Author Topic: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale  (Read 6045 times)

Offline Brian da Basher

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The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« on: March 03, 2018, 05:38:41 AM »


Boeing's B-17 Flying Fortress is legendary and even spawned a derivative for U.S. Navy service, the PB-1W:



Almost completely forgotten today is an even more advanced version employing swept-wing technology, the U.S. Navy's Boeing PB-1SW.



By 1946, the war had ended in Europe and the allies made off with a treasure-trove of captured technology, including the swept wing.



Boeing was asked to employ this new aerodynamic breakthrough on a B-17 along with top-secret inline Packard Merlin XXXL engines of undisclosed horsepower.



While the new aircraft, dubbed the PB-1SW excelled in flight tests, the Army Air Force bailed out of the project due to the unexpected dual successes of the B-29 Superfortress and B-32 Dominator. This left only the Navy as a potential customer.



After the A-bomb fizzled making the Manhattan Project look more like a derelict housing project, the Japanese continued to doggedly hold on in the Pacific. The U.S. Navy needed a long-range, fast patrol 'plane and thought the PB-1SW would fit the bill nicely.



The timing couldn't have been better. In late 1945, long-range Japanese subs attacked allied outposts all along the far edge of the war zone. By 1946, they were rumored to be launching an even more deadly offensive with a frightening new weapon.



Before you could say "fish fry" there were panicked submarine sightings all along the U.S. west coast. For some reason, Washington state had the most scares which meant a lot of job security for the men and aircraft of the Navy's 30698th patrol squadron based in Bremerton.



The men of the 30698th spent countless tedious hours scanning the empty ocean. Most of the reports they received were just cases of war nerves or mis-identifying breaching whales. However, in the early evening of April 31st, a sub was definitively sighted and PB-1SW 976 swooped in on the attack.



Getting a bead on their target, they dropped numerous depth-charges.



While these did little damage and the enemy escaped unharmed, at least the attack made a text-book pattern.



The weapons officer and sonar mate 3rd class would go on to distinguished careers as instructors at the Dry Gulch Naval Air Training Station in New Mexico.



The Japanese would eventually surrender in 1947, unable to withstand the onslaught of chewing gum, Archie comics and Coca-Cola that were clandestinely smuggled into the country by the O.S.S.



Only 29 Boeing PB-1SWs were ever built and they were quickly relegated to the scrap-heap as newer, more capable aircraft replaced them. Only one PB-1SW survived and after being revived from the boneyard, it was unfortunately destroyed in an accident while making a movie.



This patrol aircraft would be completely forgotten today except for a small cameo in a Dolt Desnie classic.



Even so, film buffs often confuse the PB-1SW with other, more notable aircraft. To this day, the so-called experts continue to insist this is all just a figment of someone's twisted imagination.

But some of us know better.



Brian da Basher
« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 11:16:33 PM by Brian da Basher »

Offline deathjester

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2018, 05:47:09 AM »
Oh very nice Brian!  They does look good!


Title only edited because it's Friday and I iz dumb. - B da B
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 06:37:53 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Robomog

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2018, 05:47:40 AM »
Depth charging dory LMAO  ;D  ;D ;D

Nice one Brian, stunning build as well

Mog
>^-.-^<

Title only edited because it's Friday and I iz dumb. - B da B
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 06:38:28 AM by Brian da Basher »
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Offline finsrin

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2018, 06:09:29 AM »
You be on a roll.  Fine concept and build.  Swept wings & tail surfaces with sleek engine nacelles sure take PB-1SW to a next step configuration of original B-17.
Next step navy color scheme too. :-*


Title only edited because it's Friday and I iz dumb. - B da B
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 06:38:54 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2018, 06:17:01 AM »
This all started with a venerable 1/144 Minicraft B-17G. Look at that box art! One can almost feel the flak!



What's inside the box is pretty simple and much easier to build once you remove the poly wrap.



Originally, I was going to use F-84F Thunderjet wings and tail planes for this but I wasn't happy with how it looked in my mind's eye. Fortunately, Bill came to the rescue by not only suggesting 1/100 Grumman A-6 Intruder wings but also sending me the kit so I could pull it off! Talk about a big helping hand!

Here's how it all looked when I glued it together. A nameless horiz stab was used for the tail.



While I was anxious to get this one done, it still needed work on those inboard F-100 drop-tank engine booms. A bit of surgery was done and the front tips of those tanks were grafted on the back end.



Here's how it all looked before paint.





And a few more "compare & contrast" with the engine booms.









It took me a couple of days to get this far and along the way, I bodged the kit windscreen and had to resort to filling the hole with card. The chin turret was replaced with a bomb half and the nose of a 1/48 bomb was used for the belly blister. MiG-17 drop-tanks were used for the outboard engines.



Scraps of plastic were fashioned into exhausts. The kit props with spinners from a DC-6 were added later.

After this, it was off to the paint shop.



The old hairy stick was used along with some of my remaining Polly Scale RLM-something Lichtblau acrylic on the uppers. A little of my ever-dwindling Polly Scale Reefer White covered the undersides, speaking of which, here's a shot that highlights them nicely. You can see  the chin and belly blisters.



The props were done with Model Masters Black and tipped in Insignia Yellow. Jet Exhaust was used on the exhausts and the tail guns were given a custom gun-metal mix.



Model Masters Insignia Blue top-coated with shiny acrylic gloss artist's medium was used for most of the windows, but I cheated and used a slice of decal for the ones on the sides.

Speaking of decals, they were from the B-17 kit but the U.S. Navy titles were swiped from a sheet for a T-6, I think.



Here's a couple of "money shots" (U.S. currency for scale):



I had a blast building this beast which took about a week from start to finish. I'd like to thank Bill for his help and generosity which made this all possible. I couldn't have done it without you!



I'd also like to thank Mr Tomcat for moderating this GB and those of you who are playing along or just stopped by to look.



I hope you enjoyed the Boeing PB-1SW and reading a little more forgotten aircraft history that might be a bit fishy, even for old salts.

Brian da Basher


« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 11:18:55 PM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2018, 06:43:10 AM »
Wow! 

That has got to be the most ingenious collection of model parts to ever come together so far. 

Great work as usual Brian! :)
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Offline elmayerle

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2018, 07:17:17 AM »
Beautiful, Brian!  You have to wonder how much those inboard nacelles inspired Tupelov on the Tu-95 and later projects.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2018, 09:19:39 AM »
So you put two kits in a box, shook the box and this marvel came out? Outstanding! The over/under engine arrangement was tried by the Russians, too.

Offline Tophe

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2018, 12:21:43 PM »
Marvelous mix! (of parts and scales) :-*

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2018, 02:15:19 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline Kelmola

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2018, 02:58:32 AM »
Looks like a natural progression of the Fort design. Considering that there were literally tens of thousands of B-17's available when they were scrapped as per OTL or upgraded to B-29 and B-32 (as per 1946 TL), one would think that even drastic modification or partial remanufacture would have been cheaper than designing a brand new aircraft for a given job. A swept-wing design like this - with the option to upgrade the radials to turboprops - would have been dire news indeed to P-2 Neptune.

Offline Alvis 3.1

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #11 on: March 04, 2018, 05:12:13 PM »
Awesomely amazing as always!

Offline finsrin

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #12 on: March 04, 2018, 06:14:49 PM »
From concept to build PB-1SW is USN and B-17 going modern. :-*
Sit back close eyes, can picture them parked on flight line looking good.

Offline pigflyer

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #13 on: March 05, 2018, 01:11:53 AM »
We are so lucky to have a history researcher of your skill Brian.  So much of aviation would be lost to us without you. Add to that your skill at producing models of
those missing aircraft knows no equal.

All hail the Master.
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Offline KiwiZac

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2018, 04:32:40 AM »
Oh, that is very, very cool Brian! I love it! Inspired!
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Offline John Howling Mouse

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #15 on: April 07, 2018, 06:31:59 AM »
...he did it again!  Friday with a couple of fresh sandwiches and a good BdaB backstory to read along with a great build----all in all: a very good day!
Plus, I learned that you didn't just make up that word 'bodge' after all.  Huh!
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Offline Camthalion

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2018, 09:44:40 AM »
another cool aircraft.  Nice work

Offline jcf

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Re: The U.S. Navy Boeing PB-1SW - A Deep Tale in 1/144 Scale
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2018, 03:23:22 PM »
 :smiley: :smiley:  ;D

Havin’ a fish fry, number one fish fry  ;)

https://youtu.be/UNKciTGdJLU
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