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B-35 Flying Wing


WildBill50

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Here is something you don't see too often. I started the AMT/ERTL B-35 and got most of it together in a week. It is an easy kit with no drawbacks and some pretty good detail. As soon as I figure out posting more pictures there will be an update wit the whole wing together, filled and sanded. Much fun while waiting for the Hasegawa F-8E crusader to dry. Stay tuned.CIMG0574.jpgCIMG0575.jpg

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Thank you gentlemen. This build just started by opening the box last Sunday. I was just going to peruse the plastic so to speak. One thing led to another and within three days I had the interior painted and had the thing pretty much together . I've been filling seams and polishing plastic for this lovely silver beast. I hit up a couple of seams with silver paint and rescribed some of the panel lines lost in the filling process. I am going to use MM Aluminum to paint the plane (not metalizer). Then I'll buff/ polish/ paint various panels. I'm going to make the plane as if it was selected for production and put into service (USAF 54?) along with the B-36. I'll put on some squadron colors, nose art and add all of the defensive .50 cal barrels in the turrets. This plane begs to be more than just a silver boomerang.

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More to come. Stay tuned.

 

thanks again for the comments

 

Bill

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The few. The brave. The AMT Bomber alumni.

 

Great job! If it's giving you no fits or problems, count yourself either lucky or just better than most everybody else. It's a kit notorious for it's fit issues. But if it's working out well for you, roll on! I like your ideas for a production in service airframe with appropriate markings. That will make it stand out even more than it already does. Looking forward to more progress!

 

Rick L. (XB-70 class of '95)

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Hi Mark,

 

I have some B-36 Decals I am going to use. It was a decal sheet that came out when the Monogram B-36 first came out. I may modify the tail codes to put them out on the wings (Circle or Square or Triangle with a letter in the middle) like the old bomber codes, just smaller. I was also thinking about maybe putting something on it for a "Giant Voice" competition aircraft, What, I don't really know right now. Just a Thought. Some of the B-36's had some nice looking colors...red/yellow, Blue/white and such. Time to raid the internet. Some pic's soon.

 

Until then...See ya's

 

Bill

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Hello all, Well I did some checking around for markings for my in service bird. While checking out the internet for ideas, I came across the nose art I had from a B-36 decal sheet (caveman riding a dinosaur). I checked around and found out it is for 15th AF, 92nd Bombardment group, 326th Bomb Squadron (Heavy) Loring AFB. Tail modex was a circle with a "W" inside of it. Squadron colors were red with yellow stripes. This is what I am going to work with for the 'wing'. There is a side view drawing of a B-36 in its markings in the old Squadron/Signal "B-36 in Action #42" book in the centerfold. All I need to figure out is what to paint which color. I'm leaning to painting the nose gear door red with yellow stripes and then painting the spinners red with a yellow spiral. I'll put the squadron patch (caveman/dinosaur) under the starboard nose by the bomb/nav window. I think this will set the plane off pretty nicely. I may try to fit a circle "W" onto this thing somewhere. Whadda ya think?

Edited by WildBill50
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  • 3 weeks later...

  • CIMG0606.jpg


  • Rick,

Here's a picture of my B-70. I painted it up and weathered it severely, like the pictures I've seen when it came back from M3 flight with large chunks of paint either peeled or burnt off. It's hard to tell that from this picture, but that's how it looks. That was another "FUN" build.

 

This other picture shows the B-35 resribed and ready for paint. Since the picture was taken, the plane has been painted with MM Aluminum paint (not metalizer). It came out pretty good so far. I'm waiting for it to dry thoroughly now. I have started painting some of the Bomber group colors (yellow and red) on the gear doors, props and wingtips. So far so good. Update soon.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Mini-disaster has struck. While waiting for this boomarang to finish drying after a coat of Aluminum paint, I had it placed on a non slip mat. I picked it up to check on which panels to paint with other metalizers and such. The mat had imbedded itself into the model. Now this is not just stuck onto some sticky paint surface, it was melted to the plastic. Peeling it off the model left craters at each spot the mat had touched. Oh the joy on my face after realizing that I now had to fill a bunch of holes on the top wing with putty and smooth and buff and repaint and so on and so on (nothing like repairing something like this on a natural metal finish). Did I mention I love this hobby! Anyhow, I did do this a few times and I may even get some paint on it again this week if the Gods are willing. Repaint everything and wait again to dry. Props and spinners almost painted, while the wingtips and geardoors are primed and waiting for their yellow/red squadron colors. All the wheels have had their lightening holes drilled out and are painted and ready to be attached to the struts as soon as I attach some brake lines. I think this plane could have been done by now if not for the above setback. Oh well, that's why I remind myself it's only a hobby and it's fun and and it could be worse and it will be OK and it will make be a better modeler and... DId I say I love this hobby?

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One step forward; eight steps backward. It made me ill to see this damage on your XB-35 in person at the meeting last Friday. This disaster launched a discussion about deteriorating rubber and vinyl parts on other kits that essentially ruined them in the box or even when completed and in the showcase. Someone should start a topic on bad rubber/vinyl stories and the eventual effects on the models.

 

Having dissimilar metals react badly to prolonged contact is commonly known, but rubber bonding with styrene is not something we expect to happen to us. We also have to remember that the plastic was already covered with paint, so how does that fit into the picture?

 

We await the repairs and repaint.

 

Ed

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  • 2 months later...

Hello again from the build from you know where. The ship has been filled , buffed, sealed and painted again. And again And again. I dont know what is happening to this model. I stripped the offending area of paint, cleaned it very well, filled all of the dimples that needed to be fixed. I then sanded it smooth for a nice shine to get a coat of paint down on it. I repainted it and it looked fantastic when I left it to dry. I used a rattle can of Krylon Nickel color for plastic to paint it this time. When I returned about two hours later it looked like someone through static grass on top of the paint. This happened only on the spots that were repaired from the "mat incident". It looks like the silver flecking that lays down in the paint to give it its color was trying to escape. Maybe if i comb it and put a part in it like hair , I could put the part where a panel line would go. I just got done startint to sand this off again and am contemplating just using BMF in these areas. The rest of the model looks very nice as the color and sheen is great on the other areas that were repainted. Any ideas are welcome at this time.

 

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam here. So much for a semi-quick build...I have issues.

 

Bill

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Sounds a chemical problem in the plastic, perhaps due to a bad batch, or perhaps after its contact and exposure to that mat. Years ago I had an old Aurora Triplane that I built that gave me similar weird problems. It was molded in that red metal-flake plastic they used in the late 50s, and after I painted it, the red bled through the white paint under the tail planes! There was NO red paint on the model, so it had to be the plastic bleeding through. Seeing as it was on the bottom of the plane, I just left it alone and moved on to the next project.

 

GIL :smiley16:

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If only it was on the bottom. Nope, this has to be right next to the cockpit area. More sanding and then it's foil time in those areas. One good thing is there are no compound curves that will be tricky. Pics soon.

 

Bill

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Bob, these first pic's are for you. The B-70 was done awhile ago, painted up with Krylon flat white spray paint and overcoated with MM clear gloss. Weathering was done with pastels and lead pencils and prismacolor silver pencils. Pictures of the plane after some of its flights showed extreme paint wear and peeling due to the extreme temps. I tried recreating this from the picture I've seen and have.

 

The B-35 pictures show the landing gear almost complete...the spokes on the wheels are all drilled and filed out. The landing gear doors and prop spinners are partially painted (have to apply the red now), I tried to show how the paint was messed up on the natural metal, but is hard to see. I've sanded it down now and it awaits some "bare metal foil" to hopefully fix it.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Bill

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Your B-70 looks great. IMHO, the B-70 is the most beautiful plane ever to fly. I have the old Rare Planes vac formed B-70. I built one of these before and really builds into a nice model. I just wish I had all the available stuff that's out there now when I built mine. I had to locate enough exahst nozzells for all those engines. What a pain.

 

I now have the SAC landing gear and I'll be purchasing one of the injected molded B-70s to rob parts from for my next build. I actually drew all the panel lines on my model and it was in a past issue of Fine Scale Modeler.

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Hi Randy,

 

Thanks for the comments on the B-70. I have that vac-form kit also in the stash. Mine came with metal gear and engine exhausts. I remember seeing your completed build in FSM. That looked really nice; wasn't it with an X-1 in the picture?

 

I agree with you in that the B-70 was the nicest looking aircraft to fly. It looks good on the ground and it looks like it's going 2,000 mph while on static display. Now a foot-note in the B-52 replacement catagory.

 

Again, thanks for the comments.

 

Bill

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  • 4 weeks later...

THIS PLANE HAS BEATEN ME!

 

This being said, I can say that it's OK. By beating me, I mean I just could not get a good natural metal finish on it. I tried MM metalizers, Krylon nickel colored spray paint, MM Aluminum and Chrome paint and finally foil. All for naught. I have therefore decided to change my initial "what if" paint scheme of the 92ND Bomb Group.

 

I have decided to make this into an AB-35A gunship. I will be adding updated weapons, LowLight, FLIR and some ECM equipment. This was a concept ship for truck busting along the HOCHI MIN trail early in the Viet Nam war. If the B-35 was in the inventory before the war and the US was using different concepts ak..AC-47, AC-119 or AC-130, the a bigger might be better concept could have taken place. More details as they become available. There are spies everywhere.

 

Meanwhile, here are some pics of the new paint scheme. Standard SIOP upper colors using MM SAC Bomber green and tan and Darrk green 34079. The bottom is Gloss Black to hide its shape in the dark.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello all,

 

Well, the standard B-35 is no more. After being retired to the bone yard after years of service, they were brought back to service as a flying test bed for truck hunting, hamlet security and firebase support. The Air Force wanted a gunship to supplement the AC-47. While trying different aircraft, they settled on the C-130 and C-119. These aircraft were equipped with various sensors and weapons and became symbolic of the gunship concept. What was not talked about though is the "bigger/better" concept.

 

I bring you the "AB-35A(H) Banshee". This proof of concept vehicle brought about a host of concepts under the guise of one aircraft. Use of a larger aircraft was a natural progression in gunship philosophy. The B-35 was a natural in this idea. With 6 turrets and a bomb bay, there was plenty of room for conversion and experimentation. First the .50 cal machine guns were deleted and in place of them were as follows: upper turrets...20 mm gatling gun and a single .20mm gun on each. Lower turrets...each has a single 40mm bofers cannon. The lower center turret has been installed with a 105mm howitzer. The upper turret was fixed in place and is used for electronics, with a small antennae suite on top. A combination FLIR/LLLTV/AVQ-19 Laser target designator was also mounted under the aircraft in a aerodynamic fairing with a ball turret in front. All of these weapons are deployed on the other gunship types but only on the port side of of the aircraft. This was standard pylon turn saturation coverage of a target. With the AB-35A, this could still be used but with a difference. With turret mounted weapons an aircraft could bring to bear its weapons to the front of the aircraft, which would be devastating for flying down a major flow point of material. It could be used like the B-25's in an anti-shipping role also. All sensor operators are in their war room in the former bomb bays of the aircraft. Alas, these concepts were a little ahead of their time. The B-35 proved the concepts, but not in one package with too many movable parts. Taken apart they worked well. Time has a way of fixing things and this is true for this concept. Pieces were taken and mounted on the AC-130 and are still there today.

 

Here are the pictures of this proof of concept vehicle, the AB-35A (Heavy).

 

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