I haven’t built any models for 2 or 3 years because I have been spending my spare time with my two grandsons, age 5 and 1 1/2. I noticed a new Group Build over on the ARC forum for Recce Birds which is a subject in which I am very interested, so I decided to build a Monogram 1/72 SR-71. I first decided on the artwork for 17971, but changed my mind, (as women are entitled to do), and use the markings for 17979.
These first three pictures are of the instrument panels and cockpit tub. I still have to finish the seats and install them.
cockpit tub, I got a little sloppy with the yellow paint
pilot & RSO panels
together
These two are the landing gear and fuselage.
The landing gear and wheels are almost complete. Metallic magnesium on the struts and wheels with silver on the main gear tires. I also shortened the axle on the nose gear because the wheels were too far apart. They looked like the nose strut for an F-14.
The bottom of the fuselage has a huge gap where the top and bottom join. This photo shows all of it filled in with Bondo and one side sanded flush. After this photo was taken, I finished the sanding, rescribed some lost panel lines and put on a coat of flat black.
I decided to switch my subject airframe from 17971 to 17979 because I like the artwork better. This is the artwork on the nose and tail fins. The “Night Hawk” is photo documented for 979 in 1988 while the nose art is photo documented for a nose section on it’s individual storage cart. It could be attached to any of the various SR airframes, so I chose to put it along with the Night Hawk because they make a good combination. The Night Hawk art was created by A1C Pam Engelbrecht. The artist for nose Habu is unknown, at least to me. These decals came from Cutting Edge sheet # CED72-214.
Grandma L
Looking really good, cant wait to see the finished 'Bird.[:D[
Nice work Grandma. Keep us posted.
Regards, Rick
I always get excited whenever I see “SR-71” in the title.
Keep up the great work! Can’t wait to see it done!
[dto:] Sure got my attention as well! I’ll be watching this one.
Uh Oh, now you done went and done it! You started building my favorite airplane. I’ll have to get in line with Daywalker and HKshooter and keep a careful eye on this build. You have done some excellent work so far. This is the first time that I have seen anyone use any of those Cutting Edge SR-71 decals. I am rather surprised at that, because they have quite a variety of different markings and they are top quality.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]
Thanks for the compliments, gentlemen. I really appreciate that. I have done a little more detail painting, but not enough to make it worth taking pictures. More later.
Grandma L
Looking forward to more pics. Very nice job so far!
Mike
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing finished the whole thing so soon. It is 2:00 AM and I have been working on this project since the middle of yesterday afternoon. That might explain the short number of days from start to finish. Comments welcome.
The first photo is the afterburner section before adding the tail cone and turkey feathers
This is the D-21 Drone that is included in the Monogram kit. The SR-71 never carried one of these things, but several of them are displayed in museums with a drone beside them.
These four photos show the completed model. I used Wally World dollar a can flat black, Model Master gloss coat & dull coat for paint. I used some graphite powder intended for lubricating stuck locks to tint some panels and the alternating RAM panels on the edge of the wing. I still have to finish painting the two crew guys.
Grandma L
Looks great! I really like the panel line highlights.[Y]
Lovely! The plane looks super. I like how you varied the panels with the clear coats. And the powdered graphite is a great idea however I rarely use it for fear of smearing it around while handling the model. I often times use it to give gun barrels a metallic appearence.
Again, welcome to the forums! Fantastic work and please post more!
That came out really well! The graphite is a great idea, thanks for sharing it! Sure does set off the panels nicely.
Texgal45**,** nice looking Black Bird!
Awesome build! I always loved this bird. And the kit’s are so simple and elegant. Lovethe paint job. You just gave me the inspiration to sit down with my Daughter and help her start the 1/48 bird she got for xmas. I think she’ll be happy if it comes out even 1/3 as well as this one.
Rich
Nice work…love the panel shading.
Thanks for sharing
What can I say? That is a terrific build. I am in love. Will you marry me?
Darwin
Thanks for the offer, but I am already married and hubby isn’t into the “sharing” lifestyle.
I am not sure what I will build next. It will have to wait for a little bit, because I appropriated hubby’s workbench for this build and now he wants it back. I wanted to finish up the SR crew members so I mixed up yellow paint with a slight bit of red. Since I already had it mixed, I grabbed two extra figures out of hubby’s spare box and painted all four of them. I got a little sloppy in a couple of places, but the ol’ eyesight ain’t what it used to be, so it will just have to do as is. I’ll keep them handy for my next SR.
Grandma L
You make me feel like a beginner. Warning I can’t seem to keep from breaking the pitot tubes off of my A-12, YF-12, SR-71, and GTD-21. Sometimes I even get help in snapping off the ptitot tubes. Great work on your SR-71