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

Fantastic job Russ!  I feel so lucky to have been able to see this from the start!  All of your explanations and details have been top notch all the way!      This just looks awesome!

Ken

Hi, All,

Well, after a year and 3 months, my Arc Light diorama is finally complete (not necessarily finished ). Below are a few pictures to show the various maintenance scenes. I'll add some detailed shots later. Excuse my photography - I just have a small mini-camera and it causes a lot of distortion.

The first picture below is a shot of the third clip being moved into the loader by the MMS guys.

This next picture shows the bomb loader from the other side of the wing. Note the MMS tech with the control box for the bomb loader.

Here's a view of a nav tech working on the navigation radar antenna inside the chin radome.

Here's the second half of the MMS team loading 750 lb bombs on the left pylon. Two engine repair techs wait off to the side for MMS to finish.

BTW, I miscalculated here - I originally planned to have the techs working on the engine but then I realized there wouldn't be enough room to do that safely with the loading operation going on. I should have put the display engine on the outboard engine.

[Update: I've replaced the display engine with a nacelle bulkhead and two detailed engines with the covers removed, and moved them all to the left outboard nacelle position. Pictures in later posts.]

Here's a shot of the second jammer picking up a bomb from the bomb truck.

On the other side of the bomb truck, you can see two ECM techs offloading chaff magazines from their van in preparation for lifting them up into the 47 section.

Finally, here's another couple of MMS techs working on the gun turret. One tech is moving a B-4 stand under the gunner's hatch so he can check out the system when power is restored.

Inserted 8/15/19

And here are the windshield wipers - these were a bit tedious...

Many thanks to all of you who have looked in or followed this build.

Cheers,

Russ

Well, I had better get a move on.  I owe you a 781, maybe 2 of them.

Thanks, Ken! It's been a long, hard road but thanks to you and Dom and Jim and the rest of the guys here, it's been a lot easier, and a lot more fun

Cheers,

Russ

Hard to believe you have this huge project so close to completion already!  You have put in a lot of hard work.  I can't wait to see it!

Ken

Well, I just finished the last major task - I completed the revetment around the aircraft, and what a job that was! Not particularly difficult...just never-ending! I still have some figures to complete and some last-minute details like windshield wipers for the aircraft (since I'm not using the kit cockpit canopy, I have to scratchbuild them) but I've started assembling the diorama and I'll do these details as I go. I'm hoping to have everything finished this weekend.

Cheers,

Russ

Cool! I didn't know you were retired - thought you were still out on that sub tender. Hope you're enjoying your retirement.

Cheers,

Russ

Pretty calm now that I am retired. But it still gets a little crazy when I take the family out in the bay on the boat.

Thanks, Lee!   BTW, how are things out there in the big pond?

Russ

Excellent work! 

Lee

Thanks, Jim!

That looks good , Russ!

Thanks, Ken!

Inserted 7/21/19 from my notes.

I added a bomb clip mounting frame to the empty slot in the bomb bay, as shown below.

If you would like to make one, follow the steps in the diagram below. BTW, I made up the terms for the individual parts, so if you know the real terms, please let me know... gently .

Cheers,

Russ

Wow Russ!  I think it looks fantastic!  Great job man!     

Ken

Hi, All,

My ground equipment is completed, at least for the initial phase, and I'm concentrating on the figures and other details such as tool boxes. When we reported for duty at a new base, we were issued a complete tool box. They were usually a large affair that weighed around 75 pounds. Naturally, we couldn't carry these around on the aircraft so we were also issued tool bags. These were made of sturdy canvas and were large enough to carry the most often used and necessary tools. A picture of one of these bags is below.

I wanted to model these bags because they were the most prevalent tool carriers on the flight line. I considered using modeling putty to shape a bag but discovered it was much easier to carve one out of a stick of styrene. Below is the first of my model tool bags. It doesn't look exactly like the original but hopefully they will get better as I make more.

Cheers,

Russ

Striker8241

Thanks, Ken!    How's that arm doing?

Russ

It is still swollen quite a bit.  It may have gone down just a tad.  If it does not go down by tomorrow I may have to call the doctor and see if there is something more they can do.

Ken

Thanks, Ken!    How's that arm doing?

Russ

Striker8241

Hi, All,

My two Ford tow tractors are finally finished. I used the ones from the Hasegawa US Aircraft Weapon Loading Set #35005. However, I discovered this version is not the same one we had back when I worked on B-52s. It only has one door and that is in the back. That setup is entirely impractical for a busy tow tractor working on the flight line.

Our tractors had two doors in the front, one on either side (as shown below) because the operator had to be constantly climbing in and out to hook up and unhook trailers and stands. Trying to do that from a single door in the back would be too difficult and time consuming. I don't see how the Hasegawa version could  ever have been used by the Air Force.

 

At any rate, I decided to modify the kit version to the two-door version, which turned out to be a time consuming project. In addition to opening the doorways in the sides of the cab, I also had to modify the rear wall of the cab since, in the two-door version, there was no door at the back and the lower window was shaped differently.

 Some further modifications: I thinned out the rear-view mirror arms, removed the warning light assembly from the roof (our tractors didn't have them) and rounded off the roof edges, thinned out the steering wheel, removed the oil breather from the top of the radiator, added a tank and tail lights in the back, corrected the rear hook assembly and added one to the front. I also added glass to the windows (not included in the kit). The radiator and the fenders are not shaped quite right but they would require too much work to modify. It still looks pretty close to the original.

 

The small tank at the back is not a fuel tank. I suspect it's a compressed air tank for the tractor itself or for trailers that have air brakes - like maybe the bomb clip transporters. I haven't been able to find any information on these transporters but they weighed over 8 tons fully loaded and disk or drum brakes likely would not be enough to safely control them. This is just a guess though.

The reflective striping on the tractors was often hand  painted and varied from base to base. The stripes on the back bumpers were often painted quickly and not very neatly, so I can justify mine .

 Cheers,

 Russ

Nice work on those tractors Russ!      They look great!

Ken

Wow! Incredible! Can't wait to see them!

Russ

Striker8241

Buffirn

And the 781

Hey, Jim

Is it done? Do you have a picture? 

Russ

Here isthe size of  the 781 once I get it cleaned up.  I have the pages mostly done. 

Hi, All,

My two Ford tow tractors are finally finished. I used the ones from the Hasegawa US Aircraft Weapon Loading Set #35005. However, I discovered this version is not the same one we had back when I worked on B-52s. It only has one door and that is in the back. That setup is entirely impractical for a busy tow tractor working on the flight line.

Our tractors had two doors in the front, one on either side (as shown below) because the operator had to be constantly climbing in and out to hook up and unhook trailers and stands. Trying to do that from a single door in the back would be too difficult and time consuming.

At any rate, I decided to modify the kit version to the two-door version, which turned out to be a time consuming project. In addition to opening the doorways in the sides of the cab, I also had to modify the rear wall of the cab since, in the two-door version, there was no door at the back and the lower window was shaped differently.

 Some further modifications: I thinned out the rear-view mirror arms, removed the warning light assembly from the roof (our tractors didn't have them) and rounded off the roof edges, thinned out the steering wheel, removed the oil breather from the top of the radiator, added a tank and tail lights in the back, corrected the rear hook assembly and added one to the front. I also added glass to the windows (not included in the kit). The radiator and the fenders are not shaped quite right but they would require too much work to modify. It still looks pretty close to the original.

  The small tank at the back is not a fuel tank. I suspect it's a compressed air tank for the tractor itself or for trailers that have air brakes - like maybe the bomb clip transporters. I haven't been able to find any information on the bomb transporters but they weighed over 8 tons fully loaded and disk or drum brakes likely would not be enough to safely control them. This is just a guess though.

The reflective striping on the tractors was often hand  painted and varied from base to base. The stripes on the back bumpers were often painted quickly and not very neatly, so I can justify mine .

 Cheers,

 Russ

No problem, Jim! Take you time - I was just curious to see how it's coming along  

Russ

I'm getting there.  The past 4 weeks at work have been bad.  All is better now and I can finish my work on your 781.

Buffirn

And the 781

Hey, Jim

Is it done? Do you have a picture? 

Russ

Thanks, Subfixer!

And the 781

Beautiful work there!

Bombs away!   

Ken

Well, I've passed two more important milestones: I completed my two AMS maintenance vans and I've installed the second bomb clip in the bomb bay. Some pictures are below.

That leaves only a few more tasks to go before I can assemble the diorama:

Complete my 2 tow tractors

Complete the new tarmac

Complete the figures

Apply minor touchups on the aircraft

Whoops! Forgot - finish the revetment

Cheers,

Russ

Striker8241

You're welcome, Ken. Another piece of the mosaic eh?  .

Russ

Exactly!  And a much appreciated piece! 

Ken