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NB-36H Roden

aerotechi

By aerotechi
in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft

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aerotechi Established Member

aerotechi

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From what I can see this is the first time an NB-36H has been posted in the RFI section and my first ever experiance with a Roden kit.

So here is the Roden NB-36H nuclear test aircraft an aircraft well worth reading up on as not only was it a test for the use of reactors in the air but also for the use of potentially powering an aircraft with a nuclear reactor, its self a worrying concept with todays knowledge of radiation etc.

Extract from wikipedia for info on the conversion of a B-36H into the NB-36H

"The original crew and avionics cabin was replaced by a massive lead- and rubber-lined 11 ton crew section for a pilot, copilot, flight engineer and two nuclear engineers. Even the small windows had 25-to-30-centimeter-thick (10–12 in) lead glass.The aircraft was fitted with a 1-megawatt air-cooled reactor, with a weight of 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg). This was hung on a hook in the middle bomb bay to allow for easy loading and unloading, so that the radioactive source could be kept safely underground between the test flights. A monitoring system dubbed "Project Halitosis" measured radioactive gases from the reactor."

 

With this being my first Roden I didnt really know what to expect beyound what was told to me by one of my fellow IG modellers. So what did I find?....Well the plastic varies between parts, the fuselage being quite thick and hard the wings being thiner and softer. Overall fit was ok a little filler needed on the fuelage half seams and a little extra on the wing joint (wing goes onto fueslage not slotted in) the worst fit was with the engine intakes of the wing leading edge this needed quite a bit of fill and sand fill and sand to get the smooth look of the real thing and the prop spinners needed some work to get a flush fit with the back plate. Overall surface detail is good just could do with being a little deeper.

Biggest faults with this kit is 1- the decals lots of edging that I couldn't cut off on the paper as it seems to tare the decal (I had to trim some once dry on model), 2- Instructions the decal numbers are wrong in quite a few places following them aimlessly I ended up with the fueslage striped on the engines and the next day the engine stripes on the fueslage. Yes the engine stripes where too long but I thought they where just longer then needed. So a little dive into the spare decals and a bit of air india 707 spare trim cut to size fixed that. 3- The nose weight needs more then stated, I had to remove the cockpit glass and slip in some lead strips and pva glue to stop it nose bouncing (it didn't tail sit but did hover.) 4- The holes in the wheels for the axel is far larger then the axel size resulting in a hard time getting a non cambered or loose wheel. 5- The decals unfortunatly are out of alinment when printing resulting in that staggered annoyance.

 

Would I make another Roden?.. Yes but I would ceratinly look at the instructions much more closely.

Built OOB using plastikote mettalic silver, plastikote brilliant metallic silver, Revell 90, 99, 91, Humbrol 15, 24, 33

So here she is the "BMF" NB-36H (taking the pics I noted the tail reg slipped on one side!)

 

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Bejay53 New Member

Bejay53

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Roden is really working this aircraft series with variants.
I built he B-36A when it first came out. I was happy with the results.

 

I hadn’t seen this variant before. I just don’t have the room to display it, or would build it!

Looks great.

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aerotechi Established Member

aerotechi

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On 11/11/2023 at 1:12 PM, Bejay53 said:

Roden is really working this aircraft series with variants.
I built he B-36A when it first came out. I was happy with the results.

 

I hadn’t seen this variant before. I just don’t have the room to display it, or would build it!

Looks great.

Im thinking of getting a "standard" B-36 too maybe the 1:72 revell boxing? 😅

On 11/11/2023 at 4:35 PM, georgeusa said:

Beautifully done nuclear version of the B-36.  Just a great build and the metallic finish is so well done.  Showpiece of a kit now.  Thanks for sharing.

 

22 hours ago, binbrook87 said:

That's very nice indeed! An unusual subject superbly modelled. Great work 👍

 

 

19 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

Great build. Roden are Roden, love the kits but they don't make it easy.

 

7 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Interesting story and an amazing kit. You did the NMF brilliantly.

Thank you all.

 

11 hours ago, Marcello Rosa said:

Welcome to the Roden club. Our motto is

patimur pro arte

 

keep in mind, it’s like hotel California. You can never leave.

 

So whats the club benefits of joining the Roden club? 🤣

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TallBlondJohn Obsessed Member

TallBlondJohn

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31 minutes ago, aerotechi said:

So whats the club benefits of joining the Roden club? 🤣

 

Seriously you get to own some lovely kits - interesting subjects, superb box art, massive decal sheets. Trouble is that's the best part, it tends to be downhill from there... (glances nervously at extensive stash of Roden WW1).

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Marcello Rosa Established Member

Marcello Rosa

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3 hours ago, aerotechi said:

Im thinking of getting a "standard" B-36 too maybe the 1:72 revell boxing? 😅

 

 

 

 

Thank you all.

 

 

So whats the club benefits of joining the Roden club? 🤣

In addition to what TallBlond John said, benefits include getting extensive sympathy from others who do understand what you went through, and the bragging rights that come from getting great results from materials that defeat other modellers.

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Bertie McBoatface Blabber Mouth

Bertie McBoatface

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7 minutes ago, Marcello Rosa said:

In addition to what TallBlond John said, benefits include getting extensive sympathy from others who do understand what you went through, and the bragging rights that come from getting great results from materials that defeat other modellers.

 

Rather like building models from wood then? Ha! 😁

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aerotechi Established Member

aerotechi

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On 11/12/2023 at 6:47 PM, TallBlondJohn said:

 

Seriously you get to own some lovely kits - interesting subjects, superb box art, massive decal sheets. Trouble is that's the best part, it tends to be downhill from there... (glances nervously at extensive stash of Roden WW1).

 

On 11/12/2023 at 9:19 PM, Marcello Rosa said:

In addition to what TallBlond John said, benefits include getting extensive sympathy from others who do understand what you went through, and the bragging rights that come from getting great results from materials that defeat other modellers.

 

 

Maybe I'll have to renew the Roden club membership then... btw do we get a badge? 🤣

 

 

On 11/12/2023 at 9:27 PM, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

Rather like building models from wood then? Ha! 😁

I downloaded some wood plans to try... not braved how to yet though!

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ajmm Established Member

ajmm

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Catching up on this forum after an absence and wow, what a build. Amazing work. Really spectacular and thank you for your build notes. Very helpful. 

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