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1/48th Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (Sanger vacuform)


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1 hour ago, P.1127 said:

Tom,

This is another inspirational build and a joy to watch. Proper model making... you've got me searching for vac form kits to try and find out how tricky it really is!

 

Thanks for sharing 

 

P.

Excellent news! Another one converted to the dark side..!

 

You'll have blast - they’re nowhere as hard as many perceive and you’ll learn skills you never knew you had 🙂

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I continue to learn with each of your updates which, as I've mentioned before, you make look so easy!

 

One quick question though, if I may regarding the Miliput, which when I've used in the past, has tended to be rather thick and not easy to mould, do you somehow thin before use or do you 'layer' the filler in. I've also had issues when sanding, as it been rather tough to sand away the waste material, do you use wet & dry paper or do you use rasp files?

 

Sorry, I failed CSE Mathes as that's 2 questions :D

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12 hours ago, Tony C said:

One quick question though, if I may regarding the Miliput, which when I've used in the past, has tended to be rather thick and not easy to mould, do you somehow thin before use or do you 'layer' the filler in. I've also had issues when sanding, as it been rather tough to sand away the waste material, do you use wet & dry paper or do you use rasp files?

 

Sorry, I failed CSE Mathes as that's 2 questions :D

The first thing to ensure when using Milliput is that you’ve got it nice and warm - I usually mix it in my hands for a good 10mins and this makes it very soft and malleable and therefore it doesn’t need to be thinned. When I’ve got the approximate shape needed, I remove the majority of the excess by using water and smoothing everything out with my hands - like you would sculpt clay. This will drastically reduce the amount of sanding needed. 

 

When it comes to sanding, I initially use a fairly course paper with lots of water, which stops the paper clogging. I gradually progress through to finer and finer papers, finishing with a good polish with some Micromesh sheets. It’s quite labour intensive, but Milliput is my ‘go to’ filler - it’s non-shrinking and once set, is like concrete. 

 

I hope that helps.

Tom

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I've had a bit of a marathon sanding and filling session over the last couple of days. As usual with these sorts of projects, I've used my trusty P38 automotive filler as it covers large areas well, dries quickly, and is very easy to sand. The only problem is, it creates an awful lot of dust, so to avoid getting on the wrong side of the good lady wife, the kitchen sink is the best place to tackle such tasks:

 

33753936678_b27713ee36_z.jpgIMG_0962 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

I'm really pleased with how the main landing gear bays are shaping up:

 

33753937208_f6df663ab3_z.jpgDSC_0121 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

The left side bays have been blended in nicely after their move forward:

 

33753939118_f437ff5bf5_z.jpgDSC_0113 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

I've also made and added the ALQ-117 pods on either side of the nose:

 

46715650275_188735ac96_z.jpgDSC_0114 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

33753938008_ca51baf278_z.jpgDSC_0117 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

The tail turret has taken a lot of blending, and the panel detail will all need to be replaced here:

 

46715649185_38946232bb_z.jpgDSC_0119 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

So here we are now - underside:

 

33753935698_ef27071177_z.jpgDSC_0111 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

And the upper side:

 

33753936138_a3d7e5ef74_z.jpgDSC_0110 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

There's still a fair few blemishes to sort, and I also need to do a full re-scribe, but I think I might tackle the fin next and ensuring a strong join.

 

Until next time,

Tom

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Tom,

Looking good. I'm a fan of the trusty P38 myself... it hides a multitude of sins and feathers nicely. A question though, if I may? Is there a reason you used Milliput to build up the nose and not the P38? Being a simple chap I use just the P38 but I'm keen to know what benefits other types might bring. 

Thanks, 

P.

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1 hour ago, P.1127 said:

Tom,

Looking good. I'm a fan of the trusty P38 myself... it hides a multitude of sins and feathers nicely. A question though, if I may? Is there a reason you used Milliput to build up the nose and not the P38? Being a simple chap I use just the P38 but I'm keen to know what benefits other types might bring. 

Thanks, 

P.

P38 isn’t great for sculpting like for what was needed with the radome. With Milliput when wet it’s easy to sculpt it as if it’s clay, which you can’t do with the P38, so it cuts down the sanding needed considerably. Also, Milliput has a much longer hardening time, so you’ve more time to mould and sculpt compared to the P38. 

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11 hours ago, tomprobert said:

P38 isn’t great for sculpting like for what was needed with the radome. With Milliput when wet it’s easy to sculpt it as if it’s clay, which you can’t do with the P38, so it cuts down the sanding needed considerably. Also, Milliput has a much longer hardening time, so you’ve more time to mould and sculpt compared to the P38. 

Top info. Thanks. The reduction of sanding time seems very appealing. I'll investigate further. 

Cheers and thanks for sharing, 

P.

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The last few sessions at the bench have focused on the vertical stabiliser. After the parts were removed from the backing sheet and sanded to the correct depth, I set about adding some internal bracing using 1mm plastic card. I left these protruding from the base, as these extensions will be inserted into the fuselage as an anchor. I also opened up and boxed in the distinctive intake on the leading edge of the fin:

 

33782661538_dbeb64e7d6_z.jpgIMG_0986 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

After careful consultation of plans, I opened up two slots on the fuselage top so that the fin anchor points could slide into place:

 

46936057724_c6587f3763_z.jpgIMG_0991 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

And hey presto - a fin that fits!

 

40693534063_b29f74cbb1_z.jpgIMG_0989 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

There'll be a quick lick of filler needed around the base, but the fit is excellent.

 

This will probably be the last update for a while as I return to teaching on Tuesday - books to mark and lessons to plan will mean a lot less time at the bench... :(

 

Tom

 

 

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 I won’t confirm this😒,  but… I hear at altitude  you can suck a hard boiled egg through the sextant port and if you’re lucky, or unlucky as it were, it would land right in that electronics cooling intake on the leading edge of the vertical fin.  After a few days in the hot southern sun, the maintainers say it starts to stink pretty bad...ahhh, those were the days 😆

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  • 3 weeks later...

Evening all,

 

Time for a BUFF update....

 

With the school term being in full swing time at the bench has been a little limited, but the wings are now on the model is really starting to take shape. The spars I'd spent hours making previously meant the winds simply slid over them and resulted in a very solid union with the fuselage. The fit wasn't too bad, but in true vacform style the wing roots on the fuselage were shorter in length than the wings themselves, so there was a lot of building up and shaping with Milliput to level things out:

 

33998240358_47323ae5da_z.jpgIMG_1036 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Once under a quick lick of paint, the joins look pretty good and capture the shape of the real aircraft quite nicely:

 

33998239318_22bd0783c9_z.jpgIMG_1053 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

33998239628_437b4d2b43_z.jpgIMG_1051 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

We've now got something starting to resemble Boeing's finest:

 

33998240148_1da5b0a961_z.jpgIMG_1047 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

33998239838_9d5f08c7c5_z.jpgIMG_1049 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

As a size-reality check... that's a 1/24th Harrier entering the home straight:

 

33998240768_0b67ff8afc_z.jpgIMG_1055 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Until next time,

 

Tom

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That shot with the Harrier really shows how big it is.

 

This is good stuff 👍👍👍

 

Graham

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1 hour ago, GrahamS said:

That shot with the Harrier really shows how big it is.

 

This is good stuff 👍👍👍

 

Graham

yeah because it is 1/24!!!!!

 

fantastic work again!

 

looking forward to more :) 

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On 5/18/2019 at 9:11 PM, exdraken said:

yeah because it is 1/24!!!!!

 

fantastic work again!

 

looking forward to more :) 

My dad is currently building the HK 1/32 Lancaster and he thought that was big... until he popped over to mine today and saw this with the wings on :D

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Tom,

 

I'll do an instrument panel for the B-52H in CAD.

I'll send you the file so you can have it printed if you like.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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3 minutes ago, Sebastien said:

Tom,

 

I'll do an instrument panel for the B-52H in CAD.

I'll send you the file so you can have it printed if you like.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

Amazing - that would be extremely helpful. I was going to go down the old fashioned plastic card route, so any help would be appreciated. 

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Have you bought the B-52H flight manual?

IIRC, it's a dozen quid or so (download), and even if there are sexier reads, it's quite interesting for detailing the cockpit.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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4 minutes ago, Sebastien said:

Have you bought the B-52H flight manual?

IIRC, it's a dozen quid or so (download), and even if there are sexier reads, it's quite interesting for detailing the cockpit.

 

Cheers,

 

S.

No - will look into this. I’ve got quite a few publications on the B-52 but you can never have too many resources. 

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