B-29 "Washington", R.A.E. test bed *finished + new pics*

[sandiego89]

Royal Aircraft Establishment, B-29 Washington test bed.

Both the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm were pushing technological boundaries with new designs and concepts in the early 1950's.  Unsurprisingly many of these concepts had teething troubles, and the two B-29 Washington's loaned from the RAF to the the Royal Aircraft Establishment were used extensively to trial a wide array of aircraft components, armament and electronic gear.   

Academy B-29A Superfortress, 1/72

[AeroplaneDriver]

This sounds interesting!

[kerick]

Raspberry Ripple?  :wacko : It is a whiff!
This looks like fun!

[Wardukw]

I'm liking this..it's got many big engines ..  

[PR19_Kit]

Hmmm, the Wyvern and the Gannet kits in the pic have some relevance here.................. 

[NARSES2]

Hmmm, the Wyvern and the Gannet kits in the pic have some relevance here.................. 

Or they could be there as a distraction to throw us off the scent ? 

[sandiego89]

Hmmm, the Wyvern and the Gannet kits in the pic have some relevance here.................. 

Or they could be there as a distraction to throw us off the scent ? 

gotta keep the masses guessing! 

[sandiego89]

Box reveal  I have never built a 1/72 B-29.

Kit looks nice

Don't think I will need these parts........or do I?

Fat Man Atomic bomb on left on left, Little Boy in middle.  Special weapon racks, reversible props for the "Silver Plate" modified atomic bombers.



Kit contains all the parts to make a regular B-29, a Silver Plate atomic bomber, and even the boom for a KB-29.  Love to have all the spare parts!

Boom for the KB-29. Turret blanks to cover the turret openings at the top of the sprue- top/bottom turrets were deleted for the Atomic bombers. 



Fuselage.  Lots of interior pieces with pressure bulkheads, etc.



 

[PR19_Kit]

Coo, that does look good. I may have to get one, just because............... 

[McColm]

One on each of the outer engines,  there was a Boeing Washington conversion set with decals and aerials but I have forgotten who made it.
Great idea but watch out for the gaps in the wings, one of them has a fault in the assembly and the main undercarriage is a bit fiddly as well.

[Gondor]

A couple of things to look out for with the Academy B-29. If the front Upper turret is installed the kit does not provide the internals for it which are visible through the glazing of the cockpit area, the upper turret being directly above the under side one which is represented by a bumb in the floor of the cockpit section near the rear of the cabin. Half a spare tire and a section of 1/72 Matchbox Meteor Nightfighter nose will work. Easy option as you are doing an RAE aircraft is to remove the turrets and blank over then and to remove the lump in the cockpit.
The second thing is the tunnel between the cockpit and the Gunners area behind the bomb bay. This tunnel have an observation dome above it, yet the tunnel has no coresponding hole for anyone to look out of.
Other than those two things is a nice kit with lots of spares.

Gondor

[loupgarou]

Hmmm, the Wyvern and the Gannet kits in the pic have some relevance here.................. 

Or they could be there as a distraction to throw us off the scent ? 

I think his plan is to bin the B-29 and use just the Fat Boy with the Gannet as carrier....

[sandiego89]

Hmmm, the Wyvern and the Gannet kits in the pic have some relevance here.................. 

Or they could be there as a distraction to throw us off the scent ? 

I think his plan is to bin the B-29 and use just the Fat Boy with the Gannet as carrier....

But the Gannet carrying a Fat Man in a bulged bomb bay or semi-recessed would make the Gannet look fat and dumpy...oh wait......

[sandiego89]

A couple of things to look out for with the Academy B-29. If the front Upper turret is installed the kit does not provide the internals for it which are visible through the glazing of the cockpit area, the upper turret being directly above the under side one which is represented by a bumb in the floor of the cockpit section near the rear of the cabin. Half a spare tire and a section of 1/72 Matchbox Meteor Nightfighter nose will work. Easy option as you are doing an RAE aircraft is to remove the turrets and blank over then and to remove the lump in the cockpit.
The second thing is the tunnel between the cockpit and the Gunners area behind the bomb bay. This tunnel have an observation dome above it, yet the tunnel has no coresponding hole for anyone to look out of.
Other than those two things is a nice kit with lots of spares.

Gondor

Thank you so much, especially about the front, turret.  I was debating whether to keep the turret.  I was thinking about turrets but guns removed, which would likely be correct for my backstory uses, but does not look right.  I just found out that the RAAF go a couple of B-29's for test purposes, and at he end they had no turrets and looked pretty sharp. 

[Gondor]

Thank you so much, especially about the front, turret.  I was debating whether to keep the turret.  I was thinking about turrets but guns removed, which would likely be correct for my backstory uses, but does not look right.  I just found out that the RAAF go a couple of B-29's for test purposes, and at he end they had no turrets and looked pretty sharp. 

Nothing wrong with mounting some "test device" where the upper front turret was and then haveing some part of the device inside the cabin where it can be monitored. The reconnaissance  aircraft that were used for ataom bomb missions had cameras mounted in the forward gun turret if I remember off the top of my head, I will check my refferences and get back to you about that though.

Gondor