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B-52'H', Something colourful.


Neil

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Been a while since I have posted anything (or done any modelling for that matter) but I tentatively started this late last year and about a month ago decided to actually crack on with it. It is the 1/144 Minicraft kit of the B-52 'H' and hopefully will end up as aircraft 60-0006, which was to become a trials aircraft of the EVS systems, although it was unfortunately destroyed in the mid 1970's.

From all the pics I have managed to find of this 'plane, they all seem to of been taken at some point when the aircraft had, what appears to be, somewhat 'newish' paint applied to the wing leading edges and engine nacelles, this is how I intend to model it. The fuselage nose section, drop tanks, fin, tail-planes and rear fuselage band will be a more 'used' and weathered Trainer Orange. Undersides will be in white, and the remainder of the fuselage and upper wing surfaces will be in lovely 'natural metal' (i.e. Alclad shades).

The intention is to have this as an enjoyable kind of laid-back (ish) kind of build, I am NOT going to the degree to make it as ultimately accurate as possible, I do not want to get too 'Anoraky' about things, so if there is a panel line somewhere that is 0.00001mm out of place I really am not worried about it. Although having said all that, I will give the basic kit a few tweaks here and there, things such as the kit supplied flaps are a little simple, they will be replaced with some scratch built items.

So ......

'The futures bright ...... the futures Orange ......'

B-52H60-0006_zps3224da56.jpg

B-52H.jpg

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Main sub-assemblies mostly ready, canopy screen is superglued in position and will be polished and masked before spraying. There were some very nasty sink marks in the upper wing surface and these have been sanded out.

100_2143_zpsca2048d7.jpg

Engine nacelle assemblies have had the inlet fronts opened up (along with the exhaust outlets) to make them look a little less 'clunky' a touch more refined. Modified nacelle on the right.

100_2146_zpsa9805403.jpg

Engine pylons behind the exhaust outlets have had a piece of 0.5mm thick x 7mm wide plasticard added and then shaped and sanded to achieve a more acceptable kind of silhouette profile. Finished profile in lower pic, not 100% accurate but good enough.

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The beginnings of the replacement flaps. Kit supplied flaps are at the lower part of the pic, replacements are marked out on a piece of thin plasticard and the flap actuator channels, made from parallel sections of strip, simply placed in position for the moment. Gaps around the channels and flap edges will be filled in with suitable pieces of 1.5mm thick plastic strip, then flap outline cut out, shaped and sanded to profile.

B)

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Oo will be watching this one, Neil. Keep on meaning to pick one of these up to make an EB-52 MegaFortress. Will be watching how your kit turns out... Looking forward to this one :D

Kind Regards

Dazz

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Nice job Neil, looks like a great start. I had a B-52 kit which I had completed, but unfortunately it got broken during a house move.

Oo will be watching this one, Neil. Keep on meaning to pick one of these up to make an EB-52 MegaFortress. Will be watching how your kit turns out... Looking forward to this one :D

Kind Regards

Dazz

Like your idea there Dazz, the EB-52 Megafortress is a great looking bird (I love the Dale Brown books). I think I even have a picture of the Megafortress that Dale Brown posted on his website a few years ago, which shows the aircraft with only 4 engines (as described in the later books) instead of the original 8.

Kind Regards,

Rick

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Don't let the haters get ya down mate! Gonna look awesome when done.

No problem, nobody is going to rain on my parade. Threads have been reported, including one in the 'Chat' section.

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I like this! Great choice of aircraft and colour scheme.

The intention is to have this as an enjoyable kind of laid-back (ish) kind of build, I am NOT going to the degree to make it as ultimately accurate as possible, I do not want to get too 'Anoraky' about things, so if there is a panel line somewhere that is 0.00001mm out of place I really am not worried about it.

Amen to that!

Cheers

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not been able to make much progress unfortunately, but the replacement flaps are slowly coming on. The flap actuator channels have been glued in position as accurately as possible using the marked lines as a guide, the gaps around the channels and overall outline of the flaps were marked out and cut from pieces of 1.5mm thick plastic which, for the moment, have simply been placed in position but will be fixed permanently with superglue.

The gaps arround the channels and the 1.5mm plastic do not have to be particularly close or precisely cut, plenty of superglue will be used to fix everything together which will fill any oversized gaps as a matter of course. Superglue activator will be used to speed the curing up a bit; as a rule I generally do not spray the Superglue activator directly onto the wet glue and the part which is being fixed in position, this can sometimes overheat the curing glue and make a nasty cracking and crazing effect, potentially spoiling the bonded parts. Simply spray some activator onto a piece of cloth or cardboard for example and place the superglued part and cloth/cardboard (sprayed with activator) under a conveniently sized box-lid or similar. The vapour from the activator will cure the superglue without having to physically come into contact with it, avoiding any overheating/cracking/crazing effects.

Once everything is sanded flush, shaped and profiled, the flaps should be an improvement on the simplified kit items.

100_2154_zps196dda22.jpg

B)

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

:yahoo: He's back! How's life treating you Neil? Glad to see you taking up the cudgel on this again ^_^

Been a long time I know ...... got a bit sidetracked with other things!!

Actually managed to put some Alclad on a few bits and pieces of this puppy this afternoon, not able to take pics of it yet, unfortunately.

B)

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You're doing more modelling at the moment for me, that's for sure :worthy:

I even managed to stock up on a few bits and pieces at Hannants yesterday, for the first time in ages, wonders will never cease ...... :yahoo:

B)

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