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Academy 1/144 B-52H breaks cover


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3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Some shots of the built up model:

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10759948

 

Looks like a separate tool from the GWH kit. Different weapons load, including a full internal bomb load (although I’m not sure what they’re supposed to be).  Looks like more detail in the wheel bays too.

Very nice.   Now this one I might be persuaded to buy.   

The internal bomb load looks like the M-117 750 lb bomb with MAU-103 tail unit.

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That does look nice, and it represents a more current antenna fit than the GWH kit.

 

Nice to have the cluster racks for the gravity weapons, and it looks as though the EVS turrets are depicted in the open position.

 

Interesting that the box art and the decal sheet both include "20th BS Buccaneers" titling, even though the actual decal options shown are for the 96th and 69th...

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Chris

Edited by Gator52
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38 minutes ago, Sarathi S. said:

Is it just me or does the nose detail look a bit off?

 

Either way, looking forward to it.


Yeah, it looks a little weird.  It’s missing the ECM bump on top of the radome (unless those have been removed recently) and the underside upsweep of the nose look strange.

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The nose issue looks related to the center static strip for 3 reasons.

 

1: It's too prominent, but this could be the wash.

 

2: It looks to go around the complete circumference of the nose, where as on the real thing it does not.

 

3: On the real thing the static strip has a downwards trajectory from the fuselage end to the front of the nose. On Academy's kit the strip looks to be molded horizontally (and incorrectly around the whole nose) giving the aircraft a nose high look.

 

Fix the static strips and I think the nose would be fine.

 

 

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I thought the nose looked a little off as well but then found this pic in the attached article and it looks pretty close to what's in the kit.

B-52H Stratofortress Bomber, United States of America (airforce-technology.com)

 

I'm curious to know how Academy handled the jet intake/turbine faces.   The look pretty good in the pics.   Not like the slit upper/lower that GWH did with their 1/144 Buff.

Edited by Drifterdon
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I know its too early to judge at this time. An images below just to give some idea. Not sure if the decal placement is from CAD design. 

 

AC8E100B-D721-4987-A1F1-D12C2CD79108.jpeg

 

The kink under nose section especially when viewed from angle. I cannot find any photo taken from the same angle or perspective.

 

 

61AEB27A-E8BC-4E30-8DFB-17EB08973577.jpeg

 

The announcement is very good news I have an alternative other than GWH kit. After the impressive Academy B-1B I couldn’t resist this one!

Edited by Teeradej
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On 2/12/2021 at 7:34 PM, Drifterdon said:

 

I'm curious to know how Academy handled the jet intake/turbine faces.   The look pretty good in the pics.   Not like the slit upper/lower that GWH did with their 1/144 Buff.


I don’t care for the split upper/lower complete engine pod in the GWH kit either, not only for the seam inside the intakes, but also the gap for the fan bypass air is completely solid.  The gap might be there on the Academy kit, but it’s hard to tell if it’s actually present, or just looks like it because of the weathering.  Hopefully at least Academy made the forward fan section a separate part from the engine body.

 

Other things I see on the Academy kit are more accurate wheel wells, vortex generators on the wings and stabs as well as the “fingers” for the wing spoilers (GWH just has smooth wings and stabs with only recessed panel lines), and representation of the countermeasure dispenser boxes on the underside of the stabs (which GWH missed).  I don’t see that Academy has any dropped flap option, so that may be one thing in GWH’s favor.  The nose may or may not be an issue, but probably have to wait to see the actual plastic to tell.

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7 hours ago, Dave Williams said:


I don’t care for the split upper/lower complete engine pod in the GWH kit either, not only for the seam inside the intakes, but also the gap for the fan bypass air is completely solid.  The gap might be there on the Academy kit, but it’s hard to tell if it’s actually present, or just looks like it because of the weathering.  Hopefully at least Academy made the forward fan section a separate part from the engine body.

 

Other things I see on the Academy kit are more accurate wheel wells, vortex generators on the wings and stabs as well as the “fingers” for the wing spoilers (GWH just has smooth wings and stabs with only recessed panel lines), and representation of the countermeasure dispenser boxes on the underside of the stabs (which GWH missed).  I don’t see that Academy has any dropped flap option, so that may be one thing in GWH’s favor.  The nose may or may not be an issue, but probably have to wait to see the actual plastic to tell.

I have the GWH kit and it actually has the raised vortex generators. They're just so finely moulded compared to the Academy kit. Theres a pretty honest review of it on Youtube if you want to learn more about that kit. 

Edited by joeltc
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I also have the GWH kit.  My bad on the vortex generators.  I looked at the parts before posting, but missed the vortex generators because they are almost invisible, depending on the lighting.  You can feel them if you run your fingers over them.  But, the other points I made are still valid.

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Wow! I am playing catchup on this one.  Thanks for all who posted.  Hmm.  After looking at the GWH & Academy nose shapes, I may have to get the Academy kit just to get the various weapons loads. GWH nose doesn't look right!

Dutch

Edited by Dutch
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Well that's another one on the buy it ASAP list. 

 

And since us modelers are never fully satisfied please please Academy can we have a 1/144 B-2 Spirit too! 

 

Yes we have the Revell and AMP kits but both have issues. 

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1 hour ago, mungo1974 said:

...Yes we have the Revell and AMP kits but both have issues. 

 

They sure do!  I built the Revell a while ago.  It might be ok for an inflight model, but get's very wrong once you open up doors and bays.  I'm nearing the end of building the AMP kit.  It actually builds up in to a very nice kit, but is a lot of work for what it should be.  By all measures, it's a short run kit.  It has a fair bit of detail and appears to fairly accurate.  But it builds like a Special Hobby short run kit. 

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On 2/18/2021 at 5:15 PM, Gator52 said:

For what it's worth, here's my in-progress GWH kit (right) with Revell kit...

 

Chris

 

thumbnail-IMG-3344.jpg

Chris, Would you mind giving us an honest appraisal of the overall shape and strengths and weaknesses of the Revell and GWH B-52s while we wait for the Academy kit's release?

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On 2/21/2021 at 4:03 PM, Dutch said:

Chris, Would you mind giving us an honest appraisal of the overall shape and strengths and weaknesses of the Revell and GWH B-52s while we wait for the Academy kit's release?

 

In my opinion, the Revell kit is still a great choice for a 1980s-era B-52H.  The wedge-shaped ALQ-117 antenna fairings on the aft fuselage were replaced by the tear-drop shaped ALQ-172 fairings around 1990, give or take a year, so out of the box the ALQ-117 is the main feature that limits it to that timeframe.  Otherwise, the thick windshield framing is the biggest drawback.

 

So far the GWH kit goes together well and has very nice detail.  It features the ALQ-172 antenna fairings, along with separate MRT & GPS antenna fairings, which picks up where the Revell kit leaves off, allowing a B-52H from circa 1990 to close to present day, if the the two CONECT antennas are scratchbuilt, and the antenna fairing on top of the radome is removed.  As already pointed out, a tail gun would need to be sourced for modeling the ~1990 to ~1995 timeframe with the GWH kit.  Overall it appears much more accurate than the 1/72 Modelcollect kit, although it does look as though GWH may have had a Modelcollect kit on hand for reference when designing the main gear wells, as there are accuracy issues there.  Based on the photo above, it looks like Academy will have the most accurate main gear wells of the 1/144 B-52 kits.

 

FWIW, the GWH parts breakdown appears to support a late, non-ALCM G, though the ALQ-172 fairings on the forward fuselage seem to preclude an early G/H version with this fuselage.

 

Chris

Edited by Gator52
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From the test shot parts I played with last summer, there are some smaller engine pods there(sorry not an expert of B-52).

So seems there will also be a B-52G in the future.

 

Talking about the nose cone, I think GWH one upper curve could be a bit flatter. 

Meanwhile Academy nose cone is too pointy, compared with the real life photos.

So maybe both have their own issues.

 

Sorry just too lazy to make picture comparison since not really so fancy of B-52G/H...

(I want a D but failed to convince GWH to make it. After all, all 1/144 items R&D are done by their Japan agency Pit-Road so they are the final decision maker.)

 

Just my 2 cents.

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