Best B-17G reference book?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hey guys,

If I can only get one reference book for the interior of the B-17G, which would you guys recommend?

Between the cost of the kit and the PE, the reference budget is just about enough for one book, so which one would be the most comprehensive?

Thanks,

Fred

2

Wish I could be of more help but I to am still looking for a comprehensive reference, I have a couple but none I consider definative. However if you like B17 Fs as well maybe you’ll enjoy this.Its my oil painting I’ve titled “Onslaught”, hope you like it

3

There really is no answer to your question, It’s really hard to find good wartime pics of them but if your not one of those “dont use the restored birds, there not accurate” then I would recomend B-17 walk around from squadron. It’s got a good amount of pics throughout the airplane. BUT…you obviously have an internet connection, you can find quite a bit online, just takes longer. And remember…there is NOT a 100% accurate answer for the correct interior color(s) of any B-17.

4

Fred,

B-17 in Action #12 - Squadron

Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 - Squadron

Fighting Colors B-17 Flyingfortress in Color -Squadron

B-17 in Action # 63 -Squadron

Walk Around B-17 Flying Fortress # 16 - Squadron

Pride of Seattle The Story of the First 300 B-17Fs - Squadron

B-17 Flying Fortress in detail and scale part 1 - Alwyn Loyd & Terry Moore

B-17 Flying Fortress in detail and scale part 2 - Alwyn Loyd

B-17 Flying Fortress in detail and scale part 3 - Alwyn Loyd

B-17 Fortress at War Roger A Freeman

Are just a few I have in the library, and honestly I cant give you a thumbs~up on what to buy but a few of my most used favorites are…

Fighting Colors B-17 Flyingfortress in Color -Squadron

For general interior detail items I would go with the “Walk Around B-17 Flying Fortress #16 - Squadron” but not everything is shown.

Let me know if there is something I can help with.

5

Lock On #24 is my favorite on the B-17G, the production quality is excellent and the photo coverage is very useful for a modeler. They are photos of the IWM’s B-17G mostly, by Willy Peters. The Detail and Scale books I like very well also.

6

Also a great reference book on numerous WWII aircraft with a huge B17 section is the “Great Book of World War II Airplanes” . It has probably over 500 pages and sold for 190.00, but I got it in the 1980’s for 25 or 35 dollars at a bookstore sale. It has all the enterior sections as fold-outs illustrated by the famous aircraft illustrator Rikyu Watanabe. It is a great reference source if you can find it.

Charlie

7

Thanks for all the refernces, guys [8D]

What I’m looking for is detailed pictures of interior sections where detail would normally be sparse in a kit.

I have, on order, the following PE sets from Eduard;

Engine detail set

Exterior set

Nose gunner/bombadier set

cockpit set

mid-fuselage detail set

tail gunner set

And I know that that should give me everything I need to build up the 17 into something spectacular, but I also know that there’s always going to be details that are overlooked. So I’m hoping there’s a book that shows the important parts so I can scratchbuild whatever’s missing.

-Fred

8

I hope you’re doing the “Visible B-17” or about 75% of the stuff you ordered is going to be “Invisible in the B17”…[:D]

9

[(-D] [(-D] [(-D]

Yeah, it’s the visible 17. I purposefully got the visible one so I could do all this detailing.

-Fred

10

If you Yahoo search for images you’ll find hundreds of good photos of the Collings Foundation bird amongst others. In good color and high resolution.

11

The best one I have found as far as interior detail has been the Aero Detail #19 Boeing B-17G Flying Fortess. It has very detailed color pictures of the exterior and interior of restored Shoo Shoo Baby at the USAFM and the Mary Alice it the IWM, next I would go with the Squadron Walkaround since it also includes actual photos of wartime aircraft. Not sure if the former book is still in print or not but I prefer it over all the other books in my reference stack.

Eric Strohmeyer

12

Thanks again, guys [:D]

The only reason I’m looking for a book (versus using the internet), is that my computer is downstairs, my studio is upstairs and my printer is kaput. So if I looked up a particular detail, I’d probably end up getting it wrong by the time I got upstairs (go ahead, ask me how I know [;)] [(-D] ).

If I can’t find the Aero Detail book that Tomcat mentioned, I’ll get the squadron walkaround. I’ve used other issues of the walkaround series and I find then to be about 80% complete. There’s always like one section or area that they forget to get decent pictures of. They’ll have like 15 pictures of the cockpit, but things like gunbays or landing gears are always just out of frame or in frame, but out of focus.

-Fred

13

See if you can find the book I mentioned, “Great Book of World War II Airplanes” , It has great illustrations of each station within the B17. You might be able to find it in a library or local bookstore.

Charlie

14

I’ll see if I can find it the local bookstores, Charlie [8D]

I did manage to find a copy of the aero detail on ebay for a decent price, so I have that on the way.

-Fred

15

Here is what the book cover looks like and a few of the foldouts on the B-17. I’m sure there are better books but this is a definite keeper if you ever find it because it has so many well known WWII aircraft in it also. It is a great reference book.

Hope this helps.

Charlie

16

Hi,I have a great book on the B-17 called “FLYING FORTRESS”,written by Edward Jablonski.

The book starts at the development and design of the bird.The copy I have was printed in 1965,has only B&W photos.It has tons of in flight photos.There are detailed structure drawings in the back of the book.It has detailed exploded breakdowns,detailed assembly and construction drawings.There are also quite a few interior photos of just about all stations.There are 362 pages and 400 illustrations and photos.You might be able to find it on Evil-bay, or in a library.

Hope this helps you,

George

17

Jablonski’s book is good, dont get me wrong, but the quality of the pics of the interior are not that helpful as refference for building a scale model IMO. There are a a few good overhead exterior shots of a 17 in flight which are really good for weathering refference.