Academy Boeing B-17F “Memphis Belle” 1/72 Model Kit

04.05.18

Make / Model: Academy Boeing B-17F “Memphis Belle” 1/72 Model Kit
Year: Recent?

Quality

Very Good. Like most Academy kits, the effort in the build is put into what you see.

Ease of Assembly

Relatively easy. Decals a bit of a pain.

Impressions

So I built this kit recently. This is my second kit by Academy, and here is what i’ve found. Academy kits tend to focus on what you see, rather than all detail. Also, decals are a bit of a pain to put on: Slow to release, and easy to rip, the opposite of my experience with the Revell Stearman.

This kit was very fun. First up, the cockpit.

fig. 1. Easy cockpit.

..nice little detail, and quick into the full fuselage…

fig. 2. A bomber with no bombs. Cockpit and bomb bay in fuselage.

…in keeping with my ‘no weapons’ idea, I built none of the bombs. I just don’t want to be surrounded by weapons. And having a kid, it makes the importance of such a thing stand out more. My daughter should be able to appreciate the beauty of these planes without the weaponry…

fig. 3. The engines are a good example of the molding detail in this kit. So easy to make look good.

…when I got to the engines, I was really blown away by the detail here. They were molded so cleanly, and so well. Just dabbing on paint added so much nice detail. This really made me appreciate the kit…

fig. 4. Overview images of the build.

Conclusion

All in all, a fun build. I built this in just a couple days. I really appreciate the quality of the Academy models. But, the sprue’s were a little difficult to cut from, and like I mentioned, the Academy decals are a little difficult to work with. Overall though, very Fun little project.