Ever since the movie "Memphis Bell" I had been want to do a drawing with the Ball Turret as the main subject. I know it would be easy to draw a B-17 at any angle and still make it looks good. But, to do a close-ups drawing of just the Ball Turret, with maybe only a portion of the fuselage showing, that was hard. I finally came full circle and decided on this very sample profile angle, which allows me to show secondary aircraft and ground level.

A concern I had when I was working on the drawing was the ball gunner. I want show his face looking at the German fighter. But at that angle, the ball gunner face will not be visible from out side, especially with the k-4 gun sight in the way. But this drawing needs to see the gunner expression. So, I did what any respectable artists would do, rejected reality and cheated the gunner in.