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

Russ:

everithin' but buildin' them for me!

Thanks man, I'll cut out of a solid piece. Cutting styrene is a challenge, what with the induced strain, raised edges, etc, so for 1/72, a true challenge.

no worries here, i wish I could see that as you go, I love learning....

I'm going to start the panels as i have three days this coming weekend.......all due to an ancient Israeli...lol.....I still love the guy.

My eyesight is shot, and hands not like they were. But, i appreciate product.

Your bleeding edge innovation is greatly appreciated, first shot at that I've seen, apologies to those I've missed.

Hmmmmm....Easter......Crater Egg Clips.......what a gift to humanity......lol

Dom

Source: Walter Boyne

Bockscar

Duke Maddog

Striker8241

Thanks, Duke. That sounds like a good way to do it. How would you keep the bomb perpendicular to the paint?

Thanks again,

Russ

I would say eyeball it. Generally it's pretty easy. I knew one guy who attached the bombs to toothpicks or something similar, making sure that they were lined up with the bomb centerline. Then he attached a clamp to the small drill press that he uses with his Dremel so that he could clip the bombs to the drill press and use that to dip the bombs while keeping them perpendicular to the paint.

I personally have eyeballed it and it came out very nicely.

Keep up the great work; I'm looking forward to more.

Duke, to avoid the blobbing or glomming issue, how thick or thin should the 'sheep dip' be?

Jess' wundrin', my hands like a few before me, are beyond neuro surgery.

Dom

Bockscar

Duke Maddog

Striker8241

Thanks, Duke. That sounds like a good way to do it. How would you keep the bomb perpendicular to the paint?

Thanks again,

Russ

I would say eyeball it. Generally it's pretty easy. I knew one guy who attached the bombs to toothpicks or something similar, making sure that they were lined up with the bomb centerline. Then he attached a clamp to the small drill press that he uses with his Dremel so that he could clip the bombs to the drill press and use that to dip the bombs while keeping them perpendicular to the paint.

I personally have eyeballed it and it came out very nicely.

Keep up the great work; I'm looking forward to more.

Duke, to avoid the blobbing or glomming issue, how thick or thin should the 'sheep dip' be?

Jess' wundrin', my hands like a few before me, are beyond neuro surgery.

Dom

I usually make mine about the consistency of milk. That way it is thin enough so if you need to dip more than once to get a clear color, it still doesn't glom. Any thinner and it may not be opaque enough.

Good luck; I am looking forward to seeing how those bombs look.

Duke

I use a similar method to paint the tips of propellers. It works especially well in 1/72 when a prop warning stripe is multi-colored like white/red/white.

Yeah, I agree Cobra! I've done the same too. Brilliant minds think alike!

Duke Maddog

Bockscar

Duke Maddog

Striker8241

Thanks, Duke. That sounds like a good way to do it. How would you keep the bomb perpendicular to the paint?

Thanks again,

Russ

I would say eyeball it. Generally it's pretty easy. I knew one guy who attached the bombs to toothpicks or something similar, making sure that they were lined up with the bomb centerline. Then he attached a clamp to the small drill press that he uses with his Dremel so that he could clip the bombs to the drill press and use that to dip the bombs while keeping them perpendicular to the paint.

I personally have eyeballed it and it came out very nicely.

Keep up the great work; I'm looking forward to more.

Duke, to avoid the blobbing or glomming issue, how thick or thin should the 'sheep dip' be?

Jess' wundrin', my hands like a few before me, are beyond neuro surgery.

Dom

Bockscar

Duke Maddog

Striker8241

Thanks, Duke. That sounds like a good way to do it. How would you keep the bomb perpendicular to the paint?

Thanks again,

Russ

I would say eyeball it. Generally it's pretty easy. I knew one guy who attached the bombs to toothpicks or something similar, making sure that they were lined up with the bomb centerline. Then he attached a clamp to the small drill press that he uses with his Dremel so that he could clip the bombs to the drill press and use that to dip the bombs while keeping them perpendicular to the paint.

I personally have eyeballed it and it came out very nicely.

Keep up the great work; I'm looking forward to more.

Duke, to avoid the blobbing or glomming issue, how thick or thin should the 'sheep dip' be?

Jess' wundrin', my hands like a few before me, are beyond neuro surgery.

Dom

I usually make mine about the consistency of milk. That way it is thin enough so if you need to dip more than once to get a clear color, it still doesn't glom. Any thinner and it may not be opaque enough.

Good luck; I am looking forward to seeing how those bombs look.

Given I've got 84 to do, then the 750's, I'll experiment with each method and see which one I can't

scrooge up, or is the easiest......

Dom

You're welcome Dom, looking forward to seeing the results.

Hi, All,

For those of you interested in the Big Belly bomb clips, here is a photo I found showing some empty clips. Unfortunately, you can't see a lot of detail but you can see the release hardware in the slots. These particular clips were used for 750-lb bombs so they only have two panels.

BTW, I've managed to accumulate enough of the right size wheels to upgrade my trailer so it looks like the actual trailer. Once I get mine completed, I'll update the bomb clip manual.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ:

Many thanks for that photo.

Any idea how the release mechanism actually worked?

Also, I haven't seen a clear picture of the brackets on the bombs themselves.

Many old WWII brackets from different forces looked like a small loop of  welded steel rod, any pictures of a bomb's bracket hanging around?

Thanks

Dom

Sure, Dom,

Here are the only close up photos I have. There were at least two types of shackles, probably more. The first one was the one used with the pylons. The second was used to hang the bombs on the bomb clips.

I remember the munitions guys at Kadena attaching the second type of shackle to the bombs before they took them off the truck. This fits with them loading the bombs directly onto the bomb clips while they were installed in the aircraft.

Cheers,

Russ

Thanks for those pictures Russ:

That's real nitty gritty.

I can see a solenoid for the pylon shackle, and the stabilizer pads/discs.

I am guessing that small rod in the middle and pointing down is some kind of "bomb present yes/no"

logic switch.

Still the same old loops on the bomb itself, any idea what those little 'toothbrushes' are I see

sticking out the top of the clip shackle? I saw them in other clip photos.

The picture of the clip shackle has a background that looks more like Nevada than 'Nam.

Again, thanks for those pictures.

Dom

Bockscar

Still the same old loops on the bomb itself, any idea what those little 'toothbrushes' are I see

sticking out the top of the clip shackle? I saw them in other clip photos.

Dom,

I'm guessing those engage the release mechanism - probably solenoids mounted in the panel.

Bockscar

 

The picture of the clip shackle has a background that looks more like Nevada than 'Nam.

Again, thanks for those pictures.

Dom

You're welcome . That "mountain" threw me too the first time; then I realized what it was - it's the sand berm around the bomb assembly area. The hills in the background are real. This photo is probably from Utapao, Thailand. There are hills and mountains like that around the base.

Cheers,

Russ

The "little toothbrushes" are the actuators for the clip release.  Those legs fit into the bomb release mechanism on the rack.  

The thingy sticking down probably is a loaded indicator.

I'll have a look through my stuff and see if I can come up with some drawings and some nomenclature.

Hi, All,

While I struggle with the framework for my diorama, I've been experimenting with creating some scale pavement. Being inherently lazy, I balked at manually marking and detailing such a large expanse of parking ramp, so I'm creating it in Photoshop.

Below is my first basic tarmac pattern that I created from an actual photo. I will add other details such as oil and fuel spills, fuel covers and static grounding point marks and jet blast marks on separate layers. I plan to print them out on a heavy matte paper, piece them together and then spray the whole thing with lacquer dullcote - but then, that's a long way down the line and there are a lot of options.

I am creating about five different versions of this segment, all slightly different so I can piece them together in a random pattern.

 Below is a preliminary look at how the pavement will look with the model. I'm still experimenting with color and light shades as well.

Cheers,

Russ

And you still have to make chocks and grounding wires and all sorts of other things.  At least you will have something to occupy your time.

I did find some drawings of the bomb releases today.  I'll get them up soon.

Buffirn

The "little toothbrushes" are the actuators for the clip release.  Those legs fit into the bomb release mechanism on the rack.  

The thingy sticking down probably is a loaded indicator.

I'll have a look through my stuff and see if I can come up with some drawings and some nomenclature.

 

Buffirn

And you still have to make chocks and grounding wires and all sorts of other things.  At least you will have something to occupy your time.

I did find some drawings of the bomb releases today.  I'll get them up soon.

 

That's great, Jim. Thanks! 

Russ

Did I forget to mention tool boxes and assorted rags?

:)

Striker8241

Hi, All,

While I struggle with the framework for my diorama, I've been experimenting with creating some scale pavement. Being inherently lazy, I balked at manually marking and detailing such a large expanse of parking ramp, so I'm creating it in Photoshop.

Below is my first basic tarmac pattern that I created from an actual photo. I will add other details such as oil and fuel spills, fuel covers and static grounding point marks and jet blast marks on separate layers. I plan to print them out on a heavy matte paper, piece them together and then spray the whole thing with lacquer dullcote - but then, that's a long way down the line and there are a lot of options.

I am creating about five different versions of this segment, all slightly different so I can piece them together in a random pattern.

 Below is a preliminary look at how the pavement will look with the model. I'm still experimenting with color and light shades as well.

Cheers,

Russ

Great idea there Russ!  I think it will look fantastic.     

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

Dumb question Russ, so forgive me here:

Are the seams in the pavement really that wide scale-wise?

Dom

Dom,

When the concrete squares are first formed, you can just about stick the toe of your shoe down in the cracks. Later, they fill them with tar to prevent rain from seeping under them and to keep plants from growing up between them. In the hot sun, the tar swells and oozes out on either side, making the cracks look even wider.

I actually made the cracks in my pattern thinner than they appear in the photo because they made the pattern look like a block of decorative tiles you can buy at the store. Probably an obstacle illusion . However, I'm working on a layer that will replicate the tar in the joints.

Below is the photo I used to make the pattern. It's about the closest to an overhead shot I've been able to find so far that uses the 10-12 ft concrete squares.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ:

Glad i asked, never knew any of that, always an education for the real information Russ - thanks.

I was going to say the foot of the ladder looked like it could fall

into one of those canyons.

Come to think of it, concrete pavement is always the first thing to buckle on a really hot summer's day, engineers prawley had that all figured out.

Looking forward to the J-57 soot, and all the tire and oil marks bud.

BTW, nice VTOL, looks like my ride.....

Dom

Bingo!

Buffirn

Did I forget to mention tool boxes and assorted rags?

:)

 

Lol, I suppose next you'll want a porta-potty over against the revetment... .

Hi, All,

This idea of using Photoshop to create my tarmac is turning into a real challenge. The biggest problem is the overall size of the ramp in the diorama (~ 38 in x 38 in). Since my printer will only print 8.5 in x 11 in sheets, I will have to print the ramp in segments. I found that with 50 mm squares, I can print a full 3 x 5 segment ( I call it a "slice").

But this presents another problem because now I have to be able to position the tie down points, grounding points, fuel ports, etc. as well as the oil and fuel stains, tire tracks and blast marks in the correct locations relative to the aircraft - but with the correct portions of these details on specific slices!

To tackle this, I've created a full scale layered TIF file that represents the entire diorama. On one top layer, I have the revetment outline and on another the outline of the aircraft. I've begun filling in the slices from left to right starting at the bottom left. Each slice is on a separate layer and is labeled alpha-numerically (in the program) according to the row (A, B, C,...) and slice number (1, 2, 3, ....). Each row consists of four slices. A copy of the file so far is shown below.

For example, the first row consists of slices A-4, A-7, A-6 and A-3. I've created a total of 10 different slices and I'm placing them so as to make the pattern generally random - that's why the numbers are mixed up.

Next, I'll create separate layers for the oil stains, position and warning symbols, and taxi stripes.

Cheers,

Russ

Why yes, I would!

Hmm, well I don't remember ever seeing one back in those days, or using one on base... But then, they did make them starting in the 60s so I guess it's possible, and certainly practical, especially with a big base like Utapao or Anderson . However, having one of those standing out in that heat and humidity all day... erg... I'll check around .

Russ

Hi, All,

Here's an update on my tarmac printing project. I've completed building all of the slice layers and today I added the jet blast, tire tracks, and what I call the "grunge" layer - the general dirtiness around the areas that see the most traffic and maintenance. Below is the first composite of these layers. This weekend, I hope to print out the complete ramp and see how it looks.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ,

You sure you don't want to take that image down and sell it on Ebay?

I am your first customer.

By the way, you did a fantastic job randomizing those tiles and setting the tires and smoke on the concrete.

Looks fantastic

Dom

Lol! Thanks, Dom!

BTW, that's not my plane - my paint job won't look that good . It's just a drawing I found on the internet.

If you're interested in the files, I've created them as TIF files so they can be read by just about any image editing program that recognizes layers. I'd be glad to send you copies of what I have. The main file is quite large - 165 mb and growing, but I can break it down into smaller files. And unless you're building a similarly sized diorama, you won't need all 10 of the ramp slices anyway. Let me know.

Cheers,

Russ

That is so incredible! Way to go! Are you also going to add fuel drops around the outer wing tanks? Not to mention the hydraulic and oil spills around where the fuselage is. I wouldn't mind having a copy of all these as well!

Man, keep up the great work, this is one tremendous diorama! I do hope I can see it in person one of these days!