Academy/RVHP 1/72 Boeing PB-1W AEW

[hsr]

This is my 1/72 Boeing PB-1W Airborne Early Warning aircraft using the Academy B-17G kit and the RVHP PB-1W resin conversion set. The PB-1W is a very rare variant of the B-17 with only 22 made. These were developed by MIT for the navy under Project Cadillac (named for Mount Cadillac, Maine where early testing was done, not for the car) and were the first land based AEW created (the TBM-3W was developed first for carrier use). They started out as B-17G's had all arms and armaments removed and had a belly mounted AN/APS-20 radar mounted over the bomb bay doors. There were additional modifications made and you can see:

 http://vw1assoc.org/vw1aircraft_pb1w.html

and 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boeing_B-17_Flying_Fortress_variants#PB-1_and_PB-1W

for more details. They were used into the 50's until replaced by the PO-1W AKA WV-2 AKA EC-121K Warning Stars.

 

The Academy kit left me very unimpressed compared to the Hasegawa B-17F kit I had previously built. Academy makes several variants of the B-17 and it seemed that all the parts for all of them were included in this kit, which is not a bad thing. The RVHP conversion had excellent resin mouldings, virtually no instructions and decals. The decals looked good but turned out to be useless and I had to use bits and pieces from other leftover sets. There were 2 an issue with then; they look to have been printed on an ALPS printer that seems to have had a bad column of nibs. This left thin stripes through all the decals that were not printed. Second they were only printed in white and the stars and the warning stripes needed to have some red in them.  In cleaning up my work table I found that there was a separate sheet with the red stripes that I had misplaced. 

 

Total working time was 18 days, and here it is:

 

 

I ordered the Black Bird OP-2E conversion weeks ago and was hoping to build that next but, it still hasn't come. So unless it comes tomorrow I will be doing  Anigrand's Convair XA-41 next

 

Enjoy 

 

 

[kapam]

Very nice job and a unique looking twist on the normal B-17 machine!

Congratulations! 

Incidentally, I rather agree with you that the Hasegawa kit (old though it may be) is a more satisfactory replica than some other brands.

 

[Properjob56]

Oooo...nice job. 

 

As reviews using RVHP products are as rare as hens teeth it seems and I've always cast an envious eye over them this is most welcome. Note to self: supply own decals if using RVHP.

[hsr]

I don't recall a single pinhole in the resin, but the decals...💩

 

Thanks

[Unfinished project]

Very unusual B-17 looks good in these colours 👏👏👏 

[hsr]

A little different from the usual  OD over gray or NM, but a B-17 looks good in any color 😀

 

Thanks