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1/72 HASEGAWA BOEING B-47E STRATOJET


adey m

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In 1971 we moved up from Suffolk to Whitby in North Yorkshire with my father's RAF posting. Across the road from the RAF Married Quarters was Stakesby Stores which was a grocers shop and Post Office. It also sold a few FROG kits.

 

High up on a shelf were the biggest 1/72 FROG model kits I had ever seen at the age of eleven, one was the Renzan bomber and the other was a B-47 Stratojet.

 

Image result for FROG Whitley

 

The FROG Stratojet had a fabulous painting of a Stratojet refuelling from a tanker aircraft high above the clouds as if viewed from the refueller boom operator's window.

 

Image result for FROG B47 stratojet

 

A few years later I realised that these FROG kits were in fact Hasegawa models repackaged by FROG. The first clue was when my sister bought me a FROG Mohawk for my birthday and it had a little sticker on the box stating it was moulded in Japan.

 

Then for my thirteenth birthday dad bought me a FROG Kawanishi Emily with a lovely painting of one taking off on the box front and the inspiring FROG painting guide on the back in full colour.

 

Then the penny dropped when the Stratojet, Renzan and Emily as well as the Mohawk appeared in my 1975 Hasegawa catalogue.

 

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I have always loved the Stratojet but it is only recently that I acquired one.

 

I would really have liked a FROG one but these are rare and pricey.

 

So I bought a later issue of the Hasegawa one.

 

Image result for hasegawa b47e

 

This is the boxing that I have.

 

There have been quite a variety of earlier boxings and artworks.

 

Image result for hasegawa b47e

 

Related image

 

Image result for hasegawa b47e

 

I started my Stratojet about two years ago and decided to scratch build the cockpit compartment. This became quite involved and the fuselage interior was well in progress when I just became bored with it. A big but simple kit was just taking me too long. So everything I had made and fabricated up to then went back in its box where it remained until now.

 

At a recent model show a fellow Club member Kevin surprised me when he returned to our table with a new Stratojet kit under his arms and then suggested that three of us display  Stratojets at a show in June.

 

Kevin will be building his with a Pavla resin cockpit and he likes to use alclad finishes.

 

Tony has one he built a number of years ago which is completely brush painted and knowing Tony it will be an unusual version.

 

And mine will have a home-made cockpit and be sprayed from a can.

 

So we should end up with three quite different models of the same kit.

 

So the contract has been signed with Boeing for the building of a B-47E by the AM Aero Works...............now I need an extension to my model table

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by adey m
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Like this Adey. That Frog box art is really good. Think it was done by the same artist who used to paint the Air Enthusiast Mag covers,so much movement with those clouds and perspective.

 

Try not to get bored this time !

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Great box art! Don't forget to leave some time to build the tanker! 

 

Fascinating project - not really what one associates with Frog (obscure, British, inter-war, FAA). But definitely :popcorn:

 

Regards,

Adrian

Edited by AdrianMF
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10 hours ago, FZ6 said:

look forward to seeing the progress on this one. I remember chatting at Huddersfield about this one.

 

These are the JATO Bottles I was telling you about.

 

http://fishermodels.indiemade.com/product/b-47-stratojet-jato-set-172-scale?tid=4

 

Regards,


Mark

 

Hello again Mark

 

It was good to chat to you at Huddersfield.

 

Those JATO bottles would really make a Stratojet model stand out.

 

I have seen photos of the Stratojets at Greenham Common wearing them. Presumably they had somewhere safe to drop these off the end of the runway.

 

thanks,   Adrian

 

 

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Hi Adrian,

Good luck with your build.

I had the chance a few month ago to get this same box with a lot of aftermarket goodies inside.

Among them, a Flightpath conversion for an RB-47H.

I've had already a set of Wolfpak decals to get along this specific version.

Can't build anything for the moment, but this kit will be at the top of my list when I'll be able to start again.

 

fpath_10.jpg

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resized_85994cc6-204f-4d7f-b2ef-4ef997a0

 

This picture was on the cover of the 1974 Hasegawa catalogue and shows an unpainted Stratojet model, in fact the Mavis and the Thunderchief are also unpainted.

At the time silver finished aircraft were moulded by Hasegawa in a dark silver coloured plastic similar to the Airfix dark silver plastic.

Edited by adey m
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21 hours ago, adey m said:

A few years later I realised that these FROG kits were in fact Hasegawa models repackaged by FROG. The first clue was when my sister bought me a FROG Mohawk for my birthday and it had a little sticker on the box stating it was moulded in Japan.

A deal that was reciprocated, with Hasegawa releasing the Frog Shackleton.

 

Always great to see one of these B-47s being built, will follow with interest!

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resized_bf62bde1-873b-4694-b77d-7780c5fe

 

The thing I like about Hasegawa kits is their simplicity in construction, the generally good fit and the accurate and scale appearance.

 

resized_de1486ce-02b9-4f5e-9992-7f0f7bda

 

Simple construction for such a large model.............................but........

 

resized_bb75c949-3673-4b1b-b205-dfd96d21

 

not until you get to stage 12 with the airframe complete do they then tell you to try and install the undercarriage and bomb bays from outside the fuselage..........I DON'T THINK I WOULD DO THIS...................

 

Just imagine, you apply glue to the edges of the rear undercarriage bay and then Mr Clumsy strikes and you lose the bay in the rear fuselage.......where the glue starts to take hold.........................

 

I realised this would not be a good idea, trial fitting of these bays into the fuselage halves showed them to be a poor fit anyway.

 

So I installed the undercarriage bays and weapons bay one at a time into a fuselage half  then taped the other fuselage half to it to check the fit and adjust if necessary. And it was necessary.........it would have been a nightmare to try and fit these properly later as per the instructions .

 

resized_eae124c7-6134-48f1-ba11-10f398b3

 

Here we have the undercarriage bays and weapon bay installed to one half with scrap sprue strengthening supports.

 

My scratch built plastic card cockpit compartment is taking shape.

 

resized_b41c963f-3c8f-4f29-95ab-6bc61b79

 

Here are the bays installed to one fuselage half. They have thin strips of plastic to fill in the gaps where the fit was poor.

 

resized_cb466bec-3e81-4149-9a27-df566442

 

Here I have been trial fitting the main undercarriage legs.

Edited by adey m
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Image result for hasegawa 1/72 b47 stratojet

 

I found these images on the web of the cockpit assembly being constructed as intended from the box. To be accurate the floor at this side should be cut away to form a crawl-way which gave access to the two pilots cockpits from the aircraft entrance hatch and also access to the navigator's position in the nose.

The model also only provides small bulkheads moulded to the fuselage halves to represent the cockpit instrument panels.

 

Related image

 

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1 hour ago, 71chally said:

A deal that was reciprocated, with Hasegawa releasing the Frog Shackleton.

 

Always great to see one of these B-47s being built, will follow with interest!

 

https://s1.scalemates.com/products/img/1/4/6/162146-12155-pristine.jpg

 

And here it is chally..........the FROG Shackleton in a HASEGAWA boxing

 

regards, Adrian

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2 minutes ago, Finn said:

Have you decide what, if anything, to install in the weapon bay? If you want to go with it's primary role as a strategic bomber go here:

 

https://app.box.com/s/3ca2864b8fc8f253e8b0/1/299113674/2373739924/1

 

on page V-73 there is a drawing showing how large nukes fit in the bay.

 

Jari

 

Hi Jari

 

thank you for that very comprehensive information.......wow........

 

at the moment I have not decided what to arm my Stratojet with

 

cheers, Adrian

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That's an impressive bomber in real life. You may have to visit your town council to obtain permission to extend your modelling area. As it is, it is going to feel cramped!

Great attention to detail.

It's going to be superb!!!

 

JRj

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I've been stalking one of these for a while Adrian so look forwards to living vicariously through your build. I enjoyed the gallery of box art at the beginning - a really nice idea. Did you see the old James Stewart movie Strategic Air Command at all? There's a lot of evocative shots of the period in that, including B-47s.

Good luck with this!

Tony

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13 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I've been stalking one of these for a while Adrian so look forwards to living vicariously through your build. I enjoyed the gallery of box art at the beginning - a really nice idea. Did you see the old James Stewart movie Strategic Air Command at all? There's a lot of evocative shots of the period in that, including B-47s.

Good luck with this!

Tony

 

Hi Tony

 

I have seen that film a few times over the years and I still love it.........real film of real aircraft..... a colour documentary of Strategic Air Command in the 1950s.

 

First it gave me inspiration for my Monogram B-36 and now for my B-47.

 

I just need to paint my pilot to look like James Stewart....................

 

all the best,  Adrian

Edited by adey m
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14 hours ago, Finn said:

A few more pics of the B-47:

 

https://jetpilotoverseas.wordpress.com/category/b-47/

 

at the Boeing plant:

 

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/9a89fd0c95d359e9.html

 

click the thumbnails under Related images for more.

 

Jari

 

Those photos are fantastic, so inspirational and they show the human side of B-47 operations.

 

There was a lot of boxes inside a B-47..............mmm

 

Love the close up of a B-47B with its built in RATO and the white wall tyres.............

 

And the close up of the crew entrance hatch will be very useful

 

Thank you Jari.

 

Regards, Adrian

Edited by adey m
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14 hours ago, jean said:

That's an impressive bomber in real life. You may have to visit your town council to obtain permission to extend your modelling area. As it is, it is going to feel cramped!

Great attention to detail.

It's going to be superb!!!

 

JRj

 

Thank you Jean

 

My B-47 factory was used to carry out modification work on the B-36 many years ago.......so there should be a bit more room for a B-47

 

I have acquired space for final assembly and flight testing across the other side of the room ( valley )............

 

resized_b690958c-d025-4eaa-963a-161e30eb

 

 

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Can you see the B-36...................

 

resized_7849771c-4c6f-4b04-992e-4edadc5b

 

 

 

all the best,  Adrian

Edited by adey m
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Hi Adrian,

 

you room is artfully done, inasmuch as one cannot see the permanent scaffolding and crane needed to go and collect the B-36 in its corner for dust removal from time to time... 

Is this B-36 a 1/48 model, God forbid?

 

Nice modelling space.

JR

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