1/48 Hph XB-70A Its finally COMPLETED!

[LorenSharp]

I have enough on my plate at the present with this and the B-52. Everyone that comes by marvels at the size and then says "Aren't you done yet?" Like this is a 50 pence kit from the 60s that is built in a couple of hours. when I reply I don't expect to be finished for a couple of months they walk away with the look of disbelief. It is quite comical at times.

[exdraken]

Fantastic choice!

I will stay and watch in awe!

[isaneng]

You're barmy.

Raving bonkers.

 

I can't wait to see how this progresses!

[LorenSharp]

Well back for another exciting episode of " The trials and tribulations of Big Planes. Rather than go through the many instances of trying to paint what feels like acres of white, and gets it smooth, even,and  shiny.  Here is one of the first attempts at coverage. If it didn't cover right strip it off, fisheyed,crazed,etc, strip it off. Finally I've got the finish to an acceptable level where I can proceed.

 

 

Because of size I had to do the painting outside. Should have worn sunglasses though, I come inside and all I can see is a bright spot from the glare.

[LorenSharp]

The venting was photoetch. Looking at my reference material the vents seemed rather tall, when you could find them. They had a tendency to blend in with all the white. So I shaved off a little bit to lower the height.

 

Edited September 6, 2018 by LorenSharp
spelling

[LorenSharp]

Even though the instructions say to build the cockpit and the insert into the cavity that doesn't work. Had to put the pieces singly gluing together as I went.

The ejection capsules came with a fabric type harness that looked a bit out of scale. I may go back and change them before buttoning up for the final time.

[LorenSharp]

The painted photoetch is spot on and looks very good. Just a shame to cover it up it will never be seen.

[LorenSharp]

Now for assembly line work. Since the Xb-70 has 6 engines and its a little sparse in the detail area, not bad mind you just sparse, in another fit of insanity I decided to make my own flame holders.

Found an old aluminum baking tin and took my compass and scored the rings. cut those free and then built the vanes in the back using some small strips and very small rod.

Added the rings to that little base Viola! A flame holder. 2 down 4 to go.

[LorenSharp]

Completed the J93 end looks like this. I sprayed a burnt metal base the very lightly misted a touch of gunmetal. Once dried took a mixture of raw sienna, grey, and white pastels to give it a heated look.

The photos don't show as much as I would like.

 

[exdraken]

Those engines look great!

I guess all 6 will just be spectacular!

[LorenSharp]

Your wish  is my command. Here is the 6 pak engine bay start and then with finally with all 6 mounted.

 

[LorenSharp]

Now for the aft end where they go. There wasn't really any detail on the lower half of the fuselage where the bay goes,so after doing some research There is some structural ribbing on the side walls.

So a little thin strip and rod( going through more of this than I anticipated) and the aft end looks a little more proper.

Some paint touch up and mating of the two components.

[LorenSharp]

Off to the intakes and landing gear. This has been the simple bit. The landing gear will make a full model unto themselves.

[NickD]

On 09/09/2018 at 02:36, LorenSharp said:

 

Great to see this aircraft coming to life - so Thunderbirds. Amazing. As with so many aircraft of that era, what were the designers thinking.

 

Keep up the good work

 

Nick

[neil5208]

2 hours ago, NickD said:

Great to see this aircraft coming to life - so Thunderbirds. Amazing. As with so many aircraft of that era, what were the designers thinking.

 

Keep up the good work

 

Nick

More likely what were they taking

[Chaotic Mike]

On 9/5/2018 at 12:18 PM, LorenSharp said:

I wanted to get the B-36, but the waiting time from order to receipt was 10 months. I didn't want to wait that long. I think they have sold out of the production run.Ah well such is life. Although, Gerald Elliot may be giving it a go on the Vac side with a 1/48 B-36.How long that would be is anybodys guess.

40.5208333 inches... Who needs to guess when we have Wikipedia? 🙃

[LorenSharp]

Ahh yes, nothing like distance versus time🤔As for what were they taking?  About 7 years from proposal to roll out....rimshot. Actually when I was a kid we lived a few miles away from Plant 42 where it was built. The day it was displayed to the public for the first time was big. At night they would do the engine run-up tests,even living that far away the ground shook.

[Shalako]

Simply WOW😲

[f111guru]

Finally caught up with this build. Saw it in passing and was called away. I'm in for the long haul on this one. Have built the 1/72nd Scale vaccuform and AMT's kit. Also have one other AMT kit for a future build. Outstanding progress thus far. AW struck with the thought of the shear size. Never seen the XB-70 other than pictures but loaded bombs on the B-52D 7th BW Carswell AFB in the early 70's.

 

Ron VanDerwarker

[LorenSharp]

Welcome to the growing list of Extraordinary Ladies and Gentlemen watching this behemoth come  together. Grab a seat over by the Bar and relax. This might take a while.😆 I'll try not to make it too boring.

[LorenSharp]

Right, Here we go.... Main gear assembly. As I hinted when done these things are almost a model unto themselves,especially when I decided that there wasn't enough detail. First the main bay,

By itself its quite good and aside from a little painting spot on from what few photos I could find in colour as close as I could get. The instructions said to paint the cabling Dark Grey, but the photos I found they were actually bright copper. Now after 48 years the sheathing could have crumbled away, but I don't think so, they were perfectly clean. The little dots I have no idea but I suspect they were some form of heat collection. Kind of an off purple/burgundy shade.

The next item to fix was a few of the struts. I've never seen a hydraulic strut that looked like this

can't have that so...time to modify.

I cut off what should have been the nice shiny part of the piston and replaced it with some brass rod then coated it with a  little bit of Chrome NMF I had in the spares drawer. cut some plastic card for the mounts and quicker than you can say bobs your uncle all nice and tidy.

Edited September 13, 2018 by LorenSharp
Added Image

[LorenSharp]

The main gear was kinda blocky and didn't match well. I glued the Brake caliper assemblies on then used some Milliput to flare out then sanded as smooths as  I could to even it out.

From there I added some control boxes, a cage protector made from some very small thin rod , hydraulic lines from some even smaller rod and plating to the Anti-Lock brakes.

The tyres were a bit too flattened, almost like racing slicks. In attempting to round them up a little ,I destroyed the tread. I used a razor saw to carefully re-scribe the tread.  I tried an x-acto knife I ended up slicing my fingers instead. Resin too hard.

I painted the gear in Model Master Steel and tried another experiment using Tamiya Smoke as a wash instead of artist oils. Worked very well and gave the metal a slight glossy look. The tyres I used a mixture of Pale Aluminum and Gloss White to give the rubber a look of impregnated with aluminum powder. The tyres were made the same way as the SR-71's to dissipate the heat from Mach 3 speeds in flight.

Used some Magnesium to darken the tread wear.

[LorenSharp]

Now on to the Nose gear. Kinda plain by itself, so I added a bit of thin rod for the brake lines. There is one interesting facet of the gear. In the images I have found online the compression scissors instead of being placed directly behind the oleo is offset 45 degrees

and its attached to a square plate. Why I have no idea, but it is different.

[LorenSharp]

The nose gear finished and painted.

[LorenSharp]

Gluing in the gear bays I find there is a section at the triangular bit that doesn't quite match up,meaning I'll have to use a bit of card to even it up.