Academy 1:144 Boeing B-52H Stratofortress

[bfrd]

Biff is building the Buff

I picked up this kit because of a connection to my home state of Louisiana. The plane I will be building is the 1st B-52H produced (AF Ser. No. 60-0001), named Memphis Belle IV, and stationed at Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, La.

Aircraft Information

When you think of a bomber, it is hard to imagine that the B-52 doesn't come to mind pretty quickly. The need for a jet-powered long-range bomber was evident; out of that need, the B-52 was born.



Additional Information from Wikipedia can be found here.

Barksdale AFB

Here, you can find the Wikipedia entry on Barksdale AFB.

Memphis Belle

The Memphis Belle is one of the world's most notable (and noticeable) aircraft names. It has inspired multiple movies and books. The original B-17 was named after its pilot's sweetheart, who lived in Memphis, TN. Many other bombers have carried the name. It is not odd that the very first B-52H was given this designation.

Additional Information from Wikipedia can be found here.

Additional Photos

[digger303]

Tackling a big boy not many are bigger.

[DBMiller]

Yea, a B-52!
One of my favorite planes.

[bfrd]

Here are some shots of the sprues. Sorry for the shadows.











Those bombs look awfully tiny!

You can view the instructions on the Scalemates page here.

[KalebB]

She's gonna be a big ole girl, very cool!

[bfrd]

The first B-52B was put into service in Mid-1955. The "A" variant was only used in the test phase. Currently, there are only "H" variants still in service. The following video will explain why this plane is still one very bad mamma-jamma.

[cor]

Cool vid.

[bfrd]

The B-52H can carry 70,000 lbs. of payload. That is a lot of bombs to paint.



In either a stroke of genius or a terrible mistake, I glued the M-117 bombs to a styrene sheet.



The instructions call for a solid coat of olive drab, but pictures of the real thing say they have yellow stripes.





I am unsure if I will paint them yellow and mask them or paint them green and just use tape for the stripe. Either way, I need 27 of them for the central bay. I have a picture of more of the M-117s on the pylons, but I will probably go with GBU 38 JDAMs there.

[digger303]

Nice pic of the loading.
I would paint yellow first as it is really tricky to wrap tape around a cone and to have to do it twice and keep them parallel is hard. Where as one wrap of the flexi tape and it's done.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Big Buff indeed
Cool plane and a big job
I can only imagine the sound of one of those taking off over your head

[digger303]

Big Buff indeed
Cool plane and a big job
I can only imagine the sound of one of those taking off over your head

Imagine what the back wash from the engines would be like. Wouldn't just blow people over, but entire cars.

[DBMiller]

Oh man. That’s a lot of bombs. Very tiny bombs.
My bomber, as bad as the kit is, at least doesn’t have any!

[Stokesy44]

Oh man. That’s a lot of bombs. Very tiny bombs.
My bomber, as bad as the kit is, at least doesn’t have any!

Wake, eat, paint, sleep, repeat

[bfrd]

I painted the bombs with Vallejo Air Medium Yellow, the only yellow I have. I should have reprimed in white because the yellow looks greener over the gray primer. I think I will use a darker green to offset. I doubt it will be too noticeable in the bomb bay anyway. Eh! What do you say?

[bfrd]

Here is a scramble drill at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. It is an incredible sight, and I can only imagine how loud it was on the ground. It also gives some great shots of the wear on the different parts of the aircraft. It was also interesting how much flex is built into those massive wings. While taxiing, both outrigger wheels don't always touch at the same time. Once it gets the power down, neither wheel touches the tarmac.

[Garion77]

Vallejo is the only yellow I always paint over white... but as you said, tiny bombs, on the underside won't be seen much... Take the better ones for the ones you see the more. But as all modelers, you'll know it's there ! Usually, on my side I would start them over, but now with all the problems, mistakes and bad lucks I have with my Pfalz I'm more in the mood if it won't be seen much let it be.

How big is going to be the finish kit ?

And by the way, I dream of visiting the state you're from ! Next year may be.

[RangerNeil]

Here is a scramble drill at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. It is an incredible sight, and I can only imagine how loud it was on the ground. It also gives some great shots of the wear on the different parts of the aircraft. It was also interesting how much flex is built into those massive wings. While taxiing, both outrigger wheels don't always touch at the same time. Once it gets the power down, neither wheel touches the tarmac.

As an Air Cadet back in the late 60's I was at RAF Scampton when they scrambled the V Force for real. For a few short minutes the air was filled with the howl of Vulcan engines as the crews came out of the QRA pans onto the runway and took off on full power, breaking left & right alternately. As one lifted it wheels the next was accelerating down the runway. I seem to recall it was about 5 mins before every serviceable plane was airborne. An impressive sight - and sound. There is a clip on You Tube somewhere of B52's doing the same. I'd have loved to have seen that too.

[bfrd]

Along with being an Active Duty milliary installation, Barksdale AFB also has a museum on site.

BARKSDALE GLOBAL POWER MUSEUM

Overview

Take an exciting journey through the past and discover the dynamic history of Strategic Bombardment at the home of the 2nd Bomb Wing, the mighty 8th Air Force, and the new Air Force Global Strike Command.

The Barksdale Global Power Museum is not only a memorial to our successes in battle, but a recognition of the many years spent training to deter war. The peacetime history of Barksdale Air Force Base is as significant as those years at war.

Come out and see vintage aircraft like the venerable B-17 and B-24 bombers of World War II; along with their best “Little Friend”, the P-51 Mustang. You can also see Cold War heroes such as the B-52D and B-52G Stratofortress. We will show you the highest and fastest flying jet aircraft ever – the MACH 3+ SR-71 Blackbird. There are many more on display in our air park.

Inside, we have a WWII era briefing room that plays a 20 minute video about the history of Barksdale AFB. We also have six different exhibit galleries that help tell our story.

If you want to visit, make sure you plan well; you must submit your information at least 30 days before your visit. Check out the website (linked above) for more information. For those of you who don't live nearby, they offer a virtual tour.

[bfrd]

I painted up the gravity bombs. The green is a little off, but with some panel liner it should darken up.



The yellow one is before painting. I experimented with adding a trigger tip. It took too long.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

A very interesting build to follow, the short videos are great and to see these flying dinosaurs ... what a pleasure!
Your bombs look great but ... where is the bomber?!?

[bfrd]

A very interesting build to follow, the short videos are great and to see these flying dinosaurs ... what a pleasure!
Your bombs look great but ... where is the bomber?!?

Finding the time and motivation for any personal projects has been difficult in the past couple of weeks. I am a little surprized I was able to force myself to work on the bombs!

[bfrd]

Here is a Barksdale crew loading JDAMs.

[Garion77]

Really good video ! it gives great ideas for weathering bombs !

[bfrd]

Some days I really think I know what I am doing. This is not one of those days.

If someone were to ask me what one of the most critical steps in building a model is, I would say to fully digest the instructions before you start. Build the model in your head first, then start clipping plastic. That part you think is an "extra" probably isn't.

I intended to use the JDAM GBU 31 on the exterior weapon stations. I counted up the ordinance I had and found that I was four short. I assumed this meant I was supposed to use different ordinances on each wing. This drove the OCD in me insane, as I love symmetry. Ironically I also had four extra tail pieces. They were on duplicated sprues, so I thought they must be "extra." When I was building the GBU 31s, one of those tail pieces pinged off into the ether. I never bothered to look for it or even note where it went since I had "extras." Fast forward to earlier in the week when I pulled out the pylons from the kit. Lo and behold, each pylon had a pair of GBU 31s molded on. There were my missing bombs! Oh Crap! That missing piece is now crucial. I searched for a long time over a few days and never found the part. I found that the extra Mk 84's tail is similar. So, I cut one of those off and reshaped it a bit. It isn't perfect, but it will do.



Long story short, RTFM!

P.S. The Mk 84s *are* extra, as they allowed you to put those on external pylons and the interior bay.

P.P.S. Do not complain that this post is more about bombs! This is a bomber; there are a lot of bombs!

P.P.P.S. BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB

[digger303]

Some days I really think I know what I am doing. This is not one of those days.

If someone were to ask me what one of the most critical steps in building a model is, I would say to fully digest the instructions before you start. Build the model in your head first, then start clipping plastic. That part you think is an "extra" probably isn't.

I intended to use the JDAM GBU 31 on the exterior weapon stations. I counted up the ordinance I had and found that I was four short. I assumed this meant I was supposed to use different ordinances on each wing. This drove the OCD in me insane, as I love symmetry. Ironically I also had four extra tail pieces. They were on duplicated sprues, so I thought they must be "extra." When I was building the GBU 31s, one of those tail pieces pinged off into the ether. I never bothered to look for it or even note where it went since I had "extras." Fast forward to earlier in the week when I pulled out the pylons from the kit. Lo and behold, each pylon had a pair of GBU 31s molded on. There were my missing bombs! Oh Crap! That missing piece is now crucial. I searched for a long time over a few days and never found the part. I found that the extra Mk 84's tail is similar. So, I cut one of those off and reshaped it a bit. It isn't perfect, but it will do.



Long story short, RTFM!

P.S. The Mk 84s *are* extra, as they allowed you to put those on external pylons and the interior bay.

P.P.S. Do not complain that this post is more about bombs! This is a bomber; there are a lot of bombs!

P.P.P.S. BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB

Sounds like something I would do, including making it harder for myself.

[bfrd]

I have finally made some progress!

I got the two fuselage halves together, but I needed to use a clamp to keep things aligned.


Once the glue had time to dry, I put on some of the lower fuselage parts.


Next, I put on the wings just to see what she looks like. This is not a small plane.

[digger303]

No thats not small. Lets hope the problems from now on will be proportionately smaller and you have enough paint.

[bfrd]

The positioning point for the inside of the fuselage are very small ridges. The cockpit insert and bay inserts didn’t want to stay put. I glued one side and then used my Holly panel line scriber to try and push one side down from top. Once the part’s finally fell into place I used the quick clamp to hold everything in place. Then I let the cramps in my hands fade away. Cramps and Clamps; sounds like a country song about modeling.