1:72 Special Hobby Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates,

 

Way back in 1939, whilst the buzz in Hollywood circled around the premiere of "The Wizard of Oz," the USAAF issued proposal R-40C, which directed the aerospace wizards to design a new pursuit aircraft with improved performance and armament compared to existing designs. This, of course, was nothing new - what was new, however, was the proposal specifically asking for innovative and unconventional ideas. Three different aircraft were built and flown as a result of this competition - the Vultee XP-54 "Swoose Goose," the Curtiss XP-55 "Ascender," and the subject of this build the Northrop XP-56 "Black Bullet." All three were pushers; the Swoose Goose featured an inverted gull "ducted" wing, aft mounted engine, twin booms, and an electrically fired downward ejection seat, the Ascender had canards, aft engine, swept wings, and two vertical tails, and the Black Bullet, being a Northrop project after all, was a small flying wing with an aft mounted engine and contra-rotating propellers. None of these ideas were particularly new, but to have them incorporated into the competition and implemented by the contractors was certainly exciting for the time.

 

Unfortunately, all three were cursed by the Wicked Witch of the West, had at best lackluster performance, and all had troublesome problems. None were ordered into production.

 

The XP-54 Swoose Goose:

 

 

The XP-55 Ascender:

 

 

And the XP-56 Black Bullet:

 

 

The Special Hobby kit derives from the earlier MPM kit, and is enhanced with a resin cockpit, intake louvers, and a photoetch fret. Since it's one of the earlier short run products from MPM, it has its foibles and is not even close to the quality currently produced by the Czech cooperative. But it's still the best game in town if you'd like a small Black Bullet in your collection. And it is small - only four inches from the tip of its nose to the tip of the empennage, which in this case is the spinner. Here's my usual summary:

 

Project: Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet

Kit: Special Hobby Kit No. SH72132
Scale: 1:72
Decals: From the kit and there are only six! The Northrop Corporation logo on the nose was cobbed together with bits and pieces from the Island of Misfit Stickers.
Resin: From the kit including a very nice cockpit and intake louvers.
Photoetch: Supplied with the kit and including very fiddly things like the yaw vane under the nose
Paint: GSI Creos Mr. Hobby Aqueous Hobby Colors H52 Olive Drab, H78 Olive Drab, H304 Olive Drab, H53 Neutral Gray, H58 Interior Green, H329 Insignia Yellow, H4 Yellow, H8 Silver, H12 Flat Black, H30 Clear Gloss, H11 Flat White, H77 Tire Black; Testors Model Master 2051 Faded Olive Drab; Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black; Alclad Clear Flat
 

Weathering: Via pastels and lots of post shading

Improvements/Corrections

Not too much, mostly the 1.0mm brass tubing used for the exhausts (the XP-56 had a P&W R-2800 radial engine buried in that fuselage), "Fine" E-Z Line for the aerial wire, and 0.005" Nitinol wire for the yaw vane supports. Some spare photoetch was used for the seat harnesses and the inboard brake detail on the main gear tyres. The canopy was cut open and posed to show the odd hinge placement somewhat above the fuselage sill.

 

WIP can be found here. On with the show!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much on the bottom...

 

 

 

Since it's difficult to see the cockpit in the finished photos, here are some in-process shots.

 

 

 

Now comes the hard part - figuring out what to build next. If only the stash wasn't so large...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Stew Dapple]

That's a weird fish Bill and no mistake, but attractive (albeit in an odd way) and a very impressive model as per your usual extremely high standards  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[keefr22]

Lovely job Bill, another little gem off your bench! Cracking paint job!

 

Keith

[lasermonkey]

It's by far the better looking aeroplane out of the three (I actually think it's rather cute!) and a beautifully finished model. Nice work!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Pete in Lincs]

Lovely paint job, Sir.

Are you sure it didn't come in an eggplane box?

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Beautiful Build  ... If you have the XP-55 why not stay with the theme. Ive seen the Ascender thats at the Air zoo in Kalamazoo Michagan. I’d have to say its a good looking plane even if unorthodox in design. 

[Meatbox8]

Superb.  A really interesting subject brought to life with a great finish.  What a weird and wonderful (and dangerous) period this was in aircraft development.

[Buzby061]

A great replica of a rare bird. 

 

Is it me or does it have a Teutonic look about it?

 

Pete

[Navy Bird]

5 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

That's a weird fish Bill and no mistake, but attractive (albeit in an odd way) and a very impressive model as per your usual extremely high standards

 

Thanks Stew. But weird? A Northrop design? Kind of goes with the territory don't you think?   

 

3 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Lovely job Bill, another little gem off your bench! Cracking paint job!

 

Thanks Keith. It is indeed off the workbench, but mired in the photo booth whilst waiting for a parking space in my display case.

 

3 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

It's by far the better looking aeroplane out of the three (I actually think it's rather cute!) and a beautifully finished model. Nice work!

 

Thanks, Mark. I agree it's the best looking of the bunch. Too bad it didn't work, a flight display with a bunch of these bat-winged guys in formation would have been pretty cool.

 

3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Are you sure it didn't come in an eggplane box?

 

Thanks Pete. It is said that it was the progenitor of the egg-plane genus. Perhaps with some cross-breeding with the XF-85.  

 

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Beautiful Build  ... If you have the XP-55 why not stay with the theme. Ive seen the Ascender thats at the Air zoo in Kalamazoo Michagan. I’d have to say its a good looking plane even if unorthodox in design. 

 

Thanks - I don't have the XP-55 but I'm looking for it. I think the Condor boxing of the MPM kit had the extra goodies in it (resin, photoetch). There are some on Evil Bay. The XP-54, on the other hand, will be tough to find in 1:72. I remember Planet and maybe RS doing resin models, but they're quite rare.

 

1 hour ago, Meatbox8 said:

Superb.  A really interesting subject brought to life with a great finish.  What a weird and wonderful (and dangerous) period this was in aircraft development.

 

Dangerous is right. The first prototype of the XP-56 (only two were built) ended up like this (the pilot survived, thanks to his wearing of a polo cap):

 

 

24 minutes ago, Buzby061 said:

Is it me or does it have a Teutonic look about it?

 

Until I put the prop assembly on, I kept thinking I was building an Me 163 Komet. Some similar shapes I think.  

 

Cheers,

Bill

[ArmouredSprue]

Very cool indeed

[kapam]

Beautiful build of a quite unusual plane!

If the B&W photos had not been posted, I'd have almost thought this was an "on-paper" concept only.

Indeed, all three aircraft look surprisingly modern and advanced - more post-war than 1939!

Excellent finishing and neatness on this little gem!

👍😎

[giemme]

Beautiful little weathered bird! Spot on!   .

 

Ciao

[CedB]

Marvellous build of an unusual subject Bill - love it!  

[Shalako]

What a beauty!!! Jolly good job lad!

 

Cheers

Shalako

[russ c]

Excellent build there Bill, looks superb

[John R]

Lovely job.

If it looks right it will fly right - 'nuff said

John

[F-32]

Cracking piece of work, really nice!

[Terry1954]

A superb result again Bill. I have just caught up on the WIP on this and enjoyed that very much. Special Hobby kits have such finese and you are able to turn them into real masterpieces. I really like them and this one is no exception.

 

Cheers

 

Terry

[RidgeRunner]

Very nice.