PYN-UP Decals

1/48 B-17G Fortress Chicks Part 2 decal sheet

Product # PYND48010 for $18.99

Product Article by Steve Bamford on Sept 24  2004

 

 

 

 

This new decal sheet from Cutting Edge Modelworks includes markings for one 1/48 B-17G Flying Fortress.  

This decal sheet has markings for a B-17G-50-DL flown by Frank Blackwell with 550th BS of the 385th BG out of Great Ashford, England in the spring of 1945.  The paint scheme on this special B-17 is  is overall bare metal/silver in appearance with Olive Drab for the anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen and and on the inner sides of the engine cowlings.  The top and bottom of the wings and tail surfaces have with red stripes.  The nose art is applied over a white decal to avoid colour bleed through.  The prop spinners have yellow tips.  The forward edge of the wings and horizontal tail surfaces have black leading edge.  The tail contains a large black triangle with a large “G” in black with the serial number 46483 below it.  The tail also has a large red checker board pattern on both sides.  National insignia are not included but you can purchase these directly from Meteor Edge under their Cutting Edge Decal line. 

The noseart for this aircraft is Corporal Ruby Newell of the 3rd Bomb Division staff.  She was voted the most beautiful WAC in the ETO in a Stars and Stripes reader's poll.  Text next to her image says "Ruby's Raiders.  This was a new plane so the paint scheme is factory fresh.  Further info about markings are included in the instructions.  This B-17 had staggered waist guns, so you will have to modify the Monogram B-17 kit to a staggered waist gun configuration.

The decals were flawlessly printed and in perfect registration and the clear carrier film is trimmed very close to the crisply printed colored areas.  

The noseart decals are delicate and two are included for each plane in case you mess up the first ones.  Exacting instructions are included on how to prepare and install these decals…..read these instructions carefully to avoid disaster.  Apparently these noseart decals are very thin and need special care, but once installed they will look very accurate and realistic.  The nose art decals are printed on a one piece decal sheet, so you’ll need to cut the decal free from the rest of the decal film…..patience is the key here.  The noseart decal is beautifully printed with fantastic detail and lovely shading.  

The instructions are clear and include 3 views of this aircraft and an extra 2 pages of text instructions is included with a small bit of info about this planes as well as helpful tips for decal application. 

Other products to consider when building your B-17 are the Black Magic B-17 canopy and wheel hub masks (CEBM48274) for the Monogram kit.  As well as the B-17G "Cheyene" Tail Turret conversion (CEC48417).

Click on images below to see larger images of the instruction sheets

A very nice decal sheet and  sure to please the lucky 300 people that manage to buy one of these limited edition sheets.  

I would like to thank Cutting Edge Modelworks for providing me with this review sample.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford