1/48 B-Wing Scratch Build

Has anyone looked at the AMT/ERTL - Italeri 1/72 YB-49 kit? for the main wing? for studio scale that is. for your down scale I'm not sure a kit exists.
 
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Borz, I believe it would be too broad in chord plus I don't think it came out prior to 1982-3 time frame, though I'm not certain of this.

Regards, Robert
 
Don't discount italeri kits as they have very nice detail in their smaller kits which match up to other manufacturers larger kits details , example being when I was checking the hurricane lower wing detail for my 1:48 hasbro falcon , I finally bought 1:48 air fix as it matched 1:24 hurricane , however italeri matched it as well.

intruder was one I was thinking of due to the unique shape of the chord, I also thought the harrier and hurricane could be included, I thought the drop tanks were from the harrier , but I'm happy to be corrected on that .
For the central engine cowl I thought maybe a large Valentine, but I don't think they made it that large ,
maybe torpedo boat , ship hulls etc, I'm still going through kit scans , actually something like WW2 LCM/LCU i wonder how many of these were available in the early 80's
 
That would be great if then were from the A-10, another thing to find is the exhaust nozzle that looks like a tyre.

Regarding the main wing, if I was you, I would look for a B-36 Peacemaker at the correct scale for your scaled down B-Wing (not sure if such a small kit of this plane exists for your project).

I understand what you explained regarding the F-14 wing, however I still think it's not the right part. :D
Thank you Tox for that
when I searched for B36 which is a plane I was never aware of , in relation to the b-wing I found this Flickr site with great builds
take a look rob , very interesting

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21968513@N03/albums/72157606227412273
 
IIRC, the main wing for the B-Wing does not taper from the top to the bottom. It should be the same thickness along the entire length

Aye, I noticed that in some front views, but I believe it may have a very slight taper - but that could be an optical illusion due to the reducing chord taper. Also, remember that the armature 'pipe' runs through that wing, so whatever parts were used, they are in effect clamped to a constant thickness 'spar' so any taper in the original part is mostly eliminated.

I have been considering how this wing was made and imagine it involves attaching the 'skin' (which has its leading edge removed) to the armature pipe, then a new leading edge made using a piece of tubing (plastic or brass, all the same in the end.) Then a bit of Bondo or some such used to blend the skin to the tube leading edge followed by cutting the three slots using a grinding bit. The big cut-out would be done during or after all this. Also, a blanking strip of plastic could be inserted down the center of the tube , or perhaps not - I'm not convinced that the back visible in the slots must be flat... could just be the interior of the tubing.

R/ Robert
 
Thank you Tox for that
when I searched for B36 which is a plane I was never aware of , in relation to the b-wing I found this Flickr site with great builds
take a look rob , very interesting

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21968513@N03/albums/72157606227412273

He was doing a great job, too bad he didn't finish (or at least finish posting his WIP diary...) I wonder what he used for the engine bells, they look almost exactly like the MPC kit parts (only bigger of course...)

I found more stuff by clicking his name; Carlos is obviously a big SW fan; perhaps here in RPF, too - he built a Boba Fett helmet...

R/ Robert
 
Pedro, I have been considering the B-36 wing & how to resolve the taper angle discrepancy. It occurs to me now that the reason may be the same as the reason it "lost" it's tapering thickness.

Consider this: if the armature was made first (must have, obviously) then the primary wing would be like a 'sock' pulled over the long pipe. So, if sealed at the leading and trailing edges and then pushed on the pipe, which has a constant diameter, then the wing also would be forced (deformed) to fit. The result would be the 'skin' would adopt a constant thickness along it's length. In effect, the leading edge would have to come closer to the pipe as the center was raised, thereby increasing the taper when seen in plan view. It would be the same if you took the leading and trailing edges and 'squeezed' them towards each other to widen the internal distance between the two skins.

This would explain how the chord curvature appears 'flatter' at the root and greater where it meets the gun 'pod'. The only variable in this really is whether they also trimmed the leading edge before assembly. I think they did something to it as the primary wing has a sharper leading edge than the kit part (one reason I didn't think the B-36 wing was used...) But the kit wing doesn't have a typical straight leading edge separation but incorporates notches that mate to the lower wing half. Putting the two top pieces together would result in little contact area because of the gaps, so easiest way to fix that (and give a 'sleeker', less blunt leading edge) would be to just trim off a portion of the kit's leading edge. It would take 5 minutes tops... score, snap, block sand smooth.

I like this theory but given the thickness of the kit parts, I'd expect inserting the pipe would be tricky. But PS is tough and, if done slowly, can be deformed quite a bit before snapping. The real trick would be keeping the glued edges together, though interesting enough, Jason's images shows the trailing edge coming apart a bit at the seam!

To determine the potential degree of this deformation, I need to start with the diameter of the armature pipe (since I have a B-36 wing to play with on hand.) I do believe that the portion of the kit wing used was from the tip inwards, unlike Carlos' choice where he took more of a center section, simply because you can see a bit of the wing tip radius in the pictures (see my earlier post...)

So what does this mean to the 1/48 scale model I'm supposed to be working toward? Well, whatever means I use to make the primary wing (and it would be easy enough to simply make it with ribs and sheet plastic...) I need a good set of plans to get it to look right. And that starts with deconstructing the original so I can accurately determine some key dimensions. Now, if Jason had measured the beastie, that would save a whole lot of work... ;^P

"Never give up, never surrender!"

Regards, Robert
 
Putting aside the whole business of using the exact same donor parts (albeit in a different scale) for super-duper studio accuracy, I think what we've learned here is that several examples using different source wings have looked exceptionally good, so you've got some options if you never figure it out.
 
If it would help: I took a lot of photos last year in Cologne at the SW Identities of the B-Wing and started with photogrammetry. If orthogonal renders of the uncleaned mesh would help to ID the wing donor, I'll try to get some ready this weekend.

I'm also going to Munic this summer when the exhibition is on tour there, and will take more photos. If you need some special shots, send me a PM with a list.

Cheers,
Thorsten
 
Pedro, I agree. My expectation is that I'll be scratching most of the components anyway due to the lack of suitable reduced scale equivalents. As long as you have a handle on the physical parameters, you can make any shape.

Thorst, thank you for the offer! Right now, I am indeed leaning towards the Monogram 1/72 B-36 as the donor (Julien is going to get a reputation for infallibility!) on the original. If the photogrammetry can provide some dimensional data, that would be an enormous help since looking at pictures, which are subject to distortion, to determine relative sizes is inexact at best.

I did receive my Lindberg 1/200 Space Shuttle stack today. The kit's EFT diameter measures at 1.625 inches. Since the real EFT diameter is 27.6 feet or 331.2 inches, this means the tank is actually more like 1/204 scale (331.2/1.625=203.8.) However, assuming the EFT on the original was from a 1/144 scale kit and it was accurately sized, the diameter I need is (331.2/144)*.666 =1.532 so the Lindberg kit is oversized by 0,09 inches or just under 3/32nds an inch. This is workable especially if George vacuformed over the kit part and certainly close enough for my purposes. (It also fits perfectly over the 1.5 inch PVC sink drain pipe I'm using for the core.)

Regards, Robert
 
Robert,

here are some orthogonal renders of the photogrammetry result. Unfortunately I didn't remember how bad the mesh was, the gaps in coverage were too large to get it better.

B_Wing_Cologne_right.jpg

B_Wing_Cologne_left.jpg

B_Wing_Cologne_bottom.jpg

B_Wing_Cologne_top.jpg

B_Wing_Cologne_front.jpg

B_Wing_Cologne_back.jpg


I'll try to get a better mesh during the summer when it is in Munic.

Cheers,
Thorsten
 
Nonetheless, very cool! The third one down (rear view) doesn't seem to have too much ortho on it... the crew nacelle is near straight on while the right side (main gun) is only showing about 10 degrees of angle. Not too shabby...

Regards, Robert
 
All renders are orthogonal, and even if I can not guaranty for the quality of the solved mesh, the gun is indeed sagging on the original.

IMG_2984.jpg


Cheers, Thorsten
 
Very cool! If only useful for establishing proportions. Thanks for making those! Now I want to build one. :)
 
Are those pictures of the "no dots" one? (i.e. not the one with the orange dots)

I'd love to see more of the no dots one, especially the details in the "open hatch" area at the back of the main wing
 
Pedro, I agree. My expectation is that I'll be scratching most of the components anyway due to the lack of suitable reduced scale equivalents. As long as you have a handle on the physical parameters, you can make any shape.

Thorst, thank you for the offer! Right now, I am indeed leaning towards the Monogram 1/72 B-36 as the donor (Julien is going to get a reputation for infallibility!) on the original. If the photogrammetry can provide some dimensional data, that would be an enormous help since looking at pictures, which are subject to distortion, to determine relative sizes is inexact at best.

I did receive my Lindberg 1/200 Space Shuttle stack today. The kit's EFT diameter measures at 1.625 inches. Since the real EFT diameter is 27.6 feet or 331.2 inches, this means the tank is actually more like 1/204 scale (331.2/1.625=203.8.) However, assuming the EFT on the original was from a 1/144 scale kit and it was accurately sized, the diameter I need is (331.2/144)*.666 =1.532 so the Lindberg kit is oversized by 0,09 inches or just under 3/32nds an inch. This is workable especially if George vacuformed over the kit part and certainly close enough for my purposes. (It also fits perfectly over the 1.5 inch PVC sink drain pipe I'm using for the core.)

Regards, Robert

Don't get me wrong Robert, I did not say the B-36 is what they used but that's what I would use.
I honestly don't know if they used a kitpart for their model, so many models have been made with vacforming around hand made bucks for ROTJ (even if they were inspired by kitparts like the speederbike or a-wing masters).

There's a thing I noticed when I saw the "no dots" B, the main wing halves were splitting/cracking a part the way a vacformed or resin part would, it did not look like a kitpart. Maybe Thorst's pics will confirm that.
 
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