1/72 B-52D with Big Belly Mod, Operation Arc Light

Thanks, Dom!

Wow Russ, hard to believe you are in the home stretch with this monster project!  Can't wait to see it finished!

Ken

Ain't that a beauty, Russ! It's really something special. I have a question though - what is that red line on the horizontal stabilizer? Good luck with your project, have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks, Pawel!  That red line indicates where someone can walk safely without damaging the panels. It's only on one side because the vertical stabilizer could only be laid over on the right side to allow the bomber to be moved into a hangar.

Below is a picture of the tail being laid over.

I thank you, Russ - a very interesting info, I'm glad I asked! Best regards

Paweł

My pleasure, Pawel. Thanks for stopping by.

Russ

Striker8241

Thanks, Pawel!  That red line indicates where someone can walk safely without damaging the panels. It's only on one side because the vertical stabilizer could only be laid over on the right side to allow the bomber to be moved into a hangar.

Very cool information Russ!  I did not know that either!  Thank you for that bit of knowledge!   

Ken

YW, Ken!  I'm just full of it...information I mean .

Russ

Hi, All,

I've been applying decals since I built my first model back in the 50s. Now I'm trying to do learn to do it correctly. A lot of articles on decaling recommend using a Q-tip to move a decal from its backing to the model. However, I found the tip can leave behind very fine hairs and also it tends to wick up the water I'm using to float the decal. I went looking for a substitute.

The solution I found was to take a new wooden pencil and cut the eraser into a chisel point, as shown below. That worked pretty well. The eraser is soft enough not to damage the decal and it doesn't soak up water.

I'd be happy to know any other methods you guys use,

Cheers,

Russ

Hi, All,

It's late and I'm tired, but I finally got everything finished on the aircraft - at least for now. In the photos below, the wings are only temporarily attached, and probably will remain so if there is any chance I might take the diorama to a contest. There's a distortion at the front of the left wing root that I can't correct until I actually permanently attach the wings. I was very fortunate that the droop I inserted in the wings was just the right amount to allow the outriggers to rest naturally on the tarmac.

The last photo shows one of the bomb clips loaded in the bomb bay. The second clip I built is mounted to my transporter trailer so my third clip will be the second on the aircraft.

My next step will be to finish the ground support equipment and build the rest of the revetment. Then I can fully assemble the diorama.

Cheers,

Russ

Hello Russ!

That sure is spectacular! Outstanding! Monumental!

That backdrop was an excellent choice too. Wish I could do something like that too!

Have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Hello Russ!

That sure is spectacular! Outstanding! Monumental!

That backdrop was an excellent choice too. Wish I could do something like that too!

Have a nice day

Paweł

what Pawel said!

Ken

Thanks, Pawel!

Son Of Medicine Man

Pawel

Hello Russ!

That sure is spectacular! Outstanding! Monumental!

That backdrop was an excellent choice too. Wish I could do something like that too!

Have a nice day

Paweł

what Pawel said!

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

Russ,

Wow, Major Kong is impressed!!, Love the ramp and the sky also. Oh and after a coupla pulls on the Crown Royal bottle, it looks almost real!!

Nice job!

R.Allen

Thanks, Allen!

Russ

What an amazing project. After having spent about 1 1/2 hrs reading a bit more than half of this thread, simply had to post a comment, even though this is waaay over my head.

Amazing scratch-building skills. The aircraft ain't lookin' bad, either.

Thanks so much for sharing this project, Russ.

Hello Greg, and welcome! Many thanks for the good words. I really appreciate your comments.

Russ

Hi, All,

Just a quick update. I've been building the remaining support equipment like the jammers and some additional vehicles. I don't have any pictures of these but below is a picture of my wheel chocks. Who would suppose something so simple could be such a pain to create? .

 I learned a lot of valuable lessons in creating my tarmac file and have decided to re-do the ramp. I had some serious concerns about the color shifts that occurred with some of the ramp slices so I've done away with the color information in the basic slices so now there's only shades of gray.

 Also, I had created every slice as a unique element - a difficult and time-consuming task. I decided to use only five randomized slices for the entire ramp, and they're all the same size and shape. That greatly reduces the work in Photoshop. Now I can just load up the printer and print out a whole slew of slices instead of laboriously selecting and printing each one.

Cheers,

Russ

Hey All,

Here's my first jammer completed for the pylon loading scenario. I had to break the poor driver's arm to get him to hold the steering wheel . Speaking of the steering wheel - as it comes in the kit, it's way to thick and bulky. It took a lot of trimming and sanding to get it even close to scale.

Cheers,

Russ

If you don't "bend" to their will, the mafia will break your legs.  Russ on the other hand will break your arms!   

Looks great Russ!

Ken

Indubitably!  Thanks, Ken!

Russ

Hi, All,

Just want to let you know the Arc Light project is still on track for a finish sometime in July. I'm currently working on the revetment, which is a lot of work but boring, and the rest of the support vehicles and figures so, there's nothing that really justifies pictures or frequent updates. I'm also about to print out a complete new ramp. Again, a lot of work but boring to talk about.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ;

Happy Independence Day!

Boring building a 1/72 revetment, only thing worse I can think of might be to be a guy building a real one.....

How come you decided to print out a new ramp? Does that mean you have to re-do all of the paw marks?

Dom

Thanks, Dom! and Happy Canada Day to you!

Lol! Right you are, Dom .  I've watched them being built and it's no fun for those doing the assembling.

As for printing out a new ramp, I had a problem with color shifts with some of the slices. So I created all new slices in grayscale so there's no color information. Also, the plastic-coated poster board I laid down first on top of the wooden base turned out to be a bad idea as the plastic coating peels off when you remove the ramp slices, and also the individual boards are not of uniform thickness. If I ever do another ramp, I will use something like Plexiglas on top of the wood.

Cheers,

Russ

Hi, All,

Just to assure you (and myself) that I'm going to finish this beast, here are some recent completions. First is my third bomb clip. I left off the end brackets, angle supports and hanger eyelets because the clip is going to be installed in the bomb bay and these details will not be visible.

Next are my two jammers that I finally finished. These took longer than I expected but I'm happy with the results.

Lastly, I've been building the revetment segments. I had to come up with a way of joining the segments that will keep them in alignment. I decided on two guides that attach to one end of a segment and fit into the next segment. Each segment has guides at one end, except where the segment butts up against the back row.

I've also begun printing out the new tarmac slices and should have them in place this weekend. There's still a lot to do on the diorama, including a host of figures that I have to shape and paint, but I anticipate I'll finish it at least by the end of the month.

Cheers,

Russ

I can't wait to see this thing when you get it finished Russ!

Ken

Thanks, Ken, me too! Although, it's not easy to stay focused when I keep looking over at that C-130....

Russ

Striker8241

Hi, All,

Just to assure you (and myself) that I'm going to finish this beast, here are some recent completions. First is my third bomb clip. I left off the end brackets, angle supports and hanger eyelets because the clip is going to be installed in the bomb bay and these details will not be visible.

Next are my two jammers that I finally finished. These took longer than I expected but I'm happy with the results.

 

Lastly, I've been building the revetment segments. I had to come up with a way of joining the segments that will keep them in alignment. I decided on two guides that attach to one end of a segment and fit into the next segment. Each segment has guides at one end, except where the segment butts up against the back row.

 

I've also begun printing out the new tarmac slices and should have them in place this weekend. There's still a lot to do on the diorama, including a host of figures that I have to shape and paint, but I anticipate I'll finish it at least by the end of the month.

Cheers,

Russ

 

 

Even if a guy is the lowest soldier sweating to load bombs with

a lift truck, it is hard not to be envious in a way.

Those jammer drivers look great, and the jammer trucks are very cool.

The last clip looks real clean, but tell me,

how come you painted the fuses silver instead of brass?

Jess wundrin'.

Wish I understood the engineering of those jammers, man

they had to produce a lot of torque.

Revetments are looking good, no bullet scars or rust.....lol

Dom

Bockscar

Even if a guy is the lowest soldier sweating to load bombs with

a lift truck, it is hard not to be envious in a way.

Those jammer drivers look great, and the jammer trucks are very cool.

The last clip looks real clean, but tell me,

how come you painted the fuses silver instead of brass?

Jess wundrin'.

Wish I understood the engineering of those jammers, man

they had to produce a lot of torque.

Revetments are looking good, no bullet scars or rust.....lol

Dom

Hey, Dom,

Thanks for the good words. I remember the bomb fuses were a silvery metallic color. This is confirmed by every picture I have of the bombs with fuses inserted. I suspect they have stainless steel on the outer casing and arming propeller assembly, and that there's brass on the threaded insert and any other part where friction or static electricity might be a factor. Brass is heavy and expensive and they probably use it only where necessary.

Russ