B-36 Peacemaker Group Build

Can't help you teut, you are doing significantly more research than I on this.  I do have a couple of shots of the final resting place for mine.

Ugh, those seams

Question for anyone. I asked this question in the B-36 Delphi Forums, but received no response. I think I asked this earlier in this forum too, but I'm taking a shot at it again.

I see in underside photos of B-36 wings there are nine dark rectangles that resemble open doors: four between the outer and middle nacelles and five between the inner and middle nacelles. In the group of four, three are essentially in line with the angle of the leading edge and the outermost one is approximately midway between the leading edge and the flap. In the group of five, four are in line with the angle of the leading edge and the outermost one is approximately midway between the leading edge and flap.

Does anybody know what these were?  The photo below shows those black rectangles pretty clearly.

lajntx - That's a great 1st prize! Also, great personal torture for Reasoned too.

Just send it to the local sanitarium, they'll know who gets it 

Reasoned

Hey lajntx!  Great to see you check in, I was hoping you'd have a chance to view the finished product.  I wish I'd had more patience to finish her out to a higher level but it was all I could do to get it done after the paint mess.  Thanks for your vast knowledge of this beast and help, looking forward to other builds.

NP..... you also win a prize for finishing first.

Here it is..... A free 1/72 Kit of the B-36 Peacemaker. Just msg me your address, and I`ll get it out too you in the next week or so.

Hey lajntx! lol meps (Ithink that was their lingo) Great to see you check in, I was hoping you'd have a chance to view the finished product.  I wish I'd had more patience to finish her out to a higher level but it was all I could do to get it done after the paint mess.  Thanks for your vast knowledge of this beast and help, looking forward to other builds.

Reasoned

 yes, she was a bear to work with.  I'm ready for something a little more......little.

Congratulations Reasoned!  The Battlefield is yours!

You have sucessfully Gnarfled the Garthock!

Thank you jeaton, you'll get there.  Tuet, to be honest I did the canopy framing a long time ago but I think I freehanded it with tamiya tape used on either side of the frame outlines working in one direction at a time with chrome silver (e.g., masked off all frames going horizontal, let dry then do the vertical).  My recollection was this process went quite easily and achieved very good results.  Also, don't let MM Metalizers scare you off, I've used them numerous times with good results.  You are correct though that they MUST be sealed or they show prints, scuff easily on your hand, though not always down to the plastic.  Thanks GAF, yes, she was a bear to work with.  I'm ready for something a little more......little.

Reasoned,

Wow!  I have to admire the work you did on that model.  That thing is huge and must have been a pain to manipulate and paint.  Well done, sir, well done!

Gary

Reasoned, well done on the Model Master Metalizers. I was originally going to use those, but then read too many stories on how sensitive they were to masking, so I chickened out there too. I didn't plan to handle the model much once it was done, but inevitably I'm going to get my fingers all over either during transport or ceiling suspension.

What technique did you use on the glass framing?

Congratulations, Reasoned, first to finish!  I don't think any of us are going to finish this one as anything like the perfect model, but yours looks nice in the photos and seeing it done is helping my motivation, so thank you.  The framing on the glass looks quite good, and so does the overall finish.  And your tail and nose guns are all there, that is an accomplishment in itself.

Thanks tuet, the walkway stripes were a pain but manageable.  They are not cut to exact lengths needed, so you lay the longest first (along the raised panel lines on the wings) then I took my Exacto and cut as it was laid into place.  I didn't try to precut before wetting.  The stencils around the engines are another matter, just make sure you use the right one on the right engine.  I literally had to flip one of the stencils to get it to fit correctly with the raised panel lines, these took A LOT of patience and micro cutting of the walkway stripes.  Another boondoggle was I used Solvaset to try and get the stripes to lay down even better and it was just too much, they broke down a little.

Paint wise I used Model Masters Metalizers (aluminum, stainless steel and magnesium).

Looks good from my vantage point. Truly an impressive model. What was your experience with the walkway stripes?

Your experience solidified my decision not to try Alclad, at least not on my model. Never used Alclad yet. I'll be testing out various Testor's and DupliColor metallics (rattle can or decanted and airbrushed) for my B-36. Has anyone tried DupliColor on a model airplane. I wonder whether it will coat too heavy out of the can or if I should decant and airbrush.

After what seems like an eternity, this is the Monogram B-36.  I modeled it “loosely" as a RB-36H, 51-13730 of the 28th SRW/BW 8th AF Ellsworth as displayed at the Castle Air Museum, Atwater CA.  This is a BIG model!  Not that difficult per se, just very awkward to work with due to its size.  I must confess, about 1 1/2 years ago I started this project (Note: I would have never bought it in the first place but the illustrious Hans Von Hammer said it was a good buy from a LHS going out of business, so what the heck) and early on decided I wasn’t going to sweat the small stuff.  That being said, I had a horrible experience with my first attempt w/Alclad (Note: NEVER attempt something new on a model this size) and it sat for a year waiting for me to get the desire to strip the entire plane of paint, sand, fill, sand……etc….throw in some health issues and well, you get the point.   So there are many seams visible, paint imperfections and decal issues.  I had purchased the Warbird Decal sheet with all the “No Step” decals etc. that I frankly couldn’t muster the energy to do after cutting and messing with all the “walkway stripes”.  I told my 8 (now 9 year old) that Dad would build this plane and hang it from his BR ceiling, so here she is, with all her warts, and boy did I give her some.  I will take one more once she’s in her final resting place, your comments, questions always appreciated.

After the Alclad debacle

Stripped!

Ahh.....

Next to son's 1/72 Spit, she's BIG!

Just finished some detailing on the nose gear and bay. Once it's all painted I'll add the hydraulic lines to the bay.

None taken.  Your intakes look good, looks like you got the inserts to line up well with the leading edge.  Just don't do what I did (which you won't since you don't have slather the plane in paint stripping chemicles) and break one.....or two of those puppies loose.

Hello All,

After looking down the engine intakes of the B-36 at Wright-Pat, I decided I wanted to add a little more interest to those holes. I didn't have a good drawing of what the internal ducting looked like, but I thought I could at least fake the look with some plastic tube stock that would resemble the rounded edges of the ductwork.

The top photo shows the tubes plus some flat stock behind them that I will paint black. The middle photo shows the actual B-36 intakes. The bottom photo shows my version with the two wing halves snapped together (not glued). I think once they are painted silver they will look like a reasonable facsimile of the real thing; Please forgive the sloppy looking wing interiors, it will all be hidden anyway. The plastic sheets near the trailing edge of the wing are there to provide a back drop to the exhaust ports. I drilled out the engine exhausts, but needed some plastic sheet inside (painted black). Otherwise I think anyone looking into the ducts would just see the inside of the wings.

You're welcome. I figured since I was going to go down that same rabbit hole, I should investigate. I made a photocopy of the decal layout diagram and then used some different colored highlighters to mark off the different decal notices. I know it will make application easier. You might want to try that. It takes the thinking out of it -- nothing implied about your thinking ability in that statement. :)

Yep, that's the sheet.  I thank you for actually going through and counting those buggers, I would have been scratching my head if I'd had a bunch of decals leftover.  I just finished up the walkway lines around the engines and that has been enough of a PIA, now on to the wings.

Hello Reasoned,

I've been reflecting back on your "No Step" question. Am I correct in assuming you are referring to the Warbird Decals sheet (72 003) that has all the walkway lines too. If so, I just went through their diagram and counted 55 No Steps on the diagram, but they actually have 90 No Step decals on their decal sheet. If I missed any on the diagram it would have been only handful. I don't think I would have missed 35.

So, the good news is instead of tons of No Step decals, you probably only have to apply a little less than two-thirds of a ton.

I also could only find 16 out of 21 of the No/Step notices (the ones where the No is on top of the Step). I could find 16 out of 24 of the Do Not Walk Between Lines notices. I suspect they just included extra decals of the various versions because of the high chances of mucking them up during application because of the size.

You're welcome. I know what you mean. A few nights ago I was getting pretty peeved with the main landing gear bay detail -- not everything was going together quite as hoped. Thankfully, this too shall (did) pass and I'm reinvigorated. There are always some frustrations in every build. It's usually when you realized too late after handling a clear canopy that you had some residual glue on your fingers.

Thanks guys for the input, I see your point on breaking up all that metal.  I could be a real smart alec and say, building this B-36 "isn't fun" but that wouldn't get it built at all   and trust me, there have been times that crossed my mind.........many times!

Hey Reasoned,

How about just plastering one really big one across both wings. Should just about take care of it.

In my opinion, it all depends on what look you're after. In my case, I want all the extras I can put on it because the whole aircraft is essentially bare metal. At least, thank goodness, there are three different colors of sheet metal. All those notices, in my opinion, break things up and add some detail. That said, however, model making is still supposed to be fun. I'm with Jim, if it ain't fun, don't do it.

If it ain't fun don't do it!

Since I haven't heard from "la" for a long time in this thread, do any of you fellas know if the "no step" stencils  (and there are TONS of them on the decal sheet) are really necessary?  After messing with the fragile walkway strips, I just don't know I have it in me for those too!

Teutonic,

I have that exact magnifying light above my work bench but that sure wouldn't have helped me with the painting, it would have only magnified my sloppy work. Also, no steady hand or small enough paint brush to work with. Completely dipping the figures in different colored paints would be the best that I would be able to do. When I tried to paint their caps red, they ended up with red faces and headsets as well. So no hope for any precision work by me.

No one ever slept on the bunk in the RO compartment. It was only used to store spare parachutes, dinghy's, and emergency survival equipment, etc. Front compartment crew members would use the bunks in the rear compartment on long flights. The RO would rest on the floor in front of the turret access door when not on duty.

Roger

Roger,

BTW, the detailing on the crew is helped greatly by one of those big desk mounted magnifying glasses with the circular light surrounding the lens. That plus a steady hand and a tiny brush. I used to shoot 1,000 rounds a week on a rifle team in high school (trained by Army Rifle Team members), so I learned how to control my breathing and slow down my pulse. Helps to paint tiny eyeballs.

Hello Roger,

I thought about the toilet seat, but didn't think I could model the toilet paper roll accurately. :)  I'll have to think about the sleeping 2nd RO -- good idea. Maybe I can cut off and reposition the legs and stick a bedroll under this head. I have experience in leg amputations now. So, who usually got the top bunk above the ECM equipment?

Hey Teutonic,

I sure don't mind your doing the Dr. Mengele treatment on the RO as it is sure seems better than being positioned over on the toilet seat even if there may have been more room over there to do so. Did you also have a sleeping figure for the 2nd RO which was usually napping on the floor in front of the turret access door?

Speaking of tiny crew figures, I really can't believe how you were able to paint the details on them. Mine were so small in my kit that I would think it would be almost impossible to do. So I don't know how you did it, but I sure want congratulate you on this very difficult accomplishment.

As to the color of the Cut Here markings, I seem to remember them being yellow on the interior of the aircraft at least on the olive drab covering but don't recall what color they were on the outside. One would think that they would have been red but that is just a guess.

Excellent job,

Roger

Nice work Teut on the figures and the wheel bay (some kind of detail there).  And I was just happy shooting that bugger with a little ZC and painting those figures in blue fatigues with a little skin color.