USAAF, 8th Air Force records show that WWII aerial gunners shot down more German aircraft than the fighter pilots. There were several 5 kill aces, one with 9.

8th Air Force Aerial Gunnery Record:
6259 Destroyed
1836 Probable
3210 Damaged

This vignette is a tribute to all the WWII aerial gunners and their instructors. There is an interesting 30-minute WWII training film shown occasionally on the TCM channel, “Rear Gunner” with Ronald Reagan and Burgess Meredith that shows how the aerial gunners were trained. Lots of propaganda, but it was 1943, very interesting, watch for it.

This kit has been in my stash since I purchased it at the Atlanta IPMS Convention in 2005 for $35, now $100 or more if you can find one. Like most dioramas, it captures a split second in time of an event, better I think than even a photograph. With his sculptured figures, Francois Verlinden perfectly captured an event in the subfreezing cold, hostile skies over Germany. A piece of flak or bullet fragment has grazed the gunner’s head and his stunned co-gunner has come to assist. 

Spent .50 cal. rounds on the floorboards indicate the gunner has fired at an enemy aircraft, perhaps the one that wounded him. 2 kill crosses under his waist gun window testifies he is good at his craft. 
Events like this happened hundreds if not thousands of times during the 8th Air Force bombing campaign against Nazi Germany during WWII. Luftwaffe pilots had great respect for the aerial gunners.

The kit is cast resin. The two gunner figures were comprised of separate heads, torsos, arms and legs and a flak apron for one gunner. Verlinden Products went out of business in 2016 when Verlinden retired and did not want to sell his business.

The kit floorboards were warped and uneven in thickness, so I made new ones from sheet styrene. Also, the waist window sliding hatch rail was replaced with styrene L-channel and a clear window fitted to the kit framework. Late B-17F interiors were natural metal aft of the radio compartment and the floorboards were sheet rubber covered.

The M2 Browning .50 cal. gun was made up of 11 delicate parts. The yoke mount sprang from my tweezers never to be seen again, so a new one was made. The gun barrel was drilled out and the gun painted with Tamiya Gunmetal and enhanced with powdered graphite. The handles were painted with Testors Wood and when dry given a coat of Tamiya Clear Orange.

The figures were painted with Testors enamel paints and given a final flat coat. Tamiya Silver Leaf and Semi-gloss Black paint were used for the interior. The fuselage exterior was painted with Tamiya USAAF Olive Drab and a national insignia and kill markings were sourced from the decal scrap box and finished with a final flat coat. While searching for decals, I came across the decal of Rita Hayworth (from the “Look, No Hands”, P-47 sheet) a must have pinup, that was mounted over the waist gunner’s window.

Wanting to add a finishing touch, I procured 25-lathe turned brass .50 rounds by Master Mark from Poland online. They were dipped in clear lacquer and positioned with a toothpick onto the floorboards. The vignette was mounted on a walnut base with a brass plate added.

Verlinden was a major influencer in the hobby for many years. I highly recommend his beautifully sculpted kits, many that I have continued to see online and at contest vendor rooms. If you haven’t built one, I highly recommend you buy one and build it. I hope you like mine.

References: Squadron B-17 in Action #63 and Walk Around B-17 Flying Fortress.

(As is the norm in the heat of combat, often times the same plane was credited to multiple gunners. Post war, when comparing actual enemy losses in a bombing mission to claims, it was not uncommon for there to be wild overclaiming, at times with more aircraft claimed than participated in the battle and at others with multiple claims and no losses. Often times a plane that seemed out of control was just trying to get way. Rarely did bomber crews see their foe hit the ground or the pilot bail out. This is not to denigrate the bravery of the men who flew in bombers, as it was one of the most dangerous jobs, just to show that there was a difference between claims and actuality. Ed)

10 December 2024

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