1/72 B-17E only with RAF decals?

Rareplanes did a Modell 299/B-17D double set. I sold my copy a couple of years back. The B-17D was a fuselage only (wings were to come from a "Memphis Belle") and the 299 was more or less complete. Don't know about a B-17A

FWIW The aircraft depicted in the Academy B-17E kit was a double U- Boat killer. I suspect they were loking to generate some interest with the aircraft's history.

Bill Shuey

The Rareplane kit offers the B-17C/D/Y1B-17. There was no B-17A as such. IIRC the Model 299 was followed by the YB-17, the Y1B-17A, YB-17A then the B-17B. No Model 299 yet. One has been in the works for a couple of years (I provided the research material), but it has not appeared yet.

Tom

I'm missing something here, a B-17 is a rare plane?

(kim)

Send me an e-mail, and I'll attach a copy of the boxart for you.

And that's a shame, because besides being a extremely important from a historical viewpoint, the Model 299 was a very beautiful aircraft in its own right.

Pat

I wasn't talking about a specific variant but to the B-17 as a whole.

(kim)

I notice that about most prototypes. Many prototypes are far prettier than the production versions that end up having larger, hacked up cooling and induction air intakes, etc.

Look at the prototype P-38 and the prototype P-40, as examples.

I saw a flying condition P-38 close up once, and it still was a very streamlined looking piece of machinery. The coolest touch was the stylized lightning bolt retractable entry ladder at the back of the central fuselage pod. What made the 299 look so sharp were the streamlined bubbles for the gun positions. For just plain streamlined beauty, it's hard to beat the Hughes H-1 racer:

Pat