Okay, I’ve been dying to have someone make a B-52 in 1/48 (yes, I’m insane) because I love big bombers. Something just occured to me as I was doing research on the B-1B this afternoon: there’s a 1/48 kit of the B-1B (which is, admittedly, 3’ long) so why isn’t there a B-52 in this scale?
Here’s the specs for both a/c in 1:1:
B-52
wingspan: 185’
length: 159’ 4"
B-1B
wingspan: 137’
length: 146’
Now both in 1:48:
B-52
wingspan: 46.26"
length: 39.78"
B-1B
wingspan: 34.28"
length: 36.5"
The 1/48 B-29 I currently have hanging from my ceiling has a wingspan of x" and a length of x". So why can’t we have a B-52???
These are the things that keep me up at night. [:D]
Well, I suppose the prospective demand would have to exceed the prospective cost of manufacturing by a certain percentage, and a monster like that would almost certainly retail in excess of $200, not to mention the four or five sheets of PE that would be dangled in front of you by a retailer, $50 - $100. [:o]
Sure, there would be some sold, but I doubt the manufacturers could realize their minimum return requirements, let alone profit.
I have built the 1/48th B-1 and I for one would probably buy a 1/48th B-52 the only problem would be where to hang or display it , My B-1 takes up enough room already !!
For my part, I bulit a 72 scale BUFF years ago and it was plenty big. The thing is, unless you add a lot of interior detail, there isn’t much point to upscaling some that is already that big. I admit I’m itching to take a crack at the 48 scale Bone, there is also a part of me that knows tthere isn’t much point to it. But God help me, I’ll probably buy it one of these days.
However, I don’t think that a 1/48 B-47 would be a bad idea at all. That is a singularly underused subject.
See, I will buy the B-1B soon, and I would buy a B-52…pretty much regardless of the cost. Just the opportunity to build something like that…gives me shivers just thinking about it! [:D]
A B-47 decked out in smooth NMF would be a real eye-catcher. I know one could do a B-52 the same way, but I thought the B-47 always had a more sleeker look to it.
Every once in a while I get the wild idea of getting the 1/48 B-1, then I take another look at the box, imagine just how big the finished kit would be and realize the living out of my car or office would NOT be a desirable end result of getting that monster.
Now, if I had unlimited space, time and money, I’d get both a B-1 and a B-52 in 1/48.
And if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his butt when he hopped.
I have built 3 of the 1/72 BUFFs and I would buy a 1/48 in half a heart beat. I’d probably be crazy enough to build it too. That would give me a reason to clean off all the junk on my work bench. I do my building in one little corner of it.