B 36 Peacemaker

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I have just purchased the Revell kit (1:72) for £20 (UK) - new and all sealed up, from a shop in the local Shopping Mall - reduced from £50.00 - this is about 38$ (US) and 92$ respectively. It does make one wonder what the mark up is!!! It is a bit big is n’t it??? Any build recomendations and does Alclad come in gallon cans???

2

Yeah, I’m sure the mark up is spectacular. On the other hand some retailers can afford to take a few bucks of hit on a big sale like that if they think they can get you to frequent their store. I’m waiting for one of Hobby Lobby 50% off sales to land one of those B-36 kits myself. That’ll bring it down to a much more reasonable $42-43 USD.

3

I have one in my for sale bin for less than that.
http://www.ipmsslc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=221#221
Won’t list the price here to hopefully stay within forum policy.
email me or PM me if interested.

4

I don’t remember what I paid for my “Aluminum Overcast”, but I bought it when the kit first hit the market a couple of lifetimes ago. Does reincarnation work? I need that about 3 times to get all my kits built. [alien]

5

I got one of those behemoths in that huge pile of unbuilt kits, bought it several years ago when it was reissued. I also built one when Monogram first issued the kit…

IIRC, there were some problems with the wing to fuselage fit, and the jet engine pod braces didn’t line up correctly. The other bad thing about the kit, I have found out in retrospect, is that it is difficult to ‘backdate’ it to an earlier model… the tail gun fire control radar fairing below the rudder varies considerably between the models.

It’s an impressive model once completed; wish my brother hadn’t demolished mine oh so many moons ago… [censored]

6

I’ve built the kit recently, and here’s my two cents:

Be careful with the wings. They don’t fit with any degree of accuracy at all. I ended up with a eighth inch gap underneith I didn’t do anything with.

The jet supports (diagonal things) splay the pods out too far.

And the biggie- don’t open the bomb bay unless you plan to do the F recon version. It’s totally wrong for the bomber version, and all but impossible to fix. You can’t really see into it anyway, so don’t open it if you don’t want to.

Apart from the few odd fit problems, I really enjoyed the kit. Here’s a pic of mine:

[image]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/My%20album/000_0189.jpg[/image]
(The NMF was Bare-Metal Foil. Almost five sheets!)

I added turrets to it, but I’m not happy with them. I’ll probably tear them off and try again, but not right now.

I would like to get another one, motorized, set up to illustrate project “Tom-Tom”:

http://www.air-and-space.com/tomtom.htm

But, that’s for another day.

7

Great build, Mike! Coincidentally, I’ve just opened the box on my Hobby Craft 1/144 B-36D and am about to get started. I’m still sorting through references, trying to decide which version I’m going to build. Evidently the Hobby Craft instructions are misleading about option parts, such as the radomes and whatnot.

Most of the LHSs here in Osaka have the big Monogram (I refuse to call it Revell!) 1/48 (EDIT: That should be 1/72!!) B-36, but it sells for about 12,000 yen (about $117 USD). That is a whole lotta plastic, though!

8

Many thanks Lucien - and J_Hulk do they really produce a 1:48 version - I have never seen it - the box must be huge!! In a way that could only be built putting every scrap of detail on it, otherwise i hve a feeling it woudl look very bland!

9

Surely J_Hulk’s 1/48 is a typo. A 1/48 B-36 would be almost 5 feet across. The Monogram 1/72 goes for $70 to 90 in Stateside LHS, so $117 in Japan would be about right. [alien]

10

it is a big guy that B-36 isnt it…
I chose NOT to buy one in the discounts since I do not have the space for it…
Then it hit me the idea of resell or store for later use but it was too late…oh well

11

Great model, Mike…! I bought and built this kit over 25 years ago and have great recollections from it. Like mentioned, the wings do not fit perfectly. I spent some time detailling one of the gun turret bay, with info I got from the IPMS USA mag (Journal). My B-36 now resides at the Brussels Air Museum - it was too big for me to keep it and I donated it.

12

I remember saving up my allowance to buy the old Monogram issue of that kit from the mid 80s. Picked it up for about 35 Canadian Dollars at the time.

13

Yup, a big ol’ typo it was! [8)]
Edited and corrected. 1/72 all the way!

Here’s a Q: Is the 1/72 Monogram B-36 still the largest injection aircraft kit available?

14

Gunner,

The typical mark up on plastic kits, from the wholesaler to the hobby shop, is 35% to 40%. However. a substantial part of the cost of an imported kit includes customs duties, ie TAXES. So the price of the B-36 will include some customs duties. The amount will depend on the importing country and the trade agreement your country has with the importing country.

The B-36 could have been made in the U.S (Revell/Monogram), or in Germany (Revell of Germany). It may also be treated as a Korean import where many of the kits are molded.

So, don’t blame the high prices on the local Shoppe (sic) keeper!
Cheers, rangerj

15

By the way, what do ya’ll reckon is a good color for the magnesium portions of this aircraft? Flat aluminum?

16

Just checked my kit data base, and purchased the Monogram B-36 kit (#5703) in 1980 for $10 USD! Boy, have times changed.

17

Yes there is some sympathy for the LHS owner - particularly with all the competition from mail order - in the UK model shops in the true tradition are a bit like hens teeth. It just seeems curious that the “chains” (I purchased the B36 from Modelzone who I think have some connecions with Revell) can spasmodically make such reductions - it would be very nice if they moderated the prices all of the time. The B36 has always been on the list but at £50 was not a priority. However £20 made it too good to miss. When it will get built and where it will reside is to be decided. However the input on this topic has in my view demonstrated the value of forums such as this - a little bit of chat is very stimulating!!! Many thanks all.

18

Nope, there is a 1/48 B-1 that is larger. The B-36 is second.

19

Ah, I wondered about that Revell 1/48 B1…I’m sure it’s longer…but is the wingspan larger than the B-36’s? Hard to classify “larger,” eh? [:D]

20

B-36 Osaka sighting:
An LHS that specializes in old kits has what appears to be an original issue (touting itself as the “largest plastic model kit in the world”) of the Monogram kit for only 8,300 yen (about $79 USD). I ALMOST picked it up…almost…
Anyway, it’s a good bit cheaper than a new one.
Does anyone know if there are any differences between the orignal Monogram release and the current releases?

I also found several other versions of the B-36, small kits by Revell, Aurora, and Marusan. The cheapest was the old Revell kit, going for about $25 USD. Some of the other kits were over $150 USD! Collector’s items, needless to say.