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

seadude · October 24, 2017, 01:48:55 PM

Instead of making separate threads all over the place for my projects, I'm just going to create one mega continuous thread for explaining and showcasing all my work. Comments, suggestions, and even critisisms are welcome.

For starters, this whole year (2017) has been pretty busy for modeling work and things don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

seadude · October 24, 2017, 01:56:34 PM

This is the 1/72 scale Revell German Arado Ar 555 "Amerika Bomber" model kit that has been made into a what if Soviet flying wing bomber instead. The Arado Ar 555 actually existed in World War 2, but only as a "paper design" that never went into production. My model whiff showcases what would have happened if the Soviets had captured the blueprints and design specifications at the end of the war and had created their own flying wing bomber for testing and/or production purposes in the late 1940's to early 1950's.
· Model is painted overall Testor Acryl Aluminum.
· Landing gear bays painted Testors Light Ghost Grey.
· Cockpit main color painted with Lifecolor RLM25 Bright Green.
· Bombs in bomb bay painted Testors Euro 1 Grey.
· Soviet red star decals from spare parts box.
· Guns painted Tamiya XF-56 Metallic Grey.

Soviet Arado Ar 555
https://www.flickr.com/photos/72147279@N06/albums/72157689763418616

seadude · October 24, 2017, 01:58:25 PM

PR19_Kit · October 24, 2017, 02:31:52 PM

Very believable in that scheme, nice job.

What was its NATO code name though?

seadude · October 24, 2017, 03:05:51 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on October 24, 2017, 02:31:52 PM
Very believable in that scheme, nice job.

What was its NATO code name though?

Now that you mentioned it, I don't have one.

Guess I'll have to think of something, eh?

TheChronicOne · October 24, 2017, 04:18:01 PM

That's cool!!! I like it alot.

Definitely looks worthy of the Red Star treatment!!

DogfighterZen · October 24, 2017, 04:30:30 PM

That Tupolev looks great!

seadude · October 24, 2017, 04:58:40 PM

Thank You, comrades! Your praise means much to the continued success of the Soviet motherland!

Other notes: I didn't detail the cockpit very much. Once the canopy portions are attached, you can't see much of the inside anyway. The rear tail gun does swivel from side to side.

But it doesn't raise or lower unfortuneately.

seadude · October 24, 2017, 05:04:03 PM

And now for my next trick............

My current project right now after finishing the Soviet Arado flying wing bomber is to build a display honoring aviation pioneer Jack Northrop and his flying wing bomber designs: the XB-35, YB-49, and the B-2. There is no whiffery in this project, except for maybe the display base which I may need to modify to incorporate the Northrop company logo design from the 1940's.
Kits I am using are the Cyber-hobby/Dragon 1/200 scale XB-35 and YB-49, and also the 1/144 scale Revell B-2 stealth bomber. These are all small kits with minimal amount of parts that should go together fast and easy.

A few things about the XB-35 and YB-49 kits:
a) The letter and number callouts for some parts and paint colors don't match up well or aren't very clear. For example: The clear parts sprue is labeled Letter D, but the instruction sheet names the clear parts with a letter W. There is also no color H4/4 (For the propeller tips) in the XB-35 instruction sheet even though it's mentioned on the bottom of the box.

b) The painting and decal guide is on the bottom of the kit box. So don't throw away the box! See above pic.

c) The cockpit and tail crew sections are so small and minimally detailed, that when you put the upper and lower fuselage halves together and also add the clear canopy parts, you won't be able to see hardly anything of those interior areas. It's probably best not to paint those interior areas and/or not even add them at all. See below picture that has the green circled cockpit section and also red circled canopy areas.

Originally, I had thought about putting the bombers on a flat base and put some design specs. and other information next to/around them.

But then.........INSPIRATION STRUCK! I forgot I had an old Academy aircraft display stand at home that I hadn't used yet. I figure, if you're going to display flying wing bombers, then you might as well display it right: Put them on the stand in flight mode! So I drilled out holes in the bottoms of all the bomber lower fuselage sections and did some testing to see how I wanted them displayed and what they'd look like. From my point of view, I like it a lot!

The "hole" in the Academy base will be somehow covered up and I'll display the old vintage Northrop 1940's company logo there.

TheChronicOne · October 24, 2017, 05:09:47 PM

Right on! Normally I'm a stickler for having gear with my builds. I like them sitting. But with flying wings?? It makes ALL the sense to have them in flight.

PR19_Kit · October 25, 2017, 03:38:13 AM

The only thing you can see through the canopy on a 1/72 B-35 is the pilot's seat. On a 1/200 model that'd be darn nigh invisible!

LOVE the idea of the 'Northrop' base.

NARSES2 · October 25, 2017, 06:08:48 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on October 25, 2017, 03:38:13 AM

LOVE the idea of the 'Northrop' base.

Very much so, a fitting tribute

The Arado looks so right in those markings

seadude · October 25, 2017, 09:31:41 AM

Quote from: TheChronicOne on October 24, 2017, 05:09:47 PM
Right on! Normally I'm a stickler for having gear with my builds. I like them sitting. But with flying wings?? It makes ALL the sense to have them in flight.

Wellllllllllll.........to be honest, I'll have the landing gear down and the landing gear bays open. I know it'll suck and look awkward, but when building almost any model, especially aircraft, I like to try and show as much detail as possible. This usually means detailing the cockpit, maybe adding pilot figures, open weapons bay, open landing gear bays, landing gear down, etc. I like spectators to get a good look at all the intricacies of a model as much as possible. Besides, the weapons bay on the B-2 is already molded open with interior weapons detail.

Quote from: PR19_Kit on October 25, 2017, 03:38:13 AM
The only thing you can see through the canopy on a 1/72 B-35 is the pilot's seat. On a 1/200 model that'd be darn nigh invisible!

I had a choice between following the kit instructions and painting the 1/200 scale canopies black as indicated on the box painting and marking guide, or painting the crew sections and leaving the canopies clear. I chose the latter just in case some prick JMN judge at a contest wanted to see inside.

TheChronicOne · October 25, 2017, 09:47:13 AM

Well that sounds good, then! Best of both worlds in that case. In flight and with gear, to boot. Can't go wrong there!

seadude · October 25, 2017, 09:56:48 AM

If I was feeling really creative, which I'm not right now, I could have had the XB-35 in flight with spinning propellers. Replace the kit propellers with round discs cut from clear sheet styrene and made to look like they are spinning.