VonL Posted October 10, 2008 Report Posted October 10, 2008 Well, you guys asked for it, so here's a few snaps of my progress on this creature, as annotated. 1. Forward fuselage: 2. Wings bent to simulate flight, as this will be a ceiling-hanger: 3. The infamous, badly-fitting engine pylons: I discovered something important here. A) Each engine pylon has small, side fairings intended to match up with the leading edge wingsweep for its individual pylon placement. B) The instructions direct you to put them in the wrong slots! Note the "actual" sequence, as scribbled on the instruction sheet, below. Putting the pylons into the correct wing slots doesn't make the fit really great, but it's a lot better than it would be if you followed the destructions. Sorry for the crappy, fuzzy pix. Will post more as interesting benchmarks are achieved...don't hold your breath... CHEERS! Von_L
ghodges Posted October 10, 2008 Report Posted October 10, 2008 Tips like your solution to improving the engine pod fits, correcting the instructions, and how to bend the wings are why this forum is great! Thanks for posting and keep 'em coming! GIL
Mark Deliduka Posted October 11, 2008 Report Posted October 11, 2008 Looks great! I have this beast hanging on my ceiling. Or rather, did, until the hook pulled out and sent it crashing down. Only broke one landing gear and the rear cannon. I didn't look at the instruction when I installed the engine pylons but still got them in the correct place. Yours will be looking good. I'm looking forward to more pics.
VonL Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Posted October 12, 2008 Thanx for the good words, guys! As Maddog noted, the kit's wing is amazingly strong, like the real jet. I left those wings under *two* of those big books, flexed at a wild angle, for about two weeks and got just the subtle, residual wingtip flex that you see. I wanted more, but there is a threshold point where plastics transition from minor 'creep stress' to 'permanent bending'. I don't know where that point is with these parts and don't want to find out. So subtle is good. CHEERS! Von_L
Dreamsof51 Posted October 16, 2008 Report Posted October 16, 2008 I am in the process of painting the Monogram version of this beast. I had to hang it from the ceiling to paint it. A friend of mine gave me the kit short one bomb door nad the rear glazing because his son got it for Christmas but was overwhelmed by the size. I intend to give it back when its done mainly because I have no room for it! You`ve gone a lot farther with yours than I did. Nice work so far.
VonL Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 More progress on Italeri's B-52G ALCM truck! Loaded pylons are done: A brutal bit of work fixing the shape of the aft fuselage (I don't remember Monogram getting this wrong). What you see here is a kluge of sheet plastic, Squadron Green Putty and Mr. Surfacer, after the Euro-I gray primer coat revealed the need for more work - !#$%*! . Next time, I'll pack the whole thing with layers of sheet styrene and carve to shape. Note also the crude .50 cal guns. I would replace these with resin aftermarket, leaving a bit of the existing shape as a 'shroud', but this model is gonna be a ceiling-hanger, so a swatch of gun-metal paint and good intentions will suffice. And the current family portrait for "umpteen gazillion parts flying in close formation":
ghodges Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 That's looking very nice! I always think of the B-52 as being an OOOOLLLLDD plane, and forget how it's been modernized and updated and is still one of our most formidable weapons. Your ALCM's snapped me back to reality! I would guess that your rear fuselage problem might actually be sink marks that are more prevelant in older molds and in areas of thick plastic. Perhaps they were'nt there on your earlier builds! I look forward to seeing the BUFF in flight below your ceiling! GIL
VonL Posted December 23, 2008 Author Report Posted December 23, 2008 Thanx for the encouragement! The divots in the aft fuselage appear to be a design error in the Italeri (ERTL) kit's fuselage cross section. On the real jet, it does not 'step in' as it does on the kit, but the cross section is a continuously shrinking oval in this area, which produces a gently curving side, as viewed from above/below. Check out these pix on Airliners.net: http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/B...next_id=1443585 http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/B...next_id=1400801 http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/B...next_id=1399299 http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/B...next_id=1378135 It can be kinda tough to see sometimes, but the surface of the fuselage is generally flush with the inboard surface of the horizontal stab. The kit's error irritates this old BUFF dude enough to wanna fix it. Gotta love Airliners.net - !!!
TimHortman Posted December 24, 2008 Report Posted December 24, 2008 Nice work - can't wait to see this finished. Your tips and corrections are great! Happy Holidays! Tim
VonL Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Posted January 20, 2009 Main coat of paint applied; SAC Euro-I three-color, c.1991. The Italeri instructions don't show the ventral, Gunship Gray swatches. Trust me, it's there. Couldn't find my references for that pattern, so I eyeballed it from AIRLINERS.net, other online pix and memory. It's on the non-faded undersides of the jet, so it's a more subtle contrast with the likewise non-faded areas of Euro-I Gray down there. Lighter shades of OD and Gunship were applied topside, to achieve the faded/panels effect. Walkways were 'reverse masked' using a lightened Gunship Gray, rather than the too-wide decals. Long way to go here...
Mark Deliduka Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Looking awesome!! You've got it going man, this pattern is fantastic!
VonL Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Posted February 9, 2009 Thanx again for the encouragement, guys! Some progress... Petty infighting and BS at work this week, so I'm hoping for the full, therapeutic value of a little bench-time later.
ghodges Posted February 9, 2009 Report Posted February 9, 2009 Brutality? Model building? That describes more than half of my builds! I find it to be quite theraputic...... That's coming together quite nicely! I look forward to the finished pics! GIL
Glynyrd Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 It's looking good! I wish I had built mine instead of giving it away :( Glenn
Mark Deliduka Posted February 11, 2009 Report Posted February 11, 2009 Looking excellent Von! I don't remember having that much issue with the wings when I built mine. This should really look great though when you're done 'brutalizing' it! Cool idea the way you added the dialectic panels on the tail too. Way to go.
VonL Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Posted April 6, 2009 RETURN OF THE REVENGE OF THE SON OF THE BUFF...! Blending the wings. The bottoms looked even worse: Some progress here. Kit decals silvered badly, party my own fault for not glossing the top of the crew section. Had to rip up the red air-refueling aperture markings and re-do with Woodland Scenics rub-on red lines from the model railroad world. FWIW, I also used their rub-on letters to reverse-mask the 'USAF' on top of the starboard wing. Remind me to show that to you guys. I'm kinda proud of it.
VonL Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Posted April 6, 2009 MORE REVENGE OF THE SON OF A BUFF...etc... Filling the gaps around the engine pylons was gonna turn ugly, now matter how I did it. So I started by filling them with sprue, lightly wetted with glue...it seemed like a good idea at the time... Then the trusty Squadron Green Stuff, and a very careful sanding session: And now to address the paint question. Of course the airbrush decided to splatter the hand-mixed faded-green-drab into unwanted regions - !#$%! - If you can't see it, forget I said anything.
VonL Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Posted April 6, 2009 Smooth sailin' from here on out - NOT! The under-wing pylons for the ALCMs and fuel tanks do not fit. Not even close. Brutality-II:
David M. Knights Posted April 6, 2009 Report Posted April 6, 2009 I want to do one of these bad boys, but I've got to admit I've been intimidated by all the work involved. I admire your effort.
GHonanie Posted April 6, 2009 Report Posted April 6, 2009 I will someday do mine, when I get the courage. Yours looks great, keep up the good work.
Mark Deliduka Posted April 6, 2009 Report Posted April 6, 2009 Von, that is some outstanding work there! I am duly impressed at how well you got things to blend in. Keep beating this Beast into submission!!
VonL Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Posted April 8, 2009 Thanx fellaz - the encouragement is truly appreciated. Not too many 'easy days' on this one. Biggest LL so far is to stay with the single, main paint color until the wings, nacelles and such are joined, and then do that camo & weathering. (It was just so much fun, I couldn't stop.) All this re-do patching & blending action is the payback for that. Would like to try another BUFF in this same camo scheme and yet another in the 4-color SIOP scheme...but not for a while. My masochism has limits.
VonL Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Posted April 12, 2009 Made some progress in honor of National Model Day. Additional motive is to compete this thing in the HobbytownUSA national on 18 April and then present it to the guy for whom I built it. Underwing pylons are ON - HUZZAH! It is not a coincidence that the 5-minute epoxy is standing nearby:
VonL Posted April 21, 2009 Author Report Posted April 21, 2009 Filling the resulting gaps in the pylon mounts with epoxy, sheet plastic, putty, zap-glue and profanity... The reverse-masked 'USAF' wing marking; done with Wilderness Scenics lettering: Not all of the exhaust makes it past the trailing edge:
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