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CD72039 - B-66 Destroyer


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As if you needed further evidence that I may be losing my mind; I am working on a 1/72 sheet for the B-66 Destroyer. It is not very close to being finished and will not appear before summer, but I am confident enough that I will go ahead and assign a product number to it.

We already have a fairly good (recessed panel lines, matches the old Aviation News plans fairly well) kit in the Testors/Italeri offering; and judging by Ebay sales it can still be found easily. I am sure thousands of them are waiting in the stashes; and the most recent decal sheets for the type were released more than 20 years ago. And I want to have artwork & research ready for the inevitable (I think) 1/48 B-66 kit when it arrives.

Edited by KursadA
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Interesting news Kursad. As you mentioned, the only one i know about is the old Italeri kit. When Trumpeter started their A-3 series, I thought we may eventually see a B-66 in 1/48 since they like to do version series of kits for the most part.

I am not sure if I am remembering correctly but from what I have read, there is a great deal of difference between the A-3 and the B-66 which I hope does not put a wrench in us 1/48 guys seeing one.

Thanks again for picking their off the beaten path subjects. My wallet hates you :)

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  • 3 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Is this project still being done? I have a Destroyer ready to go into major assembly and could press forward if quality decals are forthcoming. Will this be natural metal, or camouflage? Which version or versions will be included?

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It is waiting in line to be printed and will be released later this year - there are both natural metal and camouflage options on the sheet.

Very glad to hear this. Thank you!

In the meantime I'll build an Bahraini F-16 using your 1/72 sheet.

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  • 4 years later...

Hope it is OK to revive an old thread but I just wondered what happened to this 1/72nd Douglas B-66 Destroyer sheet? Reading the posts above it seems as though the decals were ready to be sent to the printers but I guess they were sidelined by other projects.

 

Just a few observations regards the re-release Italeri kit which I purchased and arrived today, it is marketed as an RB-66B and it has the ECM tailcone. I have made both the original B-66B (with rear radar / cannon) and the EB-66E versions in the past and it is a basic but nice kit to put together. I also have one each of these kits in the stash as well as the one that arrived today so I can make some comparisons. The decals on the original releases would just be unacceptable today however I was impressed with the new "Super Decals Sheet for 4 Versions" contained in the box. Compared to the original releases they are pretty good, compared to the Caracal standard they seem a bit clunky but usable. According to the instruction sheet they make the following:

 

RB-66B 53-0415 of the 4417th CCTS - 363rd TRW Langley-Eustis AFB, Virginia. 1969

RB-66B 54-0543 of the 1st TRS / 10th TRW SpangdahlemAB, Germany. 1964

RB-66B 54-0520 of the 19th TRS / 10th TRW, RAF Alconbury, UK. 1964

(RB-66B?) "0-44542" (54-0542?) of the 363rd TRW, Yokota AB, Japan. 1968 (Vietnam War)

 

The first three above appear to be accurate according to the USAF serials database run by Joe Baugher. For the fourth I took "0-44542" on the decal sheet to be RB-66B 54-0542 which was converted to EB-66E standard by Douglas in 1967 and onwards to the 363rd TRW. I then checked the data decal on the sheet and was surprised to see "EB-66B 54-0510". 54-0510 was an RB-66B converted to EB-66E in 1968 and then on to the 363rd TRW. This was an option on the original Italeri EB-66E kit.

 

I don't know what was on the Caracal 1/72nd Douglas B-66 Destroyer sheet however it looks like the old and new Italeri kits invite decals for the B-66B, RB-66B, and the EB-66E versions; possibly an EB-66B however I am not sure if that is buildable from this kit. Or even what an EB-66B looks like! I think there is a market for this sheet so just wondering whether you will look at the B-66 again?

 

Michael 

Edited by Ghostbase
Serial mix-up
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I never stopped looking at this project - as with many of the older types, there was some difficulty digging up the details of stencilling and some artwork I wanted to include; but I recently found some new photos and will move this to the top of the lines as soon as I deliver some long-suffering projects like the B-47, C-119, C-46 and P-3; all of which are coming in the next few months.

 

Thanks,

 

Kursad

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29 minutes ago, KursadA said:

I never stopped looking at this project - as with many of the older types, there was some difficulty digging up the details of stencilling and some artwork I wanted to include; but I recently found some new photos and will move this to the top of the lines as soon as I deliver some long-suffering projects like the B-47, C-119, C-46 and P-3; all of which are coming in the next few months.

 

Thanks,

 

Kursad

Thank you!  That is music to my ears!

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5 hours ago, KursadA said:

I never stopped looking at this project - as with many of the older types, there was some difficulty digging up the details of stencilling and some artwork I wanted to include; but I recently found some new photos and will move this to the top of the lines as soon as I deliver some long-suffering projects like the B-47, C-119, C-46 and P-3; all of which are coming in the next few months.

Thanks Kursad, in fact I just got the B-57B decals from Hannants. So hopefully not too long and you will be offering / have offered the B-45, B-47, B-52, B-57, B-58 and B-66 bombers. The C-119 is eagerly awaited as well 👍. I love all these old school jets and prop transports from back in the 50's and 60's before camouflage was applied.

 

Michael

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