RaisingArizona Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 I gave up with my Beech Staggerwing. My airbrushing of the clear coat varnish clearly sucks (pun intended). I started building the Revell SR-71 kit in 1/48 scale. Always had fondness for this plane. I was lucky enough to see a couple back in the day when I was in Air Force. I have always been in awe of this beast. Speaking of beasts, the Revell kit is huge. Been taking my time with it and got around to assembling the engine nacelles / wing combination and glued to the main fuselage. I am finding that the fit and finish of the kit is very good. I am having to fill in the gaps between the engine nacelles and the main fuselage, but that is it. The rest of the kit's pieces are nicely detailed and assembly goes easily. I inadvertently misaligned the two halves of the fuselage by about 1 mm longitudinally. Did not catch the error until the following day when the glue had dried. So needed to be a bit creative with gap filling when I assembled the nose to the fuselage. Might have to be creative again when I assemble the ailerons. But maybe just a bit of sanding. We'll see when I get around to it. Lot more work left on this project and looking forward to finishing it. Steve 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Podfather Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 Hi Steve I shall be following your progress on this - I’ve got a 1/48 Blackbird on the bench too at the moment (two in actual fact - a Revell one, and an Italeri one which I started about 10 years ago, and it’s still fighting me!) There’s mixed feelings from many about the Revell kit, but compared to the Italeri/Testors offering, it’s an absolute joy to build. Shame about the misalignment - easily done, but I’m sure you’ll sort it😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 5, 2023 Author Share Posted October 5, 2023 I am planning to use the display stand with this model as I need something to keep it off the shelf and I like the looks of the two engines in the display stand ... But at the point where need to decide if I should position the landing gear up or down. So far, I have been installing the landing gear to allow it to go either way. Steve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 7, 2023 Author Share Posted October 7, 2023 Because I had inadvertently misaligned the fuselage halves, I had to fill in a gap of approximately 1.5mm on the underside of ailerons. Let this putty dry for a day or so and then do some sanding. Not too bad and should come out looking OK. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The west wing Posted October 8, 2023 Share Posted October 8, 2023 Looks like a mirror image to me, no sign of misalignment. Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 8, 2023 Author Share Posted October 8, 2023 1 hour ago, The west wing said: Looks like a mirror image to me, no sign of misalignment. Nice job. The misalignment was longitudinal ... when I positioned the top and bottom halves of the fuselage together I was checking closely that the wings stubs were aligned ... and they were. I applied the glue and clamped everything together with several spring clips. But I did not observe that the two halves were misaligned by about 1mm ... maybe 1.5 mm. I had to fill the gaps at the rear ailerons and the nose piece. The sanding process has caused a bit of loss some surface detail. I will likely leave it alone as my technique for re-scribing panel lines leaves a lot be desired. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted October 8, 2023 Share Posted October 8, 2023 (edited) A 'Little Adventure in Putty' is just part of modelling.😉 Edited October 8, 2023 by Thom216 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The west wing Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 I think friction warming on the Blackbird made it a bit longer than when cold, so being 1 mm or so longer is quite authentic when flying.😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 19, 2023 Author Share Posted October 19, 2023 (edited) Finished the engines and mounted them to the display stand today. Came out looking fairly nice. Used chrome pen to highlight the hydraulic lines. Not exactly true to life but chrome makes them stand out nicely. The exhaust stack did not fully seat inside the engine when I glued them in place. I think they are 180 degrees out of alignment with the alignment slots ... but the cement had set up and I decided to paint a black band between the exhaust nozzle and the end of the main body of the engine (the brown bits with brown holding bands). The casual observer is not going to notice. I decided not to paint the display stand, but merely to apply some plastic polishing compound to take out molding flaws. Next step is to apply decals to the airplane. And there is whole bunch of decals, so that may take a while. Steve Edited October 19, 2023 by RaisingArizona 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 This is a great kit, glad you're enjoying the build! The engines look very nice, especially the raised piping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 21, 2023 Author Share Posted October 21, 2023 I am enjoying this build. Got a bunch of decals on in the last two days. The decal setting solution is leaving a bit of a watermark, but I expect that will disappear when I give it a bit of a cleaning and put another coat of satin varnish on it. Haven't placed any decals on the underside yet. I think I will finish up with the top side first. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 22, 2023 Author Share Posted October 22, 2023 I think this one is done. There are some things I would do differently, but fairly pleased with the results ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Podfather Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Well done on the build! I’m still at the start of my build for this kit, and you’ve finished yours! Very impressed😁 did you get the decal watermark issue resolved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 19 hours ago, The Podfather said: Well done on the build! I’m still at the start of my build for this kit, and you’ve finished yours! Very impressed😁 did you get the decal watermark issue resolved? Yes. Lightly buffed surface with dry cloth and then lightly applied a small bit of IPA using a soft cloth. After that dried (about 5 seconds), applied a coat of satin varnish. Regards, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwau Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Quick work! And looks good - nice patina on the black, and wheels up choice makes it look faster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Quite the impressive bird! Any larger and it would need its own room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bissyboat Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Enormous bird! Looks great! ⚓👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingArizona Posted November 19, 2023 Author Share Posted November 19, 2023 The SR-71 came out very nicely. I took the model to a local model show and won the "Best Out Of Box" award for the category. Back home now, and the beast is so large I do not have room for it on the shelf. So hung it from the ceiling ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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