yardbird78

WOW. I will definitely be ordering 1 or 2 of those for an SR-71 to A-12 conversion that I have been working on. It is about half finished, but I haven't worked on it for about 2 years.

Thanks for the comments. I have been busy with other requirements of life for the last couple of weeks and haven't made any progress. I hope to get back to work on this thing soon.

Thanks for the offer. I already have several I got off of the internet.

Lockheed U-2B, Republic of China Air Force. Academy 1/72 kit.

RB-36E, Update #8 I got out of the crew compartment and crawled back to the bomb bay to do some work in there. The yellow thingies are liquid oxygen cylinders made from scrap sprue with very thin strips of Bare-Metal-Foil for the mounting straps. The wires along the lower side wall are supposed to represent the grouped wire bundles. The rectangles on the communication tube are the windows for inspecting the bomb bay without actually going into it. Add in the forward and aft bulkheads for the bomb bay. Add in the main bomb rack structure. Then 20 of the AN-M26 parachute flares or photoflash bombs and the 3,000 gallon auxiliary fuel tank and it starts getting a little crowded in there. The tank and bombs are a little crooked because they are not glued in and they shifted a little bit while I was taking the pictures.

RB-36E, Update #7 I have been back working on the 3 forward bulkheads lately. L-R, forward side of bulkhead 5.0 that divides the camera compartment and bomb bay #2, back side of bulkhead #4.0 that divides the front of the camera compartment from the forward gun bay. (these two were completely scratch built0, front side of bulkhead #3.0 aka the radio operators station that divides the forward crew compartment from the gun bay. Bulkhead 5.0 close up Bulkhead 4.0, the blue items are supposed to be binders for Tech Orders and black items above them are extra film cartridges and the Camera Operators Control Panel is right center. Radio Opertor's station at the back of the forward crew compartment.

RB-36E Update #6 I managed to get the ammunition feed chutes in place under the turret frames. I don't want to permanently attach the turrets until this beast is almost complete because they are way too delicate and likely to get damaged. It is time to shift focus a little bit again and get some work done on the main crew compartment. There is a fairly large wheel to the aircraft commander's left that is for the nose wheel steering and this is not depicted in the kit parts. This is my scratch built version of the wheel before and after painting.

RB-36E, Update #5 I decided to take a break from the camera compartment and do a little work on the gun tubs. They have a LOT of detail in them but the gun barrels are pretty fragile and the ammo belts are so incredibly delicate that it is essentially impossible to work on them without breaking them. I don't want to leave them out, but I may have to. The bulkhead hatch visible in the first photo is for access between the camera compartment and the gun tub, but it should be in the middle instead of over at the side. The camera operator's control panel is directly opposite this on the other side. This is the basic gun tub the way it comes out of the box. This photo shows the bases for the two turrets. There are two diagonal braces I still need to install for each base. You can see the pivot hinges at the corners. They are what raise and lower the turrets. The long rectangular objects under the bases are ammo boxes. These two photos show the gun turrets installed temporarily for fit check.

RB-36E Update #4 This bulkhead 5.0 with the construction finished and the camera operator's panel to the right. The same bulkhead with a coat of primer and the Camera Operator's panel temporarily in place.

This should have been the last photo in the Update #2.

B-36E Update #3 I have made some progress with the camera compartment and started on the modification to the APG-32 tail radar. This is the front side of the pressure bulkhead 6.0 that divides the aft end of the camera compartment and bomb bay #2. The hatch on the right is the entrance to the communication tube to the rear crew compartment and the one on the left is for access to the unpressurized bomb bay. I am considering it complete. This is the backside of bulkhead 5.0 that divides the forward end of the camera compartment from the forward gun bay. Just starting. Adding the "I" beam at the top, the first shelf and the hatch to the gun bay. ​ ​Adding the shelf and cabinet for the Camera Operator's control panel. Just for a little diversity, I started on the modification to the fairing for the APG-32 radar that controls/aims the two tail guns. The early B-36s had a single antenna/radome and later models had twin antennas. The kit provides the twin antenna version with a much larger and longer fairing. This has to be cut out and replaced with a smaller one.

RB-36E Update #2 My eyeballs are rotating to the back of my head from working with the tiny instrument decals, so I thought that I would post an update to the Beast. This is the pressure bulkhead between the back end of the camera compartment and the front end of bomb bay #2. The hatch in lower right is the entrance to the "Communication Tube" that ran between the front crew compartment and the one in the tail. It wasn't present in the camera compartment so that the guys in there could go to the front or back of the plane. The hatch on middle left gives access to the bomb bay. The window towards the bottom is so they could monitor what was going on in the bomb bay without depressurizing the compartment. The items on the top shelf are electronic components and the center and bottom row are instruments and controls for these "black boxes". I have applied a few decals and need to put on several more. The silver disc in picture #2 is how the bulkhead looked when I started working on it. The decal sheet with the 1/72 instruments and controls is by Mike Grant Decals. This is the jettisonable auxiliary fuel tank that goes in bomb bay #3. I finished the construction and put on a coat of primer. It still needs a finish coat of green. See the you tube video above to see a full scale B-36 jettison one of these things.

Thanks for the tip. I planned some weight under the floor of the forward compartment, but I will add even more. I have the Warbirds sheet with all the walkways, No Step warning and so forth, plus another for the particular aircraft I am building.

RB-36E Update #1 The bomb bay fuel tank held 3,000 gallons and was jettisonable. I made the top and bottom out of the outer main gear doors from an Airfix 1/72 C-130 and scratch built the end panels. I still have to build the sides and reinforcing straps that go around the circumference. Communication Tube that runs from the forward crew compartment to the aft in the regular bomber, but skips the pressurized camera compartment in the recce birds. It is made out of 3/16 brass tubing Add the bomb rack main frame and pressure bulkheads (not glued in yet) Add 20 of the photo flash bombs in bomb bay #2. Add the aux fuel tank in bay #3 and the wing spar. I intended this to be the floor for the camera compartment, but it didn't turn out very well. Back to the drawing board.

I have had two of the old Monogram B-36 kits in the stash for a whole bunch of years, so I decided to put a couple of other projects on the back burner and build one of these monsters. The kit is intended to be an RB-36H, but the kit decals are wrong and useless anyway because of age. I found some aftermarket decals for an RB-36E from the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 72nd Bomb Squadron that was at Travis AFB, California from January 9, 1951 until September 30, 1958. The first B-36's that Convair built were the XB and YB-36 prototypes and then 21 B-36A bombers. The A models didn't really have a combat capability and were used for crew training. After a couple of years, Convair took all 21 of the A's plus the YB-36 prototype back to the factory, disassembled and modified them, then reassembled them as RB-36E Recce Birds. The biggest mods were turning bomb bay #1 up front into a pressurized camera compartment and filling bomb bay #4 with ECM and ELINT equipment. ..I am pretty fired up about this build as I have wanted to do a B-36 ever since I was a kid. The question now is, "Can I keep the fire going long enough to finish a large, difficult project". I bought two of the Pavla resin kits for the gun turret bays and will use them for both upper gun bays. I will open up the very large side oblique camera windows and smaller tri-metragon windows on each side as well as the three vertical camera windows in the belly of the camera compartment. Bomb bay #2 will get 40 of the AN-M26 photo flash bombs, while #3 will get a scratch built 3,000 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, a new "communication tube" down the left side and hopefully some more added detail. Both levels of the forward crew compartment will get some added detail and I am hoping to scratch build the entire photo compartment interior. Now I have to see if I can live up to my dreams. The Kit Box I started simple with the wheels and struts The Pavla AM turret bay boxes and pieces. The only real difference between the forward and aft turrets is that the aft bay has a one piece cover. The upper and lower forward crew compartments, the fwd & aft bomb bay bulkheads and the radio operator's panel at the rear of this area. This overlaps the gun bay unit by about 1/8 inch, so I will have to modify that somehow. The forward gun bay tub. It requires a HUGE hole to be cut out. This shows the camera windows and crew observation windows cut out of the right side. The left side is stock, but won't be for long.

Nice work on the Vulcan. It has a LOT of detail for a 144th scale. That picture with the B-52 was taken just over the south east corner of Edwards AFB, in southern California. I think that is either the 2nd or 3rd G model B-52 doing early flight test of that model out of Edwards Flight Test Center. Darwin

I finished the work stand or boarding platform for the Blackbirds and decided to paint it yellow. I haven't put the wheels on it yet as it is already a little too high. It lines up differently with different brands of Blackbirds. Mrs Yardbird's SR-71A from the Monogram kit My SR-71C from the Testors kit My SR-71A from the Monogram kit YF-12A from the original Revell kit from 1968 (I built this in 1968 or 1969) All four Blackbirds of our fleet Darwin

The USAF used the C-9 Nightengale (military version of McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner), for many years as a Medevac plane. It was unarmed and intended to carry wounded troops from areas somewhat behind the battle lines to larger hospitals where they could receive proper care. The C-9 carried a big red cross on the white tail up until the last couple of years. They had to be removed because the C-9s were occasionally used to transport cargo, VIPs etc. Since they were not 100% medevac, somebody, somewhere said we were breaking the rules and not playing "fair". What a bunch of BS. Darwin

Amen to THAT, brother. Darwin

I have always liked the VooDoo ever since I was little kid. I especially like the RF-101C version and would certainly buy one if they market it. Darwin

Nice start to an interesting model. I am very interested in Russian planes, although I rarely model them. Darwin

I prefer raised panel lines in most cases, so I would leave them as they are. Panel lines on full scale aircraft are very small in most cases and in 48th scale and especially 72nd, they would be all but invisible. Scribing leaves a canyon, that if expanded up to full scale would be big enough to lay your arm into. The old Revell kit that I am working on did not have any panel lines at all, either recessed or raised, so I decided to go the scribing route. I use the side of a graphite pencil point or Prisma pencil to lightly rub over the raised lines and that gives just a hint of the panel line, which to me, is much more realistic. Here is one example. Darwin

Another status update on the Blackbird. The scribing on top wings and aft fuselage completed and most of the "goofs" filled in. The scribing on the bottom wings will have to wait until after I join the top and bottom fuselage pieces. That step is waiting for the landing gear bays to be finished. Main landing gear bays cut out Chine bay and C-bay camera port windows built and installed. The TROC camera in the C-bay had a round window. The OOC cameras in the aft chine bays had rectangular windows while the TEOC cameras in the forward chine bays had square windows.

My eyes have rolled around to the back with all the panel line scribing on the SR-71, so I took a little break. I picked up this little jewel on evil-bay awhile back and decided to attempt putting it together. This is the work stand that is placed next to the SR-71 cockpit for crew boarding/deboarding or any maintenance work in the cockpit area. This is my first effort at using photo etch. The instruction sheet. All of the pieces removed from the fret and folded as necessary. I still need to assemble and paint the thing. All powered and non-powered ground equipment was painted yellow through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Somewhere in the 80s, some genius figured out that the key to success was low visibility, so all AGE was painted olive drab. I am not sure yet which color I will use.

Here are some more pictures of my latest progress on the old Blackbird kit. Top fuselage scribing with the inboard section of radar attenuating "pies" on the inboard portion of the starboard wing. The port wing has not been done as yet. The outer portion of the #1 engine nacelle and wing with the "pies" on the leading and trailing edges. Notice the 3 different sizes and shapes for the LE, TE and outer corner. That was a LOT of measuring and marking. I probably should have made some kind of jig to make it quicker and easier. This is a plastic case from a package of disposable razor blades. I plan to cut the camera windows from this material and maybe make a "pie" making jig from it.