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1/48 Hph B-36 SAC Part1


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Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome my friends back to the show that never ends. Come inside, come inside.

In another thread I have, waaaaay over there, somewheres,as I was in the final stages of a build ,which not quite finished but almost, I asked you, my learned colleagues,

what would be fine example of aeronautical engineering to start next and I had 2 examples. both 1/48 and both big. One was Hph's B-36H and the other Sanger's B-47E. Unfortunately consensus was split evenly down the middle.

 Even my Executive Decision Apparatus failed me. Not for the faint of heart, Not entirely sure where they will put when finished. But no matter. On with the show and all that rubbish. The title appropriately enough comes from a movie waaayyy back when starring Jimmy Stewart

named "Strategic Air Command"  I will try to use as many elements from both cinema aircraft as possible, but there will be deviations and some "artistic licence " as needed or warranted. On the B-36H side, it will be done prior to the featherweight

programs were initiated,. This means I'm adding the upper turrets in the open configurations, the front fully deployed and the rear open but stowed. In the bomb bay I'll replace the forward 20,000 lb bombs with a mk17 nuclear weapon. and of course numerous additions to the interior that no one will ever see except in the photo record. The B-47E on the other hand was done along time ago on another forum by Darius Aibara. His build is what inspired me to get back into doing Vacs. Some of his elements I may duplicate but the majority will be things I've not tried before. The outer coating on both will be a mixture of NMF and Alclad II making them both a definite Magnesium Overcast, which is what I almost called this thread. So, gather around, pull up the most comfortable easy chair you can find, lay in copious amounts of your favorite libations and be sure to kibbutz until the cows come home to roost. I'll need all the encouragement and advice from all my learned colleagues. So shall we begin? I do just love an "E" ticket ride

Edited by LorenSharp
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Reverse order to the movie,but This was handier. The Sanger B-47E. not much plastic,as compared to some, but enough of a blank slate to improvise all kinds of detail.

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Still will be a pain in the behind cleaning up all the edges and polishing all the plastic in preparation for the outer coatings.

First off as always lets start with the office.

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The main deck supplied is kinda of sparse. so I've come up with my own from morgue gallery of images collected from here and there.

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The steps from the navigators station in the nose to the flight deck. racks partially done for misc equipment and boxes and the beginis of the base to the co-pliots  seat.

 

 

 

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There's a fantastic B-36 start up and take-off routine in the movie:

Six turning, four burning.

Check out the wrinkling of the fuselage as it turns onto the runway, the plane is so massive it can't all turn at the same rate. No CGI could match this to impress the hugeness of the beast.

I look forward to seeing your models develop.

Cheers

Will

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Well have a few more bits done.  Had to go back and resize the cockpit down by a 1/3. Just a tad too large, Rudder pedals and a few electronic boxes. Shame is this will probably be the only time you can actually see these. Once the fuselage is joined together,they'll be lost from view. No matter I'll know they are there.

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Hardest part so far was finding a ring the right size to put the co-pilots seat on since he also acts as the gunner and has to rotate the ejection seat around to use the targeting radar.

Seat belts are made from the obligatory masking tape and carefully cut bits of plastic ard for the buckles and clasps. The hoses I took some small gauge wire and wrapped sewing thread around to give them a " corrugated " look.

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Used some cut up nails and needles to make the pistons on the side of the seat.  Now I'll get the PIlots seat done,put together the front and rear flight control units Instrument panels and the targeting radar. Hope fully it won't take as long as this did.

 

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On 6/11/2019 at 1:37 AM, malpaso said:

There's a fantastic B-36 start up and take-off routine in the movie:

Six turning, four burning.

Check out the wrinkling of the fuselage as it turns onto the runway, the plane is so massive it can't all turn at the same rate. No CGI could match this to impress the hugeness of the beast.

I look forward to seeing your models develop.

Cheers

Will

That was probably my most favorite scene of the movie. From the walk-up to the aircraft ,through take-off and the the nickle tour of the "battleship" as Jimmy Stewart called it. I still call it up to watch while building. The B-47 sequences are great for interior detail ideas. I've used several of them.

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YOu are most certainly welcome CC, May I suggest  a seat part way down on the right, Very good view ,close to the taps, and the seat doesn't squeek. Much.

I get this '47 cockpit a little more organized I'll start modifying the "36 fuselage.

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"Come inside, the show's about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell, or Earth"

 

ELP - Brain Salad Surgery - a terrific album! Thanks for the cue, Loren, that's decided what will be playing on the computer while I'm at the modelling bench today 🙂

 

So looking forward to seeing these develop. You are one BRAVE man! I just hope that having all these huge aircraft in one place doesn't start to effect the CoG of the Earth and cause other problems! 😉

 

Party on, dude! I'll be watching with lots of glee 😁

 

Kev

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2 hours ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

I’m in, @LorenSharp! B-47... Yes! Good progress on a cockpit. :like:

Thank you Nikolay. It's a amazing how a few bits of shaved plastic and some odds and ends can create a reasonable facsimile.

 

2 hours ago, modelman182 said:

"Come inside, the show's about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell, or Earth"

 

ELP - Brain Salad Surgery - a terrific album! Thanks for the cue, Loren, that's decided what will be playing on the computer while I'm at the modelling bench today 🙂

 

So looking forward to seeing these develop. You are one BRAVE man! I just hope that having all these huge aircraft in one place doesn't start to effect the CoG of the Earth and cause other problems! 😉

 

Party on, dude! I'll be watching with lots of glee 😁

 

Kev

Thank you Kev. Glad you caught my reference. 'Salad has always been one of my ELP favorites, that and Deep Purple Machine Head, BOC Live at Budokan to name but a few.But there I go dating myself. Welcome aboard to both of you. If I can manage to half the ideas I have ping ponging around in my head it should be a very interesting ride indeed. I shouldn't worry too much about the CoG shifting too much, makes looking at something from a different angle easier😉

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Damnit, I must be getting old - I had to look up BOC! Imagine forgetting that it's the acronym for Blue Oyster Cult - I obviously DO fear the Reaper! 😉

 

I see that you suffer from the same problem as I do - too many ideas causing a 'lack of focus'! I need to be a bit harder on myself now that I have the time to do modelling. Lots of half-done project are cluttering up my workbench and could do with being completed and removed. Problem is - I keep getting new ideas for projects popping up. Watched a documentary on Jack Northrop the other day and have just ordered an Italeri 72nd scale YB-49 as a result. Should look great in a case along with the Modelcollect 72nd scale B-2 I acquired earlier in the year. 😁

 

Added to that I have about 8 commission jobs on the go as I write this. No way I am EVER gonna get bored, eh?

 

Two huge NMF birds - that's an interesting challenge. Gonna be fun watching you work through this.

 

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Ahh yes ... at least someone appreciates  my obscure references. Nothing like listening to ME-262 live while of course building an ME-262. A YB-49 would be an interesting build to witness. I have a 1/48th Combat models buried in the stash and a half completed 1/48 XB-35 in storage that one day I may get back to. Anyhoo back to the show... now where did I put that vaseline?

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I know everyone has been waiting for this view, so here we go. This is a test fit for the B-36.I used a black marker to indicate what areas are to be removed.

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Openings for the cockpit, observer/Gunner stations and the Guns themselves on the fuselage. Have to cut out for the horizontal stabilizers, nose gear doors as well.

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As an experiment I wanted to get a size comparison between the B-36 and the B-47

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and yes that is The Great White Beast just off to the left.

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And a 30cm rule for scale.

trying to get all 3 in one shot is not easy.

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You're not fooling anyone, you know - That's just a 6 inch ruler with 12 divisions, isn't it?? 😉

 

Seriously, though, it's great to see the three of them placed side by side. I presume you were on the top step of the stepladder to take that pic?

 

Kev

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Big, verry big pile of books, quite precarious if you ask me. Didn't have room for the step ladder. What did surprise me though is that as BIG as the B-36 is, The Beast IS still Bigger. When I get these done, and yes I will get them done. I'll have to make a big enough space in the Backyard to take a picture of these 3 and the BUFF, kind of a family portrait.

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This is fantastic, can't wait to see them finished. SAC was such a great film too, only watched it a year or so ago, brilliant! 

 

Is that Valkyrie 1/48!? I had no idea it was so huge! 

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It is indeed Lord Riot. After trying to wrassle it for several months into submission it has gotten the nickname "The Great White Beast". Hope you'll stick around and enjoy the show. At the very least entertaining watching me practice my yoga so I can work on these 2. Or I could do my Joe Cocker imitation if need be.

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You get extra credit for the Joe Cocker reference!:giggle:

 Looking forward to your experience with the B-36. This was what I found upon inventorying the parts on mine.

 

B-36.jpg

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Ouch! That's an interesting development. Whomever did that should be sacked. In fact those in charge of the sacking should also be sacked.

 

 

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