Reviews : Revell-Germany Boeing B-17F Memphis Belle Bomber Plane

I have built over 300 aircraft kits beginning in the early days of the industry and this kit is no different than any of the earlier kits. It is an early release and has been available for years. The overall quality of the styrene is poor by today's standard and even using the Hobbylinc brand of CA (Superglue) I ran into adhesion issues and had to clamp parts together while waiting time to finish was lengthy. I noted that each major part had to be dry fit tested as the alignment pins and holes were often misaligned. My way of solving this problem was to assemble major parts into sub assemblies, i.e. engine nacelles and main wings. I went to great lengths to open the bomb bay by using a sharp X-acto type hobby knife and carefully followed the pre-scribed lines to remove each door section to be replaced by spare doors from my extra parts bin. I also used reference photos to scratch build the actual bomb rack and assembled it from more parts and bombs from the spare parts bin. As far as accuracy for the overall interior there is little room for detailing so one must use reference photos to complete any of the interior detail. The kit represents a very popular and historically sought after World War Two aircraft so to be fair the kit has to remain at a Good rating as the value cannot be argued with and one must be very forgiving of the quality of the kit. I highly recommend the kit in that light of historic value and caution those who do not care for a fit issue. An experienced modeler such as myself might well find it to be a challenge in that I chose to break through the barriers of a sealed up fuselage and create a more detailed effect with the bomb bay. Have a great time with the positive side of this kit.

I'm confused by the favorable reviews on this German Revell kit of the famous bomber. I think thyat there may have been some confusion with the G model of domestic Revell with this kit This kit is crude; perhaps I have a bit too much knowledge about the plane; I have over the last twenty-five years been able to walk(crawl) through B-17's though never able to afford a ride. I have, in the fifties built the 1/72nd scale kit twice, and found it even then a bad build. it was horrible in trying to fit the clear and solid plastic parts in the nose area together then; very bad fit, as bad as I have seen' Now to this kit; I haven't built it yet, and may not for some time to come. Upon pre-assembly t found the he same detail problems are present in this kit as when I was 10 in 1/72nd scale. What is just as bad, the inner detail is almost non existent. Poor cockpit and bombing areas of the ship, no detail at all in the bomb bay, bomb bay door and waste gunner areas. and poor presentation of the turret gunner areas. Lie I said, I may be spoiled by having such detailed knowledge of the aircraft, but Revell had a chance here at a great kit, given the scale The overall parts fit is lousy, and the colors called for in then instructions bear no semblance to any pictures of either the real thing, or its stand-in in the movie.it takes a lot for me not to want to build the kit I have paid for; perhaps later I will build it. But I'm not inclined to build it now. it wasn't expensive, but it wasn't cheap. I get aggravated by some of the older Revell kits, especially when they make nicely priced, first class kits like the B-25, Me410 and P-61 as examples. what a waste of money and time on kits like this.

This B-17F kit from Revell-Germany was given to me by some friends. They bought it after going for a ride in one at an airshow a few years ago. When I told them I had gotten back into modeling, they sent it to me. So I was really looking forward to building this iconic bomber. Overall, it was a fun build. But for me, there were some challenges to this kit. Most of the pieces had a lot of flashing that needed to be trimmed off and the joining of the fuselage halves took me a few attempts with some cleaning up in between, so it took quite a bit of time to complete. The finished model was well worth it though. Also, this B-17F takes a lot of primer and paint - I used Tamiya AS-13 Green and AS-2 Light Gray for the exterior. Lastly, there is a lot of decals with this kit. Over 150 I believe, many of them very small.

Big model, you'll need lots of paint. Parts fit is just OK, not great. Old molds with about average flash for a Revell kit. Very little interior detail. Strongly suggest PE sets to improve detail. Light trimming and/or sand needed around windows. Overall shape and dimensions are good. With a little extra care it can be made into a very nice aircraft. No provision for retracted gear although it can be done with a little extra work. Check references. Recommend watch crystal glue for machine guns in the nose to secure them to clear nose. Looks awesome hanging from the ceiling. Reasonably priced and good bang for the buck. Would love for Revell to make new molds and add detail to this famous aircraft.

You've just got to love the principle of scaling up a highly successful smaller model into a bigger scale, as Revell did with the F-89, the 'Belle here, and probably some others. I can find troublesome challenges easily enough in the hobby, but there weren't any in the 1/48 'Belle. I've built it twice, both for other people. (My resident Fortress is a Monogram G converted to a PB1W.) For its size, this is a fast and easy project, and the results were delightful both times. You can approach this project with serene confidence, and allow for the fact that some people will always complain about nothing.

This is a real good kit of a really famous aircraft. My advise is that before you paint a piece, TEST FIT IT!!!. Especially the windows and the wings. The windows/openings required a tiny bit of trimming before they'd fit flush. And the way the wings mount, while making it easy to install with a very solid joint, care should be taken and pre-fit. Id advise installing them before painting as putty will certainly be needed if you're going for a seamless look. I built this kit quite a few years ago and she's still hanging from my ceiling.

I built this kit many years ago the Original Revell release. It was an easy build, and the overall appearance was excellent. I recently purchased this re-release to have in my stash. People are becoming extremely critical, and detail obsessed, with photo etch parts, and highly detailed resin details now available, that cannot even be seen when the fuselage is assembled. Granted some parts in this kit are rather crude, but the overall rendering is excellent. Remember this hobby is supposed to be FUN, and this kit fits the bill.

This is an old Revell kit which is a great subject but a lot of work. The molds are not good and the kit has a LOT of flash to be removed. The parts are sometimes hard to fit and the instructions a bit confusing in some areas. The plastic is so smooth paint is hard to stick to it. I love the way it turned out, but I would not recommend this kit for a beginner. I can only give it 4 stars under the circumstances.

Great model of a great airplane. The details of this model are remarkable. Except for some of the clear pieces, very little trimming is needed. This is by far one of the best airplane models I have assembled.

problems with this kit. Fit issues. Broken pieces. my fault ? Not satisfied wit this build.

My 14 year old, son really enjoyed building this. He is looking forward to building more.

Opened and looked at all the parts. They look very well made, good detail.