B-45 Tornado -- Never Made Mach 2 But Mach2 Made It

[AdrianMF]

 

Your B-45 looks ace! I call scratches "weathering"...

 

For fonts, here's a good start: http://www.bobsyouruncle.net/font-types.htm has a bunch, including Amarillo. I would be hesitant to try to scan lettering from a photo.

 

I've used clear Laser decal paper for black lettering (awesome) and some weird white-but-can-go-clear-with-oil-based-varnish inkjet paper. I can't tell you the brands cos I'm in a hotel room 4000 miles from home. The white inkjet paper isn't quite opaque so my once-cunning plan to print soviet stars with white outlines and cut them out died when I saw them on a green background!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

 

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi Adrian,

 

Only two choices that I can see for you:

 

1) Put another piece of the white decal on first (cut to the shape of the star), the and the actual decal after that dries, or

 

2) Paint the area where the stars go, white. Then take one of the decals cut to exact final shape, and trace that shape onto tape (something thin, like Tamiya). Put the "tape stars" onto the aircraft, then paint your camo scheme. When ready, pull the tape off and add the actual decal stars to the proper white-undercoated spots. (You'll have to use gloss finish somewhere here).

 

Ed

[bentwaters81tfw]

5 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

 

 

On the matter of the build, when joining the wings to the B-45 fuse (both pre-painted with Alclad II), I unfortunately found out that the standard Alclad II metallics are removed by 99% alcohol, so my idea of filling the small seams with watch cement in this case did not work.  Will be filling with Perfect Plastic Putty, and trying again -- and, will also be repainting the upper fuse to wing join areas for good measure!

 

Ed

I was half expecting you to have problems. It is one of the areas I highlighted in my build. I was a little surprised to see you had painted and decalled the wings prior to assembly. Never a good plan with Mach 2.

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi Bentwaters81tfw,

 

I hated doing this myself. Reason for this (as well as on my P2V-3 Neptune) was that the nacelles being close to the fuse would have made some of the nacelle/lower wing masking tougher. In addition, I had pretty carefully fitted the wings to the fuse BEFORE painting, and everything looked good.

 

Where I made the mistake was, I normally attach wings with tube glue in the center part of the gluing surface, and liquid glue dun alongside of the outside of the seam. I was afraid that a mis-step with the liquid glue would require this repaint, so I took a shot with tube glue all over, spread thinly. Problem was, the tube glue squeezed out a little excess, but not too bad. Where I rally messed up was trying to final fill the joints with the watch cement, and the smoothing it with the alcohol was a no-no!. These were non-highly-polished Alclad II paints, and they stripped right off. Had I stuck with my usual practice pf liquid glue only, I would not have had the squeeze-out, nor probably, any gaps to fill at all.

 

The price of trying something different at my age, rather than sticking to the tried but true!  However, compared to the problems I had with the Anigrand XF-90 pictured at the top of the build, this one is still "duck soup".

 

Ed

[TheBaron]

19 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

Do you have a laser printer, or do you take the artwork to a shop of some sort? Kind of interested in getting one of my own, if it will do color. Don't know much about them.

I've access to one at work Ed that gets used for proofing artwork and illustrations. It's a general-use machine so not calibrated to a specific monitor setup unfortunately, however I intend doing a test print at some stage using a series of colour profiles to see which gives the most accurate rendition.

 

I meant to mention in my last post that the paper I listed responded particularly well to they use of Microsol re: conforming to surfaces. 

 

Thanks  for the Alclad tip btw. I'm starting to build up a collection...

 

ATB,

Tony

[barracuda67]

Hi Ed
Very good work ! For me very interesting, because I'm currently building on an RB-45C, RAF.

Martin

[corsaircorp]

Hello Dears,

Aï Caramba, you gave me the thought "What about my own Mach 2 B-45

I can't resist starting a kit when I see your very good job.

Congratulations.

Corsaircorp

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi Barracuda67 and corsaircorp!

 

Thanks for the compliments. One thing I would mention is that I ever did another, I would either vacuform or clear cast a new canopy, with more accurate panel lines, and probably a new nose. Also, on the matter of the cockpit walkway, you  can barely tell it's there, so whether or not it's worth the effort, I'll leave to you.

 

Also, don't know whether anyone on the Brit side of the pond would be interested, but if any of you are willing to put forth the effort to set up a resin pressure-casting rig, I would gladly ship a copy of the engine nacelle and intake parts that I created, for use on that side of the pond, just pay the actual postage costs. I would offer these myself, to fellow modelers, but since our illustrious U.S. Postal Service (of which I am a retiree!) decided to drop surface freight, the cost of posting the little bits from here to there would be more than the cost of making them. The last time I sent a 4 oz package to Great Britain, it cost me $14.00+ U.S.

 

If you want to start a small cottage industry, fulfilling the demands of millions of potential Mach II B-45 builders -- step right up! (Okay, would you believe dozens?)

 

Ed

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi all, a brief update.

 

When last we met I was bemoaning the fact that I screwed up the wing to fuse joint, and was going to have to sacrifice to the gods of modeling for my sins. I sentenced myself to more filling, sand, priming panting, etc. -- clearly a fate worse than thought I deserved.

 

Anyway, here are my atonement photos.  First, everything masked off with tape and plastic wrap, showing the subject area after much filling, etc., etc.

 

 

However, at this point, a great light appeared and mine eyes were awakened! After all the darkness, I was rewarded by a somewhat forgiving breakthrough in understanding; It dawned upon me that the real aircraft wing to fuse join is NOT that depicted on the model, but in fact, is the more curved line show below, marked as "A":

 

 

The line marked "E" represents the kit's original wing-to-fuse join, and it needs to be removed, as much as possible. In addition, the other unmarked lines need their scribing extended to the new join line.

 

Shown below:  the "corrected wing-to-fuse":

 

Shown below, the original kit wing-to-fuse line:

 

Hopefully, you'll agree, it looks a lot better than the original setup. Truth be told, I probably would never have noticed this discrepancy, if not for the gluing accident. Just goes to show, I guess, that we are all capable of redemption, at least in modeling terms.

 

Now, a little weathering, some decal work, and then adding the final bits. We are finally rounding the corner, headed for the post.

 

See you all soon,

 

Ed

 

 

 

.

 

[Hamden]

 

Really nice save

Like that scheme a lot great workmanship!

 

  Roger

[bentwaters81tfw]

Nice job - what an improvement. Worth all that extra hassle.

[71chally]

Looking very nice, well worth the remedial effort!

[TheBaron]

Nice observational work Ed. The paint finish also looks most excellent.

Tony

[corsaircorp]

On ‎17‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 21:22, TheRealMrEd said:

Hi Barracuda67 and corsaircorp!

 

Thanks for the compliments. One thing I would mention is that I ever did another, I would either vacuform or clear cast a new canopy, with more accurate panel lines, and probably a new nose. Also, on the matter of the cockpit walkway, you  can barely tell it's there, so whether or not it's worth the effort, I'll leave to you.

 

Also, don't know whether anyone on the Brit side of the pond would be interested, but if any of you are willing to put forth the effort to set up a resin pressure-casting rig, I would gladly ship a copy of the engine nacelle and intake parts that I created, for use on that side of the pond, just pay the actual postage costs. I would offer these myself, to fellow modelers, but since our illustrious U.S. Postal Service (of which I am a retiree!) decided to drop surface freight, the cost of posting the little bits from here to there would be more than the cost of making them. The last time I sent a 4 oz package to Great Britain, it cost me $14.00+ U.S.

 

If you want to start a small cottage industry, fulfilling the demands of millions of potential Mach II B-45 builders -- step right up! (Okay, would you believe dozens?)

 

Ed

Hello Ed,

Thank for the offer, I think that even dozens is a high evaluation.

How many B-45 are just dust collectors on some shelves ??

You're right that could spare a lot of time since I already began to look at those parts.

Do you know the Pavla set for the B-47 engines ?

My plan was to use these to improve the B-45 but it seem useless.

Let me know to receive your moulds, I'll be glad to work with it.

Starting a cottage industry would slow again my turtle pace to finish my kits.

Thank you.

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp.

[wyverns4]

Looking great! Especially with the new and improved wing to fuselage join.

 

So, what is next???

 

Christian, exiled to africa

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi Christian,

 

Good to hear from you again.

 

As far as next project, not sure. I'm probably going to do some faster, smaller projects first, possibly a corrected 1/72 Trumpeter F-100C, or a Ryan FR-4 (modified Fireball), or any one of several others. As far as next involved or long-term build, I'm sort of thinking the vacuform B-32 Dominator, or the B-50A "Lucky Lady II" that I've had in the works for years.

 

Another real strong contender is the B-18 Bolo (Digby, to those of the British "Persuasion" and possibly a B-66 Destroyer bomber.  Any thoughts?

 

Bear in mind that I only build 1/72 U. S. military aircraft, but I don't mind doing ones that passed thru (or over) Great Britain from time to time.

 

Ed

[wyverns4]

Hi Ed,

 

That looks like an interesting selection to make a choice from.

Oh my, you are asking me about choices! Look what happened last time, (and it is looking really good!).

My choice would be the B-18 Bolo, as I have a hankering to do one of these in the markings of a southern American air force, (can not remember which at the mo') and I would like to learn from a master, (consider me a Padawan...). 

 

Christian, exiled to africa

[TheRealMrEd]

Okay, Christian, guess I'll do the Digby/Bolo/B-18 as the next large project, but I still think I'll do a couple of quicker ones, perhaps a couple simultaneously, first  Gotta start thinning the stash, as I'm starting to run out of daylight hours, at least for this life-time!

 

Ed

Edited January 26, 2017 by TheRealMrEd
typo

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi all, the bad penny returns...

 

Next on the agenda is completely the drop-down ladder for the tail gunner's access. I had done the main part earlier, and needed to round up a few goodies to complete. While all this could have been completed from scrap plastic, I am rather the lazy type, and will "take a dive" in a hot minute, to use the old boxing vernacular.

 

Shown below are the original part, plus a section of Plastruct ladder:

 

 

Next, I took two small pieces of plastic strip, clamped them together temporarily, and then rounded off one end of each, and drilled a hole through each part, so that everything would line up properly, later on:

 

 

Then the ladder part was glued onto the hatch assembly and the two newly-machined "nubbins" are ready to separate from their parent strips.

 

 

Next, the "nubbins" were glued into place. These will receive the rods that support the extended ladder. From this point on, I used only the 560 Canopy glue, as it doesn't care what the materials to be joined are, and it has a slight amount of "give" when dried.

 

 

Then, a couple of support rods were bent from fine music wire:

 

 

The rods were inserted into each "nubbin" after the glue had dried. The other ends of the rods fastened into the plastic bits with holes already drilled,  that had been installed when working on the rear hatch area, earlier in the build thread.  Also, a couple of tiny bits of plastic rod were glued to the ladder arms, to represent "hinge points". Lastly, some Plastruct 1/16"  "u" channel was glued to the wire to better represent the actual thing. These parts are slightly over-scale, but look better then the bare rods, which I felt were needed to reinforce the whole business.

 

 

(I see in the latter photo, I got caught laying another star and bar decal over the first. Oops!)

 

Anyway, the next thing is to tackle the front crew entry ladder, which was peculiar to this aircraft. This item could be readily scratch-built from .8mm rod, but as I've said, I'm rather the lazy type. I noticed that the crew ladder in the 1/72 Trumpeter F-100 kits was pretty close with a little modding, so that's what I chose to use. The one shown next is one from their F-100C kit, which I will build next, and will not need the ladder for that effort.

 

I started by cutting the Trumpeter ladder into three bits, as shown:

 

 

The second picture, above, shows the final configuration of the ladder, having discarded the middle section, cut away in the first picture. I softened the plastic ends of the tips with a little plastic solvent, to try to get the correct angles. I should have nipped then ends off and re-glued them, as my angles are a little off.  Oh, and I had previously drilled three holes of the correct size into the fuse of the aircraft, so that the ladder could be permanently fasted to the model, sing 560 glue. The ladder should angle more outward from the fuse, making it appear shorter.

 

Also shown below are the .50 cal aftermarket gun barrels added to the rear turret.

 

 

Next, the pitot tube. Be aware that some models had a shorter, wider tube mounted atop the fuse aft of the bomb-nose glazing, but some models had a wing-mounted pitot. Check your references if building one of these 1/72 B-45's.

 

I started with an acupuncture needle, bent around a suitably-shaped sliver of plastic card, and affixed with 560 cement:

 

Looks like this, when painted black and glued into place, into a hole drilled to fit the wire. (560 glue).

 

 

And that, my many friends, concludes the building, warts and all of my Mach2 B-45 Tornado. As always, comment, criticisms and questions are ALL appreciated!

 

In passing, here is a teaser pic of the completed model. Am in the process of taking proper photo booth photos, and I will try to get them posted into RFI over the weekend.

 

 

Thanks for tagging along!

 

Ed

 

 

[Hamden]

 

 

That is a stunning piece of workmanship/engineering! Worth ALL you hard work a real show stopper!

Looking forward to your next adventure whatever that may be!

 

   Roger

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi again!

 

Family just went shopping and left me alone long enough to get the final photos up on RFI.

 

Later,

 

Ed