72modeler Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 Too bad you can't see into the flight deck; guess that will save you doing a 1/72 folding lawn chair and sleeping bag that was used for the longer missions! That's going to be one big stealthy boomerang! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planebuilder62 Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 Dear Neil Those nicely moulded panel lines are not very stealthy. If you look at the closeups released by the USAF the skin is super smooth with the panel joins being made visible by slight colour changes. I made Testors B2 a few years and filled in all the panel lines. Something else that made a big impact was to chisel out the plastic under the intake lip to allow for the boundary air flow to divert away from the inlets. I would post some pictures but I have not got the hang of it yet. regards Toby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 Looking superb already, a great subject, especially with the recent Fairford deployment. That little 'office' area at the back of the cockpit looks cool. If I flew these I'd have a coffee machine and a TV in there! What's it for in real life? Is it just two crew in these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 4 hours ago, Planebuilder62 said: Dear Neil Those nicely moulded panel lines are not very stealthy. If you look at the closeups released by the USAF the skin is super smooth with the panel joins being made visible by slight colour changes. I made Testors B2 a few years and filled in all the panel lines. Something else that made a big impact was to chisel out the plastic under the intake lip to allow for the boundary air flow to divert away from the inlets. I would post some pictures but I have not got the hang of it yet. regards Toby Yes, but I expect they will fill in a bit with primer and paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Lord Riot said: Looking superb already, a great subject, especially with the recent Fairford deployment. That little 'office' area at the back of the cockpit looks cool. If I flew these I'd have a coffee machine and a TV in there! What's it for in real life? Is it just two crew in these things? There doesn't seem to be much in there! It's a pretty confined space for such a large aircraft. I wonder what's usually behind the door though... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 As has been pointed out, the boundary layer splitter plate in front of the intake is a solid moulding: I'm not quite sure how to hollow that out. This photo shows the splitter plate nicely: https://www.aerotechnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/B2h_web.jpg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screech Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 That’s fine! Let me know when you can I will send you some cash for them plus the postage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 4 hours ago, neilg said: As has been pointed out, the boundary layer splitter plate in front of the intake is a solid moulding: ... I'm not quite sure how to hollow that out. This photo shows the splitter plate nicely: https://www.aerotechnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/B2h_web.jpg One way would be to grind it away and replace with a thin piece of card cut to shape 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo52 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 The easiest way to simulate the boundary fence is to just scribe a line at the base of the molding. That is what I plan to do with mine (just received it today!). It will be about right in scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 7 hours ago, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: One way would be to grind it away and replace with a thin piece of card cut to shape I should have done that before I attached the intakes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 All of the control surfaces are made of two parts: The decelerons can be set either opened or closed. In all pictures that I've seen of the B-2, the decelerons are never fully closed: Does anybody know if they are ever fully closed, or why they are always partly opened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 Two days of filling and sanding the joints between the upper and lower wing halves. The leading edge is on the upper half of the wing, and the lower half fits inside it: Considering the good fit on other parts of this kit, you can see there is quite a large gap to fill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 18, 2020 Author Share Posted April 18, 2020 This is the gust load alleviation system control surface: The underside has a large seam that requires filler, and the only two ejector pin marks that I have found on the external surfaces. I've closed all of the engine access doors and weapons bay doors, and they fit nicely. Here's a view of the underside, the wings are just snapped on for the moment: One of the weapons bay doors had a small chunk taken out of it when I cut it off the sprue, which has been filled and sanded too. Tomorrow I should be able to close the upper and lower halves of the body, then it will be another filling and sanding operation on the leading edge. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangseat Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 On 17/04/2020 at 18:12, neilg said: In all pictures that I've seen of the B-2, the decelerons are never fully closed: Does anybody know if they are ever fully closed, or why they are always partly opened? Presumably it's the computer telling the pilot "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 Here is today's progress. I fitted the wings, and was left with a very large gap left and right, and above and below: These gaps are large enough to fit coins in! After many rounds and hours of my favourite activity, filling and sanding, I'm left with this: It looks like I will be left with a small ridge on the leading edges of both sides. Each wings is aligned by two tabs, one on the plastron, one on the wings, so the ridge is not caused by my misalignment, but rather the wings are slightly too big. I haven't yet started the filling and sanding on the underside... 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chemguy3000 Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Very large gaps indeed! ☹️ I would suggest a long sanding block to remove the leading edge step. Start with 150 grit and move up to 400. You could have it flattened out fairly quickly. Just my . Looking really good so far. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dans80 Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Looks lovely. Could you have removed some material from the rear mating surfaces to give it some relief and bring the front into alignment? If you get what I'm saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 First coat of primer on: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob de Bie Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 4/17/2020 at 7:12 PM, neilg said: The decelerons can be set either opened or closed. In all pictures that I've seen of the B-2, the decelerons are never fully closed: Does anybody know if they are ever fully closed, or why they are always partly opened? I've read that they do that to hide the true (wartime) radar cross section. Sounds plausible to me. Rob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn M Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 they also provide yaw stabilization Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 The cockpit is very nicely done and your putty and sand work is superb. Other builds of this kit I've seen show a slight step at the top of the windscreen and I note you avoided that and that's great! You're leading up to an exceptional finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 4/16/2020 at 4:32 PM, Lord Riot said: That little 'office' area at the back of the cockpit looks cool. If I flew these I'd have a coffee machine and a TV in there! What's it for in real life? Is it just two crew in these things? Yes, only two crew although I think they were originally designed with space to accommodate a third crew member if required. The area behind the flightdeck accommodates a "porta-potty", microwave oven and the Walmart garden chair and sleeping bag which @72modeler mentioned. You're making good progress Neil, I've got the Testors' version in the loft which I'll get round to building one day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 1 hour ago, SAT69 said: The cockpit is very nicely done and your putty and sand work is superb. Other builds of this kit I've seen show a slight step at the top of the windscreen and I note you avoided that and that's great! You're leading up to an exceptional finish! There was no issue fitting the windscreen - it slotted in perfectly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 hours ago, Shawn M said: they also provide yaw stabilization Yes, I understand that with differential opening, but they both seem to always be partially opened in every picture I see: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104482/b-2-spirit/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 15/04/2020 at 12:23, neilg said: instructions say to fit 50 g weights to prevent it tail-sitting. That’s a mars bar! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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