I was at my local Michael’s over the July 4th weekend (2022) and picked this kit up, was amazed at the price and that it was even there. Only one other aircraft model from my youth trumped this bad boy - The Revell B-17g.
Don’t know when I’ll get to building her - but I’ll sleep better knowing she’s in the stash.
Hi,
I like alot of the old Revell, Monogram, Airfix, Testors and Lindberg kits. They were what I grew up building, and while maybe not as accurate as some newer stuff, they were fun and “good enough for me” in their day.
Its nice to see that some of them are still available at fairly good prices.
Hope you have fun woth your kit.
Pat
You got a great deal! I also like the old Monogram,Revell, & Lindberg kits. They were the kits that I built in my youth and they’re still great kits today. I may have to visit the Michaels Store in my area.
tjs
Tape the fuse together and check the fit of the canopy glass.
In recent kits there’s a mismatch in how the mould dimensions work (which may be a change in plastic composition, rather than mould age)
I have seen builds where the mismatch is the thickness of the plastic.
Knowng that in advance will help give you a better build.
Most of the recent builds do show good crisp molding and detail, so the “bones” of the kit are just as good today as they were in yesteryear.
I would have picked up one last time I was in Michaels, but I picked up another brand of P-61 last year for a project. Shortly after WW2, they had a program (I think it was just called Project thunderstorm) where they had a squadron of modified birds with extra air data sensors and a second radar to fly through midwest thunderstorms. It will be an easy bird, mostly the paint job and homemade decals.
Thanks for the tips Cap, those kinds of issues are good to know beforehand. This will be my first aircraft model I’ve built in over 40 years. The only thing I remember specific to aircraft model building is the difficulty gluing and (especially) painting the transparent bits, canopies and such. - This kit has them in spades!
Hopefully I can now do a better job on her than my 13 yr old self did. I’ll keep it pretty simple and quick - I have no-where near the skills (or patience) of most of the posters on this forum and aircraft aren’t really my area - but I really did like this one.
Joe,
regarding the clear parts, you might want to know about these paint masks. https://www.kitlinx.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=EDUEX075&title=P-61-Black-Widow-Mask* This one does not specify that it is for the old Monogram (now Revell) kit, but given one of the reviews on this link, I suspect that it is. Use white glue for attaching the clear parts.
Here is one that is specifically for your kit: https://www.kitlinx.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=MXSM48238&title=Northrop-P-61A%2FP-61B-'Black-Widow'-(exterior)-canopy-masks-(designed-to-be-used-with-Monogram-and-Revell-kits)*
I wrote a previous post that somehow got deleted. I suggest that you buy two- at that price for $19.99 you get a secong engine, more crew, maybe one set of clearies fits better that the other.
My late F-I-L was a crew chief on two of these in the Med Theater from mid-November 1944 to the end of the war. Their mission at that point was as fighter bombers. He did a lot of flying as the gunner. The first one was shot up so badly that it was able to be flown back to base but was written off as a total loss.
He later had a long correspondence friendship with Jack Northrop and they got together at Reno a couple of times.
The P-61 was a much different experience than his with his previous type, the Bristol Beaufighter. The Beau could be worked on like a car, easy to rebuild some parts and replace others, The P-61, if you broke it you couldn’t much work on it and they gave you another one.
Don, I can look for photos in my books if it’s helpful.
Bill
Interesting. I have looked this up and read a little.
The Thunderstorm project used a stack of aircraft flying on the same heading at 5K, 10K, 15K, 20K and 25K. Radar collected data that built a top-bottom picture of a thunderstorm. P-61Cs were available, had very strong wing structures. I think the aircraft at the Smithsonian and Dayton are survivors of this project.
Bill
I tried to send you a PM yesterday, but could not. Would you try one to me?
Don (missileman)
I will. The trick seems to be to use the reply feature with an existing PM string however out of context it might be.
Edit: we had a communication about Viking sails about a year ago but you had a different user name. Subject line is “paper sails”
Bill
Ok meanwhile I looked through Pape and the Campbells book.
Theres a chapter about the project that pretty well described the aircraft involved.
It started with 9 C models and later added 4 F-15s which would be a challenging conversion.
A C starts with a B and adds a turbo-supercharger and a different paddle prop.
Besides the prop, the visible difference is the housing and intake for the t/s on the undersides of the nacelles.
The aircraft also had four hard points for fuel tanks. That’s interesting as it represents A big mission shift from a fuel efficient loiter aircraft to a high altitude escort.
Bill
Other interesting facts.
The P-61 caught the attention of the Navy fom the outset because they always had a very active night fighter mission operating close to enemy shores.
The Marines were given six to work up and maintain, in fact the aircraft received VF markings.
These became training aircraft for the F7F.
Bill