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SR-71 Blackbird, finished


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Taken advantage of the long weekend and spent some time at the bench. Canopies are on, masked, gaps filed with PVA glue and sprayed light grey for the interior colour.

32723495997_d3161a1640_h.jpgIMGA0782 by neil Connor, on Flickr

32723496097_22ec6981a0_h.jpgIMGA0786 by neil Connor, on Flickr

The 2 lower fuselage parts glued together and the lower transparencies fitted, undercarriage doors also fitted, port side were fine but the starboard set had sink marks that needed filling. I have seen this on other Italeri Blackbird wips so seem to happen a fair bit, unusual that they can mould the large parts with no problems but mees up the small ones

32723495607_9971eabe92_h.jpgIMGA0785 by neil Connor, on Flickr

46942011474_dada6bd0ee_h.jpgIMGA0784 by neil Connor, on Flickr

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Got some more done this afternoon. Fitted the mounting block, drilled the hole for the acrylic rod and did another dry fit, there is a large gap between the upper fuselage sections but it shouldn't be do difficult to fix. First time fitting the vertical stabilizers, looks good.

47616968792_564c60192f_h.jpgIMGA0793 by neil Connor, on Flickr

33792259828_8ed90cd2ac_h.jpgIMGA0788 by neil Connor, on Flickr

46754038265_7d58ff9e8a_z.jpgIMGA0789 by neil Connor, on Flickr

33792259418_7df3bf4b88_h.jpgIMGA0791 by neil Connor, on Flickr

Still surprised how few parts are in this kit given its size and how good Italeri original moulding were.

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8 hours ago, billn53 said:

The in-flight pose is going to look dramatic!

 

7 hours ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

You’re absolutely right! Neil choose the right angle to demonstrate the Bird.

 

Cheers! 🙃

Thanks but still need a good base, tried painting clouds but didn't like them. May go for a high altidute picture of the Rockies if I can print one large enough

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The re-scribing is complete at last! Tail planes and intake shock cones fitted, upper surface has had first full coat of primer. Some of the panel line need filling and redoing but not many considering how many have been done. Also painted the inside of the jet exhausts with white and brown oil wash.

47721073372_a9521fa175_h.jpgIMGA0806 by neil Connor, on Flickr

33896351148_ea41b0b318_h.jpgIMGA0807 by neil Connor, on Flickr

Hopefully get the underside painted soon but the undercarriage doors need further work before hand.

 

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Got the Blackbird painted black today or rather black/tan mix (95/5%) for a weathered look. Once this has hardened I will add some streaking and fuel/oil marks and she should be ready for clearing.

33911316458_bcd6d60c17_h.jpgIMGA0809 by neil Connor, on Flickr

46999101544_82640e1dcd_h.jpgIMGA0808 by neil Connor, on Flickr

And another check on the mounting rod. The view from the front is particularly good I think.

46999101764_f20667870c_h.jpgIMGA0811 by neil Connor, on Flickr

33911316268_aa39d41393_h.jpgIMGA0812 by neil Connor, on Flickr

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On 4/18/2019 at 5:26 AM, neil5208 said:

I tried finding the Academy kit after seeing your wip but had no luck and I wasn't prepared to pay the ridiculous amount for the Hasegawa kit so gave up. But I went into a local craft store for some no11 blades and they had this £10 rather than the usaul £30! I will attempt for a similiar effect that you did wether I can acheive it is another matter

I believe the Hasegawa kit is the Academy kit re-boxed

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On 4/17/2019 at 5:28 PM, Maxwellphillips said:

I did a project at school on the Blackbird. There was the A12, which was CIA, not air force, and they also had a YF12, which was supposed to be a fighter version. I think they only made 1 or 2, but it had little cut aways on the nose and looked the dogs danglies. 

 

YF-12A

 

Italeri do the YF-12 in 1/72.

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Don't forget to add copious amounts of gas stains on the belly from when they sat on the ramp sweating out all their JP-7, I'm sure here at Mildenhall the concrete is still stained from them. On a serious note, nice work, interested to see how that black n tan mix turns out!

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23 minutes ago, Stealthman said:

Italeri do the YF-12 in 1/72.

Before I joined the fusalage sections I thought about converting to the A12 prototype which initialy flew unpainted, as it would only need shortining by 25mm, removing the expansion panel detail and copilots cockpit.

Edited by neil5208
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On 5/6/2019 at 5:53 PM, neil5208 said:

Before I joined the fusalage sections I thought about converting to the A12 prototype which initialy flew unpainted, as it would only need shortining by 25mm, removing the expansion panel detail and copilots cockpit.

There is a resin conversion set for the Italeri SR71 to convert it into an A12 try the Aviation Megastore, I last saw it advertised there. The production A12 started out with the Black and Silver colouring ( two of the YF-12 prototypes had the same) with most if not all the airframes  later painted overall Black. 

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1 hour ago, Stealthman said:

There is a resin conversion set for the Italeri SR71 to convert it into an A12 try the Aviation Megastore, I last saw it advertised there. The production A12 started out with the Black and Silver colouring ( two of the YF-12 prototypes had the same) with most if not all the airframes  later painted overall Black. 

The first aircraft or article as the CIA refered to them was article 121, was transported to groom lake and then initially flown (possibly 3 times) before any paint was applied. The M21 drone launching variant were all black and silver.

Started decaling tonight, Italeri's decal placement instructions are not clear and there are no decal numbers.

47746327252_a5a0ac1c8f_h.jpgIMGA0814 by neil Connor, on Flickr

Amazing how just a few decals change the look.

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2 hours ago, neil5208 said:

The first aircraft or article as the CIA refered to them was article 121, was transported to groom lake and then initially flown (possibly 3 times) before any paint was applied. The M21 drone launching variant were all black and silver.

Started decaling tonight, Italeri's decal placement instructions are not clear and there are no decal numbers.

47746327252_a5a0ac1c8f_h.jpgIMGA0814 by neil Connor, on Flickr

Amazing how just a few decals change the look.

That's looking pretty good! The initial A12 prototypes shipped to Groomlake on trucks in very large wooden boxes did fly without paint. But as Oxcart progressed the Black and Silver scheme appeared later followed by overall Black. Which paint range did you use for the Black?

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6 hours ago, Stealthman said:

Which paint range did you use for the Black?

Its Tamiya xf1 Black and xf55 Deck Tan mixed 90/10 sprayed over a base of 3 shades of grey to give the variation, it looked more before the clear coat went on I keep forgeting how much the clear coat subdues the final effect.

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