1/72 XB-36 Peacemaker- Cockpit Work

[Lucien Harpress]

I've wanted for a while to try converting a 1/72 B-36 into the XB-36 prototype. While the B-36 is a good-looking airplane, the XB-36 is (in my mind) SO much prettier, and more readily shows its heritage- that, underneath it all, it's pretty much a bigger B-29 with a different wing. (The giant single balloon tires are pretty sweet, too.)

I've finally got enough time (along with a relatively cheap Monogram B-36) to try my hand with this conversion. In addition, the book "Magnesium Overcast" helped IMMENSELY with detailed information about how the prototype differed from the RB-36 offered in the kit. Which, as it turns out, is quite a bit. What I THOUGHT was just a "different nose/different mainwheel" conversion turned into something... more. Well, see for yourself.

I started with the prototype nose. To do so, I made a built-up "diagram" of sorts out of sheet plastic.

The spaces were filled with foam, and later epoxy putty, then sanded down to the "lines" formed by the plastic to form a master. This was then molded in RTV rubber and cast in resin. I initially wanted to vacuform the nose so it could be hollow, but after several failed attempts I settled for simply hollowing out the resin casting. I also cast some resin plugs for the clear sections and vacuformed some clear parts (these are just test pieces, not the final ones).

I also took to slicing open a few of the body panels. I decided to open up the gun turret bays, even though the XB- never had any guns installed. However, it DID have a different setup from production bombers. In the prototype, the rear gun bay was between bomb bays 3 and 4, instead of at the rear, and is a setup unique for this aircraft.

I also decided to open up all the bomb bays, save one. I currently have the first bomb bay closed because I need a place for nose weight. If I can find another place to put it, I'd LOVE to open it up, too. (Also note I had to move up the front nose gear by a little bit- it took me a few months to realize that my model was looking a bit "off".)

If this weren't enough, I've ALSO decided to open up an engine nacelle, too! A member here (THANKS LanceB!) managed to get a hold of a couple R-2600s, which I grafted together to create a passable R-4360.

And this is where I stand now. This isn't going to be a build I rush, because I want to do a good job on it, and I'm probably going to go whole hog on it anyway (full interior/bomb bay/gun bays). I'll post updates here whenever I have some, though, so be sure to keep an eye out.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Lucien Harpress

[mkimages]

Pretty ambitious project you have there. Can't wait to see it up on those big honkin' main gear wheels.

[caudleryan]

This is even more insane than me rescribing mine! Good luck on this awsome project. PLEASE DO NOT

LET THIS ONE STALL!!!!!!

RYAN.

[Lucien Harpress]

I decided that next on the list would be to fill up the empty space in the nacelle in front of the engine. Except for the corncob stuffed in the back, most of the nacelle is given to plumbing and ductwork. Pusher props will do that to you, I guess.

I began by blocking off the lower air intake from the upper. On the real thing the lower intake fed the twin turbochargers and the oil cooler, while the upper primarily fed the engine. I also added a full "spar" of sorts, as it's quite visible from several locations.

This is the best I could come up with for the oil cooler. None of the photos I have show it very clearly, as it's mostly hidden from the sides by the turbochargers. Eventually I'll need to connect a short piece of tubing from it to the intake duct immediately ahead of it.

Next I turned my attention to the main cooling duct. For this I had the issue of needing to see it from both the inside AND the outside. I decided to make something out of a bit of PVC pipe and some brass wire.

Technically it's not supposed to be perfectly round, but from what you see of it 99% of people won't know this, and it looks fine to me.

Eventually a small cooling fan is going to be placed into the end of the intake. You won't be able to see it very well, but if someone decides to shine a flashlight into the front intakes, it'll be relatively accurate.

Here she is, buttoned up. It looks fuller already!

In other news, I was generously offered a set of nose weights from a member here (Thanks nightiemission!). They look awesome, and seem to be enough to keep the nose of this beast down while remaining very hidden.

They fit right around the wheel well, although they might need to be modified for the new position of it in the XB-36. I'll keep and eye on this.

Of course, this now allows me to do something I wanted to do all along- open up the ENTIRE bomb bay.

Looks like I'm going to have a LOT of scratchbuilding ahead of me.... :D

Next up I'm going to get a LOT more tubing in the engine nacelle, and find a way to make me a pair of turbochargers. Until then!

[Aggressor Supporter]

This looks like it will be a very impressive build!

[GreyGhost]

Lucien, really nice work so far ...

Gregg

[Old Man]

Incredible work on a wonderful project, Sir!

When I was young, I thought these planes were just about the coolest thing on earth, or above it, anyway.

[RKic]

Lucien, thats awesome! Your work on the engine is great. Very simple but VERY effective.

And am I seeing things or are you taking your photos on the back of your truck? How big is this monster?!?!

[Lucien Harpress]

Good eyes, sir! Yup, some of the photos in the first post are on the back of my truck. I needed the light outside, and a large, flat place to put it.

The model has nearly a 3 ft. wingspan, the fuselage something like 2.5. The nose piece, once everything is said and done, is nearly identical to the production aircraft.

As for progress, I don't have much. I cut out a piece from my previous B-36 to fill the section immediately behind the canopy. That way I won't have to worry about making a piece with the exact radius, and it should look that much crisper. As for the nacelle detailing, next up I'll have to rummage through the spares box to see if I can use anything to make a pair of turbochargers. And once I do, pics are soon to follow!

[Lucien Harpress]

I haven't forgotten about this build. When it comes to the "building" and "updating" scale of things, I've been leaning toward the "building" side. Never fear, however! I'll stop long enough to post some new photos.

All of my work recently has been on the engine detailing. The next big step was building the two turbochargers located directly in front of the exhaust exits. This was accomplished easily enough with the nose cones of a few bombs from my spares box and a bit of brass strip.

I also added additional exhaust piping from the engine to the turbochargers, then out the bottoms of the nacelle with aluminum rod. Using more bits of plastic tube, I fabricated some air ducts from the front of the nacelle to each turbocharger. When it comes to equipment, the bottom leading-edge intake is taken care of.

I also dressed up the motor a bit with some more aluminum tube. Judging by photos, the engine I have may be a tad undersized. The new exhaust collector ring looks right, so I won't worry about it.

I've also begun building one of two intercooler ducts.

When finished, it and another will be located as such:

I'll need to round off the edges and add some "joints", but so far so good. A pipe off the top of the "box" will lead to the front of the engine, while a duct off the back of the "box" connects to vents on the upper wing. Lining those up should be fun.

In the meantime, I've made some new plans regarding electronic equipment. I got to thinking that a pager vibrator motor would actually fit inside the engine I have built. Motorizing this beast would actually be pretty cool. In addition, I'm thinking about lighting it as well. It would be a first for me, but I've messed around with LED's before. Hopefully I can keep it simple, and end up with a unique model.

So, in closing- does anyone know where all the lights on a B-36 are located? :)

[Aggressor Supporter]

Nice work on the engines there.

[Lucien Harpress]

Work continues....

I didn't do a whole lot to the nacelles. Just added some joints to the intercooler ducts I have done.

The big news is that my modified nose is now permanently attached to one fuselage half.

You can see the upper piece I salvaged from my previous B-36 model. The panel lines aren't anywhere close to where they need to be, but the entire nose is going to have to be sanded like crazy anyway. I'm not worried.

I had two options with the cockpit- build the inside, then try and fit all the exterior pieces around it, or build the exterior and fill in the interior, ala "ship in a bottle". I went with option 2. This way, I can line all the major pieces up first (floor, wheel well, nose) without worrying about internal stuff, then fill in the smaller bits (like seats) later.

I also opened up the boarding hatch. Judging from a photo, it's in a different place from the production models. You can also see how far up I had to move the wheel well to get it accurate.

Next up will be parallel work on both the cockpit and engine. Hopefully I should be getting some goodies in the mail soon... but more info on that when they show up.

[Lucien Harpress]

After a bit of shopping and some goodies from the mail, I'm able to show you the direction the build will be heading. First up? Pretty standard fare- motorization.

Now, you may be wondering how I can motorize the props if one of the nacelles is open? Never fear. Behold the power of modern electronics!

These motors, from pagers, are only 4mm in diameter and fit great inside my R-4360. They don't have much torque, and only just spin the big props. They DO spin them, however, and will work fine, I think.

Next up is something that's a bit new for me. Motorized props are cool and all, but with all the space the XB-36 offers, it just begs for something... more. Something like this, perhaps?

That's right- I'm going to (try) and light this beast as well. These right here are (what I'm assuming are) landing lights. The actual lights are smaller than this, but this was the smallest bright white LEDs (which is what I'm using) that I could find. It's okay, though. I'll just pain the actual opening smaller, so the lights aren't so obnoxiously large.

But wait! It gets better!

I'm playing with fiber optics as well. So far- I'm enthusiastic. They're not that hard to work with, and the results are impressive. These in particular will be modified in the future- two more will be added to the other tailplane, and only one of them will be red. The rest will be white. They'll also be evened out, not cockeyed like in the photo.

In addition, I'm planning on doing a set of both interior and exterior lights. On the exterior, I'll use fiber optics to add the navigation lights on the wingtips along with the ones shown here. On the interior, I'm lighting both front and rear compartments so you can see in, and adding a string of lights in the bomb bay that is accurate to the real deal.

Whatever the case- lots of work to do! Stay tuned.

[Fred]

Lucien, a good source for electronics bits(LED's, small wire, and all sorts of stuff) is "All Electronics" based in California. They have a website, I believe.

Very good prices on new and used stuff.

Worth a look and their free catalogue is even a good read!

[Lucien Harpress]

I've got good news and bad news for this update. First, the good news. I've began to start plugging the holes in the B-36 that weren't in the XB-36. First off, the front sighting blisters.

Even thought the XB-36 was never armed, it didn't need the forward blisters because the front upper and lower turrets were supposed to be manned, pressurized, and each carrying 37mm cannons. I've seen photos of mockups, and they look awesome. But more on that later. Short story is, the holes up front needed to go. Next up, the rear radar installation.

B-36 models up to the -D (I belive) used a rear gunner radar that only had a single radome. Later, a larger twin radome setup was used. The kit makes it look great and all, but it had to go. After I fill and sand this area I have a drop tank (from a Bf 109, of all things) that is close enough in shape to serve as my new radome.

Additionally, I inserted some aluminum tube for the rear lights. It'll line them up nicely now, but I'll need to clean the area up later.

So, that's the good news. The bad? Well, I turned my attention to the landing gear. I ordered some RC airplane tires that happened to be the exact size I needed, then today built up a landing gear leg. Here's what I ended up with.

It looks really, really awesome. It's too bad, then, that I have to re-do it. This here was built with plastic and wire. Unfortunately, I highly doubt it will be beefy enough to support the weight of the finished model. I'll probably have to crack out the metal tube and solder to make something much stronger. So, it looks pretty, but won't function whatsoever. Such is life.

[HOLMES]

IMPRESSIVE build so far..

Nice engine...

[Aggressor Supporter]

After a bit of shopping and some goodies from the mail, I'm able to show you the direction the build will be heading. First up? Pretty standard fare- motorization.

That's right- I'm going to (try) and light this beast as well.

But wait! It gets better!

:) This has the potential to be the greatest Peacemaker model ever built!

[dogsbody]

If I'm not mistaken, your main wheels are on the wrong way around. The wheel should be on the outside of the strut.

http://www.air-and-space.com/nara/342usaf2...t%20pan%20l.jpg

[Lucien Harpress]

Yeah, I noticed that. Go to all the work making the strut, and the darn thing turns out backwards!

Anyhoo, on to today's update!

The good thing about having a plane this large and ambitious to build is that there is ALWAYS something to do. Don't feel like working on the cockpit anymore? Move to the engine! Don't like that? Landing gear! Or, if you're in the mood, do a bit of electrical! You never get bored!

First up, I decided to start wiring some stuff up, and getting certain components in their final position. Namely, the engine.

The motors have almost no torque at all, and ALMOST have problems getting the big props turning. Once they start, though, the motors have enough "omph" to keep them going on their merry way. I'm not worried.

My wiring will have three separate circuits- engines, interior lighting, exterior lighting, each with their own switch and battery. For the engines I'm going to try to run them off a small button battery. Battery life won't be great at all, but I'm on a bit of a slippery slope- I want to open up as many panels and doors as I can, yet still hide as much as the electrical as I can. But more on that later.

I next turned my attention to the bomb bay. Will no solid references for the real thing, I'm doing my best by looking at production B-36s and at preliminary drawings before the XB-36 was built and coming up with a sort of composite of both. Might be wrong, but who's to say?

First, the continuation of the interior detail. Thank GOD I only have two bomb bay's worth of it to do- not hard, just tedious.

This is the bulkhead between bomb bays 1 and 2 on production models. Normally there's another between bays 3 and 4. With the XB-'s unique configuration of the turret bays (between bays 3 and 4 instead of after them), I'll only need one of them.

Most of the bays will be separated by a gridwork of sorts. This piece is actually included in the kit, but..... Let's just say I give them an A for effort, but about a D for execution.

My example is on the left, the kit on the right. If anything it gave me a very good template. Only two more to go!

Next, probably one of my less-than-rational decisions- Yes, even though you can only see in through four tiny blisters, I'm trying to build the rear crew compartment.

And finally, a shot of the full interior layout of the XB-36. Note that, even though the bomber is a HUGE aircraft, the crew is crammed into two rather small compartments. But hey- at least they had a really long tunnel to play in!

The next update may be about wiring- I've started a bit of it. If I do enough for an update, that'll be next. If not? Then not. In any case, stay tuned!

[RKic]

holy crap, you are doing incredible work

[Old Man]

Truely amazing, Sir!

Woderful work!

[SteveV22FE]

I think your Main gear tire is facing the wrong direction.

I've got good news and bad news for this update. First, the good news. I've began to start plugging the holes in the B-36 that weren't in the XB-36. First off, the front sighting blisters.

Even thought the XB-36 was never armed, it didn't need the forward blisters because the front upper and lower turrets were supposed to be manned, pressurized, and each carrying 37mm cannons. I've seen photos of mockups, and they look awesome. But more on that later. Short story is, the holes up front needed to go. Next up, the rear radar installation.

B-36 models up to the -D (I belive) used a rear gunner radar that only had a single radome. Later, a larger twin radome setup was used. The kit makes it look great and all, but it had to go. After I fill and sand this area I have a drop tank (from a Bf 109, of all things) that is close enough in shape to serve as my new radome.

Additionally, I inserted some aluminum tube for the rear lights. It'll line them up nicely now, but I'll need to clean the area up later.

So, that's the good news. The bad? Well, I turned my attention to the landing gear. I ordered some RC airplane tires that happened to be the exact size I needed, then today built up a landing gear leg. Here's what I ended up with.

It looks really, really awesome. It's too bad, then, that I have to re-do it. This here was built with plastic and wire. Unfortunately, I highly doubt it will be beefy enough to support the weight of the finished model. I'll probably have to crack out the metal tube and solder to make something much stronger. So, it looks pretty, but won't function whatsoever. Such is life.

[mkimages]

Oh yeah, this is coming along nicely. Keep up the great work.

One suggestion if I may; a lesson learned from a past thread. You may want to lay out your wiring circuits outside the model first so as to test them before they are sealed up inside. It would truly suck to have it all glued together and find that a motor is running backwards or an LED won't light.

[Lucien Harpress]

Yeah, I'm taking baby steps with the wiring. I've got the front two landing lights in and wired (no batteries or switches yet, just a length of wire), but I'm going to need to stop and think how I want to do the rest, without getting it too cluttered. Thankfully the bomb bay of the B-36 was filled with quite a few wires and cables, but I still want to keep it under control as much as possible.

[Lucien Harpress]

Yup, it's that time again.... UPDATE TIME!

First up- some major work on the open nacelles. I have all the major ductwork in place now (I think). Listen up, girls and boys, it's time for basics of B-36 nacelle operation!

You know where the air in the lower front opening goes, now for the upper opening. The center, circular duct (silver) is for engine cooling. A fan right in front of the engine was placed in the duct to help out (and I put one in, too. REALLY hard to see, but if anyone looks, it's there!). The two side ducts feed into the intercoolers, which are those square bits with the yellow hoses on top. From here, the air can go one of two ways. First, through the yellow hoses, which lead to the carburetors/fuel injection system (forget which). However, if the flow of air was too much, it could be regulated with two louvers on the upper surface of the wing. Air would then exit out the back of the intercooers, through the louvers, and back into the slipstream.

Here's what it looks like all buttoned up. Getting closer, now- just some more piping, wiring, maybe parts for the engine mount (a spidery thing that you couldn't really see because of all the air ducts) and a pair of small oil tanks.

Next up, I've completed more of the full bomb bay. All partitions between the bomb/turret bays are in, save for one small one.

I've also permanently glued in the wing spar, to help figure out the wiring. It's going to serve as my battery box for most of my electrical.

Once I get all the wiring figured out I can put on the vertical framework that the bomb racks attach to. Then it's a coat of green, and on to the cockpit detailing!

Next up- switches.

These are on the inside wall of the front turret bay. You'll notice I had to add a circuit. Originally all exterior lights were going to be on one circuit. However, the white and colored LED's didn't play well together, and I had to split them up. No big deal- just more soldering later. The other side of the turret bay will be detailed with a walkway that the original front gunners would've (probably) used to get to their turrets. More details about that when I get started detailing the weapons bays proper.

Finally, I leave you with "XB-36 Landing Gear, Mk. II". New, improved, stronger, and (most importantly) facing the correct direction! Until next time!