1 72 Hasegawa B-47E Stratojet

[Scot2go]

My entry for the Shiney Thing GB I introduce you to Hasegawa's 1/72 B-47E Stratojet. A kit I've selected to practice my NMF skill application and paint use. It'll either be an epic fail or will shine through A good old kit with a long timeline heritage and this version I believe is a 2003 re-box with newer decals.

Box cover shot



Fuselage Sprue



Wing Sprue



Engine and Cockpit / Wheel Bay Sprue



Bombs and Other bits Sprue



Decal and Cockpit Glazing



Instructions









A wee bit history and background



The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (company Model 450) was a long range, six-engine, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The B-47's primary mission was to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union. With its engines carried in nacelles under the swept wing, the B-47 was a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern jet airliners.

The B-47 medium bomber became the foundation of the US Air Force's newly created Strategic Air Command, and many were adapted for several specialized functions. One became a missile carrier, others were reconnaissance aircraft or trainers or carried remote controls for other aircraft. Between 1947 and 1956, a total of 2,032 B-47s in all variants were built. Boeing built 1,373, Douglas Aircraft Co. built 274 and Lockheed Aircraft Corp. built 385.

Another innovation pioneered on the B-47 was the concept of placing the engines in pods (nacelles) suspended under the wings. A pod containing two General Electric J-35 engines (GE J-47 engines for all production models) hung from each wing inboard, and a single engine hung farther out. B-47 had tandem bicycle-type landing gear under the front and back sections of the fuselage. Small outrigger wheels on the inboard engines kept the airplane from tipping over when it was on the ground.

The B-47 is featured prominently in the 1955 film Strategic Air Command starring James Stewart. The film features good aerial footage of both the B-47 and the Convair B-36. The majority of B-47 scenes were filmed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, utilizing aircraft from the 306th Bombardment Wing.



It's against this background that inspired me to put my maiden entry into this, my first ever ISM GB So here goes and hope I can do the kit justice, anyway I better get on with some kit building...

Many thanks for looking in.

[RoscoRSA]

That thing is going to be huge for a 1:72

I am keeping my eyes on this one, good luck.

[DBMiller]

Have you see this add on? I was thinking about getting it for when I build mine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pavla-C72114-1- ... xyaTxTRh0~

[Scot2go]

Have you see this add on? I was thinking about getting it for when I build mine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pavla-C72114-1- ... xyaTxTRh0~

I have indeed and thank you for the reference, gave it serious consideration but budget is my showstopper on this one. I've done a dry-fit of the fuselage and kinda decided not a lot to be seen once closed. I've got some spare bits that I'll attempt to add to to what remains visible. Thank you for the pointer and the picture on fb. Hope to update what I've done so far later in the week.

[Kevthemodeller]

That should build into a really nice model, keep us posted.

[chief5437]

Very nice! I love those Cold War jets. Good luck with the build!

[Scot2go]

Good afternoon all. Well got a wee start on the B-47 doing some sub assembly and test fitting. I got underway with the outer wing engines, external fuel tanks and rear tail plane wings.

External Fuel Tanks

No matter how I tried to align them there was going to be a ridge on the joins. Thankfully my trusty UPM sanding sticks sorted that out. The one on the left after sanding, one on the right pre-sanding.



Both External Tanks after sanding



Tail Wings

Both joined up quite well although the left side one had some over hang on the rear edge even thought it was perfectly plumb on the front. A bit sanding and both were absolutely fine on joins - no seam filler required.





Outer Engines

These were next on assembly, the only join issue is nothing lines up right. Tried every angle and combination. So sand stick time and gentle rubbing but will need to think about re-scribing to once done.





So Progress So Far

Here's what's gone on this week (for me it's a good rate of progress). I want to assemble as much as I can before starting painting (the exciting bit Hopefully get wings, cockpit and fuselage joined up in the coming week. After that it's inner wing engine assembly and wheel bays.



Teaser Dry Fit Fuselage Shot



That's it for now as my new rescribing tool arrived so need to gen up on that before scribing. Thanks for looking in and once I've got some more progress I will update.

[patrickroos]

Great start, great subject, this big bird will look the part in metal!
And looks like a very nice kit.

[DBMiller]

I see what you mean about not being able to see too much in the cockpit. Not really worth the price of that upgrade kit.

[Scot2go]

Good afternoon all Just a wee update (nothing exciting) but progress has been good for me (which is exciting for me) and here's where we are so far...

Inboard Engines

Parts before assembly, I found the front end intake nozzle to be bigger than the main engine body so a bit sanding and buffing like wise same with the rear exhaust.



Inboard Engines after assembly.



I also inserted a wee bit plasticard to close the hole in the front of the inner engine wheel bays otherwise it would have been a big hole. These are ready for priming now.

Main Landing Wheels

Main landing gear wheels to be smoothed and joined up.



Wheels joined up and now ready for priming once sanded. Same with landing gear and wheel bay doors.





Bomb Bay

I thought the bomb bay looked a bit bland so added some extra ribbing. I'm going to try and add some cabling with hydraulic bottles etc







Bombs

72 parts to make 24 bombs. At 1/72 scale, they'll just be getting a paint and attached.



All ready for the Primer launch party.....



I had already brought these goodies (below) last month and as this is my first GB entry, well why not? Worked a dream and now feel more confident with my approach to priming.

Spent a bit of time researching for the airbrush, I based my choice on a number of recommendations and selections other ISM'rs have made - so went with the flow so too speak, the primer choice.....well that was easy So thanks all to you guys who advise, suggest etc



Primed and Drying



Main Wing & Engine Bits

Wings assembled and getting closer to the main course of joining up and shiny painting. Once all joined up, cleaned and checked - on with the primer.

Wings went together very well, no filler and just a little bit of sanding / correcting here and there.



Thanks for looking in and hopefully by next week I'll have some silver / aluminium stuff to show you. But working away from home next week, so might not be much to show

[Scot2go]

Just a wee progress update - got the cockpit and assembled. A dab of paint to make some dials, but back to school on painting pilots I'm afraid (my hands are too shaky).

Cockpit finish



From another angle



Now the good news....I got the fuselage joined up but there's not much to see into the cockpit.



Now the bad news.... The fuselage joining instructions said insert the wheel bays and bomb bay after joining. After numerous dry fitting attempts on the fuselage held together with tape, I decided this way was going to be messy and left me with concern that I would not be able to secure either properly.

So I decided to plant the bay's into one side of the fuselage with the cockpit assembly and then join the fuselage. So after a bit of fiddling and lining up, did the join and was quite pleased with the result.

Whilst perusing my efforts over a nice cold beer..I noticed I had put the front wheel bay in the wrong way round (cue some effing and jeffing). So prised the front end apart very carefully, extracted and returned the bay the right way round.

Below pic show's my error.



Below show's bay urned around. A stupid error and I would have been gutted if I found out further down the line.



Wheels are painted up and wheel undercarriage painted up



The wings got joined on and the rear tail plane wings were joined on as well and she's now beginning to take shape.



From a different angle.



A kind of from top of the tail shot along fuselage top shot.



For now it's on with a bit of sanding, tidy up the edges around the bay's and working on the joins of the fuselage and wings into a promising state. Sorry for not updating earlier but today was a good day and now time for a beer.

I've still got 24 bombs to paint as well... Thanks for looking and feel free to pass on any feedback if you think I'm heading the wrong way. I am getting closer to the paint stage, so might need some tips about painting the wings before or after the hangy bits get stuck on.

[Lysus]

That's a big kit even at 1/72. I do love the lines of the B-47.

Too bad the cockpit is so hidden after all that work, but hey, you'll know it's all done up inside

[Vleugelmoer]

For a kit this age, its coming together quite nicely. What a bummer of the cockpit though. Are going to leave the old school raised panel line detail or are you going to rescribe this "little" beauty??

[Scot2go]

Are going to leave the old school raised panel line detail or are you going to rescribe this "little" beauty??

I'm going to go the old school route, I've not got much rescribing experience. I'd be happy if I get a good paint job and an outcome that looks like a decent B-47. Though will try and rescribe areas that have been sanded and pick some areas that would benefit.

I've seen some good tips on the forum to want to try and this is what my first SIG entry journey is all about for me, trying different modelling aspects.

[Homerlovesbeer]

Great job Derek, really cool build

[Kevthemodeller]

I like these aircraft, have a look at the film "Strategic Air Command" with James Stuart it goes through just about every post war bomber SAC had up until the B52.

Great colour film with all the real aircraft no models or CGI just real aircraft, plus he flow them for real!

[Scot2go]

I like these aircraft, have a look at the film "Strategic Air Command" with James Stuart it goes through just about every post war bomber SAC had up until the B52.

Great colour film with all the real aircraft no models or CGI just real aircraft, plus he flow them for real!

A cracking film for all those great flying scenes and having read James Stewart's biography. I found out he reached the rank of Brigadier General (Reserve) and flew an actual combat mission during the Vietnam conflict from Guam.

The scenes' with the B-36's must rate as one of the best filmed scenes for a film of its era in 1955. Scenes from the film were shot at an actual SAC airbase at MacDill AFB where the 301st bomb group were based.

[Willem]

Loving how this beastie is coming together. Good save on the wheel wells too.

[snappercity]

This is going together well. I would love to build one of these some day.

[DBMiller]

Here is a cool diorama idea for the B-47. I never saw this little maneuver in Strategic Air Command!

[youtube]mqIJL8lx00o[/youtube]

[Scot2go]

Here is a cool diorama idea for the B-47. I never saw this little maneuver in Strategic Air Command!

Wow that was something else, thanks for adding the vid DBmiller I've been watching lots of tube vids and love the documentaries about SAC. Really enjoying my build just now and thanks for previous comments guys, they've been a big morale boost - hoping to post an update at the weekend.

[Scot2go]

Got a bit more progress done this weekend and here's what we have so far. I joined the inboard engine mounts onto the wings after numerous test fittings. Needed to fill in the join lines and smooth down the front join where the wing mates onto the mound.

Before sanding and you can see the uneven join up where front of mount joins onto wing.


The other side was much the same.


Now for the most enjoyable bit. I primed the beast with Ultimate Black primer using my H&S Evolution CR Plus. Until this point I had only used my new airbrush on a practice kit and smaller aircraft parts.

I spent a bit of time cleaning the surface areas and rubbing down with IPA impregnated cloth and holding up to the light to see if there was any untoward marks.

Now it was time to see what really could be done. I practised with a plastic sheet card to get a sense of airbrushing over a larger surface and then took the plunge.

Now I know how a golfer feels lining up a putt. I don't know what the modelling equivalent of a golfer yip is but every time I went to pull back the trigger I froze. It took me a while to get the courage factor together.

Then I finally unleashed the power of this airbrush and with a great sense of relieve, both brush and primer worked well in unison and after a good session I felt I had a nicely coated and primed B-47.

So here are some candid shots off the main body priming session.







Now tucked away safely and left to cure until the main paint stage of the build.


That's it for now and I will post an update once I get some more time. The work schedule is a bit rammed this week, so looks like next weekend before I can get some more done.

[Lysus]

Top job, dude. Airbrushing is my favorite part, and when it all works like it should, it's the best feeling. Always happy to see someone else hit that sweet spot of joy

Looking sharp!

[shortCummins]

that Ultimate/Badger primer is wonderful stuff, great progress with your build

[Avgas]

It actually looks pretty cool in black. Seems a shame to spoil it!

[Kevthemodeller]

Coming on nicely

[Scot2go]

Well here's a donkey moment. I searched on the Internet to see if I could find a decal set that would have warning & maintenance signs etc. Just to add a bit more detail to my build finish.

After scouring the net I found what I was looking for. All the markings, plus main decals for back up in case my kit supplied decals go pear shaped.

Reviewed my order, clicked and payed and after they arrived I thought 'Hang on they look a bit small?'. Turns out they're 1/144 scale not 1/72. It's me not paying attention to the scale of the decal when I ordered... Pure donkey moment bah , not available in 1/72 either...



I'm sure I'll find a use elsewhere hopefully.

[Scot2go]

Right then the moment finally arrived last night when I covered the B-47 with aluminium paint. Ok I done some on Monday and some last night.....a bit hesitant due to no previous experience with applying a fine finish through airbrush.

Make's me wonder how great or poor my Airfix B-17g 'Bit Of Lace' looked after a slap with Humbrol 11 Silver done by brush 30 odd years ago.

It was now or never and I went for it. After a lot of research and self doubting. I went the Vallejo Metal Colour route, on account of its acrylic base and favourable use by others.

I was also swayed by a rather fine informative posting by patrickroos about Vallejo Metal Color recently and its capability, my mind was made up about which paint to use taking into account my own skills so far.

http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.p ... 56#p180156

So thank you patrickroos for that topic/post which I personally found very helpful.

So this is it so far, lots still to be done and am now thinking about next steps in terms of different panel toning using lighter/darker colour.











So that's it for now and I found this paint good to work with, low pressure on the compressor and cleaned up well on the airbrush. She's all wrapped up now in bubble meantime ready for more work. Thanks for looking in and hope to update again soon.

[Lysus]

So many rivets...glad I refuse to be a rivet counter. Excellent job on the paint, it looks like it was manufactured in that color.

[TommyKillander]

Fantastic result, the metal paint looks great !

I'm using Vallejo Metal Colors for my build as well. Sofar my experinence with have been very good, but I haven't used it on large surfaces yet.


Tommy

[Scot2go]

So many rivets...glad I refuse to be a rivet counter. Excellent job on the paint, it looks like it was manufactured in that color.

Rivets are useful things....helps me keep the masking line straight . Appreciate the feedback, I've started some panel painting to add a bit more feeling to it!

[Lysus]

So many rivets...glad I refuse to be a rivet counter. Excellent job on the paint, it looks like it was manufactured in that color.

Rivets are useful things....helps me keep the masking line straight .

Ha! Fair point Can't wait for the next update.

[Scot2go]

Fantastic result, the metal paint looks great !

I'm using Vallejo Metal Colors for my build as well. Sofar my experinence with have been very good, but I haven't used it on large surfaces yet.


Tommy

Thanks Tommy, thank you for your kind comment really like this paint. I just kept moving my arm back and forth slowly without pausing, spraying over and then off the kit.

Turned on the spray mat whilst still spraying. Checked my flow was ok, finger pressure not to tense and moved back across kit as evenly as possible. I think my previous 'orchestra conductor' style would caused me problems.

[Scot2go]

Just been having a bit of fun tonight with bubble wrap and masking tape. I've been painting selected panels to break up the one colour. Might look overkill on the bubble wrap but I'm no taking any chances on over-spray.

I've done this a couple of times tonight and happy to report no paint removal problems with masking tape.

I've spent hours looking at different pictures and images both of real and previous modellers efforts. Also a post on fb by DBmiller of a model B-47 recently gave me some great thoughts on how I want to paint it up.

We'll see how the translation from thought to skill works out



Don't worry folks I won't post a picture every time I get over excited with the bubble wrap

[Scot2go]

Well managed to snatch in a couple of sessions at the weekend and got a bit more work done. I'm still masking and panel painting. I'm taking what I'm interpreting from what I've gleaned on the web and seeing how it goes.



In between time I turned my attention to the engine pods and got side tracked after a picture I found. Turns out the inboard engine pods have a main light just below the engine intakes. So I thought I would have a go...

In my mind I hoped to get something like this.



So first I hacked a bit out of the lower front engine fairing/front cowling.



Then I smoothed and filed a bit where I cut.



After that I placed a 1mm silver backed diamanté glass (I nicked them from the wife's nail kit box). They're small enough without being too big and placed it against a previously painted background.



I then dropped in some micro kristal klear and crossed my fingers and waited to see how it would clear. I waited and waited a bit more....and eventually the klear began to clear and I could see the reflective bead shine through.

The klear is still well.... erm clearing but the pods are just about done.



Also got some work done on the top wing and fuselage with panel work and wing/fuselage walkways.



So that's it for now and I've still got 24 bombs to do

[Scot2go]

Just dropping back in again with an update. This morning I mated the engine pods to the wings and pleased to see they're all pointing the way they should.



Now the strange science bit......

A couple of weeks ago while rooting about in the loft I came across some old Tamiya paints I had kept from a false start from 20 odd (pre-marriage) years ago when trying to build a kit then.

In the picture below is an old Tamiya pot of X-7 red, sitting next too a new bottle of Black XF-85.



You can tell the red is old because it's still got a 'Beatties' (remember them) sticker on it. But at what point in the last 20 years did the Tamiya bottles get smaller?

So I opened up the Red, gave it a stir, then a shake and poked at it a bit more with a cocktail stick, a bit more off a shake.



I tried it through the airbrush with a drop of X-20A and no issues when spraying on the booth test bed, 20 odd on the psi and it also cleaned up fine with Ultimate Cleaner. I even stripped brush down too check the innards and no trace of red paint.

I then did a bit of masking on the tail and applied a red tail marking. Took tape off and all seems fine for a finish with a 20yr old pot of paint.



By the way I'm not planning on using 20 year plus paints as a norm, but if it still ok to use for the little paint jobs, I might as well.

..... End of daft science bit

Pic below is underside after I re-sprayed the wheel and bomb bay wells. I've also done some more panels in different shades on the wings.



So that's it for the now. I'm still fiddling with the undercarriage. Painting the little odds and ends that are still to be attached and thinking about the gloss/decal/pin wash stages. Thanks for looking in.

I've still got 24 bombs too do....

[Willem]

Looks an absolute stunner. Off to the loft to dig out an old quality street tin of paints.

[Les]

A wonderful build so far; how is the progress going? We have less than 13 days left on this SiG!