A-12 to SR-71 Titanium Quintuplets WIP.

[danimalmagic]

Following on from the 1/48 A-12 and YF-12A builds i did last year i have a new commission. This project was also to have been in 1/48 but a lack of available resin conversion parts meant that we swapped over to 1/72 scale.

The plan is to build 4 airframes as follows.
A-12 Oxcart using the stock 1/72 Italeri Kit with Kiwi Resin Conversion.
M-21 with Drone, unlike the kit offerings out there this will be properly represented on the two seat A-12 not the SR-71 using the Kiwi Resin Conversion set and the stock Italeri kit.
YF-12A Interceptor using the stock 1/72 Italeri Kit.
SR-71 using the stock 1/72 Italeri Kit.

Additional items are.
Wolfpack Design seats, very very impressive detail.
Eduard Etch set x 4

All aircraft will be finished as before in Tamiya Metallics apart from the SR-71.

The guy i am building for is very knowledgeable on the subject and I have some very specific paint schemes for each airframe, I will come to these later on.
There are more airframes to do but this is enough for now, we may come back to the
A-12 Tintanium Goose, SR-71B, YF-12C, SR-71C hybrid and SR-71 Big Tail in the future.
The project started on Monday 10th March and i am guessing it will be ready for the client in around 6 weeks.

I started with the cockpit tubs, these are basic to say the least and as with the whole kit is just a scaled down version of the 1/48 Testors/Italeri offering.

Not much to see here on the kit tub.

Etch work in place with seat and scratch built throttle.

4 tubs completed.

Standard and modified instument panels with etch.


Next up was the resin conversions, some minor hot water manipulation and filler, same problem here as the larger scale and that is air bubbles. Once the airframe is complete i will use a liquid primer/filler to remove these. ( Dave please buy a vacuum chamber )
A-12 and M-21


Assembly of tubs to respective forward sections.
SR-71

YF-12A

A-12

M-21

Side by side

Glair shields on the forward instrument panel will all be replaced with etch at the end.


I have approached the assembly of the main body in the same way I did the 1/48 scale kits, I need to preserve the raised panel line detail for later on when I paint on the individual panels and chine detail. I use masking tape to make sure I get the filler exactly and neatly on the seam and not all over the detail.
The tape will protect the detail during sanding, once done I will use liquid filler to go over the coarse Plasto filler, this gives a smooth finish and helps iron out the last of the defects.
When I am happy the raised panel lines will all be reduced a little but in a controlled way, I just want enough left to be just visible after the main base paint goes on, these remaining details will serve as a guide for all the masking that is to come and there is allot. If all goes to plan the remaining raised lines should be barely visible when all the painting is complete.

This is going to be a long job that is for sure.


Lots of sanding fun


That is it for now, the next stage will be the sanding and joining of the sections of fuselage front and rear, in between this I will be getting the seats painted. If all goes well I should have a further update in a week or so.

Thanks for looking.

Danny

Edited March 15, 2014 by danimalmagic

[robvulcan]

looking great I shall be watching this one. Love the Blackbird. I really must make one soon its been a long time now.

[Vanja #66]

Oh, goody, I think I'll learn a lot on this subject with this thread... Please, share with us stories behind some specific differences between 'em, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. Thank you in advance...

[shawty82]

Cold war....."black ops".......subject I've always wanted to do......whats not to like? Will be following this one with interest!

[bzn20]

This is interesting. For goodness sake remember which bit belongs to the other bits! BTW I take it you would have, but have you read Skunk works?

[danimalmagic]

Well to say I have had an industrious week would be an underestimate, but as the old saying goes you put in what you get out.
As I said in the last report this week would be focused on the assembly of the four airframes and all the required filling, sanding and hopefully a base coat of gloss black.

I continued with the assembly of the M-21, this will obviously be much the same for the A-12, needless to say most of the week was spent on these. The resin nose alignments where not to bad but the real effort is in the filling and sanding, the goal is to try and make all joins as minimal as possible.
The trick with the resin is knowing when to stop as its very thin and full of air bubbles, it would be oh so easy to go too far and ruin it.

M-21 Set in place, a long way to go from here, massive amounts of air bubbles in the resin.

Side on for the M-21, quite allot of gaps to fill and the old re fuel port to fill in.

From here a base coat of coarse filler was applied and re applied until the nose was formed, its only at this point you really know if its going to come together. The problem with air bubbles is they are all the way through the casting, so as you fill one lot the process of sanding away that filler reveals more, round we go.



From here I could apply the liquid surface primer, this fills in the air bubbles and levels out any minor deviations. At this point we are using very fine abrasive paper, this smoothes the finish and stops us revealing more air bubbles, at this point the surface is ready for a primer coat.


Primer coat applied to the nose area only, from here I just gently rub with 1600 grit abrasive paper to smooth the finish ready for the gloss black base coat.


From here we moved on to the A-12, naturally in reality I am flitting between the two as one coat of filler dries I am sanding the other.
The A-12 conversion was much tougher, this is because the casting was much poorer and needed far more work and the fact that second canopy needs to be installed and filled so it does not show. I will represent the Q Bay hatch by masking and spraying a different shade of titanium.

Q-Bay windows in place

With the holes cut i could then glue the nose to the body and apply the filler. The following are a couple of the larger issues to resolve.



Initial rub down complete, next coat of filler and liquid filler.

It was at this point i knew it was going to turn out ok.

Liquid primer added and smoothed and ready for primer coat


Primer coat applied as before and smoothed with 1600 grit paper.


Twins.

All airframes ready for base coat of gloss black.


The next step is a crucial one as it will determine how the Tamiya metallic finish will look, basically all four airframes have been sprayed with a few coats of thinned gloss black. Using gloss helps smooth out the surface and a gloss finish is simply a better finish for the metallics to lie on. Naturally the SR-71 will be all matt black apart from the burners.
Once this has dried properly I will add some top coats of thinned acrylic gloss, I will use Future
for this, and it is very thin and gives an even better shine than gloss, perfect for metallics.

Once the paint and gloss top coats have properly dried (Monday) I will add the topcoat of Tamiya Titanium Silver. This stuff is the perfect Titanium shade, silver but with the slightest orange hue, no need for a metalizer finish as Titanium is pretty dull.

The goal for the coming week it to get the Titanium top coat on, spray the minor fuselage parts such as tails, burner bodies and Nozzles. I will also be preparing the Drone and getting that sprayed up to the same point.
The titanium top coats will need a day to dry properly but I should be well into to spraying the individual panel colours by next weekend. No idea as to how much of the panelling will be done but the madness will have begun.

Thanks for looking.

[danimalmagic]

Yet another very busy week with allot done, the WIP is a little early as mothers day weekend is upon us so I am away for a couple of days visiting them.
As I mentioned in the last WIP I would look to get the drone assembled and the base coats on this week. Once I actually started I decided that I would complete it so I spent a couple of days on this, it was a good chance to test my painting plans for the black chine area of this and the SR-71.

Base coat on, thinned gloss black sealed with Future for extra shine, Tamiya X-32 Titanium Silver thinned and applied over top in a few coats.


Panel shading complete, various mixes and shades of Tamiya Titanium Gold, Titanium Silver, Gold and Flat Aluminium. Once dry they are sealed with a slow build up of Future and buffed a little.


With the basics done I could move onto painting the chine, this was just masked and painted Tamiya Matt Black. From here I masked out individual sections and added some colour variation using a filter of Nato Black and German Grey.
The final step was to gently brush Sand/Light sand from my Tamiya Weathering Set over the chines, I wish I could get the pictures better but it has worked out well and got the weathering effect I wanted. When I come to do the SR-71 it will be treated in the same way, I think the effect should be a little more visual then.
The standard Pitot tubes from the left and right of the intake have been removed and replaced with needles, this reflects more accurately to my reference material.




Next up the Base coats of Titanium Silver were applied to the 3 NMF Fuselages and Matt Black to the SR-71, same process as the drone, Gloss Black Thinned, Future to bring up the shine, a few thinned coats of Titanium Silver 50:50 from a new bottle. Once the variations in panel colour have been applied they will be sealed with a few light coats of future and buffed.


The SR-71 is simple enough just Matt black for now, in the long run this scheme may turn out to be the most challenging.


These were all put to the side to dry for a day so I moved on to the burners/feathers. The A-12, YF-12A and M-21 burners have all been finished in various shades the above colours.

The burners for the SR-71 are a little different as they will have black bodies but finished with weathered/tempered feathers.


The flame holders for the SR-71have been sprayed matt black then a Nato Black filter and dry brushed as before.

Next up are the inlet spikes, with variation for each airframe.

Naturally in reality while I am waiting for one thing to dry I have moved on elsewhere, the tails received the same treatment as everything else.

In the rear wheel bays are a set of tyre shrouds, these are to protect the airframe if a tyre explodes, I have some good images of these and they all have a red outside, naturally it a bit dirty, I will weather some more when they are installed later.

Last but not least is the real long haul part of the commission, masking and painting the panel variations. I have started with the A-12 and I will finish with the SR-71 but that is a couple of weeks away yet, Optimistic I know.



These are a few images of the real A/C and the effect i am looking for.







Thanks for looking.

Danny

[Shalako]

Hmmm.... I think you need to take your models outside and take a few more photos because, from the ones I just saw, I got the impression that the level of contrast between the shades you have applied, is way too much. Maybe it has something to do with the room's inefficient lightning for photographing scale models that gives me this impression or, maybe the contrast is too much.

What do you think Danny?

[danimalmagic]

Hmmm.... I think you need to take your models outside and take a few more photos because, from the ones I just saw, I got the impression that the level of contrast between the shades you have applied, is way too much. Maybe it has something to do with the room's inefficient lightning for photographing scale models that gives me this impression or, maybe the contrast is too much.

What do you think Danny?

They are the same as the A-12 and YF-12A i have already built in 1/48 and they were fine, have a look at the threads in my other builds, if you go to the bottom of this article you will see pictures of the actual birds, did you look at these, bye my eye there is significant contrast to say the least, i have a great deal more images too.??????

At the end of the day its all perspective and camera work/

Thanks for looking

Danny

Edited March 28, 2014 by danimalmagic

[Shalako]

At the end of the day its all perspective and camera work/

You're right. It is a matter of perspective but most importantly, of camera work.

I can see this in the photos you have posted from the real aircraft and even in those pictures the contrast between the panels varies, which can be quite confusing!!!

I still believe that if you photograph your models outside, it will show better the level of work you have done.

Looking forward to see these beauties finished!!!

Cheers

Shalako

[danimalmagic]

You're right. It is a matter of perspective but most importantly, of camera work.

I can see this in the photos you have posted from the real aircraft and even in those pictures the contrast between the panels varies, which can be quite confusing!!!

I still believe that if you photograph your models outside, it will show better the level of work you have done.

Looking forward to see these beauties finished!!!

Cheers

Shalako

At the end of the day they are commissioned builds and the guy wants them the same as i made my A-12 and YF-12 so camera work or not they will remain as they are, he is happy enough.

Danny

[danimalmagic]

Progress has not been quite as good as I hoped for this week, the real world kept getting in the way

Regardless of that I have still managed to get allot done, lots of masking completed with about 60% done on the top surfaces of the three NMF airframes. (Natural Metal Finish)

1st up are the 7 ejection seats, these have all been painted as identically as possible then a little dry brushing with my Tamiya weathering sets to age the seat a little.



Once the paint had dried I added a coat of matt lacquer to seal them and applied a black wash to bring out the detail.



I think they have come out quite well, the little red handle on the top left of the seat is the safety/arming pin for the seat. As I understand it this is the very last thing removed from the aircraft before the canopy is closed and the aircraft taxis away for flight.

I have noted a couple of areas that I need to touch up but essentially they are completed.

Next up was the masking of the various panels on the airframe for the A-12, M-21 and YF-12A, I will come back to the SR-71 when these are done as you cannot keep swapping between metallic and black paint.
I have given myself the goal of having all 3 NMF airframes completed in the next two weeks,hopefully this will include the Black portions of the Chine as well.
The key is to take it steady and allow the paint to dry properly, basically you are masking one while painting another while the 3rd dries. I just keep rotating them but as you all can imagine this is not a 5 minute job.

The A-12 is coming along nicely, when the top surface is complete I will cover the whole surface with a very much diluted filter coat of the base Titanium colour.
This helps blend all the colours together and reduces the sharp contrast between the panels, well thats the plan anyway, it worked last time i tried it.

Next up is the YF-12A, I have completed the top surface and applied the filter coat, this has then been sealed in a coat of lacquer. The blending has worked very well but you have to see it by eye to see the contrast the camera does not really show the difference because of the diffused flash.


Lastly this is where I am now.


YF-12A top surface NMF complete, the A-12 is about 80%, I am doing the Dielectric Triangles now and the M-21 is about 50% complete.
One they are done they I can flip them over and repeat for the bottom, he he.,when I am happy with that I will then add the black chine areas to the YF-12A and M-21.
Well that is the plan for the next two weeks anyway, we will see what the reality is.

Regards

Danny

Edited April 6, 2014 by danimalmagic

[danimalmagic]

Well it may not look like it but allot done in the last 7 days.

This weeks work was just a continuation/repetition of the panel shading. My goal for this week was to get the top of the M-21 and A-12 completed in line with the YF-12A and get a good start on the undersides.

As you can imagine the A-12 is the greatest challenge as we have the Dielectric Triangles to do all the way around the airframe Chine/s. It is not as tough as you think it just takes time and patience.
From my reference material I have counted out the Dielectric Triangles for the forward fuselage and marked them out accordingly. It gets a bit tough when you are near the nose as the images make it hard to get it 100% correct but I am pretty happy. You then also have to make sure they are symmetrical across both sides, hopefully you will see this in the images. I kept my reference material from the 1/48 A-12 I made and cross checked in scale to make sure.

Once both the A-12 and M-21 were finished they were sprayed over with a filter of Tamiya X-32 base Titanium, this helps blend all the panels together so the difference between each shade is more subtle.
In the naked eye as you can imagine they look a little bit different but not much.
A-12 Top Completed





M-21 Top Completed, the chine areas will be sprayed black and weathered later.


YF-12A Top Completed, the chine areas will be sprayed black and weathered later.


A-12, M-21 and YF-12 top NMF complete.

M-21 Bottom Started.

YF-12A Bottom Started.


If all goes well I may even have the black areas of the Chine/s painted on the YF-12A and M-21 by next week but the bottom of the A-12 will take some time.
You have to carry the symmetry of the Dielectric Triangles on the forward fuselage to the underside as well, essential from any angle top, bottom, left and right should match.

This was my A-12 in 1/48 to give you an idea of what i mean.


Thats it for now and thanks for looking.

Danny

"In Wildness Is the
Preservation of the World"

http://www.modelmasteruk.com/

Edited April 13, 2014 by danimalmagic

[robvulcan]

WOW what amazing incredible work you have done since I last checked in. They look stunning. Such an evil vicious but beautiful looking aircraft.

I love how each one has its own personality. They will look so nice together. They do already.

I love the panelling. Looks spectacular.

Must have taken you hours and hours.. I bet your tired.

Cheers Rob

[Caerbannog]

Very great topic! In fact these are some of the onemillion models in my stash I hope to do some day - and in the same liveries too it seems. The only one I finished is the YF-12 so far along to my 1:48 SR-71.

The only difference to your line up is I have no Kiwi resin stuff and for the SR-71 I will use the Monogram kit.

I will follow with biggest interest :-)

Great speed by the way.

Rene

[danimalmagic]

WOW what amazing incredible work you have done since I last checked in. They look stunning. Such an evil vicious but beautiful looking aircraft.

I love how each one has its own personality. They will look so nice together. They do already.

I love the panelling. Looks spectacular.

Must have taken you hours and hours.. I bet your tired.

Cheers Rob

It is quite a task but well worth it Rob, the client is pleased with progress, compressor capacitor failed today which has slowed me down untill the new one comes.

Thanks for looking.

Dan

[danimalmagic]

Very great topic! In fact these are some of the onemillion models in my stash I hope to do some day - and in the same liveries too it seems. The only one I finished is the YF-12 so far along to my 1:48 SR-71.

The only difference to your line up is I have no Kiwi resin stuff and for the SR-71 I will use the Monogram kit.

I will follow with biggest interest :-)

Great speed by the way.

Rene

Thanks Rene, this is a commission build, please have a look at my other models and you will see my 1/48 A-12 and YF-12A

thanks for looking.

Dan

[Space Ranger]

Beautiful work!

[danimalmagic]

Beautiful work!

Thanks for looking Michael.

Dan

[danimalmagic]

Well it has been a real busy few days since my last post and a small update is in order, I am glad to say that the masking of the 3 NMF Titanium airframes is now complete and they are all safely sealed in lacquer.
I still have the SR-71 to complete but I will do that in line with the spraying of the black areas of the chine on the YF-12A and M-21. Before I begin that I need to thoroughly strip and clean my airbrushes now to remove all the traces of metallic or that will ruin the black painted areas.

Just a small update really, mainly for the painting of the A-12 Underside, there is still a long way to go before I can call these complete but getting the 3 NMF airframes done is a real Mile Stone for me.
Having to nurse my Iwata Compressor as its still struggling, I have changed out a defective Capacitor for the second time but I think the motor windings are beginning to break down. When that happens it is a bin job, only lasted ten years of very heavy use.

M-21 Underside Complete.


A-12 in progress.



A-12 Bottom Complete.



Chine Symmetry.

All 3 airframes undersides completde along with the tops.

In between things I have sprayed and masked the flight fins and the Drone mount.


Got a little ahead now so a good chance to clean the Airbrushes and give the compressor the full strip down, a bit of planned maintenance, I might find something else wrong thats an easy fix.

Thanks for Looking

Danny

[uilleann]

Epic build!!

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi !

I'm admirative in front of your builds...

Stunning work on "one" of the most wonderfull jet airplane from the 20th century.

I take a chair to follow the next steps :-)

best regards

[danimalmagic]

Hi !

I'm admirative in front of your builds...

Stunning work on "one" of the most wonderfull jet airplane from the 20th century.

I take a chair to follow the next steps :-)

best regards

j

Thanks for looking

Dan

[danimalmagic]

Epic build!!

Thanks Uilleann, its a shame its a commission as these will be ones i would love to keep. If youm check out my other work you will see my 1/48 A-12 and YF-12A, these are my ones. :-)

Thanks for looking.

Danny

[danimalmagic]

Needless to say the Devils hands have not been idle and I have got a great deal done in the last few days. With the base NMF complete I spent a whole day just masking both the M-12 and the YF-12A, you only get one chance to do this properly so it has to be 100%. I will not bore you all with images of masking tape and get straight to the removal.

Masking tape removed from the YF-12A and I am smiling, at this point its just Tamiya Matt Black sealed with a topcoat of the newly discovered Tamiya XF-86 Flat Clear. Well its new to me and I like it, much better than messing around with Microsol Flat, I thinned it to about 50/50 to get it to go through the airbrush and thats it. I will add some colour variation as we go to the black but not too much.


A little weathering on the nose and a flick over with the dry weathering set.

You cant really see it but I have added some variations in tone to the Dielectric Triangles and the side of the Nacelle, I have then flicked over it again with the dry weathering set.

There will not be many decals on this Airframe just tail codes and the pilot extraction decals around the canopy. This where I am now with the YF.



Next up was the M-21, I try to use old masking tape where possible as it reduces the chance of leaving sticky deposits on model surface. This happens once in a while and is a pain to remove, thankfully this was not an issue this time.


The next thing to do was mask out some individual panels on the M-21 and add some different shades of black/grey, some of this will be freehand. It is difficult to see the variations in the images but I am happy with the result.

A few more decals on the M-21, before they were applied the area under it had to be masked and sprayed silver. I believe this was some form of galvanised paint on the actual airframes and provided better adhesion/durability when the markings were painted on.

M-21 Black Paintwork complete, this should give you an idea of what I am looking to do for the SR-71, however the SR-71 weathering will be a bit more aggressive than this.


The A-12 apart from some final assembly is complete, there are only decals around the canopy so this is a quick win.

A-12 wheel wells set in place and the Q-Bay camera windows cleaned up.

The Titanium Trinity is nearing completion and I am very happy with the result, even my wife is impressed, not sure if that is a good thing or not.


I still have the undercarriages and doors to do yet and the application of the nose Pitot tubes, I always do this last as they would get broken otherwise.
Once the undercarriages are in place I will add the Stabilising fins to the underside of the YF-12A and mount the Drone to the M-21. There are also a number of other minor bits and pieces to do on all the airframes but I am confident it will all come together nicely.
For the most part these 3 are done now which frees up all my time to get stuck in the SR-71, with any luck that should be done by next weekend, I think another two weeks and they should all be finished.