PAGE 1
BE CAREFUL REMOVE GLUE
TOGETHER
PLEASE WAIT FOR
A FEW MINUTES
UNTIL DRY
MAKE 2 PIECES DRILL HOLE
DO NOT GLUE INSTANT GLUE
FOR METAL BEND
FILL HOLE
USED COLOUR APPLY DECAL
SEQUENCE
OF WORK OPTIONAL
MARKING OPTION
The Boeing B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ was one of the U.S.A.’s main four-engine
heavy bombers, operating alongside the B-24 Liberator, and the later B-29
Superfortress, in all theatres of World War 2. It’s a fact that the B-17 almost
never saw its place in history and the defeat of Nazi Germany, as the prototype,
known as Model 299, crashed due to pilot error during its evaluation in October
1935. Thankfully, the design had shown such promise during the testing phase, in
fact, far exceeding the requirements of the original specification, that further pro-
totypes were ordered despite Boeing losing the original contract with the United
States Army Air Corps. It was this further evaluation that saw the type enter active
service in 1938. The actual name ‘Flying Fortress’ was coined by a newspaper hack
who witnessed a roll-out of the machine, bristling with guns and turrets, and Boe-
ing realised that this was the sort of propaganda they needed, and trademarked
the name. After the initial prototypes, serial production of the B-17 began with the
B-17B variant, and underwent a major revision with the introduction of the ‘E’. This
type featured a substantially redesigned tail and fillet that featured throughout
subsequent versions, giving the B-17 its iconic profile. An extra 10ft of length was
added to the fuselage. Other refinements included the addition of a tail and dorsal
turret, and the addition of a Bendix turret to replace the fixed bathtub type that had
graced previous versions. This was found to be disappointing, and was eventually
replaced with the Sperry ball turret that became a permanent feature of all future
marques.
Boeing’s ‘G’ incarnation of the Fort, was perhaps the most significant of all types
built, and of course, numerous ‘F’ version modifications were carried over, such as
the remotely operated Bendix chin turret that was introduced in the late block se-
ries of the ‘F’. Differences between the ‘G’ version and the previous main production
‘F’ type were the positions of the nose cheek guns to accommodate the remote yolk
for the Bendix turret operation, and for late block production of the ‘G’, the intro-
duction of the Cheyenne tailgunner position which offered a reflector gun sight and
much improved field of fire. Unlike the early production blocks of the ‘G’, the later
production blocks introduced staggered waist gun positions for the flexible-mount
.50-cal machine guns.
The B-17G was powered by 4 × Wright R-1820-97 “Cyclone” 1200hp turbocharged
radial engines that were constantly uprated over the service life of the B-17, and it
also carried 13 x .50cal M2 Browning machine guns. A typical long-range mission
would see the B-17G carry around 4,500lbs of bombs. Wingspan was 103ft 9in, with
a length of 74ft 4in. A crew of 10 was typically carried by all variants of the B-17G.
B-17G Flying Fortress
Late Production
CAUTION
When using both glue and paint, do not use these near an open flame, due to the flammable
properties of these items.
The symbols provided, such as ‘X’, refer to the basic colours of parts, although a more compre-
hensive list is supplied for your use for Tamiya, Mr Hobby and AK-Interactive codes.
When removing parts from sprues, take extreme care. Consider correct tools such as Xuron
Sprue Cutters
Please check the symbology on the left and familiarise yourself before building this model kit.
In cooperation with:
Plastic model kit containing 625 parts. Photo-etched parts and Cartograf decals included.
1/32
SCALE
Wing span: 989mm Length: 707mm
01E030
www.ak-interactive.com www.largescalemodeller.com
