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

Buffirn

The G's and the H's had the Gunner up front with the rest of the children.  A good Gunner was a thing of beauty when playing with fighters.  

Jim

One of the children up front.

us non-Gunners, maybe need a good washing:

please let us know a bit more about the beauty of a 'good Gunner', and

i promise you the lesson will never be forgotten.

That is an experience we would love to hear about.

I cannot imagine the adrenaline of a Gunner when he see's the enemy.

Best regards,

Dominic

Great stuff!  I worked B52Gs and Hs for about 10 years at Anderson AFB Guam and Griffiss AFB New York.  I worked as a computer/radar technician on the Bomb Navigation system. Spent a lot of time in the lower crew section and under the radome.  Bomb drop misses were never our fault, only the Radar Navigators :)  No, not realy.  They were some of the best people I ever met.  

Anyway, I have that particular 1/72 B52D I have been carrying around for several years. So I have two questions reguarding your model:

1. What would the challanges be to build it as a G model. I am going to do a couple of smaller models first to build/rebuild my skills. (I haven't built a model since high school). I have only built kits out of the box with no scratchbuilding.  

It seems some of the major issues would be the tail gun, adding the second ejection seat hatch beside the ECM operator, the tail shape and the steerable chin turrets under the radome.

I know that is kind of a broad question  and if this thread is the wrong spot then I apologize before hand.  

2. Would anybody recomend a (at least) 1/72 G or H model.  The reason I a doing several models first is I want to get it right. So I am willing to wait for the right model.  But if I can modify this, I will.  

Thanks greatly for your time. and "Wow, I tell you, Wow!"  - Bartock

Hi, Bartock,

Welcome and thanks for stopping by!

There are a number of conversion kits available to convert your B-52D kit. Check the following list of items on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=conversion+b-52&_sacat=0&_from=R40

That will give you some idea of what's out there. You may have to search online for additional resources. There are a number of articles on the B-52G models in back issues of FSM, notably in issues #122 and #163. Also, I believe AMT put out a model of the B-52G.

Good luck!

Russ

Hi, All,

I'm repeating here a compilation of posts I made in the Berny Annual Memorial GB on August 5 last year (page 93). It involves thickening the main gear doors since they were really too thin on my model. If you're upgrading your model, I think this is an important fix.

"I took the plunge and upgraded my gear doors. I just couldn't stand the squashed versions they provided. Sorry but I forgot to take pictures of the doors before I started, but they were about half as thick as they should be and the inner edges were rounded off, probably due to the worn out molds. The picture below shows how they should look.

AMT did bring out a G model BUFF. I have it hanging on my ceiling already next to my -D model BUFF:

Also, great job on those gear doors Styker! I've been following this Thread diligently, I love what I see!

I tried to add this to my previous post, but there's no obvious "Edit" button for me to do so.

A really goog Gunner was an expert in telling the pilots the right time to break right or left to bring a fighter into the gun box(the effective volume of the gun).  There was the always popular "suck him in" maneuver.  With the fighter in tail chase just outside the gun box, the Gunner would make the call and the pilots would pull the trhottles back to idle and throw up the airbrakes.  That dropped a fair amount of airspeed very quickly thus sucking the fighter into the gun box.  

We didn't always win, but neither did the fighters.  Young, inexperienced fighter jocks were the most fun to mess with.  I know more than a few that had their egos deflated by a big old lumbering BUFF.  In the end, it was great training for both sides.

Jim

Bad bombs were mostly the Radar Nav's fault.  Occaisionally, the pilots would not center the banana or take over visually.  Pilots visual was often a bad thing.  With some training, coaching, and a visual target they did pretty good.  

My best radar only bomb was well under 100 feet and my worst one was about a half mile.  Both take a lot of effort.  I did have an EVS/Visual(using the low light TV or FLIR to find the release point) that was down around 30 feet.  The Co-Pilot got a 50 footer that day.  

Low level bombing was lots of fun.  It was better if the Nav was trying to puke his lungs out! :)  Nebraska on a hot August afternoon at 500 feet above ground is very rough.

Duke Maddog

AMT did bring out a G model BUFF. I have it hanging on my ceiling already next to my -D model BUFF:

Thanks, Duke. Wow! That is some collection you have!

Russ

Duke Maddog

Also, great job on those gear doors Styker! I've been following this Thread diligently, I love what I see!

I tried to add this to my previous post, but there's no obvious "Edit" button for me to do so.

Many thanks for the compliments, Duke, and for keeping an eye on the build.

When you said you tried to add this, did you mean quote it? To do that, you have to click on the "Reply" button to display the "Use rich formatting" option  then click on "Quote." That puts the quotable text in HTML brackets. Then you just add your reply after the brackets.

Not sure if this is what you were referring to, but if not, my apologies - I wasn't intending to tell you something you already know .

Thanks again for stopping by,

Russ

Duke Maddog

AMT did bring out a G model BUFF. I have it hanging on my ceiling already next to my -D model BUFF:

Niiiiice......lol......verrrry, very niiiiiice..........

One day my entire home will look like that....I wish....

Thanks for sharing Duke!

Dom

Buffirn

A really goog Gunner was an expert in telling the pilots the right time to break right or left to bring a fighter into the gun box(the effective volume of the gun).  There was the always popular "suck him in" maneuver.  With the fighter in tail chase just outside the gun box, the Gunner would make the call and the pilots would pull the trhottles back to idle and throw up the airbrakes.  That dropped a fair amount of airspeed very quickly thus sucking the fighter into the gun box.  

We didn't always win, but neither did the fighters.  Young, inexperienced fighter jocks were the most fun to mess with.  I know more than a few that had their egos deflated by a big old lumbering BUFF.  In the end, it was great training for both sides.

Jim

Great info Jim, great. Yeah, I would love to see the faces on some of those yungin's.....

Jim, how did you come by such up close and personal details, fascinating stuff. You were a weapons officer?

Dom

Thanks Russ, I will look into it. I really love what you are doing. I spent much time out at the Arc Light Memorial while I was on Guam. The B52 was and is a tough old bird. I am gratefull and pleased to have worked with only a few of the men who flew her. Even if if it was the guys who would have had to eject downward on a low level mission.  Always made my job of aligning that pain in the butt radar  much more carefull.

Jim, I love your avitar.  MITO's were a always a blessing and joy to watch for the ground crew.  Keep up the good work you'all

Striker8241

Duke Maddog

AMT did bring out a G model BUFF. I have it hanging on my ceiling already next to my -D model BUFF:

Thanks, Duke. Wow! That is some collection you have!

Russ

Bockscar

Niiiiice......lol......verrrry, very niiiiiice..........

One day my entire home will look like that....I wish....

Thanks for sharing Duke!

Dom

Thanks Russ and Dom! That is one small corner of my hobby room. I have another 60 planes or so hanging in the rest of the room; I'm running out of space for more. I won't post the rest as I don't want to derail this awesome Thread.

Jim, that is awesome hearing these great stories. I've always wanted to hear some of the experiences of BUFF gunners in combat but the stories are few and far between. I'd heard several gunners got MiGs in Vietnam, but never got to hear the details.

Oh, and when I mentioned that I wanted to add my second post, I tried to re-open my original post with the pic and add the text of the second one I did, but there was no "Edit Post" button, even in Rich Formatting mode. Oh well, what's done is done.

I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Duke, are you logged in? If you're not logged in, the edit button is not there.

Russ

Great stories, Jim! Thanks for sharing. BTW, did you guys switch roles or were you dedicated as bombadier and navigator?

Russ

I started as a Nav then upgraded to Radar Nav (bombardier) and finished my time as an Insturctor Radar Nav.  Hence BUFFIRN.

I have all kinds of stories.  Many involving digusting bodily functions.  BUFFs had a way of bringing that out.

Jim

Striker8241

Duke, are you logged in? If you're not logged in, the edit button is not there.

Russ

I guess I wasn't logged in. I now see the "edit" button. Thanks. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

Hi, All,

I scratched another itch last night...  I went ahead and installed the bomb bay doors and door locks.

Updated 8/6/19

The door locks should be painted yellow, instead of olive drab. The color shifts in the pictures I had made them look olive drab and that's the color I painted them in the original photo below. Later,  I painted them yellow .

Cheers,

Russ

Wow Russ, you just keep doing great work on this BUFF!  That looks fantastic!     

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

Russ

Hi, All,

Once I got my main gear doors installed, I realized the landing lights I added just weren't making it. They consisted of a circular piece of styrene painted silver, but they lacked the depth and "life" of a real lens.

So I bought some rhinestones, drilled shallow holes in the gear doors, and glued them in. That adds some sparkle and depth instead of just a flat color.

For larger scales, you may want to add a clear lens cover. I tried it but at 1/72 scale, the lens only dulls the sparkle and ruins the effect.

Cheers,

Russ

What a cool idea Russ!  That is neat!  I like it!  I am going to make note of that idea and if you don't mind, copy it.  (I will still give you the credit of coarse!)

I see you changed your avatar.  I like it!  Very cool!

Ken

Thanks for the compliments, Ken!  And you're always welcome to use anything of mine you find worthwhile.

Russ

Good to see the Old Crow again!

Here are some goof MITO videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNxmorJtq_8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq6Hpxyrhyo

Turn up the sound and enjoy!

Jim

Wow! Brings back memories. Two things you can't feel from the video are the rumbling through the ground and the shock waves through the air. Altogether, an awesome experience! Thanks, Jim!

Russ

Buffirn

Here are some goof MITO videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNxmorJtq_8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq6Hpxyrhyo

 

Turn up the sound and enjoy!

Jim

That was just way too cool!!    Thank you for sharing that!

Ken