An awesome book about Midway is called Shattered Sword by Pearshall and Tully. It tells the Japanese side of the battle and dispels the myths surrounding the battle. I highly recommend it.
Great work on the B-17. I look forward to seeing it complete.
John
After researching for my slowly building B-17E, the position of the gunners head as he lies prone on the belly, face resting against the tracking gunsight, it appears to me that he’d be stepped on by either of the waist gunners. Particularly if the attacking fighters chose the 4 or 8 o’clock angles.
I can’t imagine how hellish that position must have been at altitude in combat, oxygen hoses, intercom connections, hot, spent brass from the waist guns raining down on him! No wonder the turret and it associated equipment was removed from the aircraft and junked.
A good book dealing with B-17 combat operations in the Pacific is “Fortress Against the Sun” by Gene Eric Salecker. He devotes a whole chapter to the B-17’s role during during the Battle of Midway.
HTH
Tony H.
The mirrors induced vertigo on the gunner causing him to have motion sickness and becoming incapacitated when he was needed most.
That is why they were removed, and in a few cases were replaced by a ball turret as documented in Air Force Colors Vol. 3.
Well it’s starting to look like a Midway B-17E. Just need to assemble and paint the props, install the top turret, remaining clear parts, replace a missing pitot tube, decal, dullcote, unmask and done!
I forgot to mention, thank you for the recommendations on those books, I will definitely get my hands on those!
Looks fantastic John. I can’t wait to see it finished…
Joe
Nice progress!
I can recommend “Shattered Sword”, too, it’s an excellent book, very well annotated, the authors did their homework. I recommend their other materials, too.
And thank you, Tony H, for your book recommendation, I will look that up.
Here is the finished beast. Base kit was the Revell B-17F with props from Ultra cast and nose glass from Koster. Finished by brush with Tamiya acrylics and Testors Dullcote.
A Midway Fortress! It looks awesome and you did a hell of a job on it! I dig your collection of forts’ too.
Thank you rocker286!
Great job![t$t]
Anybody got a spare top turret for a B-17E, that they would like to get rid of? I ruined mine by stupidity.
Thank you mississippivol! Chuck, check your PM