WIP-- Update 3-22-2022 New 1/48 Revell SR-71A Blackbird

JohnnyK

 

Here is another reason why the gear cannot be installed in the retracted position. For a reason that I cannot understand, Revell molded the landing gear strut's length too short. When retracted the wheels do not fit into the cylinder that is molded into the top of the wheel well. HUH!!!!

 

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Shipwreck

 

 

JohnnyK

Update - February 6, 2022

There have been discussions on the web concerning the thin pins (black arrow) that support the main landing gear. The concern is that the weight of the model will cause the pins to beak off . In reality, the pins are alignment pins, and they do not support the weight of the model. The bottom of the landing gear (red arrow) sits firmly against the top of the wheel well and it supports the weight of the model.

 

 

 

 

The slot idea was a great solution, Johhny; but it also confirms that once installed the gear cannot be moved to a closed or semi-closed position (you can't just flip it out of the way)!

 

Here is another reason why the gear cannot be installed in the retracted position. For a reason that I cannot understand, Revell molded the landing gear strut's length too short. When retracted the wheels do not fit into the cylinder that is molded into the top of the wheel well. HUH!!!!

JohnnyK

Update - February 6, 2022

There have been discussions on the web concerning the thin pins (black arrow) that support the main landing gear. The concern is that the weight of the model will cause the pins to beak off . In reality, the pins are alignment pins, and they do not support the weight of the model. The bottom of the landing gear (red arrow) sits firmly against the top of the wheel well and it supports the weight of the model.

The slot idea was a great solution, Johhny; but it also confirms that once installed the gear cannot be moved to a closed or semi-closed position (you can't just flip it out of the way)!

I am not sure what your experience level is at. This is a level 5 kit, so it is not for a beginner. It is an interesting subject and I would recommend it if you are an eperienced builder. 

I've been enjoying following your build and love the work you've done. I have a basic question: After seeing that the kit is now available at Scalehobbyist.com I'm wondering if you'd recommend it. I only rarely build planes but this is one of my favorites so I'm very tempted. 

Update - February 6, 2022

The main landing gear well is made up of four pieces: Top, back and two sides. I painted them Testors' Metalizer Auminum and Testors' dull coat. A tan colored wash was added to replicate dust.

There have been discussions on the web concerning the thin pins (black arrow) that support the main landing gear. The concern is that the weight of the model will cause the pins to beak off . In reality, the pins are alignment pins, and they do not support the weight of the model. The bottom of the landing gear (red arrow) sits firmly against the top of the wheel well and it supports the weight of the model.

The instructions indicates that the main landing gear are to be installed in step 12/57. The result would be that the landing gear would be sticking out of the fulselage for 45 additional construction steps and would be easily broken off.

The alignment pins of the landing gear are captured by the holes in the wheel well. This requires that the landing gear needs to be installed before the well is glued to the fuselage.

I have a solution. Prior to glueing the well into place, I cut away the side of one of the alignment holes, thus forming a slot.

After I glued the well into place, one pin of the landing gear was inserted into the alignment hole. The landing gear was then twisted and the second pin sliped through the slot and snaped into the alignment hole. This allows the landing gear to be installed at the very end of construction. The landing gear can be removed by reversing the process. 

Super cool! I've got one of these on order, can't wait to start it. Yours looks great so far, can't wait to see how you finish it.

The oleo on the actual aircraft is orange/red in color. Maybe that's an anti-corrosion coating. I have no idea. To duplicate that color I painted the oleo Tamyia Clear Red over Testors' Chrome. The strut is painted Testors' Gunship Grey. You are probably asking why are the tires white? The wheel wells became so hot during flight that a regular rubber tire would explode. B. F. Goodrich came up with a solution. They mixed powered aluminum with rubber, hence the light grey color. The tires were inflated to 415 psi, cost $2,300/tire and lasted about 20 missions before they needed to be replaced.  First I painted the tires Testors' Light Grey. The tread area was painted Testors' Sand. Then I darkened the tread area with a black wash. I think that the tires need more black wash.

Real G

Yep, that cokpit color looks just about perfect.  I look forward to seeing it all zipped up and painted!

BTW, are the main gear mounting points as fragile as some have made it out to be?  If the pins securely hold the gear in place, is it possible to just swing the legs into the gear bays temporarily while construction proceeds?

 

Yep, that cokpit color looks just about perfect.  I look forward to seeing it all zipped up and painted!

BTW, are the main gear mounting points as fragile as some have made it out to be?  If the pins securely hold the gear in place, is it possible to just swing the legs into the gear bays temporarily while construction proceeds?

lawdog114

Cockpit looks just like the picture.  Excellent work Johnny.  

 

Cockpit looks just like the picture.  Excellent work Johnny.  

This 1:1 plane's cockpit was painted a blue/grey.

I painted my kit's cockpits Testors' Gunship Grey. It's a pretty close match.

The kit's supplied decals are outstanding!! I used a lot of Micro Set to help the decals settle down over the molded details. It's too bad that most of this detail will not be visible through the canopy.

I painted the frames of the Aries seats a light grey. The seat cushions are Olive Drab and the head rests are Insignia Red. The seat belts are PE and were included with the seats.

Looking good. I willbe watching the rest of the build.

The resin seats have a big block of resin under the seats that needs to be removed. 

The seats fit perfectly in the cockpit tubs.

I purchased  prepainted acrylic cockpit gauges from Red Fox. The problem in using the prepainted gauges is that I would need to sand off all of the molded gauges. I think that I'll stay with Revell's cockpit decals.

The main landing gear are hollow and the model is pretty heavy, so I decided to fill the landing gear with epoxy. Clamps were used while the epoxy cured.

The Aires seat is also wider than the kit seat. It may not fit that way either!

The detail on the Revell seat (right) is pretty minimal. Also, there is a seam dividing the headrest. So, I purchased a resin seat from Aires (left). The set was used in a Lockheed C2, however, it was also used in early Blackbirds. Unfortunetly, it is too tall. Plus, all of the molded detail in the base of the seat will be hidden once it is installed into the cockpit. I may sand off the molded seatbelts on the Revell seat and use the PE belts from the Aires seat.

Don’t you love when the manufacturer goofs and mislabels parts, or not list them at all and one is left scratching your head trying to figure out what and where it goes? Looks like one very large model after completion and should make kite a display piece. Looking good JK.

I look forward to this one.  

The next step is to work on the main landing gear. Guess what, the instructions are incorrect. 

I dry assembled the two parts of the landing gear and it was obvious that something is wrong. The two sides of the hole in the landing gear did not match up and the locating pin was on the wrong side of one of the parts.

This is the instruction sheet. Parts 88 and 91 are incorrect and need to be reversed.

Part 88 should be part 91, and part 91 should be 88.

The instructions indicated that part 87 and part 91 should be glued together. Note that the locating pin on part 87 will not mate with the locating hole on part 91 when the parts are assembled.

The correct way to do this assembly is to use part 90 instead of part 87. Note that the locating pin in part 90 will mate with the locating hole in part 91 when the parts are assembled. This kind of error should not happen as it would drive a modeler nuts trying to figure out what is wrong.  Maybe the person that built the prototype kit did not correspond with the person that wrote the instructions. I will need to pay particular attention to mistakes in the instructions as things move forward.

Here is an example of poor Revell engineering. Revell indicates that the part that contains the arms for landing gear doors (red arrow) is to be installed in Step 4. The arms will stick out of the bottom of the fuselage and will be easily broken off during assembly. I recommend that this part be installed toward the end of construction.

Another example of poor Revell engineering. Revell indicates that the main landing gear is to be installed in Step 12.These will stick out of the bottom of the fuselage and will be easily broken off during assembly (remember the landing gear on the Revell P-47). I haven't figured how I am going to deal with this.

The fuselage locating pins (yellow arrow) are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to small. They are pretty much useless. 

Shipwreck

Johnny, how does the fusalage top dry fit to the bottom after installing the rib?

 

It is a very tight fight, especially toward the front of the fuselage. Clamps will be required.

Shipwreck

Johnny, how does the fusalage top dry fit to the bottom after installing the rib?

 

Johnny, how does the fusalage top dry fit to the bottom after installing the rib?

The keel and the ribs have been installed.

There is a lot of pipes and silver bags of insulation in the wheel wells. Plus there are some strange rust colored panels

There were a lot of compaints about the lack of detail in the wheel wells of earlier Blackbird kits. The amount of detail in the wheel wells in this kit is just fine for me because I loathe turning over my larger airplane builds. First of all I don't like picking up my models (broken turret guns, propellers and landing gear) and turning them over is just a recipe for disaster (droping the model on the floor). I'll paint the wheel well walls and floor with Testors Aluminum and paint the two tanks with Testors Chrome. Next will be a light wash of Testors Rust on the walls followed by some weathering. Then I'll call it a day.

Shipwreck

Hey Johnny, thanks for sharing this build for us. Two days ago I had the opportunity to get one on eBay for $110 shipped. I procrastinated and now, today, they are sold out!

 

Definitely following this one!  Good to see that the molding is so well done and there isn't any flash.  I like the idea they had with the internal structure...seems like it would be necessary for such a long, wide, low-profile piece of plastic.  Got mine on the way from the UK too.  It'll be up next in the rotation.  Hoping Quinta will be coming along in the next couple of months with a cockpit set for it.  Happy building Johnny!

Hey Johnny, thanks for sharing this build for us. Two days ago I had the opportunity to get one on eBay for $110 shipped. I procrastinated and now, today, they are sold out!

I intended to build mine in flight. Sounds like Revell will be changing my mind about that if they eliminate the stand. Makes me wonder why! Their idea of a stand may be too weak to support the Blackbird safely. I will be looking for feedback on that question as more people complete their builds!

I glued and clamped the left side of the rib to the fuselage. When will the fun stuff start? I hope soon.