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Tamiya 1/100 B-52D Stratofortress


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Greetings my fellow ARCers!

I'm in on this GB with Tamiya's vintage 1/100 B-52D Stratofortress. It's a 1970's era kit, and from inspection, you can tell. The plastic is hard and with raised panel lines. It's definitely not up to the current Tamiya quality standards. The decals will be suspect, but I'll do what I can with them.

P1030300_zpsxq8hp2m9.jpg

The build will be an in-flight one, and this is the best part, my wife wants me the suspend it from the ceiling in our hobby room, haven't done that in eons! Brings back memories when I did this with all my builds as kid back in the 70's!

I've made good progress while the site has been down, and I'll be posting the progress pics in the coming days.

Thanks for looking in.

Mike 

Edited by Ichitoe
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  • 2 weeks later...

It seems like it's been a challenge to get time at the bench the past couple of weeks, but I have made some progress on this build. The kit is not that complex with a small part count. I decided to start with the engines as I have read these were the most troublesome.

P1030301_zpstxepqiff.jpg

 

Although the fit of the components definitely aren't to today's Tamiya standards, I didn't find them to be that difficult to deal with. The biggest effort was getting the engine inlet section to match the engine body shape. Nothing a little scraping and sanding couldn't handle.   I also got both wing tanks assembled and sanded. 

P1030303_zpsd0o1kcc7.jpg

 

Prior to assembling the engines I had gotten the cockpit ready for installation. After completing the engines, I assembled the fuselage, wings and stabilizers. I still need to fill in the gap in the rear bulkhead of the cockpit and paint the seat headrests.

P1030306_zpsasx6tfo4.jpg

 

There were some gaps that needed Mr. Surfacer treatment. 

P1030308_zpsmkyz1m6u.jpg

 

The wing wheel well covers have a terrible fit. I've utilized some styrene strips to fill in some of gaps, but I don't think it's going to do the trick. I'll have to put somemore thought how to address the issue.

 

@Martin - I'm not sure yet as to whether I'm going to go with the nose art or not.

 

Thanks for looking in on my build.

Mike

 

 

 

Edited by Ichitoe
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  • 5 weeks later...

This build still lives. I've been slowly working on it as I've been trying to get several other builds completed and off the bench. Here's the current state of this build:

 

I gave up with trying to get the wing wheel wells to look decent. So, in frustration I just went ahead and filled them in along with some other low spots in the wing:

Z7EIJWv.jpg

 

Test fitting the main gear doors and bomb bay doors, it was pretty evident they'd need some help seating properly in the well openings. So, I added some 0.015" styrene strips for backing:

 PpfsyDi.jpg

 

There were still gaps to address and with a little Mr. Surfacer, they were cleaned up:

 y49R8A0.jpg

 

With a couple of builds off the bench, I can spend more time on this build.

 

I'll be doing the Buff in SEA colors.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

Edited by Ichitoe
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  • 2 weeks later...

Making a little more progress. I have the canopies glued on. There were gaps in a few locations, but Mr Surfacer easily filled them in. I also got the canopies masked; I used a combination of Parafilm and Mastermask.

MR1shgm.jpg

 

The horizontal stabilizers were attached and gaps along the body were filled in with Mr Surfacer. 

xlxPdWb.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Mike

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Got the wings on the BUFF and started the painting process. It barely fits in my paint booth! I first laid down black Mr Finishing Surfacer then Alcad grey. I typically don't worry about getting total coverage as I feel the mottled coverage adds to a weathering effect.

 

JVqu29X.jpg

 

 

WdDsWHq.jpg

 

I picked up some of Model Master's SAC bomber green and tan for the upper surface. I typically like to apply the paint colors on to a test piece to confirm I'm happy with how they look. The SAC green looked right; however, the SAC tan looked too green. I know it is supposed to have a hint of green, but I think the jar I got has too much green. Gonna track down another jar; although, I have a feeling I'll need to mix my own.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

 

Edited by Ichitoe
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Thanks all for your comments.

 

I've started the camo painting, and I started with the SAC bomber green:

Cp1OqiY.jpg

 

It looks a lot darker in the photo than what it actually is. As I mentioned in my previous post, the Model Masters SAC bomber tan I have is too green, at least to me. It looks to be more for the SIOP scheme rather than the SEA scheme. I've been attempting to mix up my version of it, but I'm not satisfied with what I've come up so far. So, I'll keep trying. 

 

Between mixing paints, I cleaned up the bombs and attached them to the bomb racks. I then applied black Mr Finishing Surfacer to the assemblies. I'll start brush painting the bombs this week. I also finished painting the engines. 

BSERFFP.jpg

 

Thanks for checking in.

Mike

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Well after several attempts at trying to mix a version of SAC bomber tan with no success, I went down to LHS to purchase another bottle of the Model Masters SAC bomber tan thinking the bottle I got was just a bad color batch. However, looking at the bottles they had, they were all the same color as the bottle I had. Frustrated, I figured I was going to have to try again at mixing the color. Once home I thought I'd check eBay for another source of the paint. What I discovered was the bottle paint appeared to be a different color than the spray can version. I went ahead and ordered the spray can, and as you can see in the pic below Model Masters has two different colors for SAC bomber tan depending on which type of container you purchase.  The spray can version is on the left, and the bottle version is on the right. The bottle version is definitely greener. 

 

otoUHaZ.jpg

 

Now that I have the proper color I can continue painting the BUFF!

 

Hope to get some time at the paint booth this weekend.

 

Happy holidays all!

Mike

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Time at the paint booth came sooner than I thought it would. Tonight's holiday plans with friends were cancelled due to an illness.

 

After finding the correct shade of SAC bomber tan, it was next to be laid down on to the build:

80JJtEP.jpg

 

I also painted the bombs:

LW38twg.jpg

 

I'm not going to attempt the yellow band on the front of the bombs, not up for the frustration!

 

There's more time scheduled over the weekend at the bench and paint booth, so I should make good progress on the build.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 Mike

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I was able to get some time at the paint booth last night after the Christmas feast. With a belly full of food and several glasses of wine, I settled in at the bench and marked out the lines of the last camo color on the build. After a few hours, I had laid down the dark green, and the camo was complete. There were a few touchups due to overspray but nothing unexpected when I do these types of schemes.

xRMCYCs.jpg

 

aBJMWlC.jpg

 

I also finished adding the camo colors to the engines. Next up is to go back over with the black to set the demarcation lines between it and the upper surfaces.

 

I'm shooting to be done by New Years day.

 

Thanks for checking in on the build.

 

Mike 

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Thanks everyone, very much appreciated!

 

Hey Ted - How's the VFC-111 bird coming along? I quit using Blue Tac after my first Bad Boy build due to the residue it leaves. I switched to silly putty. It doesn't leave any residue, and I find it easier to use and manipulate. Plus, it's cheaper.

 

A little update on the build, I'm in the process of applying decals. I'll have a few pics up this weekend.

 

Mike

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1 hour ago, Ichitoe said:

Thanks everyone, very much appreciated!

 

Hey Ted - How's the VFC-111 bird coming along? I quit using Blue Tac after my first Bad Boy build due to the residue it leaves. I switched to silly putty. It doesn't leave any residue, and I find it easier to use and manipulate. Plus, it's cheaper.

 

A little update on the build, I'm in the process of applying decals. I'll have a few pics up this weekend.

 

Mike

Ahhhh thanks for the tip Mike...I had same issues with residue using blue tac as well...will be going out to get some silly putty. My F-5 is just ramping up, got nose section completed now...I'll post pictures when done, it's falling together fast, enjoying it...  my first AFV kit-thanks for asking! Keep up the outstanding work, your BUFF looks gorgeous!! Looking forward to seeing it with decals

Edited by B-ONE27
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My goal was to finish this build by the New Year, and I just got it in; I finished at 11:50 last night! It was a fun build. I didn't worry about lost panel lines or lost detail. I just built it. I hope to carry this approach through to my 2017 builds. 

evNpJGo.jpg

skeo48r.jpg

 

I'll post a few more pics in the VH Day folder. 

 

Now to suspend it from the ceiling, just like the good old days as a kid!

 

Thanks for watching my build.

 

Happy New Year all,

Mike

Edited by Ichitoe
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