Chin Turret
The chin turret is one of the stand-out features on the B-17G and this element of the kit doesn’t disappoint. I won’t bore you with construction as it is simple. There are a couple of things to note and one thing that the super-detailers among you will surely want to fix.
First changing the 50cals to brass turned one of your choice is the must do for me. The Master Model versions are for me incredible and easy to use and spot on for accuracy and were as ever my first choice. Some B-17s are seen fitted with flash eliminators on the chin turret and on the Cheyenne turret too. Profimodeller do some very nice brass turned ones which I have added to the chin turret. These I painted red as is commonly seen on display aircraft. In truth I suspect nothing so garish was used on operational aircraft.
The 50 cal movement in the vertical plain is facilitated by a canvass cover that is zipped to the turret. These are offered in the kit but fix the guns in the horizontal plain. So many shots of B-17s show the 50-Cals to be pointed skywards I suspect by gravity and the weight of the breaches. The kit doesn’t allow for this so as I wrote earlier the super detailers will opt to change but I used artistic licence and fixed my guns facing upwards but the guns technically are in the wrong place for this.
I used gloss black to undercoat the whole thing then Alclad Aluminium which once dry I buffed lightly with a touch of pencil lead just to give it some sheen. I hand painted the red flash eliminators using Tamiya red.
Top Turret
The top turret like the others is a little beauty but will again benefit from some additional work by the super-detailer. The references show this area to be very busy indeed with wires and such like. The ammunition belts too need to be better as the ones in the kit are barely adequate. I know MDC have some new flexible resin versions coming out and these are most likely to be must haves on this monster.
The thing that stands out for me on this turret is that the whole thing can be painted and finished without the glazing in as this can be inserted after. I used Gator Glue but for the first time ever I have a slight fogging on one pane of ‘glass’ near the frame. This is normally associated with liquid glue but it may be fumes from glue curing in the turret itself? Either way it’s easily disguised so no real fuss.
The three primary turrets done I turned my attention now to the cockpit and fuselage.