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


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12 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

Excellent job on the engine pylons!

 

Thanks , Loren - when I've finished the blending of the upper over-wing parts I'll get the decent camera out and take some better pictures, including the underside as quite a bit of work went on here to get the pylons in the correct configuration.

 

Tom

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I'm guessing the "upward angle" of the engines is only relative to the fuselage, and that they are in line with the wing chord......

 

Ian

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You think Tom's got space problems? Just imagine all the stuff choking up Boeing Field at the moment. :giggle:

 

Re 4 vs 8 engines. 4 is a no-no. The asymmetric thrust is out of limits, the rudder lacks authority. Even a 7 engine approach is classed as an emergency.

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15 hours ago, limeypilot said:

I'm guessing the "upward angle" of the engines is only relative to the fuselage, and that they are in line with the wing chord......

 

Ian

Yes indeed. 

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If I’ve got the link right there’s a nice little vid here showing the B52’s characteristic ‘nose down’ attitude (once it’s levelled off along the runway).

 

B52 fly by

 

As ever, Tom I’m rather in awe of your work.  Always great to follow a Probert-build tho’ :)

Edited by Fritag
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So actually the engines and wing are in line with the airflow; it’s the fuselage that looks out of true.  Never noticed how pronounced that is.

 

Wonderful build, Tom, as always. 

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Nowadays BUFFs take off conventionally (nose-high) and landings are done all wheels down at the same time. I don't know why they don't do the nose-down take-off anymore (at least not from UK runways) but I do miss it! Also miss those smoky, long departures by the pre-H models!

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10 hours ago, Fritag said:

If I’ve got the link right there’s a nice little vid here showing the B52’s characteristic ‘nose down’ attitude (once it’s levelled off along the runway).

 

B52 fly by

 

As ever, Tom I’m rather in awe of your work.  Always great to follow a Probert-build tho’ :)

That’s a great clip - such an awesome machine when seen like that. Thanks for sharing. 

1 hour ago, Sabrejet said:

Nowadays BUFFs take off conventionally (nose-high) and landings are done all wheels down at the same time. I don't know why they don't do the nose-down take-off anymore (at least not from UK runways) but I do miss it! Also miss those smoky, long departures by the pre-H models!

I remember the nose-down take offs vividly from the Mildenhall airshow days - the last time I saw one flying. 

 

The Hs still belch a bit of smoke, but as you say, nothing like the old days! Remember the footage of G models departing Fairford during Desert Storm? They created their own fog! 

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I think I may have sussed the 'engine angle' thing. I've been trying to find similar views of BUFFS 'weight-on' and 'weight off' wheels and these two are the best I can do. From the similar shots of 'flight' and 'ground' configs it looks like, as flight loads begin to lift the wings, the leading edges adopt a downwards twist, which places the engines in a more level attitude. And boy do those wings bend! It might just be an optical illusion due to the close-up ground view and the telephoto I used for the take-off shot but one to ponder.

 

xxx

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but despite my Sabre allegiances, the B-52 runs it a close second!

 

 

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Great photographs! Perhaps the perspective, etc. is exaggerating the effect, but the B-52 has always been noted for its high wing flexure.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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@Sabrejet those photos are great - and yes it appears the whole wing and engine set up adopts a completely different angle of attack when under lift. What a machine!

 

Interesting too is the tip tanks follow the same angle as the engines - duly noted for when they’re being fitted imminently. 

 

Thanks for sharing!

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This is looking seriously impressive Tom - amazing work.

As someone who cannot seem to scribe a new panel line over a couple of millimetres without unwanted scratches wandering about all over the model, I really am in awe of this particular skill of yours - amongst many.

I hope the summer holidays give you plenty of chances to keep up the good progress...

Cheers,

Nick.

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4 hours ago, Nickthebrief said:

This is looking seriously impressive Tom - amazing work.

As someone who cannot seem to scribe a new panel line over a couple of millimetres without unwanted scratches wandering about all over the model, I really am in awe of this particular skill of yours - amongst many.

I hope the summer holidays give you plenty of chances to keep up the good progress...

Cheers,

Nick.

Thanks for stopping by, Nick.

 

I can assure you that there’s plenty of scars in the plastic where the scriber has slipped but I’m just good at hiding these errors when taking pictures! I’ve scribed numerous models over the years, and it’s a skill I’m still struggling to master but I do make less errors than I did - practice makes perfect (or not) and all that...

 

I’m still beavering away on the wing tanks and getting them ready to mount on to the wing - hopefully an update soon. 

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On 7/13/2019 at 3:36 PM, Sabrejet said:

And boy do those wings bend! It might just be an optical illusion due to the close-up ground view and the telephoto I used for the take-off shot but one to ponder.

One of my instructors at my A&P school was a Retired Air Force Master Sgt. that had been a crew chief on BUFF's. He said the wings looked like they flapped when they were flying. His favorite story was about a B-52 out Of Griffiss AFB New York. The coast guard had closed Long Island sound for a maritime training session using B-52D's. Well it seems like one Rich yacht owner wasn't having any of it and ignored the no enter warnings. He was onboard for the mission and they were simulating a low level mining anti shipping strike. The pilots flying at about 75-80 feet on a hot muggy humid day with haze. He see's the yacht and decides he's going to "Strafe" it. No sooner does he pass over the boat, that the rear gunner erupts in outrageous laughter. After a minute or two the rear gunner says that he's never seen so many people in fancy clothes jump off a boat. The sight of a dark colored B-52D coming in low belching smoke from 8 turbojets and wings flapping must have looked like some medieval Dragon coming out of the mist. He also said they had so many alarms going off on takeoff that it sounded like an amusement park in the cockpit. 

 

Dennis

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

One of my instructors at my A&P school was a Retired Air Force Master Sgt. that had been a crew chief on BUFF's. He said the wings looked like they flapped when they were flying. His favorite story was about a B-52 out Of Griffiss AFB New York. The coast guard had closed Long Island sound for a maritime training session using B-52D's. Well it seems like one Rich yacht owner wasn't having any of it and ignored the no enter warnings. He was onboard for the mission and they were simulating a low level mining anti shipping strike. The pilots flying at about 75-80 feet on a hot muggy humid day with haze. He see's the yacht and decides he's going to "Strafe" it. No sooner does he pass over the boat, that the rear gunner erupts in outrageous laughter. After a minute or two the rear gunner says that he's never seen so many people in fancy clothes jump off a boat. The sight of a dark colored B-52D coming in low belching smoke from 8 turbojets and wings flapping must have looked like some medieval Dragon coming out of the mist. He also said they had so many alarms going off on takeoff that it sounded like an amusement park in the cockpit. 

 

Dennis

We need a BUFF thread so we don't keep hijacking Tom's (apologies again). Great story though :)

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2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

One of my instructors at my A&P school was a Retired Air Force Master Sgt. that had been a crew chief on BUFF's. He said the wings looked like they flapped when they were flying. His favorite story was about a B-52 out Of Griffiss AFB New York. The coast guard had closed Long Island sound for a maritime training session using B-52D's. Well it seems like one Rich yacht owner wasn't having any of it and ignored the no enter warnings. He was onboard for the mission and they were simulating a low level mining anti shipping strike. The pilots flying at about 75-80 feet on a hot muggy humid day with haze. He see's the yacht and decides he's going to "Strafe" it. No sooner does he pass over the boat, that the rear gunner erupts in outrageous laughter. After a minute or two the rear gunner says that he's never seen so many people in fancy clothes jump off a boat. The sight of a dark colored B-52D coming in low belching smoke from 8 turbojets and wings flapping must have looked like some medieval Dragon coming out of the mist. He also said they had so many alarms going off on takeoff that it sounded like an amusement park in the cockpit. 

 

Dennis

What would have set all the alarms off? them slapping switches while laughing?

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13 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

We need a BUFF thread so we don't keep hijacking Tom's (apologies again). Great story though :)

Don’t apologise - I love reading these stories and it all adds great interest to the thread. More interesting than me going on about more filling and sanding, anyway...

 

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21 hours ago, kev67 said:

Looking very good Tom as always, down in Cornwall at the moment, watching a Navy Merlin doing some hovering practise over the sea 

Lovely - Cornwall is great this time of year. We often holiday down there and have a blast. Enjoy! 

 

The BUFF has had some more work done on the engines - I've sanded and shaped the home-made upper, over-wing parts of the pylons and all look good under some primer:

 

48299957042_427295b61c_z.jpgDSC_0186 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

48299843801_9c6db4499e_z.jpgDSC_0187 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

48299955847_54d378c710_z.jpgDSC_0190 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

Shaping the pylons on the underside was a lot more tricky as they are all molded identical, but of course the inner pylons have a very different shape due to the change in shape as you travel down the length of the wing:

 

48299954127_48cbeccb63_z.jpgDSC_0201 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

I've also finished detailing the rear of the bypass sections:

 

48299842081_f2386bf856_z.jpgDSC_0195 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

48299841776_b94fb046c4_z.jpgDSC_0199 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

It was a bit of a faff opening these up but worth the effort.

 

And we now have something really taking on the form of the venerable BUFF:

 

48299844721_bc7763b041_z.jpgDSC_0205 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

48299955312_b1a1446e85_z.jpgDSC_0192 by Thomas Probert, on Flickr

 

As you can see, however, the tail feathers are conspicuous by their absence... better get sanding!

 

Until next time,

Tom

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12 hours ago, P.1127 said:

Getting better and better. The engine pairs look spot on to me, a real distinguishing feature of the aircraft. 

P.

Cheers. They’re not actually that accurate to be fair - they’re missing the distinctive ancillary fairings on the underside and the intake divider/fairing isn’t quite right, but to be honest life is too short to correct every last detail so if they’re acceptable at 50 paces, that’ll do for me. 

11 hours ago, bar side said:

That’s looking very nice Tom.  My primer usually shows up more problems but that’s looking the business

Oh rest assured that there are plenty of nasty blemishes still to sort - it’s just I’m becoming a pro at avoiding them appearing on camera! :)

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Absolutely. I'd noticed how missing those ancillary fairings were. I was just about to say.

No really - I was.

Hardly recognisable as a aircraft, let alone a B52 without them.

 

 

(Does anyone else ever get the feeling they live in a far less detailed and sharply defined world than the Toms, Steves, Crisps, Peters, Manfreds etc? It's not just the eyesight either. Watching these builds emerge makes me think I was only born with a collection of thumbs borrowed from a disparate collection of cack-handed Neanderthals. Oh well. I'll keep pretending I noticed the missing fairings.)

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