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1/48th Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (Sanger vacuform)


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20 hours ago, At Sea said:

Well this puts me waiting for a new tool Vulcan rather than building Airfix's current one into perspective doesn't it!  :D

 

Huge admiration for attempting these... does rather make me think why bother with a 'kit' at all, given the amount of scratch building involved!!!

With kits of this nature lots of scratch-work is par for the course. The wheel bays, bomb bay (if I open it up), flap apertures (if I decide to drop them) as well as the flightdeck and much of the undercarriage will all have to be done from scratch. I think the whole model is going to need re-scribing, too - a job I'm not a fan of to be honest.

 

Still, as I say to the wife: keeps me quiet and out of the pub! ;)

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22 minutes ago, tomprobert said:

I think the whole model is going to need re-scribing, too

 

Oh yes, it is.

And it will be funfunfun.

 

S., keeping himself quiet and out of the pub in the same way.

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Afternoon guys and gals :)

 

A little bit more on the Big BUFF for you - I've been plodding on with the engines over the last few sessions.

 

I've opened up the outlets at the rear of the bypass section - more spacers need to be added but the basic shape is now there:

 

Posted Image

 

Repeating the process four times was a little tedious but nevertheless essential as the kits parts were simply blanks and wouldn't look right in 1/144th scale, let alone 1/48th:

 

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I've also done a little more fettling with the intakes - they won't pass a strict accuracy test from B-52 experts but without major, and I mean major, surgery to the nacelles I think they're as good as I'm going to be able to get them:

 

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So here we are now - the forward sections are more or less done, with work now ready to commence on the rear sections and the pylons:

 

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Until next time,

 

Tom

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Well they are a starting point to work from.  They look like B-52 engines so any improvement from there is a good thing.  I am toying with idea of some @Bandsaw Steve approved whittling to make a wooden plug to make my own vac form over.  Again to get to a fair starting point.

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There I was, minding my own business and I stumble on this piece of modelling lunacy.

 

Definitely a :popcorn: but I'm still keeping an eye on the shack.

 

1 hour ago, tomprobert said:

I've also done a little more fettling with the intakes - they won't pass a strict accuracy test from B-52 experts but without major, and I mean major, surgery to the nacelles I think they're as good as I'm going to be able to get them:

So only 99% left then ... :whistle:

 
 

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Looking good Tom.  Definitely taking notes on this build to help with mine.  Impressive work so far on the engines and I could not agree with you more on the lack of some of the more important detail that has been left out in the design of the vac.

 

Keep up the great work!

 

 

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On 01/03/2018 at 2:46 PM, bar side said:

Well they are a starting point to work from.  They look like B-52 engines so any improvement from there is a good thing.  I am toying with idea of some @Bandsaw Steve approved whittling to make a wooden plug to make my own vac form over.  Again to get to a fair starting point.

As long as they resemble the real thing I'll be happy. I could see myself getting seriously bogged down with these parts, so decided to go largely with that's on offer in the kit and do some minor improvements. If I had the skill and knowledge of how to use a 3D printer and it's associated software I'd print new intakes and do them that way. Then I could make resin copies and make a fortune flogging them to you lot!;)

On 02/03/2018 at 4:55 PM, Screech said:

Looking good Tom.  Definitely taking notes on this build to help with mine.  Impressive work so far on the engines and I could not agree with you more on the lack of some of the more important detail that has been left out in the design of the vac.

 

Keep up the great work!

 

 

Cheers. Yes the parts are pretty basic but they're a starting point. It would be great if someone could bring out some decent resin sets to improve it, but I can't imagine the market would be that big to be honest. Saying that, I think Gerald has been surprised with how well it's sold and has struggled to keep up with demand.

 

I'd love to see more build threads on here so we can share the trials and tribulations together! As far as I know, only @Sebastien has taken the plunge so far - there must be others than ourselves that have them lurking on the to-do pile...

 

I'm currently working on the engine pylons and have them cut out of the backing sheet, but it's taking for ever to rub them down to the correct thickness. I must stop wasting time on here and get back to it!

Edited by tomprobert
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5 minutes ago, tomprobert said:

It would be great if someone could bring out some decent resin sets to improve it, but I can't imagine the market would be that big to be honest.

 

I intend to make a 3D model of a wheel, print it in 3D and then cast it in resin.

I think I'll do something for the engine nacelles too (but it will work only on the A to E models).

I'd cast a landing gear too, but metal working is quite a bit out of my league.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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Tom those engine pods look like B-52 engines to me. Not sure the intake tunnels are too far apart. To me the bottom half of the pods should have the engines closer together compared to the top. See this photo (TF33). The front of the pod is a bit of an optical illusion. The intake is a subtle tear drop shape which gives a figure of 8 shape to the front of the pod. See this photo which has one of its intakes covered (TF33).

 

May help you tweak the pods a bit more if you feel they need it.

 

Dave

Edited by dave665
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all,

 

A little update on the big Buff project - work has been progressing at a glacial pace due to work commitments, but I've made a start on the four engine pylons.

 

They've been rubbed down, glued together and filled - filler still to be sanded:

 

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And a taste of how they'll look once mated to the nacelles:

 

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Nothing too exciting, but the Easter Hols are nearly upon us so hopefully I'll have more to report next time.

 

Tom

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  • 2 weeks later...

Afternoon, folks :)

 

An update, albeit small, on the BUFF's progress of late...

 

With the engine pylons sanded, re-sribed and tested for size, each twin engine pod was glued to its respective pylon:

 

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The fit was pretty good, and only minimal trimming was needed to get an acceptable join. A smidgen of Millput did the rest:

 

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With the sun shining I've given them a spray with some grey surface primer:

 

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I'm pleased I invested the time to open up the vented areas at the rear of the bypass sections - it was fiddly but has improved the look of the engines, especially in this scale:

 

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Now I'll need to add the more delicate details such as some drains and vents, as well as re-sribing the panel lines on the engine pods:

 

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I may put the engines to one side for a while though as I fancy having a crack at the wings and making all of the ever-so-necessary spars that'll be needed to keep the thing rigid...

 

I've also been doing some research into colour schemes and am really tempted with the 1970s - 1980s three tone green over white scheme (used for illutrative purposes only):

 

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It'll certainly make it more visually interesting when compared to the all-over grey schemes they currently wear, but the thought of spraying something this size with all that white... :hmmm:

 

Until next time,

 

Tom

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Lovely work, Tom.

19 minutes ago, tomprobert said:

I've also been doing some research into colour schemes and am really tempted with the 1970s - 1980s three tone green over white scheme (used for illutrative purposes only):

 

Posted Image

 

It'll certainly make it more visually interesting when compared to the all-over grey schemes they currently wear, but the thought of spraying something this size with all that white... :hmmm:

 

Until next time,

 

Tom

 

I'm thinkink metal/white without the nose warts for my H.

But Alclading something this size (and this nature) is quite a frightening prospect too.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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I've made a start on the wings. They've been roughly cut from the backing sheet (I haven't sanded them to the correct thickness yet) and I've decided to be bold and do the model with the flaps dropped as is so often seen on the ground. 

 

Here's the upper surfaces with the small trailing edge flap sections removed:

 

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And the lower, much larger apertures on the lower surfaces along with the outrigger bays:

 

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And then I stumbled upon a problem...

 

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As you can see, on the port wing the upper and lower apertures for the flaps don't align properly, despite me following the panel lines molded onto the kit. The starboard wing is spot on, but it just goes to reinforce the old saying "measure thrice, cut once." Lesson learned and @Sebastien be warned if you're going to drop the flaps on yours!

 

Catch you soon,

 

Tom

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Question:  Aren't the outboard pylons shaped differently than the inboard pylons?  Especially the trailing edges?  Sorry I don't have drawings to share the detail at the moment...

 

Great progress Tom and looking good!  Your challenges are certainly enough that it makes this build very interesting!  They get me thinking about how to solve these problems too.  Your choice on the colour scheme is one of my favs!

 

[cue sound of applause coming from the Peanut Gallery] 

 

PR

Edited by Pastor Rich
To err is human. Proof readers untie!
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21 hours ago, Pastor Rich said:

Question:  Aren't the outboard pylons shaped differently than the inboard pylons?  Especially the trailing edges?  Sorry I don't have drawings to share the detail at the moment...

 

Great progress Tom and looking good!  Your challenges are certainly enough that it makes this build very interesting!  They get me thinking about how to solve these problems too.  Your choice on the colour scheme is one of my favs!

 

[cue sound of applause coming from the Peanut Gallery] 

 

PR

From pictures it does indeed look as if there are some shape differences between inboard and outboard pylons. I'm going to get the wings mated to the fuselage and then will make any necessary changes to ensure the sit of the engines is correct. There's no point in doing any mods now as there's no telling if the wings sit correctly at this stage - much excitement still awaits!!

19 hours ago, exdraken said:

The nacelles look great!!

And your proposed scheme as well !

Would not fear the (off)white too much....

I'm not 100% committed to the above scheme yet, I've just been doing some research into the various dresses they've worn over the years. I still like the idea of a current, modern H-model with the latest 'lumps and bumps' but the uniformity of the grey is going to make bringing it to life a bit of a challenge...

 

Tom

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