TOP SECRET Aurora Hypersonic aircraft.

seadude · October 10, 2015, 08:23:42 AM

Quote from: silverwindblade on October 10, 2015, 04:02:16 AM
I remember seeing numerous images of the 'SR-91' style Aurora throughout the '90's and even seeing a made-for-TV/direct to video movie with the aircraft in. It also appeared in a few video games and movies during the '90's as well, and I've always pictured that as the 'true' Aurora in my head. Didn't realize there were any kits of it though.
I'll be following this with interest to see how they all go together. I love the shapes and styles of the aircraft, and I'm looking forward to the finished display.
I also second the idea of the silver paint-scheme too - it'll break up the uniform black a bit, and add a bit more visual interest to things.

A movie? Any idea what it was called?
As for paint schemes, I'm contemplating the following:
XR-7 Thunder Dart: Black
SR-91 Aurora: Black
SR-75 Penetrator: Main body is overall Flat Gull Grey. Leading edges are black.
SR-72: From what I've seen of images on the Net as well as the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, the main body is a medium grey type color, with a darker grey for leading edges.

These choices may change in future days and weeks. I only have Testor and Tamiya paints to choose from at my local hobby store.

seadude · October 12, 2015, 08:52:41 PM

The SR-75 Penetrator should hopefully be done before the end of this week. Just finished up painting the main body Testor Acryl Flat Gull Grey. Engine and exhaust areas are Jet Exhaust color. I still have to paint the leading edges black though. Landing gear is all done too. Pics to hopefully come soon sometime. With a little luck, maybe I can next start the SR-91 Aurora kit from Anigrand on Saturday.

seadude · October 13, 2015, 08:41:35 PM

Two sample pics of the Anigrand Craftswork 1/144 scale SR-75 Penetrator I've been working on. This is the most amount of masking I've ever had to do for a model to paint the black leading edges.

Still have to add decals and paint the cockpit window yet.

philp · October 14, 2015, 12:20:52 AM

Fun project.

I also have the Thunderdart and still debating how I want to mark it.

Also got this when I was over for SMW back in 2013.

Also debating how I want to build this one. Scaleorama to 72nd like most of my collection and put it in USAF markings or give it some kind of airliner markings (leaning towards Pan Am if I go this route but not necessarily)?

Captain Canada · October 14, 2015, 06:00:21 AM

The SR-75 is looking great ! Sounds like you're really keeping yourself busy with these builds !

As for the Orient Express, defo go 72nd scale as a USAF bird Phil !

NARSES2 · October 14, 2015, 06:47:59 AM

Neat masking

seadude · October 14, 2015, 08:13:24 AM

Quote from: philp on October 14, 2015, 12:20:52 AM
Fun project.

I also have the Thunderdart and still debating how I want to mark it.

Also got this when I was over for SMW back in 2013.

Also debating how I want to build this one. Scaleorama to 72nd like most of my collection and put it in USAF markings or give it some kind of airliner markings (leaning towards Pan Am if I go this route but not necessarily)?

I think I had that kit (or something similar) long, long, long ago when I was a kid. But it was maybe known as the X-30 Spaceplane. I still have the decal sheet to this day and it has X-30 on it. For your build, I also second about converting it to a USAF bird.

@CC: Yeah, I am keeping myself busy with these resin kits. Lots of sanding and puttying to do on them. But the Anigrand kits don't seem too terribly bad. Nice detailing and engraved panel lines. There is some flash, but not much. Bad thing about the SR-75 is that I can't make it with the landing gear doors closed. The contours of the main gear doors don't match up well to the contours of the main gear bays on the body of the aircraft. So I had to leave the landing gear down. I've also heard in other places about people bad mouthing Anigrand kits. I don't know why.

seadude · October 14, 2015, 09:42:15 AM

P.S. - Decaling of the SR-75 will have to wait a week or two. The decals that came with the kit are only good if the aircraft is painted in overall black color. Low-viz grey decal markings won't work on a grey colored airframe.

So I ordered different decals from Anigrand this morning. So..........back to work on the cockpit window, landing gear, then it's off to work on the SR-91 I go.

philp · October 14, 2015, 10:43:07 AM

Yeah, the X-30 was the other boxing of the kit.

Simple snap together but if I modify it to a two person 72nd scale plane then probably will try and add some landing gear to it.

But maybe I can just make it in flight status and save myself some work.

The Anigrand kits are sometimes hit or miss on bubbles and/or fit. Think their newer kits have been much better in both.

I have been looking at the B-51 and the Skyshark to build in Vietnam war colors (USAF) but the price is what keeps putting me off. That and I still haven't built a resin kit.

seadude · October 14, 2015, 08:28:42 PM

And the SR-75 Penetrator is done.........almost. Well, 99% done. The new decals I ordered from Anigrand probably won't arrive till next week, then I'll be able to decal the SR-75 and call it truly done. Funny thing about the canards though. Some pics show them same color as the main fuselage, and other pics show them black colored. I opted for same color as the main fuselage. Next up to start tomorrow: The Anigrand SR-91 Aurora craft.

zenrat · October 15, 2015, 03:04:00 AM

Looking good.

seadude · October 15, 2015, 10:09:30 AM

For anybody thinking of purchasing and building the Fantastic Plastic or Anigrand kits I mentioned back on Page 1 of this thread, here are some pics below of the instruction sheets from those kits. Also, it should be noted there are slight differences between these newer Anigrand kits and previous versions.
The older Anigrand Aurora kit from a year or more ago did not have the Stingbat LHX stealth copter in it. The newer Aurora kit I bought earlier this summer does.
Anigrand made an older SR-75 Penetrator kit that was previously known as the Brilliant Buzzard and it had the Lockheed Hopeless Diamond and Have Blue prototypes in the kit. The newer version I bought earlier this summer now includes the Northrop XST in it.

seadude · October 15, 2015, 01:02:02 PM

Might as well add what's bad about all these kits. Other people's mileage may vary. They're still good, but..........

Anigrand 1/144 SR-75 Penetrator
1. Landing gear struts are fragile! Recommend you do NOT sit this plane on it's landing gear. Use a stand instead.
2. Shape/contours of the main landing gear doors do not perfectly match up to the contours of the main body of the aircraft. I had to leave my gear bays open with the gear down instead of trying to close the landing gear bays.
3. Looking at the aircraft head on from the nose after everything was assembled, I saw that the left (Port) wing was warped. Not in an excessive way, but just slightly.
4. Not worth it to paint the cockpit. Once you put the cockpit window on, you can't see anything inside anyway.
5. Anigrand only gives one sheet of decals to go with the kit. There's not enough markings (USAF, Triangle cockpit warnings, etc.) to cover both sides of the aircraft. Better to order a second sheet of decals.

6. The decals are light grey which will only work on a black colored aircraft. If doing the grey colored aircraft like I did, then you'll have to get different decals from somewhere else.
7. Most model manufacturers (Testors, for example.) say to paint the landing gear white, the tires black, and the landing gear bays white, etc. NO. NO. NO. The Aurora (In whatever configuration) is a hypersonic aircraft. For hypersonic aircraft at speeds Mach 3 or above, the landing gear and bays, etc. would look similar to that found on the SR-71 Blackbird. I strongly recommend modelers take my advice earlier in Post # 12 of this thread.

Other aircraft packaged with the SR-75 Penetrator:
1. The Northrop XST prototype was never camouflaged. It was only camouflaged in artist concept sketches ONLY! The Northrop XST (And Lockheed Hopeless Diamond) never existed as a flyable vehicle. Only a subscale pole model for RCS testing.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/q2kjp5zg9bdzu4uwme01.jpg
2. After extensive research, the Lockheed Hopeless Diamond, Lockheed Have Blue, and Northrop XST prototypes never had any USAF insignia or other identifiable markings in order to keep the prototypes classified and unidentifiable. Therefore, decals aren't needed for these models.
3. There were two real Lockheed Have Blue prototypes: Have Blue 01 and Have Blue 02. The Anigrand 1/144 model is of the Have Blue 01 prototype. Only the Have Blue 01 prototype had a pitot probe. The Have Blue 02 didn't. One thing missing on the Anigrand Have Blue is that the real Have Blue 01 aircraft had a small square box on top of the fuselage between the vertical fins for a drag chute. The Have Blue 02 didn't have this.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/DARPA_USAirForce_HaveBlue.png

Anigrand 1/144 SR-91 Aurora kit
1. The cockpit windows are so tiny that you can't see into the cockpit. Therefore, it probably doesn't pay to install the cockpit tub and/or to paint it.

I'll have more notes later as I continue building the SR-91 Aurora kit as well as other Aurora kits.

seadude · October 15, 2015, 07:46:08 PM

Two more sample in-progress pics of the Anigrand 1/144 SR-91 Aurora kit I am now working on. Building this is going slightly better and faster than the SR-75 Penetrator I did earlier. Maybe I'll have the SR-91 Aurora done on Saturday. Who knows? The SR-91 I am building will be painted overall black.

NARSES2 · October 16, 2015, 06:32:28 AM

Coming along nicely