1/48 B-58 Aftermarket

[Space Tiger Hobbes]

Has anyone had any experience with the Lone Star B-58 upgrades - engines and cockpit? Im curious about the accuracy, casting quality, and easy of fit without major surgery. I thought something for the Hustler was coming from someone else but haven't heard.

[jmathews]

Has anyone had any experience with the Lone Star B-58 upgrades - engines and cockpit? Im curious about the accuracy, casting quality, and easy of fit without major surgery. I thought something for the Hustler was coming from someone else but haven't heard.

Great stuff! I've got some of it and it looks accurate to me, and Mike's casting quality is always first rate!

HTH

Jack

[Space Tiger Hobbes]

Thanks, Jack. Have you tried fitting it into the Monogram fuselage? Does the pit or the kit parts require work to make the fit?

[jmathews]

I haven't built it.. just inspected the Lone Star parts when I got them, but my 'guess' would be probably a little bit of both, as with most resin.

[kenlilly106]

Fisher Models makes a set of seamless intakes that are excellent in terms of casting quality, haven't tried to fit them yet though.

[VADM Fangschleister]

Hey Space Tiger...

I have a thread here: Mon-Vell Hustler 1/48

That talks about the Fisher intakes. I had to create new in-scale N1 compressor faces as the AM parts from Fisher were too large.

I have the Lonestar cockpits and they are fantastic! I haven't tried to shoehorn them into the model yet but as jmathews says, it will most likely require some shaving here and there.

I also got the metal landing gear, not that the kit LG would be flimsy, but having had the experience of a collapsed model due to weight, I just thought it would be best. The cast landing gear is very nice, a copy of the kit parts...requires some cleanup, filing, etc. But will be much stronger than the kit's plastic legs.

The Lonestar resin was well worth the money. I would suggest, however, figuring out a way to illuminate the cockpits as I'm sure 90% of the detail will be lost when installed so having light in there might be a good idea. But...not absolutely necessary, of course.

The Aires exhausts are superior to the kit parts but a little oversize. However, the engine nacelles are about 5% too big (rough estimate) and the Aires burner cans are made to mate up with the Monogram parts. So, unless to find some perfectly scale burner cans and want to re-manufacture all the engine pods...it's a way to go. All in all, I'm really grateful that these AM parts are available. They make the model more appealing and though it's temporarily shelved, I'll be working on it again soon, along with the Anigrand Jetstar.

Hope that all helps

Fang

[EDWMatt]

Well, I'm going to be the odd man out here.

I bought the Lonestar 'pit at the Nats and, for what I paid for it, I have a serious case of buyer's remorse.

If you're looking for Aires quality, you're not going to get it. I'd rate this toward the lower end of True Details. Detail is on the soft side. The CB panels for the aft cockpits have wavy lines of breakers. And if the main instrument panel were full scale, the instrument faces would be recessed about 6 inches. The nose gear well is a worthwhile improvement.

No one (yet) has made the definitive B-58 pit. I think by bashing the Lonestar, Golden Dragon and the kit parts, I can come up with a satisfactory solution.

Jest my opinion, natch. Your mileage may vary...