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Monogram 1/72 B-52D


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So... this is what my decision is on the kit.

I don't know what it's going to be like in the box, all I know is that it is arriving by the end of next week. Then I will go to the sim, come back and see where we are!

The other problem... what on earth will I do with it when it's made?

Chris

Edited by Chris Jephcott
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Hang it from the ceiling..?? Great choice by the way...

Cheers,

ggc

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The day of reckoning is nigh... It's not a rapture... more an incredibly large box due in the post tomorrow. Which I'm thankful, SWMBO moved out or else I would be in for a substantial "no speaking treatment" for a considerable amount of time...

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Ok then... the kit arrived today. This is what I saw when I opened up the rather large box:

photo13.jpg

So I eagerly opened it up and found this... Yes, that is a size 10 foot by the side of it.

photo11.jpg

Whichever way you look, there is going to be nowhere for this big bad boy to be kept when it's made up! However, it won't stop me trying though!!!

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Nice weathering on the foot... :analintruder:

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Yeah, sadly there is a bit of battle damage on the foot as well - I'm still recovering from my moped accident.

My initial thoughts on the kit are good - it has raised panel lines - which I'm not too bothered about as I generally don't mind working with raised panel lines at all... I could rescribe, but I'm not too sure if I will or not.

The two big things for me that stand out:

1/ The bomb bay - the options are for the bomb bay to be open or closed. I will probably have it open though, in which case, they provide you with a one piece moulded bomb bay roof complete with bombs. It does look quite poor, so I'm thinking about scratchbuilding a new bombbay plus fittings, to give a better idea as to size and scale of the best.

2/ The cockpit - I know that not too much will be visible, but I intend to have the crew access door open, and aside from the cockpit floor with the pilots seats, there is no detail inside there, so I'm half tempted to scratch build a little bit more in there and make into a bit more of an accurate representation of the Buff flightdeck.

In the meantime though, sadly, work is getting in the way this weekend. It's into the Simulator for me, for my twice yearly grilling on what I'm doing wrong and how I'm doing it wrong... but I'll be back on Monday afternoon to dose up on Sheet Styrene and nerves.

If anyone has any photos of B-52 bomb bays or cockpits, please let me know - any help is greatly appreciate on this!

Chris

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Chris: I believe that the B-52's internal load during the Vietnam campaign utilised bomb clips [removeable racks], that is, the clips were loaded with bombs then the clip was loaded into the bomb bay. Of course external bombs could be loaded as well. When a max bomb load was loaded the a/c took off with less fuel then refulled once airborn. One tanker per three bombers....When I was stationed in Okinawa, circa 1970, we would watch the bombers and tankers take off from Kadena AFB. It was quite a sight.

Cheers,

ggc

Edited by CPNGROATS
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http://randomlywalking.com/archives/B52%20Bombay.JPG

that's the view of a SAC B-52 bomb bay, which is probably much better looking than the one I have got right now... which is shown in this picture:

rm_5709_parts08.jpg

It's looking increasingly likely that what I'll do is scratchbuild a bomb bay akin to the photo and have it empty as I don't think I've got any spare armaments hanging around at the moment.

Thank you very much for the info on the clips, that is very interesting indeed. I bet that was an amazing sight to watch!

Either way, I'll crack on with it next week - need to get this weekend out of the way with first.

Chris

Edit: didn't realise that first picture was so big!

Edited by Chris Jephcott
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It's looking increasingly likely that what I'll do is scratchbuild a bomb bay akin to the photo and have it empty as I don't think I've got any spare armaments hanging around at the moment.

Hi Chris,

I'm building the same kit at the moment, but I'm converting it a current H model. I too scratch-built the gear bays and bomb bay. If you're interested, the link to my build is here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67662

Also, regarding your comments on the bomb-load, if you're interested I've got some spare Vietnam-era free-fall bombs from the spare sprues in my kit if you want them. If so, pm me your address and I'll send them your way.

Tom

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Hi Tom, apologies about the delay in getting back to you - yes, I would really appreciate the offer of the bomb clips! Thank you very much indeed. I've had a good detailed look at your build thread - I think it could be quite useful for me on this one!!!

In other news.. I'm back from the Sim now and I'm commencing work on the beast.

First stage is to scratch build a cockpit. I will be putting photos up of this process tomorrow.

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Ok, here's the diagram that I have found for the scratchbuilding process

22mincrew.jpg

What I am aware of from various internal views is that the area between the flight deck and the Electronics Officers seat, there are a bunk bed, and a toilet. There's also a couple of storage areas in there...

So I'm going to work on the first layer of the cockpit now though.

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Doesnt look like youll be able go see too much internal dtail with that kit, but going good so far none the less! :thumbsup:

So I eagerly opened it up and found this... Yes, that is a size 10 foot by the side of it.

photo11.jpg

And to think Ive got three of those monsters! EEP! :shocked:

(Thats 3 BUFFS by the way, not three feet as that would just be strange! :D )

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Well then guys... progress has been a bit slow on this, but I'm finally getting somewhere. It's been a nightmare with the amount of poorly located injector marks and also the amount of flash coming from various surfaces. However, I've cleaned that all up

I got myself a contouring tool a couple of weeks ago and that really helped with the scratchbuilding, so I have been able to make a couple of decent bulkheads and finish off the cockpit area, as the following photos will show - now, all it needs is painting up in the finished colours.

I've not made too much of an effort on the cockpit as precious little of it is going to be visible when the model is glued together, hence how it is that some of the instruments looks a bit rough and ready... the important part is that I know it's in there. I've still got to add the pilot and copilot seats into the mix and detail this a bit more too.

photo2-2.jpg

photo3-2.jpg

And this is how it is fitting into the nose - yet again, I've made some rudimentary spacers and added fuse wire to simulate the vast amount of wiring that runs down the inside of the noses of these beasts.

photo6-1.jpg

Next up was the undercarriage bulkheads and bomb bay. The under carriage provide with the kit is quite basic, and I'm going to enhance it by detailing my own bays. The bulkheads are just the start though - I intend now to line the bay with spacers and add more detail to the bay in order to make it look more realistic.

photo4-2.jpg

I've also started on enhancing the bombbay. I've made a rudimentary basic shape at the moment, and yet again, I will be detailing this in the forthcoming days...

photo5-2.jpg

So, plenty more work to go... But we have a start on it!

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That's looking good, Chris..!

Cheers,

ggc

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I guess you're building a 'You can't see it but I know it's there' model? I gave some thought to that side as well, but as it won't be picked up (unless some-one wants to die) I figured it was pointless.

The main attention needs to be on the main u/c door, the leading edges are far too thin an a landing light has to go in the to boot.

Any idea on the scheme yet?

There are two builds on here Sacmodellersgroup

W

Edited by Wolfpack
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I decided that's the reason why I'm not going to spend too much time detailing the inside - quite simply, nobody will be able to get close to the model anyway, plus there won't be too much to be seen from the outside... I think it was more as a practice at honing my skills a bit more before progressing onwards. With regards to markings, I'm thinking I'm just going to do it OOB - keep it nice and simple. There's no need to make this one overly hard, especially as it's going to take enough money in paint and glue to get it together in the first place!!

Today, I've been looking around walkaround pictures of B52Ds, trying to compare what I've got with what it actually is like.

So, today, I've managed to complete the structure inside the Bomb bay and both undercarriage doors, and this is now waiting to be sprayed in the Zinc Chromate colour that the photos I've seen show the B52s had. I also did a quick spray of various parts in a silver acrylic too, I'm hoping the reasons for this will shine through when I get the airbrush out and Zinc Chromate up the insides... I might be wrong though:

The bomb bay:

photo3-3.jpg

The rear gear area:

photo2-3.jpg

Over view of interior:

photo4-3.jpg

I've also done a little bit more work on the cockpit area today and added the two pilots into the mix... I don't normally add pilots into my construction, so painting them was a different challenge to normal!

photo-1.jpg

So now... I'm going to spray the insides in a zinc chromate, and see where we end up on that... Progress is a bit better today, but it's taken 12 hours of sitting here and getting high off glue fumes!

Chris

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Ok then... todays big stalling block is over the colour of the gear bays.

This photo seems to suggest it's Interior Green:

631608484_39a5cf073c.jpg

Whereas this suggests more Zinc Chromate:

2237075154_885def8e16.jpg

Any thoughts anyone?

I'm going to nip to the DIY shop to stock up on fuse wire shortly and start the long process of adding cables to places in the bomb bay and undercarriage. Of course, this won't be entirely accurate, but it will add a bit of interest onto the underside of the kit.

http://randomlywalking.com/archives/B52%20Bombay.JPG - that's the look I'm still aiming for with the bomb bay. I've covered the inside with zinc chromate over silver, and am thinking that a combination of airbrushed Tamiya Smoke and some Games Workshop black wash will bring out the desire colours.

Lots of wiring and tubing to be added in there. I can't wait!

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