Ronan71 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) After a 25 year break I've just got back into modelling kits and I thought the bests way to get back into things would be to try and rebuild the 1/48th Blackbird I built around 1988. Back then I did not have an airbrush, nor was I much into filling and sanding, and I had no idea what rescribing was! Thanks to the internet and sites such as this I learned a lot about new tools and techniques so hopefully this rebuilt Blackbird will turn out nicely. I have new quality decals for it, plus a SAC metal undecarriage and some True Details resin wheels to add to it. I saw there was a resin exhaust/tailpipe set for the 1/48th SR-71, but it seems to be hard to find so I'll most likely just do what I can with the kit parts. Here it is stripped down at the start (the undercarriage, engine parts, etc came away easily, the glue had dried and was barely holding it together) I sanded off the massive injection mark on the top and I plan to scribe in the braking parachute doors later (as I saw on another build thread of this kit) First attempt at rescribing at the rear, will probably need a bit of a tidy up later Lots of filling and sanding to the underside of the front fuselage (the UMM scriber I got is really nice to use I have to say!) As this weekend is meant to be very cold indeed (and hence I'll give my road bike a rest, (my other main hobby!)) I'm anticipating I'll have time to finish the scribing and sanding and get a coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 on it, and hopefully it won't look terrible! Edited February 23, 2015 by Ronan71 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) More work today, finished the rescribing (I think) plus polished and clear coated the clear parts, and did a little surgery to the "boat tail" of the plane (which fits poorly, especially on the underside of the fuselage). I noticed on the real aircraft there is an opening at the tip of the tail which I believe is for dumping fuel, so I sawed the tip off and tried to recreate the look of the real tail with some thin plasticard. Hopefully once painted it will look the part. Edited February 6, 2015 by Ronan71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy wood Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 good start 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thank you! I'm hoping to get a coat of primer on it tomorrow and see how it looks afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Looking good. I will watch this with interest, as I have a real soft spot for the SR-71. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Defo watching this. I have the same chore ahead of me. I managed to get the Afterburner decals so hopefully it will be better this time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Impressive project! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 I could not find a set of the afterburner decals but I have a second hand set of the originals on its way to me from the States, plus a set of Cutting Edge decals with some interesting tail markings, so hopefully that will work out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 I masked the camera bay windows plus the cockpit glazing prior to spraying the plane with Mr Surfacer 1200 (which I managed to get off eBay from a Belgian supplier, it's not carried by any local shops I'm aware of in Ireland and as an aerosol it's difficult to ship due to airmail restrictions, even to Belfast where I have a parcel motel delivery address.... Hope to find a local supplier at some stage as it's great stuff and on a big project like this I'm getting through quite a bit of it!). I also tried scribing in the braking parachute doors on the top of the rear fuselage according to a blueprint I found online. A bit rough, but after primer not too bad I think! A close up view of the nose (I noticed large sink marks on the piece with the pitot tube, so I think some filler will be applied soon) I also put a coat of primer on the loose/small bits including the resin wheels, SAC undercarriage legs and the rest: I plan to finish the painting this weekend, from what I've read the best Tamiya match for the main colour is NATO black, so I'll give that a shot! Plus I think some Alclads and dry brushing to try and make the most of the poor moulded in engine detail. Hopefully it will look good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 She's coming along very nicely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 nice work!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thanks guys! Looking forward to getting a bit of time this weekend to paint it black! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 I got quite a lot done today, the Blackbird is black again (Tamiya NATO black) but there are a few areas that need a second coat but of course I ran out of paint! (A whole jar went into what you see here, it's a big bird!). Hopefully I can pick up a jar tomorrow in Mark's Models, (my LHS) and finish the job. I also painted the pitot tube with Alclad Chrome Hopefully I'll get another jar of the NATO black tomorrow and finish the main paint job, then it's onto decals I think, then hopefully finish up with the undercarriage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hope you have a nice gloss finish before decalling. Mine was the Testors boxing, and the decals silvered and would not lay down, hence the Afterburner set this time. Have lots of decalling solution at the ready just in case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Absolutely, I plan to give it a gloss clear coat prior to adding the decals as that's exactly what I didn't do when I first built this model in the late 80s and the whole lot silvered, it looked terrible! I have some excellent cutting edge decals, but they don't have the red "no step" lines included. I bought a good set of second hand original decals from another member here and I'll try them out for the ones not on the aftermarket set. I have plenty of solution and I think you are right in that I'll need it for the older original ones. If the red lines won't got on well I may try masking and airbrushing on the red. If I get the decals right on this one then I'll be very happy indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 I decided to try painting in the red "no-step" lines on the Blackbird as I remember the decals were hard to get to sit right the last time I tried. I made a copy of the decal sheet and cut out the stripes to make a template which I then applied to the model with lots of lovely Tamiya tape. I used a Tamiya white primer rattle can to prime the stripes (and unfortunately got some overspray on the left engine nacelle and the front fuselage, hence I'll be touching up the black later) then airbrushed on Tamiya flat red. I put two coats of red on, and it seemed to cover well. Tomorrow I'll unmask and see where I have to touch up with NATO black, I suspect the left stripe at the rear will need a bit of attention. I also painted the set of metal SAC undercarriage legs I have for the SR-71 with Alclad gunmetal which from the photos I've seen in the walkaround section seems about right (I think!). I'm waiting on a set of masks for the USAF stars and bars as I'd like to paint them on as well, and then hopefully it will be time to gloss coat it and put on the rest of the decals. It's certainly on the way to looking a lot better than when I first built it around 1987 or so! (Which in fairness would not be hard to do, it was fairly thrown together!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 The red no step lines are done, generally the masking worked well except where I used a regular paper template which resulted in the red bleeding under, the worst affected bit being on the right wing. So quite a bit of touching up with a micro brush was done, but hopefully that will blend in when I put a gloss coat on prior to adding the decals tomorrow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 I gloss coated the plane with Humbrol gloss varnish which sprayed nicely from my airbrush. I use an Ikea box to store the model in while drying to minimise dust sticking to it: I added the decals for the vertical stabilisers, they are from an aftermarket set with lots of options and I've gone for "Charlie's Problem", which apparently was one of the SR-71 in use over North Vietnam in 1969. Poor old Charlie Brown! And here is where I left it for tonight, left to do are the stenciling around the cockpit and then the underside including the markings around the camera bays which I'm sure will be lots of fun! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Great progress Ronan. Not far to go now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks! I have to assemble the landing gear and wheels next, and then it will pretty much be done! I've a bunch more projects I want to get stuck into so I'll be delighted to get this one done and make it the first addition to the new display case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Not much modelling time recently, but the Blackbird is nearly done. I applied some Tamiya grey panel line wash to the underneath of the plane: Which worked well I think given the rough and ready rescribing job I did on the plane: The front undercarriage is done now apart from attaching the wheels, and next job will be to fit the main undercarriage, then flip it over, panel line wash the top and apply a final coat then it should be done. I hope to get it done by the weekend as I have a Mirage F1 I want to start and enter in the French Fancy group build. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Av8fan Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Good job plugging away at this. Keep at it. I look forward to the completion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Hi Ronan Great to see the revival of such an iconic aircraft. Many of us reading this have older kits which we wish could be revived as you are doing here, keep up the good work. Cheers Pat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronan71 Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Thanks Pat, I decided to start with this kit for my return to building models as I enjoyed putting it together (badly!) around 1989, and I was keen to see what I could do to improve it. Some issues like to poor fit between the upper and lower halves of the fuselage and the tail end I could not improve that much, without totally pulling it apart, but I think once its done it will look pretty sharp! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Thanks Pat, I decided to start with this kit for my return to building models as I enjoyed putting it together (badly!) around 1989, and I was keen to see what I could do to improve it. Some issues like to poor fit between the upper and lower halves of the fuselage and the tail end I could not improve that much, without totally pulling it apart, but I think once its done it will look pretty sharp! If the progress to date is anything to go by, it's going to be stunning when you have finished. Any new pictures for us ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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