What's up people, me again.

I have my Grace on hold for a few days waiting for paint. (Coming out really nice)
So I thought I'd get ready for my next project in the meanwhile.
I have a Revellogram B-17G sitting here. It's the Chowhound/El Lobo II kit.
However I wanted to do something with a NMF and a pin-up girl on it.
I looked around for a while. And pin-up decals are hard to come by now for this kit. but lucky me I found a set for Sleepy Time Gal .
Along with an Eduard exterior set
My questions are what were the differences between the kit's B-17 and Sleepy Time Gal? Other than the paintjob of course. I'm not too concerned with the interior. Just the exterior.

Hi Boris,

Hard to say. B-17s were built by Boeing, Vega and Douglas. There were several 'dash' , or Block, versions of each. Some of the exterior differences, if there were some, were probably indiscernible to anyone but a crew chief or company designer.

Some obvious exterior differences I can think of are the staggered waist gunner windows, the waist windows glassed over, and the rotating tail turret.

The good news is that the B-17 is well researched, and when you know the Block number (serial / tail number) of Sleepy Time Gal or Chow Hound, it will be easy to look up where it was built, and what details it had.

Yes that's basically all I'm looking for is major differences between block numbers and whatnot.
I did some research before on Sleepy Time Gal and found out that she was serial number 42-38211. Block 30 built by Douglass. Can't tell when it was produced.
The Chow Hound was number 42-31367. Block 15 built by Boeing.

I'm having problems finding any photos of Sleepy Time Gal to see what the deal was with the tail and waist guns, none of the shops in my area hove books on it. The kit's bird has a standard gun position in the tail instead of the Cheyenne turret, and the waist guns are not staggered.

I know that theres a restored Sleepy Time Gal at Dover Air Force Base Museum, but it's not the real one. It's a post war model so I'm not sure how much it has in common with the actual Sleepy Time Gal.

I found this if its any help...

here

Steve

Yes I have seen that site. i guess the tail guns seem to be a standard gun position and not a Cheyenne turret. Still can't tell about the waist guns though. Also found that the Sleepy Time Gal's windshields in the pilot cockpit seem to be slightly different from the kit's.

it looks lke Sleepy Time gal was an early " G " model. They wouldn't have the staggered waist guns or the Cheyene tail turret. Check on the decal sheet to see if they show the stars and bars offset. If they do then Sleepy Time Gal was a later " G " model. But most of what I've seen makes me believe she's an early " G ".
Jerry

Hey, do you guys know places where i can get Pin-Up decals for this kit? Because the place I ordered from looks like it's out of stock most likely. Why is it so hard to find decals for this plane? It's a popular plane, you'd think they would have alot of stuff for it.

Edit: Ok seems GM found a set for me and should have it by the 18th.

What do you mean offset Jerry? A color drawing and the decal set seem to show the plane has a Cheyenne turret.

I'm really digging this kit. I think I might do a small collection of large bomers in 1/48th scale. After the B-17, A B-24J is very likely, or perhaps a Lancaster (really expensive for 48th) Too bad noone makes a Tu-95 Bear, I would jump on that.

BTW, I want to build this kit in-flight. Meaning I have to fold in the landing gear. How can i do this? Both the wing and tail gear are set up to only be in the down position. Is the tail wheel supposed to have a door cover it when it's in? Because I can't seem to find one in the kit.

No tail wheel door on a 17. You're just going to have to modify the landing gear struts to show them in the "up" position

John

Thanks alot, that makes things easier. I found some drawings specifically of the landing gear in the up and down position, unfortunately it only covers the front. Any help on the tail?