ghodges Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) This is my 1/48 B-50A bomber, built using the out of production Paragon resin set to convert the Monogram B-29 to the later up-engined B-50 with its bigger tail fin. This conversion requires some major surgery, but is relatively straight forward. All 4 engine nacelles require modification, and the kit B-29 tail has to be removed and replaced with the larger resin tail. There's a later model, more streamlined upper forward turret that requires a more streamlined turret base be made from epoxy putty, as well as new props and a larger belly radar bulge. The resin conversion set These pics show the resin wing parts as added to the wings, and then the wings after all of the sanding, rescribing, and priming. Only the kit cockpit and the tail gunner position were installed in the fuselage. The bomb bay was closed up and the rest of the interior parts left out. Eduard masks were used after blending in the kit glass. This pic also shows the more streamlined epoxy putty turret fairing. The taller resin tail was hollow cast in 4 parts and took considerable work to make it fit better and a lot of sanding to blend it all in. I tried a new technique on this model. I primed the model in 3 colors and then airbrushed one coat of Alclad Aluminum over it all, tying to get differing panel looks using the primer colors underneath. It worked pretty well over all, though I can't say it involved any less masking. There are no decals made specifically for the B-50, so I had to paint the yellow and black striping, the "circle K" on the tail, and the nose art. All the rest of the markings came from the spares box. On to the finished pics! I've had this conversion on my shelf for almost 20yrs, and put off doing it due to the work involved. After building my B-29 last year I finally felt up to tackling this beast. Questions, critiques, and comments welcome, as always! Cheers! Gil Edited June 28, 2023 by ghodges 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bell Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 Outstanding. I've done Paragon conversions and they are very basic at best and require much work just to get them to fit. And how much weight and where to keep the nose down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 29, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 I put 3 large fishing sinkers in the nearly empty radio room under the front turret. However, when I later test fit the landing gear, it wasn't enough and added 1 more sinker in each of the inner engine nacelles, which was then just enough! I wish I could find another of these Paragon B-50 sets, as I have another project I'd like to try.... Gil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulBradley Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Very impressive, Gil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyKing Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VMF211 Posted July 1, 2023 Report Share Posted July 1, 2023 That is impressive....AND big!! Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted July 3, 2023 Report Share Posted July 3, 2023 That is unbelievably magnificent! I'm going to try out that technique you used for the varying panel shades once I start my RB-50 in 1/72 scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted July 5, 2023 Report Share Posted July 5, 2023 Gorgeous build! Everything looks excellent... the conversion, the NMF, the markings... that sure is an attention getter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmarc Posted July 22, 2023 Report Share Posted July 22, 2023 WOW,WOW,WOW, that is quite something ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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