Dr. Strangelove B-52

Rudi35 wrote:

"The name Leper Colony comes from "12 o'clock high"." Yikes, I sure got that one wrong.

"The name Leper Colony comes from "12 o'clock high"."

Yikes, I sure got that one wrong.

It's a 10' foot long model made for the movie. The name Leper Colony comes from "12 o'clock high".

If you look carefully at the scenes of the flight over the Arctic, you'll see the shadow of the camera plane that shot the background. Unmistakeably a B-17.

"And they make such damn nice little cameras."

Sellars was to play Kong, even learned a Texas accent, until he broke his leg, which is why Dr. S is in a chair. The production sent a letter to John Wayne requesting he play Major Kong. They never heard back. Second choice was Dan Blocker, but couldn't reach terms. I think ole Slim was just the right guy. There's a rumor that when Kong completes the inventory of the survival kit and says "Fella could have a nice time in Vegas with this" he said "Dallas" but it was overdubbed in final production. (The movie came out in December 1963.)

If I am reading that tail number correctly, (it is a little blurry to these old fart eyes), it is 76471.  That serial number is one of eight B-52G-75-BW produced at Boeing Wichita.  The guns, short tail, 700 gallon external fuel tanks, engines, side by side ejection hatches for the gunner and EWO as well as the nose radome all match for a G.  The original G and H models had a significantly longer, one piece nose radome than the A-F. When the EVS turrets and various RHAW antenna were added in the late 70s, the radome was made even longer.

Darwin, O.F. 

PaintsWithBrush wrote:

My favorite element of the movie was Gen. Ripper's deduction of fluoridation in the water as the cause of his "problem".

And of course who can forget his story of when he first 'developed' his theory - during the physical act of love!

So it looks like the plane in the movie is a combination of at least two types. I was worried about that. I was going to build it (in the future) for a friend and although he's an expert on the movie, he knows little about A/C so probably something close would do.

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

At first it looked like a D model but, don't know.  Maybe F or G? Dr  Strangelove is a very good movie, "Well I'll reckon this is it, nuclear combat toe to toe with the ruskies"

Thanks FieldMarSchall. I have a feeling it's a bit of a chimera but was hoping to eventually model it.

That was one of the best lines in the movie, which was overflowing with great lines and scenes.

Another bit of trivia. In the book Major Kong had come from a long line of warriors who all died valiantly in battle. He was despondant since his career was coming to an end and he hadn't seen battle at all yet (Post-Korea, Pre-Vietnam). So his ecstasy while riding the warhead into the target becomes even more chilling IMO. He was able to uphold his family's honour.

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the WAR ROOM!"

At first it looked like a D model but, don't know.  Maybe F or G?

Dr  Strangelove is a very good movie,

"Well I'll reckon this is it, nuclear combat toe to toe with the ruskies"