B-70 Valkyrie

[Devilfish]

Decided to make a start on the Valkyrie my girlfriend bought me for Xmas....
Did a bit of reading up beforehand,  just so I would know what horrors awaited me...
Well, true to form, mine has totally different problems than his, so here goes...

Started with the cockpit.   The seats don't fit as they're too wide and I added seat faces from plastic card.




Then went onto the intakes.  Not too bad. Nothing a little sanding and filling won't cure....


Rather than removing and rebuilding the heat exchanger I decided to file down the over thick vanes


Now we come to the fun part.   The upper wings seem to have warped in opposite directions....

Also, as you can see, the forward tip of one has broken off.  Not to worry tho as the offending part was floating around in the bag!

The end of the engine housings seems to have lost one tip too. Also found floating around in the box thankfully


Before I carry on, I just wanted to get a sense of the size of this beast, so compared it to some of my other aircraft...
Vulcan B3


TSR2



so, will need to build an extension to house it, lol

A couple of progress shots. Fuselage....or should that be fuse-large is together.
Had to file down the seat because it wouldn't all fit in otherwise.  Not sure if that was my fault or the kits, but I'm blaming the kit because they don't give locating pins for the seats so it's anyones guess as to how the fit (or don't!!)





The fuselage is buttoned up and filled.  Just needs a bit more fine tuning with the filler...


Later on, I am going to have a go at rescribing the panel lines

Intakes and engine housings...


Wings....all pretty warped at the leading edge, so I resorted to using "Stig's head" to straighten them out while the glue dried

[Cobra]

Looking Good you're doing a top rate job,so far! hope to see more.  Dan

[IanH]

I've got one of those in the stash - good to know what awaits

[PR19_Kit]

The B-70's folding tips look to have more area than the TSR2's entire wing! While both were bombers, they did fly at opposite ends of the airborne spectrum I suppose, so it's understandable.

That looks like a troublesome build you're having there, all those broken, warped and ill fitting bits. Hm, perhaps not though, sounds just the same as all the others we do on here! 

That's going to be one BIG machine, well done so far.

[IanH]

You wanna see the Box!

[Devilfish]

The B-70's folding tips look to have more area than the TSR2's entire wing! While both were bombers, they did fly at opposite ends of the airborne spectrum I suppose, so it's understandable.

They also had the largest hinge mechanism ever made...

That looks like a troublesome build you're having there, all those broken, warped and ill fitting bits. Hm, perhaps not though, sounds just the same as all the others we do on here! 

That's going to be one BIG machine, well done so far.

I expected it to be problematic, as I had done some research into other builds.  It was originally a limited run kit by AMT, then Italeri bought the moulds.  As it's quite basic it's not beyond most modellers skills, it just takes time and patience to work out how to approach it.

And lots of space!!!!

[albeback]

I had the same fun building mine.

However, I agree that there's nothing that bit of effort & patience won't cure !
It's certainly spectacular when finished.

I've built 2 of these beauties already but, due to space limitations, I've given both away. For my next one, I want to droop the wings at "half droop" - about 35 degrees I think. I don't care if it's inappropriate for a stationary model but I do think it gives the aircraft a slightly sinister, almost predatory appearance! May I ask what colour scheme you will be using. White is just SOOO boring!!

One of mine was painted in overall black as an SR-70 of the 9TH SRW at Beale AFB. Black of course is a bit stark so, I misted on a light coat of Midnight blue - quite effective in taking the edge off the colour!

I have a spare GTD-21 drone from my Academy SR-71 kit, so, I'll give 3 guesses as to how my next XB-70 will look!

[IanH]

Don't forget the 5 degree Dihedral of production versions:
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal4/3801-3900/gal3812_XB-70_Tietjen/00.shtm

[Devilfish]

May I ask what colour scheme you will be using. White is just SOOO boring!!

One of mine was painted in overall black as an SR-70 of the 9TH SRW at Beale AFB. Black of course is a bit stark so, I misted on a light coat of Midnight blue - quite effective in taking the edge off the colour!

I thought long and hard about this.  TBH, a mach 3 aircraft can realistically only be white, black or silver, as the cooling effect is needed.
So, like you I agree, white is boring, and General Melchett and others have done SAC silver, so I'm going for a black with low-viz markings. 
I also have an F-12 in the stash, to be it's escort.

[Devilfish]

Don't forget the 5 degree Dihedral of production versions:
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal4/3801-3900/gal3812_XB-70_Tietjen/00.shtm

Thanks for that. I was aware of the 5 deg dihedral, but couldn't find any decent photos or descriptions.  TBH, looking at that model, it is hardly noticeable, so I'll probably give it a miss.

I also read somewhere that the dihedral, although it cure some flight problems, it actually created others...so, maybe they decided to stick to the original wing....when that's my story, lol

There were also other planned changes in the pipeline for later prototypes, which where never built, including different sweep front canards....so I think I 'll just stick to whats given in the kit.

[kitnut617]

Compared to the Concorde, it's about the same size.  Mind you, my Concorde here has been shortened by 2" for my bomber project.

[Devilfish]

Hmmm....definately need to do a bomcorde I think!

[PR19_Kit]

I have one of the special edition AMT ones in The Loft, but I've only looked inside the box once, the day I bought it. 

The dihedral on the second prototype could be a real swine to add to the model, as the lower wing sections will need some serious gap filling and you'd need a spar as well, to make sure it all held together.

Having seen the real thing at the USAF Museum it's an awesome machine, the six exhaust pipes are GINORMOUS, yet the thing that really sticks in my mind are the silver painted tryes! Apparently that was to disipate the heat of it's M 3.0 passage......

[albeback]

May I ask what colour scheme you will be using. White is just SOOO boring!!

One of mine was painted in overall black as an SR-70 of the 9TH SRW at Beale AFB. Black of course is a bit stark so, I misted on a light coat of Midnight blue - quite effective in taking the edge off the colour!

I thought long and hard about this.  TBH, a mach 3 aircraft can realistically only be white, black or silver, as the cooling effect is needed.
So, like you I agree, white is boring, and General Melchett and others have done SAC silver, so I'm going for a black with low-viz markings.  
I also have an F-12 in the stash, to be it's escort.



http://www.edwardsflighttest.com/b70.html


Ahhh but, this is Whifworld & realism goes out the window!!

Check out some of the schemes at the link above ( hope it works!!)  I rather fancy the SEA Camouflage example. And, how about the one in the Thunderbirds livery! As for the dihderal mentioned elsewhere, I was aware of that but, as far as I'm concerned it's more trouble than it's worth. This kit is difficult enough to build without adding to it.  I can live without it . It's not that noticeable anyway & certainly,nobody that sees my model will be any the wiser.

[IanH]

I have one of the special edition AMT ones in The Loft, but I've only looked inside the box once, the day I bought it. 

The dihedral on the second prototype could be a real swine to add to the model, as the lower wing sections will need some serious gap filling and you'd need a spar as well, to make sure it all held together.

Having seen the real thing at the USAF Museum it's an awesome machine, the six exhaust pipes are GINORMOUS, yet the thing that really sticks in my mind are the silver painted tryes! Apparently that was to disipate the heat of it's M 3.0 passage......

They aren't painted - the tyres are impregnated with Aluminium...