both completed and sprue shots Tony.

[tcoat]

Jun 6, 2023 9:33:35 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Jun 6, 2023 9:30:06 GMT -5 tcoat said:

I have a 1/72B-17 that I should take some pictures of someday. It is the new Airfix mold and very nice compared to this poor old Monogram kit. 

I would be interested in seeing shots of that both completed and sprue shots Tony.

Don't know if I have any sprue or build shots of that one. 
It is the new(ish) kit with the resupply vehicles. Unfortunately I don't have room to display it so it is all done but stored in a box. 

[Medicman71]

I have the Bomber Resupply Set as well. It's built, just needs to be painted.

[tcoat]

Jun 6, 2023 9:48:40 GMT -5 Medicman71 said:

I have the Bomber Resupply Set as well. It's built, just needs to be painted.

It is a great set. So big an improvement over the old 1/72 vehicles that it is almost unrecognizable as Airfix.