Seadude's surprisingly sensationalist........somethings?

[seadude]

Actually, now that I think about it, I could maybe do spinning props for my larger AMT Ertl 1/72 scale XB-35 at home in the future. Propblurs makes some 1/72 scale photoetch 4-bladed spinning props that might work.   

[seadude]

Giving two birds the Testors Silver treatment.    Landing gear for both is fully painted. Hope to install for both planes tomorrow, as well as attach propellers on the XB-35, and also attach canopies for both aircraft. Also hope to start work on the 1/144 scale B-2 tomorrow night. Gonna be a busy day tomorrow.   

[zenrat]

Those look sensational SD.

[seadude]

A few "test shots" of all 3 bombers on the Academy display stand. You can definately see how big the 1/144 scale B-2 is compared to the slightly smaller 1/200 scale XB-35 and YB-49 bombers.    Even though these birds may be small and "moderately" simple to put together, I have a feeling I won't finish this display in time for a contest this coming weekend on Saturday.   The B-2 is giving me problems which I'll probably explain in another post tomorrow.

[TheChronicOne]

I agree wit' me buddy up above, man, them look great!!!

You'll overcome the setbacks... deadline is tight but when the pressure is on, I'm confident you'll prevail. 

[seadude]

You'll overcome the setbacks... deadline is tight but when the pressure is on, I'm confident you'll prevail.

A couple things come to mind. As an old phrase kinda goes: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get."
And.......when I rush something, I have a tendency to make mistakes.

As for this 1/144 Revell B-2 kit........there's a few things to note about it.
a) There is flash, but not an extreme amount to clean up. On a scale of 1-10, I'd say it's a 3.
b) No sense in painting or detailing the cockpit interior. Once the windscreen is in place and the upper/lower fuselage sections glued, you won't be able to see much of anything anyway.
c) There is no way to build the model in flight with the wheel bays closed. Not unless you do some serious cutting of the gear doors and also PSR to make this bird in flight. Revell did some unique molding of the parts/sprues so that the only way to build this model was with the gear down. This appears to be intentional.
d) The weapons bay is molded open with some "cheap" molding of weapons already in the bay. To close the bay, you'd have to cut the weapon bay door actuators off the doors as well as do some other PSR in order to properly close the doors.
e) To get a proper B-2, a person will need to do a LOT of PSR to sand off raised panel lines, fill gaps and seams, etc. to make this bird look as authentic and stealthy as possible.

I'll try to post more pics either tonight or tomorrow if I can.

[seadude]

Note: The grey B-2 in the last pic is not finished yet. It is simply on the stand for a test shot with the other models.
Anyway.........both the XB-35 (Propeller bomber) and the YB-49 (Jet bomber) are both finished. Sorry if any pics look dark or blurry. I had hoped to finish this display in time for a contest tomorrow. But the B-2 stealth bomber kit is giving me more headaches than I care to have.    So........this whole display will be delayed and showcased at another contest 2 weeks from now. More work on the B-2 will continue on Sunday.

[NARSES2]

That's a really neat collection 

[Old Wombat]

 

[seadude]

Didn't really do much this past Sunday or even today. As said previously, the XB-35 and YB-49 are both done. The B-2 is 90% done except for decaling which I am having severe trouble with and will have to explain another time. Otherwise, the B-2 bird is all painted and assembled. Took time out tonight to work on the display stand and fill in that ugly "hole" in the display stand base.    Nothing fancy mind you, but just enough to give the base a bit of color so to speak and liven it up a little.    I wanted to go with a slight retro look, so I used the Northrop company logo from the 1940's timeframe which is when the XB-35 and YB-49 were built and flight tested and when the saga of the flying wings really got started.

[TheChronicOne]

I think it looks great! I, too, am a big fan of that logo. 

[Old Wombat]

 

[NARSES2]

Really neat, well thought out base 

[seadude]

Desperate for some help here.   My B-2 is 90% done except for decaling which I started yesterday, but didn't get very far due to some problems I've having.    I'm not sure what it is: My fault, old kit/decals, or something else, but you can see the problems in these two pics, especially the red circled areas in the second pic. When it comes to large or long decals, I always seem to have problems. I'm really dreading putting on the rest of the B-2 walkway decals on both wings. I doubt I'll have any problems with some of the other tinier decals like unit markings, roundels, etc., but........you never can tell. So.........a) I continue as is and fix the walkway decals somehow and continue to add the rest, or........b) Remove and not add all walkway decals, but......then the B-2 won't look accurate like the real thing.

Advice?

[TheChronicOne]

Surprise, "free" weathering?

Not knowing your process, it's also possible that those areas could wind up looking fine after a coat of clear? 

Not very helpful I know!