B-17G Little Miss Mischief 1:48 Build

[Swampfox]

Hello fellow builders.

I have been asked by Paper Designer John Dell to do a build thread of his newest card model, Little Miss Mischief, a fairly well known B-17G that flew with the 8th Air Force in WW2.

John and I have gotten use to referring to her as LMM, and will do so in this thread.

I am hoping to make this a 2 writer thread where John will make additional comments along side mine. Any and all comments are always welcome, and expected from you guys.

I've just had to replace my computer and still have a few thing to iron out before I'm fully up and running. Please be patient with me as I may be a little slow in posting daily up-dates, but I will do my best not to drag this build for too long.

I look forward to doing this build as LMM is probably my most favorite of pretty much all B-17s I'm familiar with.

Thank You for your time and interest.

Swampfox

[Erik Zwaan]

Hi Swampfox,

I'm looking forward to your build and this thread. The B17G is one of my favorite WW2 bombers and John made a beautiful model of it. Don't worry, take your time. Rome also wasn't build in just one day.

Regards,
Erik

[Don Boose]

Your builds are always worth waiting for - especially a John Dell USAAF bomber.

Don

[MacSongLi]

Look forward to your build trhead swampfox.

Gary

[Doubting Thomas]

I had to go and look up LMM to find out why/how she got pieced together from two planes. She took a AAA flak hit over Cologne Germany. It will be great to watch this build thread!

Jeff

[JohnO]

There is a lot of good info on LMM on Dave Klaus website

World?s Best Model Airplane Decals | Cutting Edge Decals | PYN-up Decals | Yellowhammer Decals B-17G Little Miss Mischief

[Swampfox]

Welcome, thanks for looking

I will post more photos to this thread than any other I've done in the past. I've taken nearly 600 picts and I'm about halfway through this build and I'll probably take that many more.

Ask questions, leave comments (Good or Bad, indifferent. I can't sit for hours working on this build as my old body starts complaining and I have to get away for a while.

I'll actually start somewhere in the middle of this B-17G's History:

This is going to be a build of John Dells latest release, a 1:48 scale model of a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, named Little Miss Mischief. To save having to type out the full aircraft each time I will use the name LMM from this point on, most of the time.

I have been a fan of the B-17 since I first saw one at an airshow about 1956. I think they are a beautiful aircraft and I am really looking forward to doing this build.

Without getting too detailed, roughly this is how/why this aircraft came to be. My thanks to John for allowing me to use some the information from the introduction sheet included with his model.

When “Little Miss Mischief” joined the 91st Bomb Group on 15 June 1944, she looked just like any other natural metal replacement B-17G. Her first pilot, Joe Bessolo, named her Little Miss Mischief and went on to fly 27 of his 28 combat missions in her.

Her nose art, based on one of George Petty’s Esquire centerfolds, was painted by the 91st Bomb Group’s Tony Starcer. LMM's noseart is considered, by many, to be one of the best of the more than 130 creations that came from his brush. She would be remembered for more than just great nose art—unlike the typical B-17, she combined an amazing combat history with an unusual appearance.

LMM did her job well, and during a mission on October 15, 1944 to Köln (Cologne) she became a victim of antiaircraft fire. Flak blew a large hole in the left side of the fuselage just above the ball turret.
The bombs were salvoed while the flight engineer grabbed and repaired the control cables flapping in the waist. The aircraft dropped down to lower altitude and flying at only about 100 miles per hour eventually made it home to Bassingbourn. Before landing the crew had to crank the landing gear down by hand. The aircraft had suffered major damage, yet stayed intact long enough to bring her crew home, it certainly appeared that LMM had flown her final mission.

BUT WAIT, there's more

At the 441st Sub Depot, the service unit attached to the 91st Bomb Group, made an extraordinary effort to repair this ship. Joining the undamaged front portion and wings with the rear fuselage from an older aircraft, most likely 42-31405 “Walleroo Mk. 2,” a camouflaged B-17G-15-BO that had served with the 303rd Bomb Group’s 359th Bomb Squadron and was salvaged on 12 August 1944. By the time the 441st Repair Depot was finished the repaired plane incorporated parts from 13 different aircraft!

After 40 days in the repair shop, the newly rebuilt "Little Miss Mischief" was flying again.

LMM’s “half and half” finish made her one of the most conspicuous aircraft in the Eighth Air Force. After yet another raid on Köln, she was forced to make an emergency landing at Merville, France, on 6 January 1945, remaining on the continent for about a month. She rejoined the 91st upon her return, but lost an engine on 4 April 1945 and was forced to abort the mission. Upon return to Bassingbourn her landing gear collapsed on landing and she again suffered major damage.

Repaired yet again, she transferred to the 306th Bomb Group at Thurleigh in May 1945. Presumably she was eventually scrapped. All told, she flew more than 50 combat missions.

My goal with this build is to show Little Miss Mischief minutes before this photograph was taken! Fairly well intact and preparing for another rough landing.



Thanks,
Swampfox

[John Dell]

I’ve been looking forward to this thread. I tend to rush when I build models so it will be nice to see the results of someone who takes their time. I’m sure I’ll also learn a few tricks along the way.

This particular B-17G has always been of interest to me. With the unique appearance and history, she is a model builders dream. She is also one of the better documented B-17s. I have found color photos of her taken on three separate occasions. Right up to the very end of finishing the kit, I was still discovering new information.

Thank you Swampfox, for taking the time to do this thread.

[peter taft]

This will be very nice to peruse over, with great interest. Enjoy...we will

[Swampfox]

Thanks for the vote of confidence from everyone, I hope I don't disappoint.

I was just thinking about the first time I heard of The actual B-17, LMM.
I think it was in the early '60s, soon after I bought this book which I'm guessing that most of us have. Squadron Shops, IN ACTION series for the B-17.


Look Familiar? What's the name of the plane on the cover?


And this is a page from a 1942 pinup calender, showing Little Miss Mischief in the flesh!!


My build of the 1:48 Monogram B-17G, using the info shown in the B-17 IN ACTION and on the cover. A Yellow Tailed LMM. My model was wrong, way wrong.

I Was ticked off that the cover was wrong and of course so was my model. But I learned a HUGE lesson.............. triple check your sources, and still don't believe them until you prove it to your self.

OR, Just blow it off and don't loose sleep over it!! I've tried it and it doesn't work for me either.

Mistakes in paper just don't hurt as much as they do in plastic................................

Swampfox