The legendary B-17 needs little introduction here. By its almost unrivaled tenure of front-line service, the Flying Fortress proved itself one of the classic bomber designs of all time. Its performance vindicated the principles of air strategy and bomber design established by a few far-sighted American airmen and engineers long before World War II. In August 1942, a handful of B-17E Fortresses became the first Eighth Air Force heavy bombers to be based in England. But it was the improved B-17F model Fortresses that arrived soon after this initial detachment that would carry the load for the next year, flying unescorted daylight missions to heavily defended targets in occupied Europe, often suffering heavy casualties at the hands of intense Flak batteries and determined Luftwaffe fighter defenses. In fact, the B-17Fs are the Fortresses featured in the 1949 movie, 'Twelve O'Clock High', still one of the best ever to capture the intensity and sacrifices of the air war in Europe.
Photography of these little gems is a challenge for our equipment and limited skills, check out the well proportioned model including the fuselage with detailed cockpit, nose blister, dorsal turret, ventral ball turret, waist and tail gun positions; the tail assembly; the wings with well defined engine cowls and even the superchargers and retracted landing gear under the wings!
Although the surfaces are not perfectly smooth (3D printing is done in layers), the plastic used can be sanded and painted much the same way you would handle resin or styrene. The models may still have some powder and oil-like agent on them that can be removed by washing in warm water with a drop of detergent in it. Although the landing gear is represented in the retracted in-flight position, it should be fairly straight forward to add photo etch parts for a "gear down" rendition, perfect for an air base diorama.
NOTE: While we currently maintain limited inventories of most items, some items may be "printed on demand", which usually requires 10-15 business days from order to shipment.
