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Thanks David for the suggestions, especially for how to avoid the problem in the future. For this build, I've mostly fixed the issue by carefully applying a small drop of black panel line wash and letting capillary action cover the white edges. Fortunately this is a black aircraft, it wouldn't have worked on something like your E-2C. 

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You've done an incredible job so far on this bird, especially all the detail work! About the red stripes, perhaps not using the white undercoat would have been better? That way you would have avoided the bleeding and the red would have been duller.

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58 minutes ago, wanthony said:

You've done an incredible job so far on this bird, especially all the detail work! About the red stripes, perhaps not using the white undercoat would have been better? That way you would have avoided the bleeding and the red would have been duller.

I do believe you could be right. I used the white because my experience with red is it can take many coats to cover a dark surface. But in this case it may have been the better approach. 

That's what I like about this hobby -- there's always an opportunity to learn from one's mistakes LOL!

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It's a holiday weekend here in the States and I've been able to get some good time in on the Blackbird. First thing up is a little detailing on the engine exhaust nozzles. Pics show that, while the nozzles are flat black just like the aircraft, the gap between the nozzle leaves appears to be bare metal. So a little masking and handbrushing with gun metal put everything in order.

 

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With that done, I turned my attention to the vertical stabilizers. Each stab has a tab that fits into a slot on the top of the engine. The fit here is pretty poor, as the slot is much wider than the tab, so I added plastic shims to tighten up the fit.

 

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There is also a gap beneath the fin where it fits over the resin afterburner, which might be because the aftermarket kit is slightly smaller diameter than the kit pieces it replaces. So I added shims here, as well.

 

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About this time I discovered that the bottom front corner of the starboard stab had somehow broken off!

 

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so I glued a piece of scrap plastic and, when the glue is dry, I'll sand it to shape.

 

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While waiting for the glue to dry, I decided the best use of my time was to begin the decal process. In addition to Academy's kit decals, I also have a set of Cutting Edge decals and another set from Rocketeer. The Cutting Edge has the markings for the SR-71 I have selected, and the Rocketeer decals have some excellent stenciling. As I mentioned previously, the kit's decals have received some bad reviews, so I'll be avoiding them wherever possible.

 

I started with stenciling around the cockpit area, using the Rocketeer items. Very nice!

 

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Then I moved on to the standard USAF markings, using the Cutting Edge set.

 

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The 'stars & bars' are provided in two parts -- a white background and the S&B themselves. The white background went on with no problems, but when I tried to add the S&B, disaster stuck! The decal broke into many small pieces while trying to move it in place.

 

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I applied Microscale decal film to the remaining decals, and those went on a-ok. Unfortunately, I am now short one S&B insignia, and I may need to resort to the kit's offerings.

 

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As an experiment, I tried one of the kit's decals (a red rectangle around the A2A refueling port) and it broke apart as soon as I tried to use it. I managed to piece it back together, but I'll probably strip it off and paint the rectangle instead.

 

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Here's where things stand currently:

 

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That's all for today, I'll be back at it tomorrow.

 

 

 

Edited by billn53
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Like CurrantBunbury, I never look forward to decaling. Kits with more decals than parts threaten to sap my mojo big time! Nonetheless, I presevered and have finally made it past the decal stage. I even made good use of the kit's decals, although not without much cursing and temptation to throw things against the wall LOL!

 

Here's the final result of many, many hours effort:

 

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and the bottom side:

 

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With exception of the 'USAF' marking, everything on the bottom are original kit decals. I only succeeded after giving them all a generous coat of Microscale decal film. Even so, not a few of these decals broke apart and required much care to put back together.

 

Closeup of the forward fuselage's many warning placards:

 

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This is also a good time to show my underside panel weathering:

 

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Up above, I placed a total of 22 individual "NO STEP" markings, all from the kit decals. I would not be surprised if I am permanently cross-eyed as a result.

 

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Last, but not least, the vertical stabs are now installed, and you now can see which aircraft I chose to represent. I just couldn't resist "Charlie's Problem" when I found it on the Cutting Edge decal sheet :-))

 

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This build is very nearly complete. If I can finish in the next couple of days, it will have been a two-month effort. Much longer than I originally thought, but it's been a very rewarding experience so far.  What I still have to do are:

 

Putty and paint the tail fin joints

Add the final clear coat (flat and/or semi-flat, still to be decided)

Finish off the cockpit (including the little guys to fly this beast!)

Add anti-collision strobes top and bottom

Install landing gear & doors

Paint, detail, and install canopies

Add the nose probe/pitot

Final detail painting as required

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  • 2 weeks later...

After two-plus months I have finally finished with my Blackbird. Thanks so much to everyone who gave me encouragement, answered my questions, and volunteered info and tips. Here's a final pic taken this morning, there will be many more soon in the RFI area:

 

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Here's the RFI link: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235030457-gentlemen-start-your-engines-academy-sr-71a-blackbird-172/

 

Edited by billn53
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  • 1 year later...
On 12/9/2017 at 6:42 PM, billn53 said:

After two-plus months I have finally finished with my Blackbird. Thanks so much to everyone who gave me encouragement, answered my questions, and volunteered info and tips.

A stunning finish!.. I will feel myself successful when I achieve half of your modeling level.

Serkan

 

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