Requesting Info for B-58 finish

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Requesting Info for B-58 finish

I’m trying to put the finishing touches on a B-58, and I need some clarification. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at photos to figure this out, but I still haven’t come to any conclusions. Can someone please tell me what material/color these tan panels are? In this first picture they look like fiberglass, but obviously this plane is not exactly a flight-ready status.

In this photo (B&W unfortunately) they do look to be a different material than other metal panels.

Yet in other photos, these panels look metallic. Where these panels perhaps painted a metallic color on these two planes?

I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has. I know that large parts of the B-58 included fiberglass, so I’m guessing that is it. But I cannot get any resultion on why some Hustlers are all silver, and others have these panels.

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Those are indeed fiberglass (actually, glass reinforced plastic) panels used to fair the relatively deep landing gear wells into the top of the very thin wing. They are usually painted aircraft gray (IIRC, its FS36495). Several aimilar panels cover various antennae and such.

Phil

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i believe that these panels are made of a sandwich of aluminum with a phenolic resin cloth core. But then a large portion of the airframe is made from the same thing. A book available here on page six shows the basic make up of the plane. http://knigaonline.net//BookDetails.aspx?BookName=Convair%20B-58%20Hustler&id=3120

If this is the case and these fairings are similarly construted why the look different is anyones guess.

Mike

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You guys are the best.

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Does this shade of gray look about right to you guys?

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It looks “good to go” from my view point. Like paint on any aircraft, the exact color would depend on age and exposure to the weather elements. Your Hustler is looking very good so far.

Darwin, O.F. [alien]

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There was a nice photo of the Pima a/c on the cover of Air & Space a couple of years ago, taken looking straight down from a crane, with a guy on the wing cleaning her.

Those panels that are rectangular over the wells, behind the pointed ones, looked to be a darker gray. I can’t tell if you got that on your model, but it looks like you did. I can scan it for you if you’d like.

Here’s a link to a site you might have seen.

http://www.ejectionsite.com/frame_sg.htm

One last thing- shouldn’t the intakes be black?

Looks beautiful, looking forward to your finished model. Which a/c?

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Yeah good point on the aging paint, Yardbird.
The contrast between the gray paint and the NMF appears more prominent in this photo than it does to the naked eye. Probably because of the camera flash: the paint has a flat finish compared to the shiny metal. These panels will be coated with Future eventually, probably reducing the contrast further.

Thanks for the compliments. This has been a long & difficult build. It’s the old Lindberg 1/128 kit from the 60’s. I’ve re-worked alot of the features for greater accuracy.

Getting that photo would be great, but don’t go to too much trouble if it’s buried somewhere. Thanks.

I didn’t know about the darker panels in the middle: so if I got it right it was completely by accident!

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Thanks for the link. Very useful and bookmarked.

Black intakes? I’ve seen silver and I’ve seen white, but I don’t recall black. I did my intakes like the one at the USAF museum. White walls with silver cones:
http://www.ipmsusa2.org/Walkarounds/06-03-25-B-58%20Hustler/page.html

Scheme will be “Super Sue”

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I’ve often wondered that myself (regarding the gray panels) Thanks for posting the question.

Here’s a pic I saved a long time ago.

Jerry