YF-12C, SR-71C and SR-71 Big Tail, Titanium Triplets “the final 3”.

[danimalmagic]

Well for those who have been following this commission it has been a real long term project for me. The first phase was the completion of the A-12, YF-12, M-21 with Drone and the SR-71, from there we moved the project on to the A-12 Trainer the Titanium Goose and the SR-71B.
After a bit of discussion we decided we may as well build the final 3, this would be a complete set of all the Blackbird variants in 1/72.
There are some interesting variations for the NASA Blackbirds but these would be more to do with what they carried rather than major physical changed to the airframe, besides I think 9 is quite enough.

So this WIP will be for the YF-12C, SR-71C and SR-71 "Big Tail", here is a little background information.

The YF-12C carries a A-12 Tail Code 60-6937, this is in reality a fictitious number as she is a demilitarised SR-71. At the time the Air Force did not really want anyone to know that NASA had one of their blackbirds, politics and bean counting no doubt.

Next we have the SR-71C, this to me is one of the most interesting Blackbirds as she is a Hybrid of the rear section of a crashed YF-12A and a functional engineering mock up of the forward section of an SR-71. The whole purpose of this aircraft was to replace a lost SR-71B hence this is why she has the second raised cockpit for the Instructor. The guy I am building these for actually pointed out that the crashed YF-12A used in this hybrid was tail code 6934 by coincidence that is the YF-12A I have built for him already.
This airframe was lovingly known as the "Basta*d" because she required fairly constant trim adjustment to keep her flying straight, I wonder why.
I will be using a YF-12C kit and a SR-71 kit to make this one airframe, quite apt really.

Lastly there is the SR-71 Big Tail 17959, this is a 1 off Blackbird that was modified with an extended tail for an additional camera system. There are also so other modifications to the other camera bays and the airframe. The biggest challenge here will be getting the tail right, I have done a fair bit of research to get the length of the tail correct, I needed a bit of help here so thanks to Rene and Don.



Well there is the background and now to the WIP, as you can imagine allot of this will be repetitive which you have all seen before so I will leave a few bits out.

I started with the Big Tail, there are two Deceptive Electronic Counter Measures' (DECM) systems I had noticed on the underside below the cockpit, just a simple little modification but I think it will be worthwhile. The forward nose camera window has been filled in as it is not present on the Big Tail.
Coarse Filling of the canopy frames, note the raised cockpit of the SR-71C.

Liquid filler to finish.

Canopy frames done.

Next up was the filling of the seam between the top and bottom halves of the rear fuselage, you may wonder why I am using masking tape. The reason for this is to protect the raised panel lines, I know we normally try to remove these but I need to keep them in place for now. One of the worse things to do is just paste on loads of filler where it is not needed, I tape each side of the seam then fill. Once it has dried you can sand away without damaging the detail and you are only putting filler on where it is needed.
Later on I will gently sand all the panel lines to reduce them, once the panel variations are sprayed on they are barely noticeable.
NB: Boat Tail removed on one in preparation for the tail extension.

With the coarse filler removed I added the final liquid coat and sanded again, a fair few hours spent just doing this.

Seams finished, glad that is done.

In between filler drying I have started allot of the minor parts, 1st up was the 3 cockpits, these are a tad basic but brightened up a little with the Eduard Etch sets.


Burners, and bits ready for fitting later.



Gear doors and a bit of Eduard Etch.

With the cockpits done they could be set in the forward fuselage and the nose sections glued in place ready for the filling process to begin again, yes even more filling to do.



Well guys this is where I am up to at the moment, goal will be to have all 3 airframes filled and prepared by the weekend. Once that is done I can focus on scratch building the Big Tail, that will be the next part of the WIP.

Thanks for looking.

Danny

Edited July 16, 2014 by danimalmagic

[taggart]

Good progress so far , you must be getting used to building these now Dan . Watching with interest ,currently having a go at doing a couple of these myself after looking at the ones you built earlier on here . It's very slow progress so far .

I'm itching to see how you tackle the long tail version .

[danimalmagic]

Good progress so far , you must be getting used to building these now Dan . Watching with interest ,currently having a go at doing a couple of these myself after looking at the ones you built earlier on here . It's very slow progress so far .

I'm itching to see how you tackle the long tail version .

Thanks mate, i know these can be a pain but i am sure it will be worth it in the end.

Thanks for looking.

Dan

[danimalmagic]

Well guys, needless to say it has been another very busy week so far. The main focus for me was to get the Big Tail made, fitted and get the base coat on. It has taken around 4 days to make.
Even with the warm sun I still had to wait for each layer of filler to cure so very slow going.

Overall I am very pleased with the result considering I am working to images and no set drawings, the shape of the tail is never constant in any way so it was a real challenge.
I think have achieved a good likeness for the real thing.

First of all I made up and shaped the initial tail section, this was just a rough guide, I was quite happy 1st time so I fitted it to the tail with the appropriate over hang and fitted the tail housing panels.



Next, to stop the panel lines being destroyed by sanding I masked the area with tape as usual and applied and removed a fair few more coats of filler. The idea being too slowly form the last of the shape bit by bit.

Once that was done I could apply the liquid filler for final finishing.


The notch under the tail is meant to be there, a antenna will be fitted later.

Naturally the next phase is more sanding and re application of liquid filler until correct.




Next was the fitting of the modified fuel dump pipe.


Final filling and sanding.

It was a relief to get to this point and I was pretty confident that once the paint is on she should look ok.
Base coats on.



Managed to get all 3 painted and sealed ready for the panel spraying.


Seats all painted, glad that this is the last of them.



Thanks for Looking.

Danny

[danimalmagic]

Hi All,after 5 months the project is coming towards a close now, I should complete the final 3 some point in the coming week.
Still as I have said before no rush as I do not want to fall at the last hurdle so to speak.

At the last WIP I had just got the base coats on and sealed them with lacquer.
Next up was the application of the panel variations, let loose the masking tape.

The tops of all 3 complete.
From there I repeated the same for the underside of the fuselages.
NB:where some of the Dielectric Triangles where erroded during sanding i have masked back in.

Naturally I have done the same for the tails.

For me that is the tough part over with now, next up is the application of the matt black filter.
As before this is heavily thinned Tamiya XF-01, the filter applied only the smallest amount of colour so with repetitive coats you can slowly blend the panel variations to get the desired result.
This is the underside of the Big Tail with the filter applied next to the unfiltered SR-71C, the camera gives the effect of the Big Tail being much darker, by eye it looks a little different.

The undersides of all 3 filtered.

Tops of YF-12C and SR-71C, filter on SR-71C.

Filter applied to the tops of all three.

Once the filtering was complete they were all given another coat of lacquer to seal and protect ready for decal application.

Decals on.



This is where we are as of this morning, the next stage is to apply the weathering and washes, from there I can assemble all 3 and add the last finishing touches and the canopies.
As before the weathering will be what really makes them come alive so I will do them the same way as i did the SR-71 and SR-71B, I think once complete they will look great together.

Next update will be the completion of the final 3 and then a follow up of all 9 birds, cant wait to see all 9 together. Going to struggle finding somewhere to lay them out and get a good picture.

Thanks for Looking.

Danny

[Winenut]

WHOA!!

what can I say.

Really amazing stuff.

Hats off.......think I need to get another kit into the stash

[danimalmagic]

WHOA!!

what can I say.

Really amazing stuff.

Hats off.......think I need to get another kit into the stash

Cheers mate, be glad to get all nine completed

Thanks for looking.

Dan

[AirfixAndy]

Happy enough to see just one SR71 built but three.......

Love the shaded panel work

Andy

[danimalmagic]

Happy enough to see just one SR71 built but three.......

Love the shaded panel work

Andy

Already built six, a commission build of all nine variants, see my other builds.

Dan

[danimalmagic]

Weathering applied to the top surface, bottom this afternoon, once they are all together i will see how they look and adjust and tone down if required.

[danimalmagic]

Bottom weathered, that just leaves the final assembly and the canopy's.

[woody37]

They look stunning, the panel tone variations have come up well

[danimalmagic]

Project now complete, finished aircraft over on Ready for inspection.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965671-yf-12c-sr-71c-and-sr-71-big-tail-titanium-triplets-the-final-3-complete/

Thanks for looking.

Danny.

Edited August 13, 2014 by danimalmagic