First Ever Official RPF Group Build - IT HAS BEGUN...

PHArchivist

Thanks!

Yeah the shine is killing me. I love it but need to work it a bit. Looks great if I'm doing the model as the plane is today, hanging in a museum.

I think I'll experiment with the wings. Will likely start with a Testor's semi-gloss on the wings and see how that goes.

modeleers

Bob, she's a looking Great! Based on your pics - my sources (at Silver Hill) & related references indicate that you are uber-close to the Bell X-1's (46-062/tail code 6062) original color ((Federal Standard) FS 12243).

It's a gloss orange that was Re-Painted several times, utilizing the Same color. (the desert-air at Murdoc having taken it's toll on the gloss)
Note: Most photos (& film footage) are faded with time & looked washed of color - making her appear more Flat, with her orange color appearing lighter than it actually was. White detail/accents were added (to 6062) to the upper / lower spines & rudder in 48.

Gigatron

Well, my X-15 arrived yesterday as well as my copy of "Hypersonic: The story of the X-15" .

The Special Hobby kit has a lot of detail that I thought I would end up having to scratchbuild, so that's a bit of a relief. But thanks to the book, I see a lot of detail that I'm going to end up scratchbuilding, anyway .

Does anyone have a really good reference picture of the inside of the canopy of the -2? I'm looking for a good shot of the spotlights and the cameras. The extra plating would be good, too.

-Fred

jockdeboer

I got my pilot and spray in. I guess now I need to actually do something!

Gigatron

Yeah - like wait till March 1st, for the rest of us shlubs. And by "the rest of us shlubs", I mean me. I need to finish off this flakpanzer before I can start on the X-15 .

Trust me on this, once this build starts on the 1st, we're going to have a blast; comparing builds, techniques and the war stories associated with them. I've done a half a dozen of these builds on another board and it is totally worth the wait.


-Fred

CustomPropSculptorGuy

So I don't want to sound completely dumb but do you have to buy a kit or can I like, sculpt one and fabricate it???

Gigatron

As long as it fits the criteria of the build (manned space craft or test vehicle used by NACA/NASA), I don't think it matters who manufactures it, whether it's you or Revell. Plus, we already have another member who is scratchbuilding their own kit.

So what did you have in mind ?

-Fred

CustomPropSculptorGuy

Honestly, not idea just yet. I wanted to make sure it was okay if I decided to do a scratch build. I live an hour and a half from Kennedy Space Center in FL so I may just take a drive over and see what tickles my fancy :-)

PHArchivist

Always nice to have a reason to pop over there! I wish I lived that close!

Gigatron

you ain't kiddin' - I wish I lived that close to anything .

I really need to get down to the smithsonian one of these days, to check out the Air&Space museum. It's only an 8 hour drive

-Fred

PHArchivist

You do - MiB HQ...

Gigatron

Yeah, but I can't get any of them to give me a tour. Every time I knock on the door, they point a chrome plated tampon at me and I wake up in New Jersey.

-Fred

JMChladek

I'm surprised that you actually REMEMBER them pointing that device at you.

I can certainly empathize as living in the middle of the US means there isn't much to get inspiration from when it comes to spacecraft, although things are getting a little better. The Kansas Cosmosphere is about 6 hours away and while the Strategic Air & Space museum is much closer, I've seen their stuff for years and there isn't much space related hardware. Although I can't complain too much since they have an Apollo block 1 capsule on display, some smaller NASA artifacts, an SR-71 Blackbird and the recently arrived X-38 CRV. Plus back in 2006, we had the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule on display when it was a travelling exhibit (it is now on permanent exhibit at the Cosmosphere).

Admittedly though, the eye candy you can see at KSC, the Smithsonian or Edwards AFB periodically makes me ponder wanting to move close to one of those places permanently. That is until I look at how much rent I would have to pay to do so. Plus, I'll be going to KSC next month to watch STS-131 lift off, so at least I can get my "fix" of spaceflight induced endorphine release in my brain (it is worse then any illegal drug I know of, or sniffing Testors tube glue. ).

Hotshot

Just a heads up, there's an wesome conversion article in the latest Fine Scale Modeller on how to convert a B-52 to a Mothership. Looking foward to following this build!!

Gigatron

Yeah, my best guess is that they don't set the time back far enough to account for the original encounter. That's why these guys are door agents and not field agents - get what you pay for, I guess





That was a really good article - some of the guys that submit the articles are just phenominal modelers.

Why not join the build - it'll be more fun than just following

-Fred

Sith_241

Ok, im confirmed on the B-52 mother ship (PROVIDED I CAN FIND A KIT)

Thus far it seems all the kits that are in a decent scale are out of production. Still trying to locate a Revell 1:72 or Minicraft 1:144

LizardJedi

So if you build a 1/72 B-52, and I'm building a 1/72 X-15, and we're both in San Jose... I sense a finished group build photo op...

Sith_241

Your feelings are strong!

Sounds good to me

THOUGH i may end up in 1:144 since i cant actually find a 1/72 yet

EDIT: If anyone has a good source for online kits, let me know!

Sith_241

Ok, well i have not been able to find a B-52 kit i can afford, nor any decals for the NASA mothership in the scale i want.

SO....

im going to instead do a Lindberg 1:48 XFY-1 POGO

JMChladek

What about trying to find the 1/200 Dragon B-52 with X-15A2 and Pegasus booster? They pop up periodically and you can do one essentially out of the box as you get all the right pieces and decals in that scale. Granted that model is OOP as well, but it might be a worth while alternative if one can be located.

Sith_241

i am still keeping my eyes open for a B-52 kit...but i think i will start with the XFY-1 kit.

Supposedly, a small shop near me has a B-52 kit, but i need to see what type/scale it is. Most likely its the 1:144 scale Minicraft kit. Which i suppose would be ok if i could find decals for it.

JMChladek

The only thing about 1/144 B-52s is all the ones done have been either Gs or Hs. The Minicraft kit is an early H model. At least you won't need to bob the lumps off the nose, but the nose profile itself will need to be reshaped. The tail will need to be made taller and the engines will need to have their two step appearance removed to make the turbojet engine pods (or if you can find a Revell G model, scrounge the turbojet pods from that). The tail gunner station will also need to be built up as while the NASA drop ships didn't mount a tail gun, the clear windows were back there and the profile was bulked up a little bit near the base of the tail.

If you do decide to try this though, in addition to the FSM article I highly recommend picking up a copy of Aerospace Modeler issue #10 as it has a great article on converting a Minicraft H model to a B-52D. Almost everything there is needed for a NASA NB-52A or B.

http://aerospacemodeler.com/

LizardJedi

So sad that this is on page 2... maybe it should be stickied

So at first when I heard March was the starting date, I was kinda bummed 'cuse I had time to work on it in January, but now that its Feburary and I'm busy as heck I'm glad I got some more time before I have one more thing to add to the to do list

Gigatron

Thanks for the bump, Liz . I agree with the "sticky" idea . I had to put sticky in quotes, otherwise the sentence read funny, .

So, we're at just over one week left until the start. I just have to put the finishing touches on my current project and then I can clear the decks for the group build . I'm almost looking forward to the week's reprieve from sniffing modeling chemicals .

-Fred

vistaVision

"I love the smell of styrene cement in the morning!" As I'm pulling together all the stuff that I'll need for this build, I started thinking how this will be a great opportunity to learn from each other and to try new tools, materials and techniques.

It seems that almost everyone will be building up a plastic kit of one sort or another. That means cements and fillers, and everyone has their favorites. After trying a bottle of Tenax-7R plastic cement years ago I never touched a tube of Testors again. It's water thin and is pulled into a joint by capillary action, so it's got to be a tight fitting joint. Very fast too, and strong because the plastic is actually melted and welded together. I've also used MEK (from the hardware store) in the same way. I usually use a small paintbrush to apply the welding fluid but many use a bottle and thin needle applicator.

I've used CA for plastic joints as well, but usually only when there's a gap to be filled. Have not had much experience with the old "CA and baking soda" filler trick so I can't comment much on that, but it seems to be quite popular. Maybe someone else can detail that? Should also note that these materials are usually not good for you and everyone should take a few moments to get familiar with what they are using and how to use this stuff safely.

I have yet to find a filler that I like. I guess putty and filler materials need to be selected specifically for the requirements of the job, and there may not be a perfect "universal" putty. Never found the various Squadron putties to be good, I have an old tube of Dr. Microtools red putty that is slow to dry but not bad for some spot work. In fact, the best I've found is autobody spot putty. I know that some use various epoxy materials, but I've always found them to be difficult to smooth and sand after drying. So any professional advice on fillers and contour putties??

Later, as we progress, I would like to hear more about primers, and pre-shading panel lines, and all the cool uses for Future floor wax. Among other things.

Marcus