B-36 Peacemaker Group Build

Hello lajntx,

I got an email from Chris at Click2Detail. The implication is that they are working on the drooped landing gear, although it is behind some client-sponsored work. I'll wait a bit to learn if in fact they are moving ahead with that project.

Hey everyone,

Where do you get small diameter soldering wire (0.2mm, 0.3mm size)?

Sometimes Radio Shack, but more usually electronics stores.  On the net you might try Digikey, they have it down to .015 (26AWG).

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/solder/1310838

Thanks John. Have you ever used 28 gauge steel wire for lines? Do you find the solder wire to work better?

The smallest music wire I have is .015.  I haven't really done any major wiring but for what I have I have used bell wire, stripped strands from electrical wire, or anything else at hand.  I find it really easy to overdo, or not keep things straight and orderly and that bothers me.  As it would when I found such working on airplanes.  Hate finding poorly done wiring and plumbing!

I started building the B-36 (at least a little bit). First step: sanding off the RB-36 ECM holes/slots/mounts (whatever they call them), leaving just the three on each side closest to the cockpit. Second step: sanding off the camera doors. Starboard side done. Port side next.

Have any of you tried hinting at the wrinkles on the B-36 fuselage? I saw a great model of the B-52 with "wrinkles" at http://hsfeatures.com/b52had_1.htm. However it seems that the B-36 is covered with so many ridges that it is either: 1) insane to attempt; 2) would distract from the model; 3) or would add a level of realism that brings some real detail to an otherwise bland silver model.

I figure if the second paint job goes like the first, there will be plenty of "wrinkles".

Aha. Good theory, Reasoned.

Hello All. I'm back from a 2-day trip to the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton. What a fantastic place. Didn't even come close to seeing everything. I spent a lot of time photographing the B-36J. It turns out it was originally an RB-36J and the museum converted it back to just a B-36J -- well almost. They left in a belly camera window and some ECM antennae at the back. There may be a few other nits too. I took a LOT of photos (I think 700-800). I shoot in RAW, so my RAW and JPEG images are all large (about 26MB each). I'll upload files to my Flickr account soon and post links, probably by the weekend.

What I shot is listed below and includes photo requests from the some of the Group Build folks. The museum uses low lighting, so I tried tripod shots or flash. I shot at very high ISOs (3200, 6400) to capture everything. Some pictures may be grainy because of that. Also, because some areas were so dark, I had to use manual focus, but that was even challenging. Thus, some photos might be out of focus, but hopefully will still show the detail needed.

B-36J

Virtually everything I could see. Top views were very limited, even from the balcony, plus they didn't show any walkway stripes, etc., so the top views were a bust. John, I shot the tail gun, but no nose gunner due to the J configuration.  Lots of main landing gear bay photos, but could see into the nose gear.

Lockheed AC-130A Spectre gunship

This was the only gunship in the collection and it was roped off due to some work going on in the Space Shuttle mock up. I took a lot of photos from the port side and a bit of the rear. Only place I could shoot anything.

McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II

It served in Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Cuba, and the Middle East during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. It was sent to the museum in 1994. I got every angle I could see (front, port, aft plus some starboard).

McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II sit-in cockpit

Was originally an F-4B forward fuselage section used in the ABC series "Call to Glory." Was then refurbished and marked as an F-4D. I tried to get about every angle of both seats in this cockpit, plus the canopy.

Boeing B-52D

I shot everything I could see, which was just about everything but a top view. Unfortunately, the black gloss underside paint and low lighting made it difficult to pick out all the BUFF's bumps and holes .

McDonnel Douglas F-4C Phantom II

This one is in Vietnam camo colors. Lots of details shots. I also took a lot of photos of the different armaments it could handle including AGM-12C, GBU--8, AGM-62 and BOLT-117.

The B-36J III Featherweight was never an RB. It`s sole mission was to carry MK-17/24 nuclear bombs at 40K+++ feet to avoid Soviet fighters of the era until the B-52 was able to replace it. The RB-36H`s were the last line to be built as an RB before the remaining RB`s were modified to carry standard munitions and assume bomber rolls when the RB-47`s ( and later the RB-52`s ) took over the front line recon roles.

The YB-36 which was upgraded to an RB-36E standard was the first B-36 the museum had and was subsequently scrapped when the current museum was built and the old site closed. The remains of that craft was sold to Walter Soplata. The B-36J they have while being the only one left that is fully intact and capable of being flown has been "restored" with many errors since it was flown in from Davis-Monthan in 1959

If you would like to see how the current J looked when it arrived from Davis-Monthan, this colorized postcard the museum sold for years will show what it looked like as it set around on the air base while awaiting the current museum to be built-- and before it was "restored" with errors. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/B-36-Wright-Patterson-Air-Force-Base-Airplane-Postcard-/231125240926?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d0234c5e

The original YB/RB-36E on outdoor display in its hey days:

Also.....

The sad state of affairs it had become prior to scrapping:

You da man, John. Thanks for the info. It was the docent that told me it had been an RB and I might have either mis-heard him or assumed it was an RB-36J which, as you pointed out, never existed (didn't remember that from Wachsmuth's book). It's too bad when a museum has the opportunity to get things right, that they fail to do so.

The good news is that the docent said if I need more photos or any other information, just contact him and he'll help out (he was a model guy too). The visit was top notch, but they had the museum gift shop closed for inventory, which put a halt on my chances to look through their book collection.

The link to the B-36 photos is:  flickr.com/.../9a45wu    

I'm uploading the other aircraft tonight and probably the next day.

They were probably confusing it with the first B-36 they had. Did you see the link I added above with the current J on the Museum`s original post card of it?

lajntx, by chance do you know anything about a small vent/duct on the starboard side of the fuselage, near the bottom and just in front of the belly gun door and belly camera window? It looks a bit like the chaff dispenser chutes. It's shown in IMG_0528 and IMG-0529 in my Flickr post. I want to make sure I don't introduce something that never existed on a B-36J.

I'm also on the hunt for a clear bead to model the belly-mounted bomb sight. I figure I'd go to a bead store and see if I can find something about the right size. The sight appears to be about 6" diam (couldn't get close enough to measure directly). If I find anything, let me know if you want some.

Also, I spotted an oval-shaped vent with a screen below the starboard wing root near the flap, and a smaller round vent with a screen about 8 o'clock from the oval vent. I thought I got a photo of it, but apparently I missed it. Any idea what it is?

No idea, I sent out a request to one of the B-36 book authors to see if they can help you.

Just saw it. Interesting. Never knew they had one before and let it rot.

John, Thanks for that. Hopefully one of the authors will recognize that little vent. Might have been connected to the urinal - or worse. :)  I looked at some of the other photos on the Internet and the oval and round screened vents are visible as black dots just underneath the flaps. It would appear they were on all of the version from what I can tell.

Have you ever tried adding the "wrinkles" to the fuselage of the circle-type indents on the rudder? I saw a B-52 modeler gently carve some wrinkles into the fuselage and it look great. The challenge with the B-36 is that the wrinkles are evenly spaced on the magnesium parts of the fuselage. The wrinkles in the rudder leading edges appear more random and the circles on the rudder are quite visible. It would be nice to duplicate that look as long as it doesn't cause one to go insane trying.

Teutonic222

Just saw it. Interesting. Never knew they had one before and let it rot.

The Museum was orginally allocated 2. The first being the YB since the XB had long since been destroyed as a fire trainer at Carswell. The second was going to be 44-92024 ( another RB-36E conversion of an original B-36A airframe ). However, the J on display now was pulled from inventory and  flown in instead and that airframe was used as a fire trainer at Davis Monthan. The reason being if I remember the story right was the J could be flown to Dayton and the other would have had to have been dismantled to be transported.

The J ( the 2nd B-36 )  languished on a back lot of the airfield from 1959-72 awaiting assignment ( which is what you see in that post card ) and then eventually was restored for the current museum. If you ever get a chance to see the pictures of it being put in the building I highly recomend it. When the new museum was under construction, it was decided that it wasnt cost effective to restore and move the YB, thus it was cut up as scrap ( with a bulldozer and blow torches ) and the sellable remains were sold to Walter Soplata

See here for pictures of it at Walter Soplata`s

http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3243121

Thanks for that tail cannon shot.  The radome there looks odd, doesn't it.

Teutonic222

John, Thanks for that. Hopefully one of the authors will recognize that little vent. Might have been connected to the urinal - or worse. :)  I looked at some of the other photos on the Internet and the oval and round screened vents are visible as black dots just underneath the flaps. It would appear they were on all of the version from what I can tell.

Have you ever tried adding the "wrinkles" to the fuselage of the circle-type indents on the rudder? I saw a B-52 modeler gently carve some wrinkles into the fuselage and it look great. The challenge with the B-36 is that the wrinkles are evenly spaced on the magnesium parts of the fuselage. The wrinkles in the rudder leading edges appear more random and the circles on the rudder are quite visible. It would be nice to duplicate that look as long as it doesn't cause one to go insane trying.

Good luck. I think I will keep my sanity and not even try that. I wonder though how much of that rudder wear isnt more the result thining metal due to sitting out in the sun for so long at Biggs AFB, Davis Monthan, and then the 13 years on the back lot of Wright Patterson exposed to the extremes of Ohio weather without maintenace. 

jeaton01

Thanks for that tail cannon shot.  The radome there looks odd, doesn't it.

Yes it does. It`s another one of those "errors". The J came from the factory with the APG-41A Tail Radome ( which is what the kit comes with ). However at some point in the crafts career it was replaced with a used APG-32 Radome off of a reclaimed F or H model.

( I wonder if it`s due to the fact that the J was originally intended for scrapping, and not intended to be kept in storage as a museum piece. This would mean that certain parts the Air Force had designated as "vital" - such as the Radomes and -53 series Pratt & Whitney engines would have been removed immediately and shipped off for storage. Then it was suddenly pulled and quickly put back together with all the parts needed for flight. This might explain some of the RB confusion earlier. lol ) 

Page 32 on here has a good drawing of the 3 different type of tail radomes found on the B-36

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51639302/Squadron-Signal-Aircraft-No-42-B-36-in-Action

I`m still looking through all my books for answers to the other questions, but here is an interesting photo from this online book on page 72

http://www.scribd.com/doc/52188705/Convair-B-36-Peacemaker-a-Photo-Chronicle

This shows the B-36 J taking off from Davis Monthan on 30 April 1959. This was the last ever flight of a B-36 ( Though the restoration team in Ft Worth came close in `72 to making The City of Ft Worth ready for flight before the Air Force said not just  "NO" but "H3LL NO" and seized the engines ).

John, The radome is definitely large; keeps the sun off the guns.

John, you might be right about the wrinkles and circle indents. Haven't found a good photo of the aircraft in its hey day to determine whether the circles are there or not. The photos always have too much saturation on the tail.

Everyone -- here are links to my Flickr photo sets. Keep in mind, I was taking photos for modeling details rather than overall shots of the aircraft (or for hanging above a fireplace mantle).

B-36Jt:  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/9a45wu/

Lockheed AC-130A Spectre:  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/U81C24/

RF-4C Phantom II:  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/nY1128/

F-4D Phantom II cockpit:  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/i57610/

F-4C Phantom II (camo):  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/6o8o18/

B-52D (SEA): http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/v2674r/

Gen’l photos:  http://flickr.com/gp/25391811@N02/d29112/

One other issue I had with the museum B-36 was that it was virtually devoid of notices. I was hoping to find some of those so I could add them to a homemade decal sheet. Oh well. Despite that and some errors, it was a great visit and wonderful to see the plane up close and personal. My wife took a photo of me standing by it. It's a bit like the tourist photos of someone standing under the Eiffel Tower: big tower, very little person.

Does anyone have (or know of) a diagram that shows witch fuselage sections were magnesium and which were aluminum? or is it as simple as the darker sections seen in pictures are magnesium...

I have the magnesium overcast book if there's one in there.

Thanks

Spark84

Does anyone have (or know of) a diagram that shows witch fuselage sections were magnesium and which were aluminum? or is it as simple as the darker sections seen in pictures are magnesium...

I have the magnesium overcast book if there's one in there.

Thanks

The simple answer to your question.... Yes, darker sections are magnesium, and shinier lighter sections are aluminum. The only difference between the bomber version and RB version is the RB has the pressurized camera compartment in what would normally be bomb bay 1. The tail section & wings are identical to both bomber & RB

The only drawing out there that will show you where what is though is in the Wachsmuth book on page 14 where the author hand drew a good diagram of a bomber version showing what was aluminum, and what was magnesium. Due to copyright restrictions ( and the fact that it was also his personal work ), I cannot post that on here. Keep an eye out for this on ebay, sooner or later someone will always sell a used copy for < $20 & free ship

Here is a new online resource everyone  can book mark:

Portions of the B-36 Peacemaker Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions

http://books.google.com/books?id=eflKhY26inwC&pg=PA5&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

A book for an engineer--by engineers. Someone here ought to love this! Esp that part covering how to manually drop the landing gear while in flight. 

No names mentioned of course.