rbeach84
Sr Member
Dear Readers, running through all the wonderful B-Wing projects here on RPF, I've come to realize I could build a 1/48 scale B-Wing using essentially the same kits as the original filming miniature, only with 'smaller' versions. Looking over Jason Eaton's pix of the 'orange spot' model (published on Modelers Magic website) and reading Guy Cowan's B-Wing build thread especially, I see that the main parts of the model came from 1/32 aircraft kits, namely the Tamiya F-14A & the Hasegawa F-18 kits. The tip-off is that the pilot figure was also from the F-14 kit hence it is a direct scale-down to 1/48 by using similar kits like Monogram's F-14 & Hornet for the corresponding parts. Other possible 'down scale' sources would be 1/200 scale kits of the Shuttle & Saturn V (actually would need 1/206 scale, but I can work with a <3% difference.)
In the case of such sources as the 1/20 F1 & 1/35 & 1/72 scale armor kits, I'll most likely just end up scratching up the parts as 2/3's of those fall to 30th, 52nd & 108th scale ranges respectively. Same for the 1/12th 312T kit parts. So still a tough challenge but at least not the wings! I hate scratching wings (keeping those edges clean & straight is really tough...)
There are two main components - the large central 'intake' box & the forward cockpit pod - that I haven't determined the original sources for & so cannot say if there might be smaller kits that would fill those spots. The box would be fairly straight forward to do from flat sheet but the forward pod would be tougher (given the ol' eyeballing it from distorted images problem...) Even lacking direct scale-down sources, having the original sources can help get the shapes right.
So I'm asking if any of our guru's can please help me out on these items. If the sources are 'sensitive', I can keep things under the hat if needed. I suspect in any case I will need to make drawings to fabricate the components, which I *can* share with the community in case someone else wishes to do the same 'adventure'.
My findings so far are:
Required kits: 2x 1/48 F-14, 1x 1/48 F-18, 2x 1/200 Space Shuttle & boosters, 1x 1/200 Saturn V.
F-14 kit: Primary wing (paired top wing parts); Primary wing root fairings (paired wing glove top surfaces, suitably trimmed); 'Fuel' pods (drop tanks); pilot (head replaced with one from 1/48 Monogram UH-B)
F-18 kit: Secondary wings (modified main wing parts.)
Shuttle Booster: Aft cockpit nacelle (main booster tank nose cone, trimmed @ angle); Central Engine core (booster cones)
Saturn V: Cockpit nacelle rotation 'collar' (stage one segment)
There may be other applicable parts to be gleaned from these donors, but until I've worked up rough drawings to compare the bits against, it would all be speculation.
I expect this will take a while for me to work through so I beg your patience as I go along. Plus, fair warning, I tend to be easily distracted so there will be fits and starts to this, for which I apologize. Nonetheless, I hope you will find this entertaining.
Many thanks to all who have waded into the B-Wing - your contributions give me courage to tackle this myself.
Regards, Robert
In the case of such sources as the 1/20 F1 & 1/35 & 1/72 scale armor kits, I'll most likely just end up scratching up the parts as 2/3's of those fall to 30th, 52nd & 108th scale ranges respectively. Same for the 1/12th 312T kit parts. So still a tough challenge but at least not the wings! I hate scratching wings (keeping those edges clean & straight is really tough...)
There are two main components - the large central 'intake' box & the forward cockpit pod - that I haven't determined the original sources for & so cannot say if there might be smaller kits that would fill those spots. The box would be fairly straight forward to do from flat sheet but the forward pod would be tougher (given the ol' eyeballing it from distorted images problem...) Even lacking direct scale-down sources, having the original sources can help get the shapes right.
So I'm asking if any of our guru's can please help me out on these items. If the sources are 'sensitive', I can keep things under the hat if needed. I suspect in any case I will need to make drawings to fabricate the components, which I *can* share with the community in case someone else wishes to do the same 'adventure'.
My findings so far are:
Required kits: 2x 1/48 F-14, 1x 1/48 F-18, 2x 1/200 Space Shuttle & boosters, 1x 1/200 Saturn V.
F-14 kit: Primary wing (paired top wing parts); Primary wing root fairings (paired wing glove top surfaces, suitably trimmed); 'Fuel' pods (drop tanks); pilot (head replaced with one from 1/48 Monogram UH-B)
F-18 kit: Secondary wings (modified main wing parts.)
Shuttle Booster: Aft cockpit nacelle (main booster tank nose cone, trimmed @ angle); Central Engine core (booster cones)
Saturn V: Cockpit nacelle rotation 'collar' (stage one segment)
There may be other applicable parts to be gleaned from these donors, but until I've worked up rough drawings to compare the bits against, it would all be speculation.
I expect this will take a while for me to work through so I beg your patience as I go along. Plus, fair warning, I tend to be easily distracted so there will be fits and starts to this, for which I apologize. Nonetheless, I hope you will find this entertaining.
Many thanks to all who have waded into the B-Wing - your contributions give me courage to tackle this myself.
Regards, Robert