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

Hey, Dom,

I never consider anyone's advice or comments as criticism. I always appreciate your concern and suggestions. And yup, I plan to clean them off prior to gluing. They do look tacky though  .

As for the truck, I just did the weathering yesterday. Thanks for the good words!

Russ

Hey Russ:

Not criticizing here,

Those rear stabs by Revell/Monogram are an over/under

flat wing spar attachment arrangement, they assume lots of glue between the

those large mating surfaces,,, so only saying i would clean the

paint off the gluing, ahem, mating, surfaces, so the glue can stick

And,

yeah,

i know you were going to do that,

but I am a 1950's paranoid....

hey, you never mentioned all the weathering on your bomb transport truck,,,,,shisssh Russ,

gettin' partched jess' luuuukin' at it!!!

That beer was for me.....

Dom

Hi, All,

I've started weathering some of my support equipment and the aircraft. I still don't have my paint booth set up so it's rattle cans and manual labor. The first candidate was the bomb truck. These trucks travelled over mostly dirt roads to get the bombs to the planes so they were frequently coated with dust. Even though the Air Force mandated they be washed regularly, mission requirements often prevented that.

And here's the weathered left horizontal stabilizer, just to give you an idea where I'm going...

Cheers,

Russ

Well said, Dom, and all too true

Russ

On the old SIOP camo scheme, there was a lady on the right side of the aircraft forward of the forward wheelwell.  Some of these ladies were better endowed than others.  :)

Jim

Russ:

After seeing some of the photos of the Buffs;

it is an education to realize, the guys on the painting crews did

not use masking tape!

man, some of them are all over the place......

I get so hung up on "accuracy", but guys in wartime just needed to get

the darn things out the door......funny how reality trumps accuracy......

Dom

Thanks, Dom!

Russ

Striker8241

Hi, All,

Well, this diorama project is finally approaching completion. The base is essentially finished and is drying from its second coat of sealer. The bomber is fully painted and ready for its first gloss coat. Most of the support vehicles and equipment are done and ready for weathering. There is still a lot to do but I estimate I will be finished in about 2 months.

 

I was able to convert the decals that came with the model from tail number 50-677 to 56-612, the tail number of the aircraft I'm modeling. Once I get the first gloss coat on, I'll apply the decals.

 

Cheers,

Russ 

Great show.....

Like the paint job on the wings,

man, she's gonna sing when she is finished!

Dom

Lol! It's coming, bud!

I don't see a 781 yet!  :)

Thanks for the good words, Ken!  I'm just glad to be done with it. Now I need to get the tarmac laid down. And it looks like I'll have to go ahead and build the cabinet for it or I won't have a place to work on it. Ah well...

Russ

Nice job on the table Russ!  For somebody who doesn't like woodworking it turned out really nice!

Ken

Thanks, BJ! .....and you're probably right!

As for the decals, the kit decals came with tail number 50677. I copied them into Photoshop and changed the numbers to 612. Now I'll print them onto a decal sheet using my inkjet printer.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ,

Looking at the photos you posted, I can only come to one conclusion..... Yer Frickin insane!!!  Keep up the good work!!

How did you get a sheet of decals with 56-612?? I do my serials with dry transfers from Woodland Scenics.

Major Kong

Hey, Jim,

Yes, they work great! Sorry, I meant to tell you sooner. I probably should have used at least two more. In my case, 12 is enough to hold the two sections together securely. You have to "break" it to separate them or pull hard from the side.

Many thanks for sending them to me. Sure beats putting in and removing screws!

Russ

Russ, did the magnets work for you?  Just curious in case I decide to build something like this.

Hi, All,

Well, this diorama project is finally approaching completion. The base is essentially finished and is drying from its second coat of sealer. The bomber is fully painted and ready for its first gloss coat. Most of the support vehicles and equipment are done and ready for weathering. There is still a lot to do but I estimate I will be finished in about 2 months.

I was able to convert the decals that came with the model from tail number 50-677 to 56-612, the tail number of the aircraft I'm modeling. Once I get the first gloss coat on, I'll apply the decals.

Cheers,

Russ 

Thanks for the compliment Russ,

those girls are begging me for company,

but the dog took his bone outa' town.....

then he forgot where he buried it.......

doggone.......

I'm embarrassed I can't even cast a little wheel anymore.

Dom

Wow, nice work, Dom!

Russ

Striker8241

Ya, that's true . I really appreciate the casting offer, Jim, but I need to learn how to do it myself. However, now that I know you know how to do it, I'll be bending your ear for sure . In any case, the additional trailers would be something for later down the road, after I finish this monster as it was originally planned.

BTW, the two halves of the base are essentially done. I installed 12 magnets and 3 guide pegs today (the picture below shows the two halves back to back). Tomorrow, when the glue dries, I'll see how everything lines up. After that, its staining and finishing. I've decided to build the display cabinet rather than a pedestal for the diorama to sit on so I'll be starting on that in the near future.

Cheers,

Russ

I had a client with a big 4' platten for vacuum casting, never saw a bubble in a casting out of that beast.

Here is a belt buckle I did for him:

And my last resin castings:

Sorry for the fuzzy photos...

This is my very last art project, it has been sitting on my sculpture work bench for almost 8 years:

"I think I've lost my head!!!!!"

"Wise up sweat heart, we both lost our surgeon!!!!"

Dom

Hear you on that Russ:

Ice-cream Castles in the sky......but Blue clouds got in my way........

Dom

Thanks, Ken!  Very kind of you for the good words. Fortunately they can't see all the mistakes or the blue cloud over my bench when I'm working .

Russ

That is looking great Russ!      I was bragging about your work tonight at our IPMS meeting.  Everyone was impressed.

Ken

Ya, that's true . I really appreciate the casting offer, Jim, but I need to learn how to do it myself. However, now that I know you know how to do it, I'll be bending your ear for sure . In any case, the additional trailers would be something for later down the road, after I finish this monster as it was originally planned.

BTW, the two halves of the base are essentially done. I installed 12 magnets and 3 guide pegs today (the picture below shows the two halves back to back). Tomorrow, when the glue dries, I'll see how everything lines up. After that, its staining and finishing. I've decided to build the display cabinet rather than a pedestal for the diorama to sit on so I'll be starting on that in the near future.

Cheers,

Russ

You could always say that the BB Stackers were extra efficient that day and had already removed the empty clips to reload them.  That would save you some work

Resin casting isn't that bad.  It takes patience which will be no problem for you.  I have some stuff right now that I am thinking about doing.  Hmmm, maybe we can work out a  deal and I'll cast for you.  We'll have to chat about that.

Jim

Bockscar

That looks like another great idea.

I see you put the gap in your clip panels, I wish!

I'll give that a try. Those bombs look great, the the fuses

really stand out.

Dom

Thanks, Dom. This was my second clip - actually third if you count rebuilding the original. The last clip, along with the rebuilt original, will go into the aircraft - that is, if I can ever force myself to build the last one  .

One thing that bothers me about my diorama is the transporter trailer - there's only one so far. In an actual loading scenario, I believe there were six trailers around the aircraft - three with the empty clips from the previous mission and three with loaded clips for the current mission. Building the trailers would not be that hard if I had the wheels - that's the dig. I may have to get into resin casting...

Hmm... and I would also need to build three empty clips...

(walks away scratching head...)

Russ

Striker8241

Hey, Dom,

You should be assembling your first bomb clip soon and you will need some kind of clamping system to gently hold the panels and chafing curtain together while you glue on the top hangers. Below is the system I use. It's just two blocks of wood pressed against the assembly and tied together with two strips of masking tape. You only have to lift one of the blocks to release pressure on the clip. Hope this is of use to you.

Cheers,

Russ

That looks like another great idea.

I see you put the gap in your clip panels, I wish!

I'll give that a try. Those bombs look great, the the fuses

really stand out.

Dom

Version 4 of the Big Belly Bomb Clip and Transporter Trailer Manual now available.

Hi, All,

I just finished this new version, and it may be the last - I'm sick of it! . There were too many updates and changes to list so you'll just have to read and compare it to the earlier version - if you have the earlier version. One of the major changes is the update to the correct version of the transporter trailer.

Many thanks to Ken Williams (SOMM) for converting my Word document to PDF format!

If you would like a copy of this latest manual, please PM me.

Cheers,

Russ

Hey, Dom,

You should be assembling your first bomb clip soon and you will need some kind of clamping system to gently hold the panels and chafing curtain together while you glue on the top hangers. Below is the system I use. It's just two blocks of wood pressed against the assembly and tied together with two strips of masking tape. You only have to lift one of the blocks to release pressure on the clip. Hope this is of use to you.

Cheers,

Russ

Thanks for the info, Cliff!

Cheers,

Russ