I’ve been wanting to build one of these (based on Monogram 1/48 B-17G) for several years and have just finally cleared enough space on the bench to begin. First cut in plastic last night.
Some of the detail sets that will be involved in this build;
I hope you didn’t cut the new window yet! It’s the right side that had the waist position moved forward. It looks like you also need to move it further aft the to the panel line. I brought my “Fortress in the Sky” book out to work with me and I’m looking at the YB-40 pictures now. I’ve been kicking my own butt all week for not documenting the distance the right waist gun position was moved on “909” when I crawled through it a couple weeks ago. It appears there is one frame member width between the staggered windows. I’m guessing about 2 ft. Front forward edge is close to the back edge of the ball turrent. I took one picture of the ball turrent in “909” from the bomb bay facing aft that might be of some help in the right window location.
I can’t seem to copy the link from Photo Bucket right now. Go to the Beginnings of a very Visible B-17 Thread, last page and the picture is posted there. Not a great reference but frames are noticable.
Note on window size, the bottom sill would be higher on the YB-40’s than the G’s. Your kit you can modify it as you wish and out of the 19 built who is to say some didn’t have the larger window openings.
Keep us updated, it will be a very interesting conversion.
I’m at work offshore and our computer network is acting up. I’ll try and scan the pictures I have out of the book during the day today. Do you need any serial number blocks of the YB-40’s?
They made 20 YB-40s and 2 XB-40s. I have numbers for the first XB-40 and 14 of the YB-40s. Any additional information is always appreciated. I think I’m pretty much settled on building ‘Seymour Angel’ 42-5734 from the 92nd BG.
Yes, the Allison conversion is on my B-17 to-do list but the Rebel conversion pieces do not have a good reputation. That one is a bit further down the road.
Swanny, go to Joe Baugher’s serial numbers website, and go to the aircraft info section. It lists the serial numbers for the 1 XB-40 (the second B-17F-1-BO), the 20 YB-40’s (Vega built F-10, F-30, and F-35 Block aircraft), and the 4 TB-40 trainers. My uncle’s 303rd BG had one in his 427th BS named the “Tampa Tornado”. He confirmed that they were utterly worthless. One thing is to make sure you use the long F and early G plexi-nose, not the short G nose.
I measured the staggered right waist window as 100 inches from the forward hinge line of the entrance door to the aft edge of the right staggered window. I used the B-17G at the Evergreen Museum as my reference.
Thanks for the info on the distance of the staggered right waist window. I found a reference stating it was moved approximately 5 ft forward of the standard window.
The Cheyenne tail was a later modification done to G models. I should have paid closer attention before assembling my accessory list. It’s okay though because I’m just barely started, not too late to make changes in the program.
That is one of the benefits of the Fourms. You can get a lot of info on things you might have overlooked. Hopefully it’s before you get to far along on the build!
