has anyone built a revell b-29 1/48 scale?
Almost finished mine. One of the original Monograms kits from the late 70’s. Just painting the canopy (fairly time consuming if you dont have an aftermarket mask for the canopy lines) I motorised it, with 4 x 1.5 volt motors I had lying around. the bomb bay houses the battery pack (2 x 1.5v) and the switch. I built mine with bomb bay doors open, to allow for battery changes and to hide the switchgear. If you build the Enola Gay or Bockscar versions, I wouldnt bother with the interior detail in the midsection of the fuselage, as you cant see any of it through the tiny peepholes which replace the perspex bubbles. It was an old kit I bought on e-bay, and the decals were garbage after 25 years - self destructed as soon as they hit the water, even tho I sealed them first. Natural Metal Finish needs a very clean starting surface and as dust free a painting area as you can get - every little speck looks like a boulder. Dont forget to put in plenty of nose weights - I used the space where the belly turret would have gone (I built the atomic version) and either side of the nose wheel compartment. A great looking aircraft which still draws attention 30 years after the kit was released - as long as you have the space.
Wirraway, you are right on the mark about the Superfort kit. Just finished my Academy " Enola Gay". Put in many many hours doing the BM finish. Probably the most time I have ever spent on any model with that type of finish and I have done quite a few. Your right about the weight. Need plenty of it, but whats nice is that their is plenty of space to conceal it. Like you said, no need to bother with anything other than the bulkheads for strength if it,s going to be closed up. A waste of time and effort especially the Enola Gay. That extra time and effort is better spent on getting a flawless finish. The paint masks for the nose glass area worked great. A nice crisp clean line. The aftermarket flattened wheels do it justice too. One thing I can say for sure is that I was never so happy when this thing was finally done, but when done properly it is well worth the time spent. I.ll post the pics when i get them taken.
I am in the process of building my third Monogram B-29, the other two were aborted projects, wasn’t satisfied with the NMF-silver finish.
This time around I am rescribing all panel lines and not bother building all the stuff behind the pilot/copilot’s station - can’t see anything back there anyway. Besides I need that space to put in 85¢ worth of pennies. That’s how much it will take to make it sit on its nose. It’s about 40-50% complete at this stage, the wings and horizontal stabilizers are completed, as well as the interior, the fuselage has been rescribed, waiting to rescribe the wings next. I also sanded the fabric coverings on the control surfaces–they’re supposed to look smooth like the adjoing surfaces, not drag-inducing burlap! Planning to finish it as Tanaka Termite using my own sketches and plans.
As far as the extensive nose glazing I’m thinking of recreating what I did on project #2, and that is: super glue them to the fuselage. Work slowly though, don’t want to cloud the clear parts, and do one side at a time and let it dry thoroughly before doing the other side (tape one side while working on the other). Once super glued in place, sand away all the framing and buff/polish it back to clarity. This also gives you an opportunity to match the clear part with the upper portion of the fuselage, since there’s a slight step between them.
Recreate the framing using masking tape or draftsman’s tape (they come in several widths) as guides, then mask the clear portions, remove the guides and paint as usual. You’ll have seamless glazing - just like on the real thing.
Now you see them…
Now you don’t…
I did this one for Col. Soltez who displayed it at the 504/509 BG reunion in Annapolis a few years ago then later gave it to Boeing when one of their execs saw it at the American Legion here in town. I helped him package it for shipment to the Corp. office in Seattle where I’m told it is now displayed. It was a good build but really, really big. The only other larger 1/48 scale model I can think of is the B-1. Of course the 1/72 B-36 is larger also.
anyone ever built a B-52?? [C):-)]
I built this kit back in 1990/1991. It was huge! I forget how much time it took to build and paint, but it was quite a job! The cockpit “greenhouse” was a huge pain to mask and paint. I ended up hanging it from the ceiling, since there was no way it could possibly fit on a shelf. I installed the props with telescoping brass tube, so they spun when I turned on the ceiling fan.
I finished one in December and it came out great. The greenhouse canopy was warped in the front (much larger than the fusalage) I dipped it in almost boiling water and slowly bent it to shape. I also used Black Majic Masks from Meteor which made painting the canopy a breeze.
By the way I had to enlarge my work bench another foot.
Hi electrical,
I actually built one. Let’s have a look !
/forums/461617/ShowPost.aspx
Cheers,
Richard
I am in the process of building one I bought waaaaaaaaaayy back in '80; I had already attempted to paint it back then and the paint didn’t age well, so I stripped all of the paint I could off of the smaller parts and repainted it in Korean War colors (gloss black undersides & metallic silver topsides). I actually have a second kit I haven’t even started on yet; that one will be in the standard WWII colors.