Monogram 1/48 B-17G by Tolga Ulgur

Monogram's 1/48 scale
B-17G "Princess Pat"

by Tolga Ulgur

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Princess Pat"

Description

This is Monogram's 1/48 scale B-17G wearing the markings of 42-97503 “Princess Pat” of 381 BG, Ridgewell, Essex, UK, 1944.

This B-17G was received by the 533rd Bomb Squadron on 13 January 1944 and had completed more than 100 combat missions by mid-March 1945.

On the 27th of that month , while on an evening practice flight, the aircraft caught fire. Although the crew escaped without injury from the ensuing crash-landing at Ridgewell, “Princess Pat” could not be saved.

Years ago, when I saw the B-17G Princess Pat built by Neil Burkill I decided to built this bird. This has been on my bucket list ever since. However, the "Princess Pat" nose art had never been produced as a decal, nor was there a clear photo of it. This project remained dormant for years.

Finally I decided to creat a drawing and sent it to “Custom Hobby Decals ” to develop it. After some consultation, I finally had a decal of “Princess Pat” nose art.

The Monogram B-17G I used is a fairly old version, manufactured in 1975. The clear parts were not good and the biggest challenge during the build process.

I used the Eduard instrument panel in the cockpit (although they're not visible).

The main wheels are from DEF.