yardbird78 Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 This starts out with a Testors 1/48th SR-71A and will be modified to an A-12 using the Kiwi Resins conversion set and Cutting Edge exhaust mod set. The tail cones. Black is the stock plastic and white is the Kiwi parts. The forward fuselage parts. The Cutting Edge exhaust parts. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
archybean Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I'll be watching this with interest! I've got one in the stash to do. David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Very nice. The Hawk version of this is one of my early recollections of model building. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
archybean Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 I'd never lined up my resin next to the kit parts before. The SR is 6' longer than the A-12...is it me or does the conversion piece make it too short? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 (edited) I'd never lined up my resin next to the kit parts before. The SR is 6' longer than the A-12...is it me or does the conversion piece make it too short? The boat tail on the A-12 is about 3-4 feet shorter than the SR-71. It is only a few inches past the trailing edge of the elevons. The nose is also about 2 feet shorter. The resin conversion parts measure out to be really close to the real thing. Darwin Edited July 5, 2016 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 The top SR-71 tail piece in place, just setting there. The top A-12 piece in place. The SR-71 bottom piece in place temporarily. The A-12 bottom piece in place. The fit is terrible along the sides and the center has WAY too much arch to it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Yikes! Now I'm kinda glad I never bought one of those Kiwi sets. Although I'm sure it will be worth the effort in the end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
archybean Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 The boat tail on the A-12 is about 3-4 feet shorter than the SR-71. It is only a few inches past the trailing edge of the elevens. The nose is also about 2 feet shorter. The resin conversion parts measure out to be really close to the real thing. Darwin I knew the boat tail was significantly shorter. Cleaner look to the backside IMO. I guess your photo looks deceptively short to me; that sure looks like more than half an inch for scale 2'! I'm hoping I can get mine out of storage at my parents to give it a go. My modelling has been on the back burner the last 5 years since adulting got in the way. Plus I've never done a conversion before, so felt a bit daunted by the task. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 The resin nose cone and upper forward fuselage with the pilot & RSO canopies and spacer. Test fit of the parts and it is NOT good. RSO canopy and spacer turned into the upper Q-bay hatch. The in-Flight-Refueling receptacle in the resin part (immediately behind the aft cockpit opening), is too small and mis-shaped. The IFR for the plastic is shaped right, but too far aft. I removed both IFR's from their respective parts and grafted the plastic one into the resin part, then joined the back part of it to the plastic fuselage top. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Good luck with the joints . Something sleek nice choice Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Drifterdon Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 (edited) You know Darwin. You've got me thinking that maybe I can take my LS SR-71 and convert it into an A-12. Heck, it looks more like an A-12 than it does an SR anyway and the work should be minimal given the scale. You're doing great so far. I've built the 1/48 Testors SR-71 and it was a ton of work filling in all the joints and then rescribing what was lost in the sanding process. If it's permissible can we post some of our previous recce builds somewhere? Don Edited July 13, 2016 by Drifterdon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 You're doing great so far. I've built the 1/48 Testors SR-71 and it was a ton of work filling in all the joints and then rescribing what was lost in the sanding process. If it's permissible can we post some of our previous recce builds somewhere? Don Great idea. I just set up a thread for "Inspiration" builds from the past. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) The lower forward fuselage and the resin replacement for the lower Q Bay hatch. The small squares are the outlines of the camera windows for the Perkin-Elmer Type I camera system. They were not on the part in the beginning. The SR chine bay camera windows filled in and the A-12 lower hatch dry fit in place. Top and bottom forward fuselage. Darwin Edited August 8, 2016 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grandboof Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Comming along well Looking forward to more Martin H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
texgal45 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 My goodness, that looks like a lot of work and it looks great so far. I am familiar with the SR-71, but I have never heard of the A-12 before. Grandma L Quote Link to post Share on other sites
my favs are F`s Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Yardbid, now i noticed your topic and strolled through the posts. I like the conversation and in this huge scale should look like an black monster bird :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neeko Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 This is awesome!! I have a Kiwi conversionot as well, and am watching this thread with great interest... I was planning to use a YF-12 kit as the basecond model. Given the issues with the resin tail piece, the YF-12's stock tail should suffice, right? The tails were the same as the A-12, were they not? Keep up the awesome work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 ...I was planning to use a YF-12 kit as the basecond model. Given the issues with the resin tail piece, the YF-12's stock tail should suffice, right? The tails were the same as the A-12, were they not? The A-12, YF-12 and M-21 all used the same basic airframe with the short boattail. The Testor's/Italeri 1/72 version of the YF-12 has a VERY pronounced bulge under the aft fuselage between the landing gear and tail feathers. The SR-71 has a slight bulge in that area, but not nearly as much. I don't know if the Italeri 1/48 YF-12 has that bulge or not. Another problem with using the YF-12 as a start is the bottom of the forward fuselage, (ahead of the wing), is a much different shape than the A-12 or SR-71 in order to accommodate the missile wells and their doors. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I am loving all this surgery on your build Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
archybean Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Any updates on this bird? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 Any updates on this bird? I have been busy with other family matters and haven't had time for modeling for awhile. I hope to get back at it very soon. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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