Hi iv been looking for a model b-17 and a i have to options. Afull wood kit and a short kit. what is the difference???

Basically a full kit has all the wood and hardware necessary to build the plane.
A short kit has all the laser-cut or die-cut wood pieces that are hard to cut by hand but does not have the sticks, sheets and other wood that is not die-cut or laser-cut, and does not have any hardware.

Found this on a site . . .
(quote) The Short Kit is the next best thing to Scratch Building, but without the hassle of having to cut out, or fabricate the parts. The Short Kits contain Construction Plans and all the “pre-shaped” wood and complex plastic parts where applicable. In most cases, the plans are CAD drawn, and the wood parts are laser cut, insuring good parts fit, making the model much easier to build then when using hand cut parts. As a Short Kit, the stock, readily available wood and wire sizes are not provided. (end quote)

Here is a short kit . . . http://www.meister-scale.com/FW190A/shortkit190a.html

The short kit only has the die or laser cut parts. A full kit usally includes all the wood needed to build the kit and maybe the hardware as well.

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I prefer to buy short kits as it allows you to select your own hardware, clevises, engine mounts etc. Plus you don't have to mae your own wing ribs or fuselage formers, which if you don't have a scroll saw can be quite laborious. You also get to select the wood that YOU want to use for sheeting and stringers.

Once you have purchased all the extra bits of wood and harware that you would otherwise get get in the kit , I have found, that the short kit is often more expensive.