That's really interesting, your father was one of the few who survived that terrible campaign, over Europe I believe? Or perhaps the Pacific? But anyway, I have always loved the nose art, where each aircraft had its own name, emblem, or motto, this gave the airmen some kind of morale during their activities. Thanks for letting us know that as there's not many of those old airmen around anymore, thank you!

A "1/32nd B17G Monogram model"? :) Nobody ever told me!

A 1/32nd [scale] B17G Monogram model? Tell me more, please!

Thanks Mike, I'm puzzled on how they could have gotten that thick and were never corrected by Airfix, even at 1:24th scale they'd be too big. But it was worth it in the end, it took 2 hours to sand then all, but I'm glad that I did :)

I'm always excited to see what they'll come out with next. The design and engineering on their new Avro Vulcan looks fantastic!

Thanks Wayne, I'm glad that you liked it as that was a lot of fun to do :)

Getting better day by day. I actually was pretty much glued to my table today, today was good for modeling :)

Thank you Russell :) I can understand that natural metal can be daunting, but I really like these VAllejo Metal Colors paints. I have had a few issues with them lifting, but I solved that by adding a few drops of Future/Klear to the paint and that solved the problem, now they really grip to the plastic.

Thanks Hugh. There's a bit of a fit issued with the interior of the Cockpit, but aside from that, it's a pretty clean and easy build :)

Thanks Tommyboy :)

Thanks, that means a lot :)

Thanks TWA, once I found this scheme I just had to build it :)

@@rebelsatcloudnine can never go wrong with that combo:) If I knew how to do natmet, blue would be a frequent theme lmao

I'm sure that you are going to have fun with it. I bought it over the summer thinking that I wasn't going to build it, but once I got started, I ended up having so much fun I couldn't put it down :)

@Incog Nito Yes. That's the one..

That is pretty awesome and a great way to get some fist hand account on details about the subject :)

Thank you Drew :)

I recently found a scheme for a lovely Olive Drab F model, I have to agree it would be fun to build another :)

@@rebelsatcloudnine Well I was equally impressed with your Memphis Belle build. Plexi on the nose mod was really something--great talent

Thanks Warren

Thank you Dean :)

Getting there, good days and bad :) I'm slowly getting back to my modeling.

I was wondering that myself. I seem to remember them being dark blue and not black also. Easy fix if you were of a mind to. Nevertheless, one fantastic build of this iconic aircraft. Jumps to within the top five of the Forts I've seen built on this channel and certainly much better than I, myself could accomplish!

That is awesome, I can't wait to see that :)

When it goes right, yes it it :)

I'll try :)

Thanks as always Kap, best wishes to you too :)

Thanks Jerry :) I think you'll really enjoy this kit :)

Thank you so much :)

thank YOU...i have a collection of unbuilt kits and you have inspired me to treat the models as art, not just as a throw away pastime, which was slowly eating my enthusiasm to build. but you have taken model building and elevated it to an art form...and when you think about it, that's where the model build belongs...as art rather than accuracy. i mean of course accuracy is penultimate but art...that is the difference.so many want to examine perfection and accuracy but watching you build...i realized that only a master craftsman/artiast, with many hours/ years of practise, can lift the plastic model to examination, not just of the accuracy but including accuracy in the art of creating the spirit of the times the model is to represent. and the message that the builder is trying to convey. You conveyed the drama, the environment and the spirit of the airwar in ETO in 1944-45. just looking at your model brought the images of eightth airforce england. i imagined the rain soaked aprons, the tow tractors, the quonset huts, the fuel trucks, the bicycles, the ground crew and aircrew, the missions to be undertaken as the windsocks filled with air...and the sheer terror of the flak, the fighters and mid air collisions... and bomb laden taxi collisions... and everything else during those distant days...man, you caused all this.. again, i must say..that..you are an artist of the first rank... and i will study every thing you do in your builds and use what you do to try and make my models better...but whether i can capture the spirit of the aircraft and the time in whgich it flew...well...i can only be your disciple but never to surpass you, only to learn from you...thankyou, xxxxxjane@@rebelsatcloudnine

@@janehill9764 Thank you Jane, I'm the son of 2 professional artists, and there are many days I feel the art gene skipped me and went on to my siblings. You are one of a very few people I feel I can have this type of conversation with, and that is true to your expressions I do find my modeling to be more of an artform than s simple plastic puzzle. Thanks for watching and for your comment, and best of luck with your future modeling projects :D

@@rebelsatcloudnine thank YOU very much! i'll keep watching and enjoying your work as it turns into an expression of the times the aircraft lives or lived in. i will use your tricks of the trade to improve my models...mostly your spadework will rekindele my joy in building again...thanks so much jared...jane.

Thanks, Brian :) I studied many pictures of 447th B-17's trying to find any pictures of TNT Katie, to confirm whether or not the stabilizers were yellow or not (and I looked through a ton of pictures). The Kits-World decal sheet/ painting guide has them as silver so I simply went with that. In all sincerity, you might want to consider passing this info onto Kits-World. As I mentioned I simply decided to follow what they had displayed on the sheet as I couldn't find any conclusive evidence for this particular aircraft :)

I wish that there was a new tooled E model on the market, I've seen one modeler convert this kit into an F and E model, it's a lot of work but his results were worth the efforts.

They only had a few which were classified as Fortress III`s and they were used as an early type of radar counter measures aircraft with a lot of additional arials and a radome instead of the chin guns.

That's a good idea Steve, I'll have to remember that for the next B-17 build I do :)

I think it depends on the voice. I tried to watch one on the Airfix 1/24 Hellcat and the guys droning monotone voice made me give up. Plus you've then got to have subtitles for a foreign audience. It's more accessible this way, imho.

Sometimes watching with the music is like meditation. It just soothes the soul.

I think the best advice I can give you (and this is coming from someone who isn't good at weathering) A little bit of weathering usually is best. There are too many times when one can get carried away weathering and it becomes too extreme and unrealistic. Gradually weathering and taking time to stand back and look at the model from a few feet away helps out a lot too. I also try to keep photo's on my computer that are dedicated to real life weathering that I take when I'm outside. This includes unique stains that I'll find on vehicles or chipped paint, which is sort of easy given the amount of farm equipment in the area haha

@@rebelsatcloudnine thanks mate! 👌🏻