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WIP - Monogram 1/48 B-58 Hustler in foil


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4 hours ago, habu2 said:

 

Did I miss something ??? 

 

He said the decals were Cartograf decals, so I suggested a correction - not a big deal. I might be a tad oversensitive since it took me a great deal of time to design these decals.. Let’s return to the subject..

Edited by KursadA
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After a lot of sanding I finally got the bomb racks (green arrows) to fit reasonably well. The brass pins (red arrow) will be used to secure the bombs to the rack.

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The small nuclear bombs (if there is such a thing) are dry fitted to the racks.

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Here is a picture with the BIG BOMB dry fitted to the fuselage. This airplane was designed to be ONLY armed with nuclear bombs. There was no thought of being able to retrofit it for conventional bombs (the plane has no interior bomb bay).

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The framing on the canopy was finished in Bare Metal Foil. Since there are no precut paint masks available, I didn't want to run the risk of screwing up the canopy by using a paint brush.

Next step, mounting the engines to the wings 😲

Edited by Johnny_K
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3 hours ago, Johnny_K said:

This airplane was designed to be ONLY armed with nuclear bombs. There was no thought of being able to retrofit it for conventional bombs (the plane has no interior bomb bay).

 

There was a proposal made to RAAF in 1959-60 for stripped down B-58s for conventional iron bomb loads carried on wing root racks much like the Mk.43 carriage.  There's a pic of the underside of a model in RAAF markings and loaded racks in Jay Miller's Aerofax Aerograph #4.

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Pointy and shiny is very retro.
Quality work on the foiling.
 

Hmm ... If I had the leftover laundromat quarters to spend on the projects it could be fun to do a few "No Way!" what-if B-58s.
One with FLIR and other sensor bulges on the nose and loaded with something like fifty anti-tank missiles.
One in Navy gull grey and white with 4 torpedoes where this one has the nukes.
One in ANG markings with a refueling boom coming from the center pod

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Now that would be fun. Paint the B-58 in the same color as a B-52 and load it with JDAM's and cruise missiles. Maybe a Massive Ordnance Penetrator  or two. There are probably some B-58 still on Ebay. I should take a look. It would take waaaaaaaaay less time to build a painted B-58 vs. a foiled one.

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This is a handy tool when working on an upside-down aircraft. It is a foam block that is used by model shipbuilders to keep the hull from rocking. It securely holds an upside-down aircraft in a level position.

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I glued the outside engines to the wings and used a clamp to hold the engines in place.

 

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The outside seam between the engine and the wing looks pretty good.

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However, the inside seams are really bad, bad, bad. I'll need to use some PPP to fill the seams.

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The four engines have been attached to the wings and the seams between the pylons have been filled. Almost finished.

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The last thing to be done is to install the landing gear.

 

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Each of the two main landing gear is made up from 10 parts!!! After which, the assembled gear need to be squeezed into the gear well.

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Thanks for the kind words guys. This is the best looking of all of the planes that I have finished in foil. The big wings really show off the foil. However, this has been the most difficult model that I have built. Lots and lots of time wasting issues. Monogram must have had their "B" team working on this model.

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11 minutes ago, Johnny_K said:

Monogram must have had their "B" team working on this model.

 

You do realize the molds are almost 35 years old right?  Not disputing the fit issues, just noting the industry has come a long way in 35 years.

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/monogram-5704-b-58-hustler--169050

 

And since it is the only option in 1/48 this makes it both the best - and worst - 1/48 Hustler kit  🙂

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Yep, my kit is from 1985. Model kits have really changed in the past 34 years. For some reason, I have an obsession with older kits. My next build will be a 1981/1991 Monogram B-25 Strafer with the solid nose. And yes, it will be finished in my other obsession, Bare Metal Foil. It's too bad that there is not a current 1/48 B-58. It's a nice looking aircraft.

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11 minutes ago, Johnny_K said:

 It's too bad that there is not a current 1/48 B-58. It's a nice looking aircraft.

 The only one I see doing another 48th B-58 is Trumpeter,  and I'll be willing to bet there would be shape issues, mistakes in the decals and 200.00 price tag!

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This is the final update to this build. The landing gear and the smaller bombs have been installed. Monogram did a really nice job on the landing gear. I used a rust colored wash on the gear and gear bays to simulate dust.

 

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The only  thing left to do is to install the canopy, the pitot tube, the tail gun and touch-up the paint and foil.

Edited by Johnny_K
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Are you referring to this joint? It's really nasty.

 

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I used Perfect Plastic Putty to fill the seam. The area of the engine nacelle/pylon that is attached to the wing is not foiled, it is painted. After the putty dried I painted the PPP with Testors' aluminum paint. I'll take a photo and post the picture of the repaired seam tomorrow.  The repair worked out pretty good.

 

 

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