ghodges

While I'm on my "Canberra kick" and since it's been a while since I posted a full build ride-a-long, I thought I'd show how this model was being thrown together. The Falcon vac Canberra kit was made @1984, long before the Classic Airframe and Airfix kits were available. It's actually designed so you can build an RB-57B with the "fishbowl canopy" (my plan, and as shown in the drawing) or a B-57B with the tandem seating and traditional long canopy. In this pic the parts have already been removed from their backings and sanded down. Also, on the far left you can see that I had to stack and superglue two concentric cones together to make the engine intakes for each wing. The smaller parts with a "E" on them are the exhaust fairings for each wing. There was one unplanned complication due to this kit sitting in my stash for almost 40yrs..... The parts were on 3 sheets of plastic. It seems that the one sheet that faced out and was exposed to the most light through its plastic baggy turned a bit brown and also became somewhat brittle after all those years! If you look very closely at the wing bottom (2nd from the left) you can see a crack where the it broke in two while I was trying to flex it off of the backing. There were also smaller cracks along the edges that have complicated the build more than anticipated, but nothing superglue cannot overcome! The 2 pics above show a couple of interior circular bulkheads added to strengthen things as well as the wing spars made to make the wing attachment more secure. The tail spar is simply a piece of sheet plastic bent to shape. The thin strips of sheet plastic added under the long fuselage seams in an alternating manner can also be seen. These enable the fuselage to be fitted together and prevent the thin edges from sliding under pr over each other. The resin nose gear well is from an aftermarket set made for the Airfix kit. I've also roughed out the opening for the fishbowl canopy and sawed off the solid nose in prep for the clear recon nose. These 2 pics show the test fitting of the assembled wings and tail planes to the fuselage as well as checking the sit of the model on its gear. The resin gear bays in the wings are aftermarket parts with some modification to the main gear leg holes so that my scratchbuilt gear legs will fit into them. At this point the gear legs are just basic parts without any of their detailing or actuators added yet. And yes.... there is a HUGE nose weight sitting in the fuselage to get that model to balance on its gear! Time to start working on the cockpit! Interestingly, the RB-57A was either a 3 seat arrangement (when designed and used by the Brits) or a 2 seat arrangement after being bought by the USAF in the late 1950s. Also, after some research, it seems that the USAF RB-57As COULD have a small window on each fuselage side behind the pilot or it might not, and it appears to be entirely random and arbitrary. So..... why cut and add windows if I don't have to? Also, why build anything behind the pilot's cockpit if it can't be seen anyway? On to the pics! The RB-57A appears to have had some sort of lining inside the fuselage, so I grabbed some fabric from my spares box and cut it to fit in each fuselage half. I used some sheet plastic and spare resin and plastic parts to add some detailing here and there. The wiring is all lead solder wire. Note the large fishing sinker that has been flattened with a hammer and added for nose weight as well as the support for the cockpit floor. The cockpit floor was made from sheet plastic. Its shape was attained through some judicious measuring as well as simple trial and error until I got what was wanted and needed. Note that the side console, main instrument panel, and other details are all spare resin parts. I cut and bent the main IP to give it the RB-57A's distinctive bend. I also added punched plastic discs for the instrument housings on the back of the panel as well as their cables made from more lead wire that was twisted together and routed over and down out of the way; all of which is visible from above through that big fishbowl canopy. Spare PE panels flesh out the side console. The rest of the cockpit parts are all from the spares box, as is the resin ejection seat. And last, note that the entire cockpit is offset to the left to allow for passage from the rear cockpit area all the way into the nose. Test fitting it all into the fuselage....... This should be enough to satisfy any prying pen light once it's all painted, although it's technically incomplete (without the rear cockpit section) and only "ballpark" accurate! This pic shows the addition of the engine intake housings and the exhaust fairings to the wings. As you might expect, their fit was marginal requiring some epoxy putty (Apoxysculp) to blend them in and eliminate steps. There's a home cast engine fan face in the rear of each intake and you can see the separate shock cones made for each one, designed so they can be added at the end of the build. The shock cones came from the spares box, but I did have to shorten them and use Apoxysculpt to give them their "bullet" noses. The exhausts each have some plastic hypo-tubing to give them some depth as well as a spare parts flame dampener up inside each; again just to satisfy any probing pen lights! Except for having primed the wings, that's where things stand as of today. Next up is to paint the cockpit parts and then assemble the fuselage, which I hope to have done by the end of the week. More pics when more significant progress has been made. Questions, comments, and critiques welcome, as always! Gil

Excellent looking front office and a great start! Gil

Thanks for the kind words Ron and welcome back from Telford! Most all of my Model Master paint seems to be doing fine, though the International Orange was slower drying this time than anytime before, even with my usual thinning with lacquer thinner. I skipped a panel wash (it just looked good clean to me!) so I'm guessing you mean the thin black wing walk lines...... those were done with decals, specifically the ones that are supplied in the Classic Airframes kit of the B-57B, except for the thicker ones near the wing roots which were cut from a sheet of solid black decal. An oddity I forgot to mention above was I didn't have enough "2"s for the BA-242 codes. The last number on each side is actually a "5" that was turned over and applied backwards and upside down to make it into a 2! It passes a quick eye test but can be discerned if you look closely! 😁 Cheers! Gil

This is the out-of-production CollectAire resin B-57B Canberra built OOTB. The starting point...... this is one of CA's better kits with hollow cast fuselage and very smooth cast resin parts with no warpage. It also has metal landing gear to support the model, which is certainly needed because it takes a LOT of nose weight to counter balance that long rear fuselage and tail. Being an OOTB build the only thing added was tape seat belts. The finish is Tamiya TS-30 sprayed over a base of gloss black enamel with MM International Orange trim and painted fuselage stripes. The markings were cobbled together from various B-57 sheets and spare letter/number decals. On to the rest of the pics! Critiques, comments, and questions are welcome, as always! Gil

These pics should be in the dictionary under the definition of "Major Conversion"! Gil

I'm used to being corrected..... after all, I'm married! 😁 Gil

David's suggestion to go with a simpler build is a good one, no matter who you have build it for you. As for getting someone to build it on commission, you'd want to find someone near to you IF possible so as to avoid having to mail/ship the model, especially after it's been built. My suggestion is to go to the IPMSUSA homesite and look at the IPMS Chapter info to se what chapter is nearest to you and then contact them to see if anyone in that club is willing to build the model for you. No matter who you find, you'll have to work a deal with them. Don't be surprised if getting the model built is more expensive than you might at first expect. Just be sure to hash out all of the details ahead of time so the builder knows exactly what your demands/requirements are and you know what you're supposed to get in the end. Best of luck and thank you for your service! Gil

Very cool idea! How did you do the interior quilting? Gil

To start.... the BKB thing is GONE and IPMS is back to the Out Of The Box categories and the OOTB rules. Since your metal landing gear ARE kit parts (came in the box) they're allowable. However..... ANY aftermarket bought for the kit (except decals) would make it ineligible for the OOTB category. If you build it in flight, it HAS to be placed in one of the "Elevated" (what used to be called "planes on poles") categories, which are divided by types and scales. Our judging group once had to rejudge our category after including a model in flight (that otherwise fit the category we were judging) and that model was moved to the proper Elevated category and THAT team had to rejudge their category to include that model that was moved. As always..... be sure to read the 2026 Nats rules and categories once they're posted and have active links on the IPMS Ft. Wayne Nats website (the rules and category links are currently inactive). Hope this helps! Gil

As a show host (Jaxcon), BIG models do present some problems, especially if the builder has not given us a "heads-up" that they need the extra space. In my experience, EVERY host at every show I've been to has bent over backwards to accommodate big entries even when they showed up unannounced. It certainly helps both the host AND the builder if they give the hosts a warning to be ready to have the extra space needed ahead of time. While size impresses many attendees, it count's for next to nothing in IPMS judging, whether it's a 1-2-3 show or a GSB show. The BASICS of model building still have to be met and as others above have pointed out, the bigger the model, the more details that are needed and the more chances there are to make mistakes. So size in and of itself gives no true advantage if the judges judge by the basics as they should. If builders THINK they gain a contest advantage merely by the size of the build then they're just not familiar with the IPMS judging criteria. Personally, I've never concerned myself with the "why" a model is done in such a large scale or wondering where they put it. I'm guessing no one does such a project without having the answer to that problem solved at the start! And as for transporting larger models, that falls into the same category and I just tip my cap to the builder for solving that logistical nightmare. While this last Nats had more larger builds than many other shows, I don't see a "trend" towards more and more HUGE models at shows. It is true that many of us are building larger scales and shying away from the smaller details as our eyes dim with age; but overall we're also creatures of habit and not prone to changing that much. Gil

I don't know if the staining around the empty fastener holes is intentional or not, but it looks right! Gil

Excellent! Thanks for letting us watch and learn along the way! Gil

That "safety covering" of the wing leading edge landing light is a simple but nice touch! Gil

Thanks! Those elevons fit the tail planes so well I couldn't tell they were separate parts! Gil

Good start! I'm guessing you needed to remove the molded in detail on the fuselage interior sides before installing the resin sides? If so, what did you do that with? Also, what's the advantage to the resin tail planes over the kit items? Gil

Yes.... the kit includes the option for the strakes and also a centerline pod if you use the strakes. Gil

Probably right...... I'll go back and change the title so as not to mislead those even more ignorant than me! 😁 Gil

Thanks for the kind words Mike! The only thing I forgot to mention above is that the two intake scoops immediately behind the canopy are a bit to close together if placed where instructed and interfere with the sliding canopy IF you display it open as I did. Use the canopy frame to make sure they're spaced far enough apart while gluing them on and the problem is solved. Other than that just pay close attention to the instructions and it's a piece of cake! Gil

Wow! That is one very sharp Scooter! There's some really tasty details in that camo scheme like some of the touch up spots and the is mis-matched panel on the side. I like the weathering too.... just enough to give it some life but with a well maintained look. Thanks for sharing! Gil

Simple yet authentic looking! Gil

Looking good! Surprised you can see as much through the door as that. Gil

This is the 1/48 CollectAire resin F3D Skynight which I built as a Marine EF-10B. I bought the kit second handed with the fuselage already assembled. Unfortunately there were very large gaps (which I filled with strip plastic and superglue) and the original builder didn't add any (or enough) nose weight so I had to add a clear plastic tail prop to keep it on its gear. Otherwise it's a 10 day "quickie" OOTB build just to diminish the stash. The markings are from the kit and I do like the Playboy bunny on the tail fin! On to the rest of the pics! This gives me a gray and white Skynight to go with the all dark blue F3D I already had on the shelf. Questions, comments, and critiques welcome, as always! Gil

Excellent! Those trees really look the part! Gil

Trees are looking great! I'm paying close attention to your layout as I have similar plans, but in 1/32. Gil

Very sharp build! It's amazing how well older kits like that stand the test of time, especially with skills like yours applied to them. Thanks for posting! Gil