HPH B-52

[MarcV]

Hi all,

 

I'm planning on getting the HPH Stratofortress. Does anyone have any experience with their bigger kits; level of detail, accuracy, fit, stability (of resin and fiberglass over time), strength etc.

 

I want to do a silver SAC version with the ALCM cruise missiles beneath the wings. I'm looking for reference photos of the real thing or any models anyone's built in smaller scales.

 

Also any reviews or build of their models would also be much appreciated - there doesn't seem to be much around on the internet which is a interesting sign.

 

Thanks all, 

 

Marc.

[Asmodai]

You're going to have to revise your plans some - the ALCM went operational in 1982; SAC B-52s were camouflaged at that time, no longer silver. As a side note, the first operational unit with the ALCM was the 416th Bomb Wing at Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome NY. I lived near there, and am still less than an hour away. I remember the 'freeze freakies' and other anti-nuclear protesters well. Griffiss was a popular site for protests once it went operational with the new 'detente destroying' ALCM. You had to make your way through them into the annual open houses...

[Julien]

7 hours ago, MarcV said:

 

Also any reviews or build of their models would also be much appreciated - there doesn't seem to be much around on the internet which is a interesting sign.

 

Given the limited run and expense of the kits they dont do review samples so the only ones you might find are those who have bought and built the kit,

[CT7567]

The G and H models both wore the "chrome dome" silver/NMF over white scheme from the time they first entered service (late 50s for the G, early 60s for the H) until adopting the "SIOP" camouflage scheme starting in the late 1960s. During the "silver age" 😄 AGM-86 ALCMs did not yet exist, but the AGM-28 Hound Dog was carried.

 

Although officially the H-model BUFFs operating today are the same variant in service for over 50 years, there are a multitude of changes great and small made to the airframe over those five decades.  For the era you want to build, major differences would include:

- No EVS (pair of large chin fairings under the nose)

- No Phase VI ECM upgrades (various antennae including bulged fairings top center and left and right sides of the nose; either side of vertical tail, about 1/3 down from the top; and 40" constant cross-section plug in aft empennage between base of rudder and tail gun section)

 

Specific to the late H (circa 1993 and beyond), the M61 tail gun was removed and replaced with a flat, perforated plate nicknamed the "cheese grater."  The G's retained their quad .50 caliber turrets - albeit without gunners - until retirement.

 

Since converting a late H or G to an early version is *mostly* a matter of removing pieces it should be feasible, but to go into any more detail would require a specific target aircraft you want to build (and more detail on what's in the HPH kit).

 

[MarcV]

All,

 

Thanks for the help. I was aware of the AGM-86s being a much later development but there were earlier cruise missiles carried (other than the Hound Dog):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Bombardment_Squadron#/media/File:B-52H_Rollout_P26183_(7251329956).jpg
(Thank you Wikipedia)

 

The picture above shows an H of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, I would guess in the early '60's. I suspect however you guys are right in that these missiles were experimental or mock ups. The picture does show the scheme I want to do.

 

Any information on specifics on this aircraft or H's of this era would be very much appreciated.

 

And I guess nobody does Hound Dogs and their pylons in 1/48th.

[CT7567]

8 hours ago, MarcV said:

All,

 

Thanks for the help. I was aware of the AGM-86s being a much later development but there were earlier cruise missiles carried (other than the Hound Dog):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_Bombardment_Squadron#/media/File:B-52H_Rollout_P26183_(7251329956).jpg
(Thank you Wikipedia)

 

The picture above shows an H of the 30th Bombardment Squadron, I would guess in the early '60's. I suspect however you guys are right in that these missiles were experimental or mock ups. The picture does show the scheme I want to do.

 

Any information on specifics on this aircraft or H's of this era would be very much appreciated.

 

And I guess nobody does Hound Dogs and their pylons in 1/48th.

The two pairs of missiles shown in your link are GAM-87 Skybolt air launched ballistic missiles - which were carried in tests but never operational.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAM-87_Skybolt

 

For an operational load in the era you want, Hound Dogs are probably the only realistic option (there may have been an early test with AGM-69 SRAM in the NMF/white scheme, but I believe by that time the fleet had adopted the SIOP camouflage scheme).

 

Since there's no mainstream 1/48 BUFF kit (Sanger's vacform is the only other I'm aware of), understandably there are no aftermarket AGM-28s in the scale.  The Hound Dog pylons were used well after the missiles themselves were retired so depending what variant and era are depicted in the HPH kit, those might be included. Contacting HPH for detail would help answer a lot of your questions as to what's in their kit vs. what you'll have to scratchbuild.

[exdraken]

On 7/30/2019 at 12:30 AM, Julien said:

Given the limited run and expense of the kits they dont do review samples so the only ones you might find are those who have bought and built the kit,

As far as I understand the kit is not even out yet and still in its design phase. I guess hph facebook is the place to see details and updates!

Or here: 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by exdraken

[Sabrejet]

31 minutes ago, Jordi said:

The AGM-28 Hound Dog missile was the only operational air breathing missile carried by the BUFF before the ALCM came along in the 1980s.  The Skybolt was not in any way a cruise missile - it was an air launched ICBM.  The only other air breathing ordnance carried by the BUFF was the ADM-20 Quail decoy.  The SRAM was not air-breathing, and was not, by definition, a cruise missile

+ D-21B drone; B-52H.

[Sabrejet]

14 minutes ago, Jordi said:

That wasn’t a missile.

Neither was a Quail.