Is it possible to make a model of the B-36 075 of the “Broken Arrow” Legend. There is a amazing documnertery on the subject. Are there any B-36 kits in plastic?
Thanks in advance for answering!
Was this documentary on last night? I may have caught bits of it, but unfortunately I couldn’t watch the whole thing. It is definitely an interesting modelling subject.
Revell made a B-36 in /72 scale, try ebay. I have one in my stash and it is BIG.
Monogram originally produced the B-36 in 1/72 scale something like 15 to 20 years ago. Revell has re-released it under their name after they bought Monogram a few years ago. It is a pretty good kit with a few inaccuracies, but lots of opportunity to super detail the bomb bay, landing gear bays, etc. You can leave off the jet pods and make earlier models like the B & C. The radar domes for the tail turret changed considerably as the production run went along. Late in life all the guns but the tail were removed in what was called the “Featherweight Program.” The RB-36 reconnaissance versions had different arrangements of radomes under the belly and a pressurized compartment just ahead of the bomb bay.
Revell also had a much smaller model of the B-36, about 1/144 or 1/200 IIRC.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Hobby Craft makes a couple of great B-36 kits in 1/144.
The same kits also come out under the Academy label.
Thanks for all the info would any of those kits reqiure lots of mods to make it the 075 Aircraft? Also how would I fabricate the “birdcadge”?
I looked through some of my reference material and came up with the following:
Feb 14, 1950: B-36B-15-CF, #44-92075, 7th Bomb Wing, 436th Bomb Squadron, from Carswell AFB, Texas. Crashed in British Columbia while returning from Alaska. Severe icing and engine fire caused the crash. The aircraft was abandoned in flight by the crew of 17 with 5 fatalities. This is the only B-36 crash where it is known that the aircraft carried a nuclear weapon. Broken Arrow is the USAF code name for any incident involving a nuclear weapon.
The photo on the left shows the Mark 4 detonator case, the center photo shows some of the wreckage including one of the 20mm gun turrets and the right photo shows the wing.
The B model would not have the jet pods under the wing. It did have the AN/APG-32 radar for the tail guns, which was a single, round radome. It had twin 20mm cannons in the tail, nose and each of 6 retractable turrets. Two dorsal turrets just aft of the cockpit, two dorsal turrets between the wing and fin and two ventral turrets behind bomb bay #3. The tail markings varied with the exact time period and unit of assignment. Many of the planes that made deployments to the frozen north had high visibility red paint on the fin and wing tips. Some had a large, black triangle on the fin with the serial number in small numbers across the front edge of the triangle. Fin tips were painted in squadron colors and an 8th Air Force insignia was frequently just ahead of the lower front point of the triangle. A large buzz number consisting of the letters BM and the last 3 digits of the serial number was on the fuselage sides between the wing and forward dorsal turret area. The doors for all three bomb bays were the sliding type rather the later folding type. I am not sure what you are referring to as “the birdcage”. The cockpit canopy and navigator/bombardier area would be the same as the later D & J models as depicted in the kit.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Sorry for the spelling error. The “birdcage” was a lead lined metal cage that went around the metal box. Are there any pics of a uncrashed O75 aircraft?
Thanks for all the help!
Kinda like the B-47B/E?
Was Academy the actual manufacturer of those kits? Both the B-36 and B-47 kits are excellent.