Trencher Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 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. Now, let's open the box and see what we have there: 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! 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
593jones Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Ah, a kit that dates from the time when modellers were modellers! It would be well beyond my skills to produce anything but firewood from this kit, but I will be watching with great interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michou Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 3 hours ago, Trencher said: 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. Now, let's open the box and see what we have there: 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! 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michou Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 I would recommend "Martin XB-51" , Air Force Legends no. 201 by Steve Ginter. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niles Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Hey! There are three of these babies available on ebay for $15, $33, and $38. We could have a group build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trencher Posted December 12, 2016 Author Share Posted December 12, 2016 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. But at first, I've got to take Michous advise regarding the Steve Ginter book, which I've already ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Also known as the Gilbert XF-120, in the William Holden film (1956) Toward The Unknown. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Huh? Looks like the master for a Mach 1 kit! (I'm just sayin'!) Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Good Sergeant Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Great looking aircraft. I'd love to see you build that model! Speaking of Toward the Unknown, my review. Steven Brown Scale Model Soup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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