Jump to content

1/48 B-47 build....


ghodges

Recommended Posts

A long time ago, I remember reading about people thinning R&B with something and spraying it! I think it was alcohol. 'Course, this was before all the other natural metal finishes that we have now. I think it was done on some of those old Pyro gun kits to achieve a "natural metal finish". Course, those weren't buffed to a high sheen, but they looked like metal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's the beastie completely covered with the polish....

003-4.jpg

Hopefully you can see it has a slightly brighter sheen overall. I plan to use this as the base NMF and go from there; so it's essentially got the first color coat on it now! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man, what a brilliant shine! I only wish it was just as easy for me. I finally got a decent coat on my F-86 in 1/72 scale and it took five attempts for a coat that isn't even shiny! Way to go!

 

I bow in the presence of a Master!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Gil, I used Rub and Buff on the stabilizer of the F-104. I used MM Enamel Aluminium for the underlying base and the the R/B over it. I liked the way it looked when completed.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Bill :smiley2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With a model like this, it seems that EVERY step you take amounts to "something that has to be overcome". I finally got around to the canopy this evening....

 

First, it's yellowed just enough to make it unusable as is. Its outline was also vague, making trimming it to fit problematic, though I got a close fit in the end. However, in trial fits, it also "pinches" in the middle, being a bit flat sided in the center section. So, I mixed up some plaster of Paris and poured it into the canopy so I can make a new mold and vac a new, better copy.

 

This will also allow me to modify and reshape it to fit and look better. I'll get some pics of the new mold here once it's done in a couple of days.

 

Rosana Rosanadana was right! "If it's not one thing, it'sa something else"! :smiley13:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gil, that is some seriously impressive work! Will you be finished by next year's Nationals? It would be awesome to see it in person!

Keep plugging away, you are an inspiration to all us slackers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Ok, so it's been more than a couple of days....but it TIS the season at ye olde Post Office, and I'm working 6 days a week plus overtime, so I'v slacked off going to the bench as regularly.

 

So, after making the new "mold" using the kit canopy, I attempted to smash mold a new one; but failed 3-4 times and gave up on that. The additonal complication was that it was just slightly too big to fit on my Mattel vac machine. The solution: change from a closed canopy to an open option, cut the mold in two, and the longer section would just fit onto the machine!

010-2.jpg

The kit vac canopy was filled with plaster of Paris. Parts of this weren't up to the handling and broke away, so the lighter, clearer areas you see were re-enforced with liquid epoxy. I also used this opportunity to put some ribs across the bottom of the rear section to widen it at the base and help correct its slab sided shape. I also sanded the exterior a little to be sure it would give me a smooth copy. Although it's hard to see, each of the masters has a slightly smaller plastic sheet on the bottom, which raises the mold off of the platen just enough to allow the hot plastic to tuck under the edges slightly when sucked down. This gives a better edge and also makes for an easier guide to cutting the plastic from the mold. Both parts will still need some detailing before painting them.

I've also been doing some more painting, with hit and miss success. I masked off various panels on the spine, the ailerons, the elevons, and the rudder and painted them Alclad White Aluminum. Unfortunately, it was an almost exact match for the R&B finish! angry.gif So.....round two involved exactly the same thing, but this time I used Alclad Aluminum, with slightly better results.

001-4.jpg

It's pretty easy to see the difference on the spine and the ailerons, but tougher to see the panels on the engine nacelles.

Next up is to paint a few more varying panels, as well as the darkened engine rears. The last two main colors will be the flat white on the bottom (in a limited area, later scheme), as well as the flat black anti-glare panel.

 

Still going to try to get 'er done by the New Year! Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well, New Year's day has come and gone, but the basic painting is done....

003-5.jpg

 

004-1.jpg

 

So many little things left to do, but I'm slogging along, despite the sporadic updates! questions, comments, and critiques still welcome, as always!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Edited by ghodges
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clean and neat!? Hardly....There's lot's of touch ups! It'll NEVER withstand IPMS judging as there's too many little nicks, scratches, and dings. But, ya gotta admit I know the right angles to take the pics from! :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep those pic's coming Gill.

 

A question for you. Are you painting the radome on the bottom or are you leaving it black with the metal color. I've seen it in a buff color to the rear. I don't have a lot of references in that regard though.

 

Anyway, the scheme looks great. Anti-flash looks great.

 

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too have seen a lot of B-47s with buff and black radomes on the bottom, but at this point I'm leaving it as is, as I've seen a few this way too. I'm not trying to build a specific a/c, but just do a "representative" scheme. I'll be adding a red stripe across the top of the tail fin too at some point.

 

I've seen pics with the white way up the sides, and also where only 1/3 of the bottom wing was painted white. I've seen pics where the SAC band comes all the way down to the radome, and others where it ends at the white camo on the sides. There seems to be some latitude depending on time frame and bomb wing.

 

Thanks for all of the kind words folks!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The decals are finally on!

003_1.jpg

As with everything else, this was 2 steps forward and 1 back.....I had a LOT of problems with decals shattering, despite the use of a gloss over coat before hand. I think this was due to two primary reasons: old decals and NOT using warm water (at first). Old decals are just that, and if you're like me, some of them in the stash could probably vote! Evidently this is true for all of my white and black striping! Some of the other problems of breakage could be simply because I wasn't patient enough to allow enough time for the decal to loosen from the backing in cool water, and prodding them created stress fractures. When I heated the water for 30secs in the microwave and tried again, things went MUCH smoother!

The only truly disappointing decal area was that the SANGER B-47 decals (evidently) have no white backing under the decals. The SAC sashes looked great on the white decal sheet. However, once I pulled them off it was evident that the stars and (worse) the shields had NO background to them! The silver of the plane does make them look OK, but not correct. Sigh....at this point there nothing else to be done because I'm not aware of any 1/48 SAC sashes on other sheets. At this point I'm ready to move on anyway, as "competing" with this model (in true IPMS fashion) went out the window way back when!

Since I couldn't use decal stripes for the wing walks, I was in a dilemma until I remembered I had a roll of 1/8" black Chartpack tape.While this means those stripes have a little non-scale thickness to them, I was readily willing to live with that versus masking and painting them! This turned out to be a breeze! The tape was simply stretched out and laid along the proper line and the excess cut away with a new blade. In order to be sure the the lines on the top of the fuselage were centered and straight, I first placed a wider piece of tape down the center of the spine and then ran the black tape along its edges. This allowed me to at least lay out the wing walks and blend them in with the wing insignias with a minimal of fuss!

There's actually one more decalling job left: the white canopy sealing lines. I have some .5mm tape I've sprayed white and will try to use that now, since the white decal stripes I had want to fracture too!

At least this major step is done, and I can move on towards putting all the fiddly bits in place to start finishing this beast up! As always, questions, comments, and critiques are welcome! Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It may not be "contest quality" as you call it, but that is on spectacular model. I hope to see it in Columbus, despite what you think about it's chances. Something like that would really enhance the contest tables.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I make it to Columbus, IT will go with me, if only for the display table! But (being a married man), I have no pride anyway :smiley4: , so I'd probably put it in the vac category and let the chips fall where they may. Ya never know, it might get a 3rd place if only 2 others show up! :D And I'd take it too...... :smiley20:

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's how I win my awards :smiley2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally making some strides towards the end. She's on her gear!

001_1.jpg

 

006_1.jpg

I'm not sure she's perfectly level, but she's doggone close and as far as I can tell all the tires touch!

Next, I got all of the inlet cones and exhaust pipes on the engines. This view shows how they look "down the throat"

002_1.jpg

 

And I finally completed the interior by building the coamings over the instrument panels after they were installed and adding the radio compass loop antenna.

004_1.jpg

 

This last shot shows the windscreen and canopy sitting in place in what will be their final positions.

008_1.jpg

The white sealing on the canopy was done with .5mm striping tape. I peeled off 2-3 feet, sprayed it flat white, then simply stuck it on the canopy (overlapping each other) and cut away the small sections not needed with a brand new blade. This was MUCH easier than messing with decals or masking and painting them!

Still quite a few things left to do. As you can see, the outrigger gear isn't detailed or painted yet, and then there's all of the gear doors and their actuators to paint and add. And, I still need to make those 100 or so vortex generators and place them on the wings! But, all things in good time....Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...