Bones In the Sky-Making History with a 1/48 Revell B-1A Bone "FINISHED"

[LorenSharp]

Welcome to History Time. 48 years ago the Rockwell rolled out it's new Strategic Bomber, The B-1A. You know the "replacement" for the B-52? with it's first flight from Palmdale's Plant 42 on Dec 23, 1974  So I think it's fitting that I attempt to get one more BIG build in before the end of the year and finish in time for the historic first flight.

Originally I was going to restore another Bone I had but while stripping the paint off the plastic literally crumbled in my hands. which is strange since the chemical was "supposed" to be used on plastic models.

This current model was eventually going to b the "B" model with flaps and slats . But with lack of ceiling space that build will have to wait. Tis will go on the shelf all by it's lonesome. What I am going to attempt with this is to correct the intakes, make a new nose and stern parts, correct the rotary launchers Change the cockpit from ejection seats to an ejection capsule and whatever else I can come up with. Oh and keep my sanity all the while. Some parts will have to be printed and some scratch built. I did recover the SAC metal landing gear. I learned the hard way they are necessary with this bird because of weight.

All comments , suggestions and cat calls are always welcome So let's see what kind of Frankenstein I can come up with.

[GRIM REAPER]

This is going to be an epic build! I have only seen one other B-1A in 1/48, so this will be a very special treat! 

[LorenSharp]

2 minutes ago, GRIM REAPER said:

This is going to be an epic build! I have only seen one other B-1A in 1/48, so this will be a very special treat! 

I'll do my bestus not to disappoint then One thing for sure. It's going to use a LOT of white

[exdraken]

Great project!

I do hope for frequent updates!!

 

[Mark Turk]

This will be epic!  I was amazed at just how big this jet is when I saw it up close at the Museum of the USAF in Dayton Ohio.  I can’t imagine building on in 1/48 scale.  Good luck with the build.  

[LorenSharp]

On 10/27/2022 at 5:45 PM, exdraken said:

Great project!

I do hope for frequent updates!!

 

For you  @exdraken, I will make the updates as fast and as furious as my feeble mind and fat little fingers can.

 

On 10/27/2022 at 6:11 PM, Mark Turk said:

This will be epic!  I was amazed at just how big this jet is when I saw it up close at the Museum of the USAF in Dayton Ohio.  I can’t imagine building on in 1/48 scale.  Good luck with the build.  

I know what you mean, until recently, it was the biggest plane I had ever built. now it comes in at 4th or 5th.

[LorenSharp]

So with deference to Herr exdraken....... An UPDATE!

When I started the build I had forgotten that I hadn't gotten my P/E set. Which of course I needed. So apologies for the delay.

With this in hand I can begin.

[LorenSharp]

There will be 5 areas or components ,if you will, that will be assembled separately then finally combined. The Cockpit/Nose area, Wings, Center/ Bomb bays/Main Gear, and Tail. I am seriously considering going a step further and seeing if I can design and print out a gear system for the wings, like on the F-111. The last time I built this and hung it up on the ceiling in a banking -like turn, one wing was in the high speed configuration and the other was like the pilot told the co-pilot "Right turn Clyde" and it stuck in the low speed configuration. I don't know if it's possible because of the  main gear wells and  middle bomb bay are potentially in the way. But we shall see when we get to that part. But first, the cockpit/ nose section.

Starting with the nose gear well I painted it and a good portion of ll the small parts with rattle can white primer. Good old Hardware store stuff. Much cheaper than buying bottles and bottles of Tamiya white to cover everything.

I then painted some lines and boxes with some aluminum and black followed by a dark wash over everything.

[LorenSharp]

Since this version of the B-1 has the escape capsule rather than the individual ejection seats of the "B" model I needed to make new seats. Besides I didn't like the kit seats. they're too narrow. Revel must have thought the crew were the most narrow hipped people on the planet. Not much on the reference of the "A" plenty on the "B". so I did an amalgamation of the mockup s eating and the current Aces seats. Wider in stature, about the same height but without all the ejection mechanisms with the exception of the activation triggers on each side of the seat.

These I painted grey with an olive seat pad and the rest of the padding and head rest Red. Then finished off everything with the harness' from the Eduard's set.

At this time I also printed out a new nose, slightly longer and not as bulbous.

and new  tail pieces,

I also printed out some bushings for the horizontal stabilizers "flying tail" The kit pieces would never stay level but would fall back. I eventually ended up gluing them solid to keep them level. This time I'm hoping the bushings will allow me to position the tail however I like with out the droop.

[LorenSharp]

Working from the front to back starting with the pilot/co-pilot section I added a new instrument panel, with the rudder pedals, printed a new center console that included more detail for buttons and switches and a throttle quadrant. I did err in that the "A" models center console was semi triangular at the back rather than square as i the "B" but I didn't catch that until it was too late. Cest' le Vie.

I'll have to go back and tidy the console up before sealing. Should look better than this.

[LorenSharp]

From there the rear section. The P/E parts for the instrument panels and some P/E from the spares for additional boxes and panels. most of the interior is the same ligt grey as the front with the exception of the non-slip walkway to the front.

Then updated the boarding ladder with the P/E and from the few colour pictures I could find painted the ladder rails reddish orange

 

[LorenSharp]

One thing that differentiated the "A" from the "B" was there were no windows for the guys in back so I glued the windows in as a plug for filling later and modified the P/E so the inside was covered. probably won't be able to see this when done but it's there.

I did toy with the idea of adding a lavatory and extra shelving between the front and back but you literally won't see it, so no Pot.

The instructions also said to add 50g of weight to back end of the cockpit area. I upped this to 70g. that should be enough. Just some simple stick-on tire weights stacked 5 on each fuselage half. I also added a small handle for the wing sweep panel on both sides.

 

 

[LorenSharp]

I'm waiting for the cockpit glass to dry from a coating of Kleer. But here is what the front looks like with the decks added.

Hopefully I'll have more to show on tomorrow's edition. stay tuned......

[exdraken]

Nice, thanks for the huge update!!

Didn't notice the difference in nose shape before.... 

[corsaircorp]

Well done Loren, That will also be a huge addition to your collection....

I will follow if you don't mind it...

Is there any place left at the bar ??

Sincerely.

CC

[LorenSharp]

For you CC, Of course! If there's no room just put Baldrick off in the corner to sleep it off til the General can come around to collect him.

[LorenSharp]

Well in between fighting with Buns and other projects a little respite and an update are the order of the day.

With the fight deck in place and weights added the halves have been joined. Time for some filling and sanding. In addition to the usual seam down te center I've filled in the back seaters portholes. On the "A" these weren't an available option.

Also since this is an "A" there will have to be indications of an ejection capsule. THis means deleting a few lines that are in the way and also the ejection seat panel lines.

After filling and letting dry for a day a touch of sanding. After which I masked off and added the canopy glass..

[LorenSharp]

Now that this is done you can see better how everything has come together.

That just about does it for the front section. I've got to re print the nose as it was just about a half a mm too small. I didn't catch this until it was all together. but not a 'orrible issue. Just another case of hurry up..... and wait.

[LorenSharp]

SO while waiting I'll get the wings ready for when the fuselage is finished enough to accept them.

This version won't have the slat and flaps. I'll save that for the eventual "B" project. And a lot more correction work. Revels B-1, is categorized as either a late A"A or an early "B". When they released this, a lot of the interior and some of the exterior were still in flux. so its an amalgamation. Converting back to an "A" is easier than updating a to a "B" I hope.

But anyways, the underside of the wing does have this humongous canyon of a "panel  line" running down it's length.

I taped it off, then,filled, let dry, and sanded down.So far so good.

[LorenSharp]

Now for the meat of the build. the main gear bay and bomb bays.

I thought I had gotten a picture with the bare P/E before painting, but nope. So here's the finished product after adding the all the brass bits, a coat of white, there is going to be a lot of white in this build. followed by painting the hydraulic lines and what not AK Titanium followed by a dark wash to bring out all the detail.

That works for me. Now.... da Bomb bays..

[LorenSharp]

Not exactly the same as the real thing but close, at least as close as I need for an "A".T his is another area that will be updated in the later version especially where the power cabling and conduits are concerned. The added P/E improved the look somewhat.

Before I assemble these I need to finish up the new Rotary Launchers. This is one bit that won't wait, but it may be a day or so before I can get images up. So there you go not a big update but progress is being made and that's the important part. Now I must get back to my politickin' in the Bun fight. You they say that politics is the second oldest profession. Personally I think it bears more of a strong resemblance to the first. Until next time....

[LorenSharp]

Time for a anther update.

After the filler had dried I sanded down the filled panel lines and various gaps. I will have to re-scribe for the ejection capsule I'll do that later closer to the time when I'm joining all the components together.

But I did finally get the nose the right diameter(the last print was off about a millimeter. and added some P/E vents and mounting pads for eventual pitot tubes.

 

 

 

[LorenSharp]

But while I did that correction I also printed out a better rotary launcher. 

The kits launcher is at best bare bones, At worst, about as inaccurate as you can get. There is an online site that has better launchers but you aren't able to order, at least easily. The E-commerce section is still being set up. Which is probably good as the set was 100$ and I didn't  have that kind of cash. But no matter I went and made my own.

To make it easier, I broke it down into 3 simple sections, the rear pylon, the center bomb release section, and the control pylon. This also was supposed to make quicker to print but i changed the layer height from .05mm to .01mm. This would allow for showing more finer detail. I didn't get everything adding in, even with  microscope you would have been hard pressed to see it. But it still took 30+ hours to print.

[LorenSharp]

But after a little bit of clean up and filling out the detail with some very thin rod and thin soldering wire, I think I captured the overall proper  look of the real launcher. Not perfect, but I'm pleased with the finished look.

The center section could have stood to have been moved a couple of MM to the right, and some of the piping increased in size, but for now it' close enough for Govt work , haf a**ed enough to pass in my book.

[LorenSharp]

While all that printing was going on I added some detail to the inside of the bomb bays.

I cut some very thin card and made new ceiling panels and used my riveting wheel to add some relief then smudged graphite into everything to bring out the detail some.

Everything fit just like it was supposed to. I still have to print out some JDAMs. I thinking of doing the front bay loaded with ordinance, the middle with just the rotary launcher empty and the rear bay empty. to show the various configurations. When it comes time to do the "B" version, instead of a rotary launcher, I'll do the Multiple Bomb Rack system.