Spirit of Pennsylvania/Invisible Defenders
This is always my first issue with any kit I've built so far - how can my 1/72 people fly the plane from this pathetic cockpit??
2 seat-shaped blobs and nothing else!
First step was to cut away the rudimentary rear bulkhead so I could build out the space behind the seats.
Rear cockpit floor/platform was fabricated from card (old business cards are perfect for these additions)
The platform was reinforced with plastrut
Rear bulkhead reinforced using solder superglued in place (also adding extra ballast)
Centre console and electronics cubicle added
Floor grid beside cubicle
Headrests, ejection rail framing and another cabinet
50 shades of grey
Once the cockpit glass and cockpit were sealed in place (to avoid sanding dust ingress), the ballast was added - I saw from my earlier build of a 1/200 B-2 that insufficient weight results in the dreaded tailsitter.
Ready to run through the checklist, boss!
Next challenge was this broken nosegear.
Nothing which can't be rectified using a cut-down pin and some Loctite SuperAttack (as cyanoacrylate is marketed in Italy). NTS but no show judges will ever set eyes on it!
The basic bomb bay.
The rather large gaps around the air intakes were filled with AV plastic putty then the entire upper surface was sanded using progressively finer paper (320 - 400 - 1200 - 2000) to remove remaining blemishes.
Masked up and ready for priming.
The AV surface primer (thinned 40% with flow aid/thinner blend) always goes on perfectly.
I also masked the cockpit glass to ensure no dust ingress.
After sanding the windows were masked with adhesive - backed foil
Various greys and metallics then applied.
After applying a coat of Pledge the decals went on without issues - plenty of patience always helps this stage go well. I always use Microscale microset & microsol to ensure they sit down tightly. After drying overnight, another Pledge clearcoat then overcoat of AV Matt acrylic thinned 20%.
Comments
8 27 February, 14:52
Mark de BoerLooking good, got the 1/72 scale myself ready to build, cant wait to get started on that one. First have an F-16 and a Hercules to finish.
27 February, 17:13
Richard ChealsThanks, guys. Yep, there's also a 1/72 Italeri in my stash! I'm expecting it will have a bit more detail than this one?
28 February, 08:10
Album info
This is the Revell B-2A, planned to be built OOB but as usual I couldn't avoid some extra detailing in the cockpit (never to be seen by anyone else but it's always good scratchbuilding practice!!).
Primed and sprayed a mix of AV 71-097 (FS36173/med. gunship gray) with a few drops of 71-062 (Aluminum), followed by a mist of 71-258 (RLM74/grey green) again with a few drops of 71-062. Clearcoat of the Pledge + thinner mix then Begemot decals.
Another clearcoat, some light weathering then all sealed with AV 26-518 Matt Acrylic (thinned by 20%).
Happy with the result.
