Revell04279 B-17F Memphis Belle 1:72 Scale Unbuilt/Unpainted Plastic Model Kit

In decades of building model aircraft this is one of the best kits I’ve ever come across in terms of quality and value for money. I bought this kit as a project to keep me busy during lockdown and was expecting something comparable to the Airfix B-17. In fact, this is far superior. The interior detail is fabulous, hence my decision to build this as a ‘cutaway’ model so that this can be shown off. The model comes with a very detailed decal set that takes time and patience to apply but produces great looking results. The detailing is as good as it possibly can be without photo-etched parts. Both the detailing on the plastic mouldings and the level of detail on the decals are superior to much more expensive kits I’ve built. If I have one criticism it’s that the guns are easily broken off but that’s due to the scale and it was easy enough to substitute thin wire for the original plastic. One thing I would recommend is to go through theinstructions thoroughly before starting, as the order specified is not always the most logical. I enjoyed this kit so much that I’m actually considering buying it again and building the alternative ‘Shamrock Special’ version.

Really good representation of B17f Flying Fortress. Really good skill testing kit.

Over complicated interer. That you would not see on finished kit. But good quality overall.

This is a model that will keep me out of mischeif for hours if not weeks. The detail is out of this world, was going to have it as a "Flying" modle but will now do it undercarridge down and bomb bay doors open. I live in the same village that the "Belle" flew from and was stationed at the barracks at the end of my Army Career. Will have pride of place in the display cabinst once built and painted up.As with all Revell modles the instructions are not as good as Airfix but the castings are far superior and as long as time is taken building I dont forsee any problems, plus there is always the internet there for help.

I had to make this kit as I live not too far from Duxford and the Memphis Belle flies from there. I have many photographs to help wit some of the finer details and this helps with making some scratch built parts for it. Overall a good kit and reasonable cost.

Ideal for a present if you like building planes

Most complicated model I had completed, very happy with the result. I like the Revell models, the attention to detail very good, decals finish the job

I took a punt on this when it was on sale. I got what I paid for. This is quite an old kit and it shows.There’s quite a lot of flash on the sprues and Revells instructions from this era are woefully hectic and difficult to read.It’s a ‘level 5’ kit so it was always going to be a challenging build. Unfortunately it’s unnecessarily so, with incredibly small and fiddly parts. A 4 part 50 calibre machine gun, for example. Fine in 1/48 scale but not in 1/72, especially when they’re not even particularly detailed. The ball turret consists of 12 parts!I’d consider myself a ‘competent enough’ modeller. Im not really enjoying this kit. I think it requires more skill than I possess but also that anyone with sufficient skill to make a decent job of it will be disappointed with the level of detail.