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Hobby-Time 1/97 Martin XB-51 "Panther"


Trencher

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29801f61-7b49-419d-bf1b-a6c1b096d158_zps

I've recently bought this vintage balsa wood model kit on e(vil)bay and I thought it might be interesting for you to see what you get. The odd scale seems to be the typical box-scale of that time, but comes in quite handy when compared to his competitor, a 1/96 Canberra... ;)

I know that there are 1/72 (and even 1/48) vacuform kits of the XB-51 around, as well as the resin kits by Anigrand. And yet complete resin kits are not really my personal taste (apart from tabletop wargaming vehicles or planes). So in this scale this kit seems to be the only game in town. :tumble:

Now, let's open the box and see what we have there:

fcf5a3a7-ef9f-4f8d-95cb-a9aa552a9130_zps

The most parts are - not surprisingly for a balsa wood kit - balsa wood. The fuselage is already pre-shaped to a certain degree and *not* warped, considering the 50++ years age of the kit. The engine pods weren't of equal size, but since I plan to redo them in plasic (a 1/48 BLU napalm bomb has the same outline, with some tweaks...), it doesn't really matter. The vacuformed canopy is still crystal-clear as is the injection-molded display stand. The decals were yellowed and the national insignias had the wrong shape. So a rescan of the "XB-51" and the serial-number should be done. The u/c consists of 4 bakelite-style plastic wheels. the rest of the u/c is up to you, together with wooden dowels and homemade papercard doors. So good luck there! :blink:

35f3d62b-9ed1-43c1-a5fe-714311ee34a5_zps

Before I start, I should get me a book about the XB-51. Just to avoid any troubles. This should be an interesting kit to build. I'm looking forward to it.

I hope that I've put this topic into the right section. :bye:

 

 

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3 hours ago, Trencher said:

29801f61-7b49-419d-bf1b-a6c1b096d158_zps

I've recently bought this vintage balsa wood model kit on e(vil)bay and I thought it might be interesting for you to see what you get. The odd scale seems to be the typical box-scale of that time, but comes in quite handy when compared to his competitor, a 1/96 Canberra... ;)

I know that there are 1/72 (and even 1/48) vacuform kits of the XB-51 around, as well as the resin kits by Anigrand. And yet complete resin kits are not really my personal taste (apart from tabletop wargaming vehicles or planes). So in this scale this kit seems to be the only game in town. :tumble:

Now, let's open the box and see what we have there:

fcf5a3a7-ef9f-4f8d-95cb-a9aa552a9130_zps

The most parts are - not surprisingly for a balsa wood kit - balsa wood. The fuselage is already pre-shaped to a certain degree and *not* warped, considering the 50++ years age of the kit. The engine pods weren't of equal size, but since I plan to redo them in plasic (a 1/48 BLU napalm bomb has the same outline, with some tweaks...), it doesn't really matter. The vacuformed canopy is still crystal-clear as is the injection-molded display stand. The decals were yellowed and the national insignias had the wrong shape. So a rescan of the "XB-51" and the serial-number should be done. The u/c consists of 4 bakelite-style plastic wheels. the rest of the u/c is up to you, together with wooden dowels and homemade papercard doors. So good luck there! :blink:

35f3d62b-9ed1-43c1-a5fe-714311ee34a5_zps

Before I start, I should get me a book about the XB-51. Just to avoid any troubles. This should be an interesting kit to build. I'm looking forward to it.

I hope that I've put this topic into the right section. :bye:

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Niles said:

Hey!  There are three of these babies available on ebay for $15, $33, and $38.  We could have a group build.

 

Sounds good, Niles. B)

 

But at first, I've got to take Michous advise regarding the Steve Ginter book, which I've already ordered.

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