Alan P Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) Hi folks, Very long time without a build, due to a new career launch in writing. One novel under my belt, second is well under way. Details in my profile "About Me" section if you're interested. Thought I was neglecting all those lovely kits I bought last year, so it's time to clear some shelf space, starting with one of the biggest. The AMT/Italeri 1/72 XB-70 Valkyrie has been well-covered on here by the likes of General Melchett and Wee Beastie, so I won't say much about that. But the Anigrand 1/72 XF-108 Rapier is a new one as far as I know, so that will make some interesting building for me and for you too, I hope! Having a problem with photos due to camera battery exhaustion, so I'll just use this as a placeholder for now. More soon!! Alan Edited November 25, 2016 by Alan P 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper_city Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Good to see you back Alan. Watching with interest. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 (edited) And we're off! Quick look at what's to come: Beautiful box art - a famous photo rendered in lovely paintwork. Also adding some aftermarket help for the beast: Armory Models correctly sized J93 nozzles Extratech PE detail set - includes some detailed plates around the J93 six-pack plus numerous surface details for the upper body - vents, panels, and access covers. That's the XB-70 stuff... Edited March 20, 2019 by Alan P 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 (edited) The Anigrand XF-108: This is very big! Think of an F-111 bolted to an F-106 and you're in the right territory. This is the only same-scale aircraft I had to hand. The XF-108 was about 90ft long with a 60ft wingspan. It was designed to use the same J93 engines as the XB-70. The kit is very well cast as far as the details go - no bubbles, all the extra parts are intact, virtually bubble-free and not warped. Win! The only casting issues are with the intake interiors, lots of flash and unevenness. But that's what knives and sandpaper were invented for, right? Al Edited March 20, 2019 by Alan P 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 (edited) Done some work on the Valk: Seat capsules with added belts Cockpit with added throttle quadrant - I had made a sexy six-lever throttle assembly, but somehow it got snapped off and has disappeared. In view of its mostly invisible appearance once the cockpit is fitted, I decided not to bother making another one. But I might do it anyway due to OCD. Finished cockpit. I can get on with rescribing the huge wing surfaces indoors! More soon! Alan Edited March 20, 2019 by Alan P Pic links restored. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Impressive aircraft! Just read on Wiki that the F-108 programme was cancelled partly due to cost; estimated at $4 billion for the programme. Not sure how many they were planning to buy, but suspect it was more than the 11 F-22's you'd get for the same money*. Novel duly ordered, looks interesting! regards, Jason * To keep the pedants happy, this would be about $33bn in today's money. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Thanks very much Jason, for the comments and for the book! Those were the days of seemingly infinite defence budgets all right. SAC wanted about 75 XB-70s and a similar number of Mach 3 escort fighters. Heady days indeed. The idea was originally to save on costs by combining the research budget of both aircraft to produce common elements like engines and material design. Meanwhile Lockheed were quietly getting on with their A-12 programme which was ultimately more successful and long-lived (and cheaper!) Thanks again Jason, Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 The most difficult bit I found on the -70 was getting the rear fuselage join flat above the jet pipes. Because of the overhang, I could not find a way to clamp it, and superglue was necessary as it tried to form an apex. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 My 1/200 Cyber-Hobby kit is next the todo pile and will follow this with interest. The Cyber-Hobby kit provides 3 sets of wing tips to allow all position to be displayed, how does this kit handle that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Excellent!!!! I just droped in by chance and this is great stuff. I have the same kits and aftermarket (I have posted some short reviews somewhere here on these sets). I recasted the nozzles from the Extratech set in resin for the F-108 as the Anigrand parts look quite poor IMHO. Both builds are shelft and I freequently think about pulling them back to the table - nice to see them build by you. I shelved the (AMT) XB-70 before the Extratech set was released. I could live (hardly) with the intakes which end quite early but could not live with the undersized exhausts. In the mean time I bought an Italeri rebox which I plan to build as AV2 . Well - some day. The F-108 was shelved as I wanted to show it with open canopy and weapons bay. I got carried away again only to realize that I need more reference material. One tip: Do not try to open the weapons bay. I recasted some missiles from an Italeri YF-12 and tried to put them on a rotary launcher... But it will not fit inside the fuselage (too large diameter). No idea how North American had planned this. But of course it was not much more than a concept and even the mock up on which the Anigrand kit is based has changed quite a bit referring to later dated drawings from NA. If you need reference material, let me know. I have some books on the XB-70 and a Wings article on the F-108 including cockpit pics (mock up of course). René 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Good start. I assume you have got in industrial quantities of Miliput ready for the kit's notoriously bad fit? Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Take your time and test fit. Not as much filler as some people say. Most troublesome is the dorsal seams where the front/mid section is joined to the wing/engine assembly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 59 minutes ago, Caerbannog said: Excellent!!!! I just dropped in by chance and this is great stuff. I have the same kits and aftermarket (I have posted some short reviews somewhere here on these sets). I recast the nozzles from the Extratech set in resin for the F-108 as the Anigrand parts look quite poor IMHO. Both builds are shelved and I frequently think about pulling them back to the table - nice to see them build by you. I shelved the (AMT) XB-70 before the Extratech set was released. I could live (hardly) with the intakes which end quite early but could not live with the undersized exhausts. In the meantime I bought an Italeri rebox which I plan to build as A/V 2 . Well - some day. The F-108 was shelved as I wanted to show it with open canopy and weapons bay. I got carried away again only to realise that I need more reference material. One tip: Do not try to open the weapons bay. I recasted some missiles from an Italeri YF-12 and tried to put them on a rotary launcher... But it will not fit inside the fuselage (too large diameter). No idea how North American had planned this. But of course it was not much more than a concept and even the mock up on which the Anigrand kit is based has changed quite a bit referring to later dated drawings from NA. If you need reference material, let me know. I have some books on the XB-70 and a Wings article on the F-108 including cockpit pics (mock up of course). René Thanks for the offer, Rene. I've got enough reference material for the work I want to do on the kit, most notably the Jenkins/Landis Specialty Press book. I'm not going to do much with the XF-108 cockpit as it will be mostly unseen, and the Anigrand presentation is quite plain in any case. I'm going to do the XF-108 in a notional AFFTC scheme in International Orange over White. I was toying with doing the Valkyrie as A/V 2 as well, but the wing dihedral is not a straight line and might present too many difficulties. I think if I do A/V 1 in its NASA scheme, it will give a good excuse to have the two side by side in an Edwards flightline pose! As far as the missile bay goes: it was a rotary launcher, but the release aperture with the bay doors open only let one missile drop at a time, judging from the drawings. 2 hours ago, JamesP said: The Cyber-Hobby kit provides 3 sets of wing tips to allow all position to be displayed, how does this kit handle that? The kit only provides fully up or fully down, so I will need to do some doctoring to pose it at the intermediate 25-degree pose (which looks best in my opinion!) Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) On 30.11.2016 at 6:42 PM, Alan P said: (...) I was toying with doing the Valkyrie as A/V 2 as well, but the wing dihedral is not a straight line and might present too many difficulties. (...) As far as the missile bay goes: it was a rotary launcher, but the release aperture with the bay doors open only let one missile drop at a time, judging from the drawings. The kit only provides fully up or fully down, so I will need to do some doctoring to pose it at the intermediate 25-degree pose (which looks best in my opinion!) Al The wing dihedral is the major problem of this conversion. But I am quite sure that it is a straight line: I guess I will cut up one of my kits to find out :-) Regarding the rotary launcer - I know it was meant to fire one rocket at a time. My point was that three rockets combined (including the fins) have a bigger diameter than the space inside the fuselage would allow. I could maybe fake this by cutting the fins of the upper two rockets so they fit inside. It would probably not visible. But having had about 10 years to get used to the idea I would probably just keep the bay simply closed ;-) I am eager to see your solution for the 25° position. AV-2 had the wings at 25° on roll-out and the visor in the up position. Looks awsome :-) René Edited December 4, 2016 by Caerbannog repaired corrupted Photobucket link 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) Looking at this pic, I'd say the line of dihedral follows the curve of the intake section beneath the wing. There is a very small sawtooth at the leading edge of the wing, and the line ends at the leading edge of the fin. Then again, maybe it is a straight line, just slightly diagonal? I'm going to have a go either way. But that is definitely the look I want to capture! Edited December 1, 2016 by Alan P 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 (edited) In case there were any lingering doubts about the size of this machine: Edited March 20, 2019 by Alan P 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesP Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Thanks for posting the pic of it on the ground with the tips drooped, I was thinking I would need to display it in flight to make correct use of these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerbannog Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Just noticed that the link broke when I rearranged my Photobucket. The pics show fairly well where the wing dehedral is. René 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 Yep, I see it now. Good pictures! It is ON! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurrantBunbury Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 This looks interesting. Not a pair of aircraft I knew anything about, so I've learnt something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general melchett Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Hi Al, great to see you tackling this one, should look mighty impressive when done. As I've got a couple of F-108's in the 'special needs' stash my plan is to have one sat fitted atop one of my SR-75's in place of the XR-7, (the other is a grey ADC machine with four drop tanks, scratched undercarriage and revised engine exhausts). Also have another XB-70 which is well on it's way to becoming the core of a Myasishchev M-18 long range heavy bomber project that was cancelled early on in favour of the Tu-160. I also thought about doing the AV2 configuration but just have way too much going on for that, would look good though. Regarding the F-108 Rene's right about the rotary missile fit being too large for the fuselage so I just closed the thing up. Due to the breakdown of the kit there is a nasty join that runs through the bay which needs a fair bit of filling to sort out. On the ADC one I've opened both canopies, scratched the interiors and seats from mock up images, new U/C, added four wing mounted tanks and vac formed better fitting canopies, really must splosh some paint on the thing before it gathers too much dust..... Good luck with the writing career and new novel.....sounds fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmodeler Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Aha, still have an AMT XB-70 in the model room. had to use industrial strength amounts of Milliput on the wing roots, I smoothed this down when it was still wet, so there was less sanding. Careful dry-assembling and trimming reaps its awards when finally gluing the big wings and fuselage together. Model Canopy has deep framing, but the real aircraft has very flush framing. AMT kit: In the museum, they rarely move the A1 prototype around, but call it the nodding dog when it moves on its wheels, as the nose section jiggles up and down to bumps i n the road, the prototype now has cracks in the fuselage just above the point of the delta. My model has a crack where the front fuselage joins the rear parts in about the same place. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealMrEd Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Haven't been able to find the photobucket link mentioned above, but here are a couple of pics that might show this area a little bit more: I have a few more close-up pics, but don't want to jam up the thread. Don't know where to put them. Good job on this so far, I'll be watching it with interest. Ed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Pulling up a chair, this should be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 13 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said: Haven't been able to find the photobucket link mentioned above, but here are a couple of pics that might show this area a little bit more: I have a few more close-up pics, but don't want to jam up the thread. Don't know where to put them. Good job on this so far, I'll be watching it with interest. Ed Feel free to post your pics on this thread Mr Ed!!! 18 hours ago, oldmodeler said: Aha, still have an AMT XB-70 in the model room. had to use industrial strength amounts of Milliput on the wing roots, I smoothed this down when it was still wet, so there was less sanding. Careful dry-assembling and trimming reaps its awards when finally gluing the big wings and fuselage together. Model Canopy has deep framing, but the real aircraft has very flush framing. In the museum, they rarely move the A1 prototype around, but call it the nodding dog when it moves on its wheels, as the nose section jiggles up and down to bumps i n the road, the prototype now has cracks in the fuselage just above the point of the delta. My model has a crack where the front fuselage joins the rear parts in about the same place. Thanks for those tips. Interesting that when the AV/2 spun after the midair, it was the wings that broke off under stress rather than the long "neck". I would have thought the front fuse would have cracked first, as you say. This is still my work in progress, but writing is consuming my life! I have novel no.2 written and in the editing stage, and have begun no.3. Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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