1:72 Monogram Consol B-36 Peacemaker

[king of men]

At last, I can finally say that I have rescued a model from the Shelf of Doom. And it was taking up a lot of space on that shelf.

I imagine most of us 1:72nd types have owned the Monogram 1:72 B-36 at some point in our lives, though many may have succumbed to the impossible size of it and sold it down the river. I decided (long around 1998 or so) to get one built. Well, you can see how well that went, given that it is just crossing the finish line 18 years later. It has spent most of that time in an assembled but unpainted state.

But then about 4 years ago I decided on something a little unusual. Why not finish the B-36 by turning it into the world's largest whif? The thought of building something that most wouldn't build because of its size into something that most wouldn't do because it is a non-real-world fantasy was perversely appealing.

I gave what markings to use some long thought and rejecting the idea of both a Russian version and a Fed Ex version (I'm going to use that idea elsewhere, someday), I finally settled on what had been an early concept, a WW2 RAF Bomber Command type. Without the jet pods, it almost is one in any case.

Painting came in stages, but I had all the upper surfaces done when I ran into the Great Mojo Drought of 2014-2015. It languished for what seemed like ages, but when I was trying to restart the modelling mojo after this winter's surgeries, I thought that might be just the ticket.

Nothing out of the ordinary done to the kit other than deleting the jet engines, though I did use decals from the sheet that was produced for our 1992 IPMS-Nationals here in Seattle. Now that is some deep stash diving. "Cream of the Crop" was actually a B-29 from the 19th BG in Korea.

I do have one horror story, and it came at the very end of the process (not uncommon, alas). I used Cutting Edge masks on the canopies. They stick very well and don't lift like the old grey vinyl Eduard masks have a tendency to do. Well, I've learned just how well they do stick. I couldn't get them off the model. I admit that they have been on there for far longer than recommended (like maybe 8 or 9 years) but they were terribly difficult to raise. I first tried a toothpick, my usual tool for removing canopy masking, but they just broke. Then I used an Xacto knife point to try and raise a corner so each pane could be peeled off. And it broke the Xacto point! Almost every pane has a scratch on it and there was still a lot of adhesive left behind. That was why I had to make a special store run for WD-40, which, though a silicon degreaser, does an outstanding job of cleaning up residue and making canopies shiny. There still are numerous scratches, but I am not up for polishing individual panels on something like a B-36! That was a hellacious, interminable job with no good outcome. So I finally shrugged, then went out and took some photos on the famous wood panelled airstrip here in the capitol city of 72 Land.

I did search around on the net, and while there are other whif B-36s out there, most use the 1:144 scale kit, not 1:72. But I'm not the only loon; I found a fellow on Britmodeller who had done a B-36 cropduster for a fantasy group build. Now there is thinking outside the box. I don't know what the point of spraying pesticide would be - just the sound of that thing flying low over the field would scare the bejeezus out of any bug within a five mile radius.

This is completed aircraft #446 (#10 for the year), finished in February of 2016.

[NARSES2]

Oh that is nice 

[Dizzyfugu]

And huge... 

Out of curiosity: has the left wing tip been painted in a different green tone? 

[sandiego89]

.....I did search around on the net, and while there are other whif B-36s out there, most use the 1:144 scale kit, not 1:72. But I'm not the only loon; I found a fellow on Britmodeller who had done a B-36 cropduster for a fantasy group build

Looks great king.  Well done!  Like the scheme. 

As for the 1/72 Cropduster B-36, that was perhaps mine, on this What If forum during Civilian/Militarize Group Build from the summer of 2015.  Not aware of one on other sites, I only post my builds here.  Yes, loon fits 

full build thread:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,40686.0.html

[king of men]

And huge...  

Out of curiosity: has the left wing tip been painted in a different green tone?  

You know, to be honest, I had not noticed that. It was painted in the same green at the same time as the rest of the upper surfaces. I was having some airbrush issues at the time and it might be that this portion is a little thinner than the rest. But it also might just be a trick of the light. That's really weird; I'm going to have to blame it on a dimwitted and clearly drunken paint crew....

[king of men]

>>>As for the 1/72 Cropduster B-36, that was perhaps mine, on this What If forum during Civilian/Militarize Group Build from the summer of 2015.  Not aware of one on other sites, I only post my builds here.  Yes, loon fits<<<

Yep, that's the one. Very nice work. Sorry about crediting it to BM; for some reason that is what stuck in my mind. Clearly there is not enough room in there for storing memory!

[PR19_Kit]

That's OUTSTANDING, I love it. 

I can just see one of those rumbling over the A15 east of Scampton and all the spotters losing their hats in the slipstream of those six huge P&Ws. 

[Leading Observer]

Excellent work . I can see that being "escorted" by a couple of MiG-15's somewhere over the North Cape or Baltic

[The Wooksta!]

Nice, although I think the Med Sea Grey/Night scheme would work better.

[DogfighterZen]

What a beast!!! Very nice work!

[zenrat]

Wow, it's so big.

I'm toying with anti flash white and kangaroo roundels for mine.

[Captain Canada]

Gorgeous. Love the camo on her. What a beast ! Great job

[albeback]

Nice, although I think the Med Sea Grey/Night scheme would work better.

Certainly would. But not nearly as nice as the Royal Aircraft Establishment "raspberry ripple" scheme!

Allan

[PR19_Kit]

Nice, although I think the Med Sea Grey/Night scheme would work better.

Certainly would. But not nearly as nice as the Royal Aircraft Establishment "raspberry ripple" scheme!

Doing that would use up the RAE's entire stock of red, white and blue paint. 

[zenrat]

How about recreating the short lived 1953 Red Arrows display team?  The year their Peacemakers spent bomber command's entire fuel budget in one display.