R-CMan73, E-3 looking good
First things I’ve started painting are the pilots, cockpit. I got some paint for it at the hobby shot, but didn’t want to spend 29.99 on the Testors Blackbird at this time. That’ll have to wait.
I have never had any direct dealings with the F-117, so I cannot comment on it. The SR-71 and the U-2 were both painted with what is called “ironball black”. It is VERY flat black, (NOT dark blue as some claim), and contains microscopic iron particles. This does a little bit toward absorbing and dispersing radar energy so as to help with stealthiness. This black paint had a tendency to change luster with age so some of the planes that have not had a recent total repaint, do have different panels with different “sheen” to them.
The A-12, first of the Blackbird family, was operated by the CIA and could be described as a “blackops” machine. The SR-71 was operated by the USAF ala Strategic Air Command and while pretty much classified, it would not really be accurate to call it blackops. The aircraft and program were know to the general public, but specific details remained secret.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Hiya Yardbird!
Actually, i’ve never heard that either were painted a dark blue, so no confusion there. Being that the only airframes i had my hands on were rotary wing, i woulda thought that some things would be different. Makes sense on the sheen on the sheetmetal. But i take it that ironball black has a very different texture than the army issued CARC?
I’m basically basing all of my observations on pictures i had seen and with seeing them in person (but never any closer than 50 meters away because of security). I now take it that there is pretty much no luster if the paint is brand new? And also how often are they due for recoating? Somehow i suspect that the maintenance schedule and painting intervals for both the U-2 and SR-71 might be similar.
Pardon the 20 questions. It might shape up to be an easy build, but i wanna make sure i get it right. Thanks!
I have no idea what Army CARC is, so I cannot answer that question. The ironball was a very flat black that appeared slightly different under different lighting conditions and after differing amonts of wear and time. Early in the Senior Crown program, ie 1960s and 1970s, when lots of money was available in the budget, painting was done on a fairly regular basis during major maintenance, usually at Palmdale. Later in the program, when money was a lot tighter, the painting was done much less often.
Airframes number 17950, 951, 952, 953, 954 and 955 were test and evaluation birds that stayed with Lockheed or USAF at Palmdale and Edwards. They never flew operational missions, so they lived a kinder, gentler life style than their bretheran that flew operational missions in South East Asia or Europe. This was also a factor in their appearance.
The U-2, being a subsonic aircraft, was not subject to the extreme heating and stresses that the SR-71 endured on every flight. This also made a difference in how the paint aged.
If you want to depict your model as one that has recently come out of deep phase maintenance with a new coat of paint, then basic flat black overall would be accurate. For jets that have not been through this process for awhile, you could add a drop or two of white to the black and paint some panels with that.
The nose cones separated just ahead of the front canopy and were interchangeable to meet different mission requirements. You frequently see photos of SR-71s with the nose cone a different sheen than the rest of the plane. The 3 different nose cones had the SLR, Side Looking Radar or the OBC, Optical Bar Camera or just ballast for test flights.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Wow, that’s interesting! I never knew the nose was interchangeable! Definately have to remember that when i go to paint. Of course i’m gonna have to do some more research (maybe i’ll hit up Barnes & Noble today), but thanks for the background! I’ve barely got the box open here, and i’ve had some logistical nightmares with the inbound airbrush. So i guess it’s safe to say i’ve got some more time to do a little reading…
There are a dozen or more good books on the SR-71 with some better than others of course. Anything by Paul Crickmore is great, with many photos. He was not a crewmember, but has a lot of insider information. Major Brian Shul was a pilot and wrote “Sled Driver” and “The Untouchables”. Both are very interesting reading, but short on pictures for modelers. James Goodall was a crewchief on SR-71s and has written at least two books. One called “SR-71 Blackbird” published by Squadron Signal and an even better one co-authored with Jay Miller called “Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird Family” by Aerofax publishing. It goes into great detail about all three major variants of the Blackbird as well as the D-21 drone program. Tony Landis (official Lockheed photographer) and Dennis Jenkins co-authored volume 10 of the Warbird Tech series called Lockheed Blackbirds. I would rate these last two as the best for a modeler with many pictures and accurate text data, with a few exceptions. The last was updated in 2004, so it has the latest information on airframe disposition and the shutdown of the program.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
There was another book out there. It’s pretty old (maybe early 90’s?) titled Skunkworks. Been along time since i had seen it, but if i remember correctly it had some really good pictures in there. Most of them black and white, but i believe there was alot of good color photos too. May need to go to the library for that one though.
Number Six
Lockheed Blackbirds, A-12, YF-12A and SR-71
The A-12 has been retired since 1968 and the SR-71 since 1990, 1997 or 1999 depending on which of the three “last flights” you want to count. Several books have been written since the retirement and declassification of much of the Senior Crown program and these books have shed much light on the secret life of the Blackbirds.
The SR-71 was designed to fly at a max altitude of approximately 85,000 feet with a cruising speed of about Mach 3.2 while it’s older sister, the slightly smaller and lighter A-12 could beat these limits a little bit. While it is physically possible for the SR-71 go Mach 3.5 for a few minutes, sustained speed at that rate would have required several expensive modifications. A “zoom climb” to 95,000 feet was possible, but could not be maintained for more than a few seconds. The jet had an absolute speed limit of 420 KEAS, knots equivalent airspeed due to inlet duct pressures and temperatures as well as inlet capture area and engine compressor inlet temperature.
Mach 3 flight in a Blackbird was accomplished by 389 people, 284 crewmembers and 105 VIP “passengers” in one of the trainers. The USAF had 93 pilots and 89 RSOs qualified to fly the SR-71. 163 had over 300 hours flight time, 69 had over 600 hours, 18 had over 900 hours and only 8 made it over 1,000. RSO Lt Col Joseph “JT” Vida was high time crewmember with 1,492 hours while high time pilot was Major Bredette “BC” Thomas with 1,217 hours. JT was the RSO for the Los Angeles to Washington record run in early 1990 when 17972 was delivered to the Smithsonian Musuem at Dulles IAP. 1 hour, 7 minutes and 54 seconds averaging 2,144 mph. That is approximately 1 mile every 2 seconds.
SR-71s flew 53,490 total hours on 17,300 missions. 3,551 operational missions were over such areas as North VietNam, North Korea, the Middle East, Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, Cuba, South Africa and the Faulkland Islands. While SR-71s were fired upon numerous times by AAA and Surface to Air Missiles, NONE were ever shot down. Demonstrating what no other airplane before or since can accomplish, Blackbirds spent 11,675 hours above Mach 3.
On December 20, 1989, an SR-71A made a near sonic pass down the runway at Burbank Airport, home of the Skunkworks, to honor all those who worked in designing and producing the fastest air-breathing aircraft in the world. Kelly Johnson, long retired and gravely ill was there to watch. He would pass away almost exactly a year later on December 21, 1990, forever a legend like the aircraft that he created.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Say, FeldMarSchall? Kinda back to the subject of the GB- i was wondering if there had been a badge officiated yet? Can’t see on this particular computer since the office network tends to block alotta pictures (there’s plenty of red boxes on my screen though). Just curious. I was thinking of adding it to my signature block[8-]
DesertRat, sure I can’t come up with a good one.
Heres my first try at seat belt straps,
Heres the SAC emblem, if anyone cares to play around with it for a GB logo…
Naturally i think it’s appropriate to incorperate the SAC logo (obviously). Sadly enough, i’ve never messed with logos or picture files at all. But if it’s cool with y’all, i’ll screw around with a few ideas and present them in a day or so. I might need someone either resize them, or tell me how to do it though
Hey all! Wonder where everyone else is here![8)]
I played around with ms paint today at work on my lunch break, and i came up with a few ideas here:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
This is what i came up with. If y’all like any, then i will need help in resizing. I have no idea how you do it. If y’all don’t really like em, no worries! Never any hard feelings. You guys will have to bear with me. Still waiting on the tools i need to get down to business with my project. What do y’all think?
FeldMarSchall, Since ya be the group leader, whaddya think?[?]
DesertRat, Thanks for your hard work on your lunch break, If I had to pick one it’ll be #5.
Heres a link to a review about Testors 1/48 BlackBird, that one looks outstanding.
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal5/4001-4100/gal4049_SR-71_Fuquay/gal4049.htm
No problem. Actually, i’m kinda partial to that one too. It looks a little more interesting as i look at it. What does everyone else think?
Nice blackbird! There’s just something too sexy about those red lines on those broad black wings…[8D]
I’d go with #5 as first choice, #2 as second choice. Can you delete the white letters for the Web address in the lower left corner?
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Sure Yardbird. I think i got it now. Funny thing about Onifite is that anything over 128pixels, they put the watermark on there- unless you pay for the premium service. I thought maybe the badges could be sized down a little more anyway, and that seems to have corrected them on most. I’m debating whether i stick with them, or open up a photobucket account.
Ok, groupleader! It looks like we have 3 for #5. Do we have anymore input, guys?
I’m not in this GB, but I see U-2’s in the pattern at Beale in the pattern pretty often, and the black they are painted with is so dead flat that it seems like light just dissapears when it hits them, except for the bright white of the wheel wells. I’ve never seen a U-2 that looked weathered or that had much difference in sheen from one place to another, but that’s not to say such an example is non-existant.
I used to see SR-71’s and they always seemed to have more of a gloss to the finish, and where the fuel was leaking out of the wings there was a different sheen.
Hey Jeaton, i’ve seen that too. Only time i ever saw em in person was some of the air shows i had been to in the past. As i recall, i couldn’t get close up to any of em because of security issues, so it was hard to get a good look.
Since i’m just getting my feet wet again after 10 years away, that’s kinda one of the biggest reasons i chose this particular airframe- looks like a simple enough build to kinda break myself back in. That, and that i am fascinated with the aircraft too.
On the SR-71, i had read somewhere that it was designed to leak fuel that way. That way when the AC is at altitude and operationg temperatures, the fuel system will expand and seal itself without rupturing inflight. But, i am far from any expert on the AC. Some of the guys here could tell you a whole lot more than i can, that’s for sure
Number #5 OK by me (OK, I’m a lemming)