There’s gotta be somebody out there who remembers the maker of that vacform conversion to a YB-52. I can’t remember ever seeing a vac-form on e-bay, but i haven’t yet figured out how to use e-bay, so that’s not surprising. I really am stupid, it would appear. But I, like most of us, crave that one build that is unlike any model any of the other modelers have ever seen, and that YB-52 (or the B-36 mod to the C-99, which may have been the same company), would fit the bill quite nicely. Of course, I’d then have to find a B-52D. And does anyone know, when monogram released that old BUFF as NASA’s Balls 3, did they do anything to make it into a real B-52A, or was it just a D model with NASA markings? I think the few B models were recce birds, were they not?
I have the Mono D… I’m going to try and put a Big Belly mod in the bomb bay, which, as of now, is just closed off by styrene. So maybe we can have a fleet!
Has anyone gotten the latest info about AMTech regarding their late model B-52H kit? Last I heard, it was delayed due to some licensing problem with AMT.
Currently working on:
Mongram B-52D
Polar Lights USS Enterprise
Hi sharkskin, I’m thinking the maker was OK Models but I’m not sure. I know it’s in the book “B-52 in Detail and Scale”. When I get home tonight I’ll look it up.
Sharkskin, it is indeed OK Models, Kit #1 Tall-tailed B-52 Conversion. There is a review in the D&S book. It also has parts for the recce RB-52B/C as well as parts for the B-52F. Good luck finding this one. The book lists an Oklahoma address but but it is from 1988.[:)]
I was sitting in a BUFF tonight, 60-009. I work Transient Maintenance at Ellsworth AFB and a B-52 came in for a static display for the weekend air show here. Haven’t touched a BUFF in 10 years, just like riding a bicycle though. Refueled the pig and put it to bed.
Thunderbirds F-16 came in too, with the advon team. Pretty clean jet, nice guys too.
I am working on a Monogram B-52. Its a one-off variant that has been begging to be finished for several years now, maybe this winter…
Steve
I too am a BUFF nut. My affiliation with them began in 1984 when I as stationed at Fairchild AFB, WA, as a Security Policeman. I didn’t work on them, but I got to walk around them quite a bit (guarding them).
I got there in February and at that time the G-models were still assigned to the base. They were in the three color scheme with white, anti-flash undersides. As they went through maintenance, they would receive parts painted with the green/gray scheme. That made for some interesting-looking a/c.
It was really something when I returned to the base from a remote assignment in Alaska in 1986, SAC developed a demonstration team with a B-52 and KC-135. You would be amazed at what a BUFF can do! Sadly, the KC-135 crashed during a practice and put that to an end. I was also there when a B-52 crashed preparing for an airshow and was posted at the crash scene within minutes; a very sad day.
I miss the BUFF flying the pattern (the base is now a tanker hub); the last one left in 1994.
I have two BUFF kits: 1/200 DML B-52H (early) and 1/72 ERTL B-52H. I have yet to build them as I need more space (especially for the 1/72!).
If the “maintainers” can’t answer any questions for you about the BUFF, I would be happy to try as well. As I said, I walked around them for quite a few years and have some first hand knowledge.
What’s the “bomb-hook”? The bomb lift winch? Also, how many were in each bay?