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Monogram 1/72 Convair B-36. It's just plain big


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8 hours ago, AMB said:

Presume you still have to apply its tail serial number? 

Researching on Scalemates it looks like that set of marking did not have a serial number for the tail.

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Nicely done B-36 replica!

Where and how to show off such a build will always cause some head scratching among those who attempt the kit, I'm sure.

Your build has turned out beautifully.

:clap:

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On 12/8/2019 at 9:48 PM, kapam said:

Where and how to show off such a build will always cause some head scratching among those who attempt the kit, I'm sure.

Here it is in its new home where it will hopefully be out of reach of the cleaning lady 🙂

 

VyTV4o0m_o.jpg

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Looking at the Huey just off the B-52s wing puts the plane's actual size in perspective. I only saw a B-52 once flyby at an airshow here, so I never got to see how one up close, but i know the Huey is pretty big. Maybe teach your cleaning lady how to build and she can have a plane built in between her cleaning.

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5 hours ago, Reini78 said:

Imagine that in 1/48 😆

I can't imagine finding space to build one, much less display it. Even hanging from the ceiling.

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Very nice done and good to see it done. I wonder how mony people world wide did them, not keeping all life in stash like presumable most of modeller who bough it...

Regards

J-W

 

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2 hours ago, JWM said:

I wonder how mony people world wide did them, not keeping all life in stash like presumable most of modeller who bough it...

Considering that there are ~47 currently available on Ebay, most probably being sold by widows disposing of their late husbands collection I would guess somewhat less then half were started, and less then that completed.

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  • 1 month later...

I remember building that kit. One of my better efforts ... way back when. Gave it to my brother-in-law who hung it from the ceiling in his bedroom. He shot it down one day when he flipped the sheet while making his bed and it hit the B-36; came down hard and was never repaired.

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Yes sir, they are big!  That's a great looking model of that monster!  I assume those cleaning ladies were promptly "former cleaning ladies" after dinging your model. 😉

 

I have a bit of personal history with those big boys.  This bit of information is from a post I made in a previous B-36 thread:

 

Many years ago, the last B-36 built, "City of Fort Worth" was on static display in that city.  When I was about 10 or 11, my Dad, Uncle, and my cousin drove over from their home in Garland, Texas to take a look at it.  I can still recall how impressed I was by its immense size.   There was a boarding ladder extended down from the belly of the beast.  My cousin, about 13, and I climbed it right up into the aircraft.  To this day, it's hard for me to believe that it was open like that.  

 

Our little group were the only folks there, and cousin Mike and I walked made our way into the cockpit and took a seat, me on the left and Mike in the right-hand seat.  I was enjoying the view and looking around the cockpit when Mike flipped a console switch and somewhere, a whirring sound commenced.  He and I looked at each other and bolted out of that plane!   I never knew what happened or how it could've activated anything on a long-parked display aircraft.  I do recall my Dad and Uncle standing beside the main gear when we exited the craft and was amazed at the size of those tires.

 

Here's a bit about that particular B-36:

 

"City of Fort Worth"

 

"It was displayed at Amon Carter Field, later Greater Southwest Airport, from 1959 until the late 1970s, when it was moved to Carswell Air Force Base. Exposed to the extremes of Texas weather, the giant aircraft slowly deteriorated. In the early 1990s the aircraft was disassembled and moved indoors to hangar space at the factory where it was built, donated by Lockheed Aircraft. A group of dedicated volunteers, many of them retired Convair employees who had worked on the original B-36 assembly line, spent 40,000 man-hours restoring the plane.

The aircraft is officially owned by the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF), but was on loan to the B-36 Peacemaker Museum. In 2006, it was agreed that the Peacemaker Museum did not have the proper resources to restore and exhibit the aircraft, and the aircraft was trucked to the Pima Air & Space Museum (PASM) in Tucson, Arizona where it was restored and is currently exhibited. In the arid Tucson climate, it is possible to display aircraft outdoors without the kind of deterioration that occurred in Fort Worth. As the National Museum of the United States Air Force still retains ownership of the aircraft, the future direction of the B-36 Peacemaker Museum is still undecided."

 

In the years since, I've often wondered about that noise Mike activated in that bomber.  I wonder if there was something attached to a battery, left with a charge somewhere... At any rate, it certainly scared us kids.  I remember thinking that Mike might've broken something, lol. and we were going to get in big trouble!   We were there on a Sunday and as mentioned, the only visitors.   I've also wondered if that entry "hatch" had been accidentally left open; in todays world, that would almost certainly never happen would it?   Think of the possible liability claims waiting!  

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15 hours ago, SAT69 said:

He shot it down one day when he flipped the sheet while making his bed and it hit the B-36; came down hard and was never repaired.

Years ago I built the old Hasegawa Wright Flyer for a friend . I think it was 1/12 or 1/16 scale and took months to build. Unfortunately he had cats and they immediately started trying to fit between the bracing wires. They basically ended up destroying it. One of the reasons I hate cats.

 

Thanks

 

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15 hours ago, Gary Brantley said:

I have a bit of personal history with those big boys.  This bit of information is from a post I made in a previous B-36 thread: ...

Interesting story. I hatch was probably left open to equalize the temp and humidity inside and out. People were a lot less fearful and protective back then

 

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23 minutes ago, andyschleckscheshirecat said:

I currently have two of these unbuilt boxed in my loft where they have been for years 

It's a lot of work, especially with the metallic finish.

 

Thanks

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