Military aircraft vol.73: Boeing B-52H Stratofortress

Subject:	Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
Scale:	1/144
Manufacturer:	Revell
Price(December2012):	US$40,00
Construction:	Out-of-the box construction.
Extras:	None
Paints:	This one took me quite a long time. I am not used o build in 1/144 scale. It was hard to decide if and how much weathering was going to be used on the construction and painting. I eventually decided to go with my usual techniques. The final result looks nice to me, in part because, even in 1/144 scale, the B52 is a big model, larger then a 1/48 scale World War II fighter. The kit goes together easily. As the camouflage is very monochromatic, i used a combination of of highlighting the panel lines with a sharp pencil, some tamiya smoke and and alsoa light shade of the base color on the center of the panels. Decals were from the kit and worked ok, despite some silvering on the small ones. A coat of Humbrol matt varnish sealed the job.

Work in progress vol.11: Boeing B52H Stratofortress (READY)

Subject:	Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
Scale:	1/144
Manufacturer:	Revell
Price(December2012):	US$40,00
Construction:	Out-of-the box construction.
Extras:	None
Paints:	Tamiya acrylics for most of the paint work. Small details painted with Vallejo Acrylics. Weathering with pentel pencil 0,3 mm and Tamiya acrylics.

1) The sprues:

Markings: Revell offers two sets of markings. I chose to built the second one, B-52H serial number 60-0001, the first B-52H built by Boeing. The aircraft is now 54 years old, serving with 2nd BW from Barksdale AFB. It is called " Memphis Belle IV".  Bellow you have some pictures of this plane i got after searching the web (credits on the images).

The construction:

Because of the small scale, i used every detail i could find to add some interest on the model. 

The wheel wells were painted white and the details were highlighted with a 0,3mm pencil and Vallejo acrylics. The same method was used on the landing gear.

The auxiliary landing gear wells were painted in a yellow green color as shown in various references, and details were highlighted with Vallejo acrylics.

The four engine nacelles were built and are ready for painting.

Painting was done with Tamiya Neutral Grey. White was added to the base color to highlight some areas of the nacelles. The panel lines were treated with my usual pencil drawing technique. The engine fronts were painted gunmetal.

The fuselage is now closed and the seams are treated. Wings are also glued to the fuselage. Some carefull sanding will be needed not to damage the small details.

Revell did not provide any decals for the wings and tail planes walkways. So, after painting the aircraft in neutral grey, i masked the areas for the walkways.

The walkways were painted dark grey from tamiya.

The kit was then weathered with my usual sharp pencil drawing of the panel lines. Tamiya smoke was then used to increase the airflow weathering over the panel lines. Everything was sealed under a coat of future floor polisher.

The under wing stations for the ALCM were painted neutral grey and the weapons were left in white. Here the panel lines were highlighted with my sharp pencil again.

Aircraft Walkaround vol.36: De Haviland Mosquito B35 and PR Mk 16 (Updated!)

Subject: De Haviland Mosquito B35 and PRXVI

Location: RAF Museum, Hendon, London, UK 2013 and USAF Museum, Dayton, Ohio, USA 2014

Comments: On 12 March 1945 the last bomber variant of the Mosquito, the B35, made its first test flight. The war had ended before it could be used operationally, but it entered service with the post-war Royal Air Force and served as a bomber until the beginning of 1954. Some Mosquito B35s were converted for other duties including target-towing and in this role they continued in service until 1963. No.105 Squadron introduced Mosquitos into service in May 1942 as daylight bombers. However, as the RAF's night bomber offensive grew, they were used with the Pathfinder Force and in other roles within Bomber Command. The Mosquito also proved a remarkably versatile aircraft in other roles. It was a great success as a night fighter and intruder, as well as an anti-shipping strike aircraft. Both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force used Mosquitos for photographic reconnaissance duties.
Although best known for their service with the Royal Air Force, Mosquitoes were also flew in several U.S. Army Air Force units as photographic and weather reconnaissance aircraft and as a night fighter. During the war, the USAAF acquired 40 Canadian Mossies and flew them under the American F-8 (photo reconnaissance) designation. In addition, the British turned over more than 100 Mosquitoes to the USAAF under Reverse Lend-Lease. These aircraft retained their British designations. The aircraft on display at the USAF museum  is a British-built B. Mk. 35 manufactured in 1946 (later converted for towing targets) and is similar to the P.R. Mk. XVIs used by the USAAF. It was flown to the museum in February 1985. This Mosquito, serial RS709, has been restored to a Mk. XVI configuration and painted as NS519, a weather reconnaissance aircraft of the 653rd Bombardment Squadron based in England in 1944-1945. Just before D-Day (the June 6, 1944, invasion of France), black and white stripes were applied almost overnight to a vast majority of U.S. and British aircraft to clearly identify them during the Normandy landings. In the rush to mark all the aircraft, masking and spraying sometimes gave way to more expeditious method of painting them by hand. Invasion stripes, like the ones being applied by the ground crewman in the museum's exhibit, would have completely encircled the wings and fuselage. The 25th Bombardment Group adopted a red tail for their Mosquitoes in August 1944 and removed the invasion stripes from the upper wing and upper fuselage surfaces in September 1944. (ref.: RAF Museum, Hendon,UK and Usaf Museum, Dayton, USA)