mildenhall rules Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 After a totally brilliant trip to the US last year with my father, to visit the USAF museum at Wright Patt and US NAVY one in Pensacola, I came back with loads of ideas to build some amazing planes, this was one of them! Luckily, the kit decals include the aircraft from Edwards (were they all based there?) so I HOPE this is eligiable. The Italeri kit was a limited edition one, and is a pretty simple affair. Not many main pieces though you will have some seem filling to do on the underside due to the breakdown of the kit. The cockpit is pretty basic but the control panels are well moulded with good detail that, with carefull painting looks good. Its just a shame that with the canopy on little will be seen. I added some belts out of tape too. It doesn't say too but, I added nose weight as it looks like it may tail sit (better safe than sorry!). Once the cockpit was done, the main forward fuselage was stuck together than married to the wings, like I said filler will be necessary. To avoid to much sanding though, as the detail is raised panel lines and I didnt want to lose it, i waited for my prefered filler to dry, which is model color's, then wiped a small sanitizer wipe over the excess. The wipe contains ISOPROPANOL, which if used carefully will remove filler overspill without lifting the filler in the gaps. A little clean up is still required but, it does remove the need for heavy sanding. The engine cones were painted black before fitting and the exhausts painted a dark exhaust mix. The iside of the engines highlighted with a lighter silver. More detail will be picked out after the main spray. If any body has any tips on how to do a realsitic black coat, please let me know, I would be ever so gratefull. Any way, work so far: Its a big kit! This is it compared to the Revell C-17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
4scourge7 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Real nice, :D There has been articles on the SR-71 scheme, search function will find `em. Cheers, Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Nice choice! As for a good Blackbird color, I don't know how readily available Floquil colors are in the UK, but I used Floquil Grimy Black on my recent SR-71 model and it worked well for the ironball black paint found on the Blackbirds. Have a look here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=165370 Tamiya NATO black might also work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 cheers guys, will have a look at those. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marlin Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Nice Office B) Please give me more Great work so far. Best Regards Bosse from Sweden Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Lookin good. Bet it is a big model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 Time for a quick progress report. Once all was sanded, I ended up spraying the whole aircraft with Halfords black primer, then picked out the leading edges of the chines and wings with Nato black, as well as the nose cone. I then gave it a coat of Klear, with a few drops of light grey paint mixed in to dull it down. Not tried that before, if it finishes up OK then I might give it a go on the TR-1 as well. Not had much of a chance to do much else as I have been busy (busy spending money at the Yeovilton model show mind you!). Thanks to all of you who have commented so far and yes, its bl**dy huge! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 The accent coloring on the chines looks good. I think once this is decalled and flat coated, it should come out looking REALLY nice. Keep it up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderGrunt Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 OOOHHH look at that Beastie, heard about some of the Evaluations that they put here thru. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
antony robertson Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Looking good dude, now get the U2 in the background finished!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Nearly there! Ive got the wheels on, but not the doors. I had a look at some photos and it appears that the inside of the doors were black, not silver as stated in the instuctions. I think the tyres had a gold coating but im not sure if that is right, so I havent done that yet (if anybody knows the answer id appreciate it). I have lightly sanded the whole airframe before decalling (with 6000 grade cloth) to try and dull it all down. I was going to open the lids, so you could see inside the cockpit but, decided against it as I feel it takes away some of the menace of the machine. Just the decals and doors to do now. Will post more pics on completion. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 FINISHED! I finished the YF-12 last Friday, got the decals on, all the loose bits etc, then disaster...during my daughters 18th birthday party my drunk sister in law picked it up and pretended to drop it as a joke, then did drop it!! Seeing as she was family, I was merciful and her death was swift!! Well, I didn't go quite that far, in-fact an air of 'un-concern' was put on by myself at the time..but revenge will be sweet. Anyway, I put it all back together, or so I thought, untill I found a small stabilizer under the cabinet on the landing. Unfortunatly I had already taken the photos by then, so it is missing in the pics but, its on now! I ended up spraying it with a matt varnish called 'THE ARMY PAINTER'. Its very good and dries very quickly. I will get the satin was next as its a bit flat for the smaller 1/144 models in my collection. Well I hope you like it, and I look forward to my next entry to this group build. I think it's going to be a 1/144, 2 seat f-16 in EDWARDS red and white. this is it before the matt varnish and after... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 (edited) oops, double posted Edited March 4, 2009 by mildenhall rules Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mildenhall rules Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 test Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 That looks very nice man! As for the tires, they are a grayish silver on the mains since they are impregnated with aluminum to help with heat dissipation. The nose gear tires remain black rubber colored. I wouldn't worry about repainting them though since your model looks nice as it is as I wouldn't want to risk messing it up at this point. I would have replied earlier, but didn't see the thread until tonight, after the forum crashed. I love Blackbirds! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stefan buysse Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Hi, Nice one! Quite appropriate to have at least one Blackbird in this GB. Cheers, Stefan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 :D to a this YF-12A! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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