Strategic Air Command GroupBulid

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

DesertRat wrote: try this out. It seems to work: click on the badge, so that it opens in another window. then right click on that to "save as". Save it to your computer, then upload it to your photobucket account (or whatever equivelent you use to host pictures).   On getting it into the signature block, i posted it just like you would post a regular picture in the thread under your comments block. Only difference is that you have to type in [img]'s manually   Hay thanks it worked

After some glueing and tapeing the main body is drying, the noise was a little trickie.

DesertRat wrote:

Ok guys, i could use a little help with my build here. Last night i was messing with painting in the cockpit area, and i'm ready to start with some of the controls. Now, i dont remember it being this difficult, but the raised lines and the relief of the control panel are smaller than i'm used to. I'm afraid to go in there with a really fine brush, cause i'm concerned that the paint will blead over the rest of the panel. What do ya guys use to get those really fine, pinpoint details?

I use what is called the "dry brush" technique.  Dip a small brush is some silver paint, wipe most of the paint off on the jar edge, paint a scrap of something until you are just barely getting any paint out of the brush, then lightly drag the side of the brush over the instruments.  You should get just a tiny bit of paint to come off on the raised edges.  You might want to pratice a little on the raised numbers of a sprue id tag or something similar.  After that is dry, I put a drop of Future on each dial face, let it dry and repeat to simulate the glass front of the instrument.

Darwin, O.F.   

yardbird78 wrote:

DesertRat wrote: Ok guys, i could use a little help with my build here. Last night i was messing with painting in the cockpit area, and i'm ready to start with some of the controls. Now, i dont remember it being this difficult, but the raised lines and the relief of the control panel are smaller than i'm used to. I'm afraid to go in there with a really fine brush, cause i'm concerned that the paint will blead over the rest of the panel. What do ya guys use to get those really fine, pinpoint details? I use what is called the "dry brush" technique.  Dip a small brush is some silver paint, wipe most of the paint off on the jar edge, paint a scrap of something until you are just barely getting any paint out of the brush, then lightly drag the side of the brush over the instruments.  You should get just a tiny bit of paint to come off on the raised edges.  You might want to pratice a little on the raised numbers of a sprue id tag or something similar.  After that is dry, I put a drop of Future on each dial face, let it dry and repeat to simulate the glass front of the instrument. Darwin, O.F.

   While i don't have any future yet, i do wanna try and simulate the glass faces. I think once i'm satisfied with the rest of the controls i'll give it a shot. Do you usually thin it with anything? Or just straight up future? Thanks!

I tried the dry brush technique, but i still botched it anyways. I'm thinking the lighting isn't helping me much here, so i'm gonna look for a light magnifier in the next few days. I think that'll help. In the meantime, i recovered it all in black, and i'm gonna try it again tomorrow night. Hopefully i'll get it next time, and i think i'm gonna take a crack at the seatbelts too as well. It's the first time i've ever tried to detail a cockpit, so it's.......... interesting! I'm kinda guessing on some of the details, since all i got for reference is the color scheme in the booklet, and a few poor, fuzzy pictures. Nothing really that useful for the cockpit of my build. Fortunately the canopy windscreen isn't very big, so i think i'll be able to hide a lotta mistakes that way.

gotta love the growth process..........

If you are getting a lot of paint on the face of the instrument or surrounding area, you still have too much paint in the brush.  You need to get about 99.8% of it out before going to the instrument.  I use the Future straight from the bottle, ( put some in a small jar for convenience).

Darwin, O.F.

Here is some more progress pix of the E-3. I am not happy with the way the paint job has turned out but with the time restraints that I have ( being a full time student with 25 hours of collage) I dont want to miss the dead line

and with this one the fuse was 3/4 of an inch to small

R-Cman your E-3 is looking good,

Yardbird, what was the last year a Blackbird flew.  I've heard it was some time in 1999, 

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

R-Cman your E-3 is looking good, Yardbird, what was the last year a Blackbird flew.  I've heard it was some time in 1999,

It was 1999 at the Edwards air show

Grandma L 

Saturday, October 9, 1999.  Acft # 17980 aka NASA 844 made a 1 hour and 14 minute flight including a Mach 3.21 pass over the Edwards AFB Air Show at 80,100 feet and then a couple of low level sub sonic passes.  It was scheduled to do the same thing the next day, but mechanical difficulties kept it grounded.  That was the last flight ever of a Blackbird.

Darwin, O.F. " border="0" width="15" height="15" />

Wish I was there to see it, I belive the blackbird model in is video is the NASA 844 in 1995 at dusk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLRO2qaZM8 

Can I join this GB with a 1/48 Rockwell B-1?

I just bought a basket case-kit, and would love to do something with it!

Leon

Right on! Glad to have ya in the group, USAF!

 I'm still lovin that B-25 ya did on the other thread!

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

Wish I was there to see it, I belive the blackbird model in is video is the NASA 844 in 1995 at dusk.

The SR-71 taking off has the raised second cockpit, which makes it SR-71B #17956, NASA 831.  The one making a low pass doesn't have the NASA white band on the tail or any other visible markings.  It is definately an A model, probably prior to initial USAF retirement.

Darwin, O.F.

My dad spent most of his AF career in SAC, so naturally I have several projects backed up in the hanger.

1/72  KC-135 (in an unfinished state since 1996) 

1/144 B-52g  (planning on a Chrome Dome scheme from the 97th BW at Blytheville AFB)

1/144 B-52H 

1/144 and 1/72 B-58

1/144 C-123 (to support the 43rd BW B-58s!)

1/144 B-47E and RB-47H  (been wanting to convert one of the B-47Es to a RB-47E)

1/144 B-25  (plan to convert to a TB-25N used at LRAFB in the late 50's)

1/72 H-19  (planning on modeling as a support aircraft for the Titan II missile wing at LRAFB in the 60's)

1/144 KC-135 (still waiting on the new releases from AMtech.................)

1/144 B-36

1/144 KC-97

1/48 Snark Missile

1/72 C-45

I am definitely a SAC addict.  I buy every book I find on SAC and grab up every decal sheet with a milky way sash that I see at any contest vendor area!  I'll have to review the kit stash and see which one I want to commit to the group build.   The 1/72 KC-135 would be the easiest to complete.  It has been waiting on engine pods, horizontal stabilizers, cockpit glass and paint for only 11 years!  Of course, then I'll have to build something else to hang under the boom!

Dave Henning

Little Rock, AR

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

Usaf Ssgt, you are more then welcome to join.  As long as your Rockwell B-1 is a B-1A.

Well the kit never came with decals, and must be the older mold, as it is molded in white.

My intentions have always been, to paint it white ,as one of the early pre-production B-1As, its just that I will have to come up with my own markings.

I'm also missing a few pieces, so if anyone has any spares they could let go, I assure you that they would go to a good cause.

Thanks for letting join in, I just hope time will be on my side, with this late start!

Leon

Nope! I think you are pretty much right about where alot of us are. Well, where i am anyways! Welcome! And you'll find the GB badge on page 5!

FeldMarSchall, Are ya still looking for the blackbird in 1/48? If so, i found an older release Testors kit in my LHS earlier this afternoon going for $45. It's still in the factory shrinkwrap, although the cellophane has seen better days. But it didn't look like anyone was really interested in it, given some of the dust on it. I have no idea what the going price is for one lately, nor how readily available it is. But this seemed like a safe bet. Interested?

Thanks DesertRat, I've already found one on Amazon for 19.99.

Yardbird, was the SR's sister plane YF-12 inteded for SAC? 

And as for my B-47, a review I read before buying said there would be alot of filling work to be done.  Well they were right in a big way, but the plane is starting to shape.  The main landing gear, tires and landing gear are done.  Still painting the two crew men. 

dhenning--

SAC rocks! Though I'm not in this group build, I'm a SAC vet (KC-135 crew chief) and I'm keeping tabs on it. You might be interested in a group build I'm running that's for the Air Force's 60th anniversary. Our wrap-up date is 9/18/07, the Air Force's official birthday. Here's the address:

/forums/707813/ShowPost.aspx

Cross-overs are allowed, but maybe you could build one for this build and do one with a longer build time for the AF at 60 build.

In fact, anyone who wants to include their SAC Bird in the AF 60th GB can feel free to come on over! Just post a comment over there letting me know you want in and what you're building.

$19.99 on Amazon? Really? I didn't even know ys could get kits through them! I'll have to take a peek! Was it the 1/48 scale ya wanted? Just curious......

Well, using the techniques you gentlemen suggested, i tried working the cockpit again. Still struggling with the forward instrument panel, but i did alot better with the control consoles on the side. I'm hoping if everything goes according to plan, i should be dropping the cockpit unit into the fuselage. It's kinda looking like the forward instrument panel wouldn't be very visible anyways with the canopy closed, so i may just leave it be and focus on the cockpit detailing on a different build. Also tried my first attempt at seatbelts too, and that wasn't easy either. But i'll throw up some pictures once i get the cockpit all together and post em.

   Looking at my work schedule, i'm thinking that the next 2 weeks are gonna be slow for my build. Problem with military life is that inconsistency is the only consistancy there is. But the weekend will be all out at the airfield though, so it won't be too bad. I'm actually considering doing up a blackhawk or a kiowa or something for her desk at work when she gets back from the sandbox. But i guess that might be more for a different GB, come to think of it.....

Nice! I know how ya feel though. I got a Dauntless with the other GB. I won it off of ebay 2 weeks ago and i'm still waiting. Good luck to ya!

I've got monday off. I still have a few household issues to deal with (along with paying a long overdue speeding ticket-DOH!) and call the wife. But aside from that, i hope to spend most of the rest of it on the bench. It'll be great!

FeldMarSchall Model wrote:

Yardbird, was the SR's sister plane YF-12 inteded for SAC?

  I am not sure which command was supposed to operate the YF-12.  It was a high speed, high altitude interceptor, armed with nuclear tipped missiles.  ADC, Air Defense Command, was the primary agency responsible for stopping the hoards of Russian bombers coming over the North Pole, so I would think that ADC would have operated it. SAC liked to think that they controlled all of the Air Force nuclear weapons, but TAC had the little ones for their fighters and ADC had the nuclear Genie missile for the F-89, F-101 and F-106 interceptors.

Darwin, O.F. 

Yeah I can't find that out there, The sole remaining YF-12A is at the Dayton Air Force Muuseum.
The first YF-12A (S/N 60-6934) was converted to SR-71C S/N 64-17981.  The second YF-12A was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  The third YF-12A crashed on June 24, 1971.  Its hard finding 1/48 kits of this bird.

I made come progress on the engain pod's that have the tip gear, I guess thats what you call it.