There was an early test flight when the XB-70 went to mach 3 and the paint failed big time, flaking off in big patches all over the aircraft. I know that is not the same as shading, but thought I’d mention it.
I would imagine at least the underside of the aft fuselage would have some streaking from engine fluids.
Thank you for the update. Yeah, pre-shading can be hard to get right on some things. Not exactly sure how I’d try to replicate that, but can understand about a solid white paint job making the thing look like a toy.
And holy cannoli, Batman, in the second picture is a B-58 chase plane. It looks TINY compared to the B-70, and it’s not a small bird. Just wow.
The B-58 is also about 500 yards behind the object which will make it look about 60% smaller than it actually is… In the same space a B-58 would fit within the B-70’s wing plan leaving about 25 feet on either side and 40’ shorter at the nose… Smaller definately but only about 50%
Ha ha, I saw those pictures, just rectangular chunks taken off all over, crazy!
Got things sealed up and glued up the final pieces. I put the plane on the base, but when I got home that evening, the mounting frame, the metal struts that I had put together had broken apart from the stress. So I’m now trying a different glue and seeing if that works.
I’m very, very slowly getting better at scribing panel lines, I can’t imagine the terror I would been in trying to do an entire aircraft.
Very nice work. Cool ‘diorama’, too. 
Ha ha! Yeah it was extremely nerve wracking, and this time involved a HUGE amount of luck, as opposed to skill.
It’s right up there with doing canopy masking for me. I have about 6 different scribing tools and I’m not confident with any of them. I end up scratching stuff and having to go back and fill and sand. On my F-86 I probably have 4 hours in on just fixing my scribing mistakes.
So are you using that thicker plastic scribing tape? The clear stuff? Other thing I found really helpful was the super thin scribing templates and then using them like rulers/guides for straight lines. They are so thin they easily fold around curved surfaces. But it’s still really nerve wracking. I guess practice makes perfect? And keeping a really light touch.
Ha, yes I have a drawer full of scribing tape of different typed, and found one that I like that is rigid and thick.
I also have 3 of the scribing templates but I’ve only used them for shapes, so that is a good idea, thanks.
