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Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:21 am

Forgive me if this has already been covered ~ but this keeps popping up as a B-17 search result in Google

http://b17-bomber.com/en/index.html

Does anyone know any more about it ?

Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:51 pm

I'd sooner go for the franklin mint die cast ones before that. But, any incarnation of the monogram B-17G is still currently the best replica of a B-17, at least in this morelers opinion.

A quick look at this just looks wrong to me, out of proportion etc....

Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:02 pm

It's to 'museum quality' as a TRIUMPH MAYFLOWER is to a ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER WRAITH :lol: :drinkers:

Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:54 pm

When I first visited the NMUSAF when I was in Jr. High, I was blown away by the quality of the models in the IPMS display case. But that was when I built kits with no filling or sanding, painted them with a brush, and slapped the decals on right over the flat paint. After got older and gained some skill and experience as a modeler, I began look at models in museums with a much more critical eye. I've seen many models in museum displays that were very crudely built, or had glaring accuracy errors. For the most part, a museum model is just there to illustrate a historical point, or show an aircraft (or variant) that the museum doesn't have. In most cases, a simple, well constructed model will do just fine.

What I'm trying to say is that "museum quality kit" is a meaningless term. Even the most basic kit can be built into a masterpiece, and a really expensive fancy kit can be turned into a pile of crap. Frankly, I'm more impressed by someone who can take a dog of a kit and add a bunch of well done scratchbuilt detail than someone who merely assembles a high-dollar kit.

Case in point: this 1/72 piece won "Best Aircraft" at the 2009 IPMS USA National Convention. Rather than use the newer, snazzier, and far more expensive Hasegawa kit with a buttload of resin and photoetch, the builder started with the venerable Airfix kit, and added all the detail from scratch.

SN

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Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:53 pm

I don't know if it's just the angle we're seeing it at but my eye was immediately drawn to the cowls. They don't look quite right to me. Nonetheless I was still interested in buildling it until I figured up the price. It's 100 issues, and at the current conversion from pounds to US dollars it ends up costing over $1,140 by the time it's built, not counting shipping charges to the US.

Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:49 pm

Greg, I'll add to what you said. Cowls, props, engines, wings, fuselage, de-icer boots, landing lights, the nose is too short.....The whole plane looks goofy and cartoony.

Re: Museum Quality B-17 Kit ?

Sun Aug 07, 2011 1:59 pm

B-17 guy wrote:I'd sooner go for the franklin mint die cast ones before that. But, any incarnation of the monogram B-17G is still currently the best replica of a B-17, at least in this morelers opinion.

A quick look at this just looks wrong to me, out of proportion etc....

That thing is just screwey looking.1/36 scale? Why?These companies invest so much money in the molds to produce these things and skip the most important part ACCURACY.Its not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.What a waste of time.
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