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kryten2q4b
Dave Burgess (kryten2q4b)
CA

North American XB-70 Valkyrie

Subject:
North American XB-70 Valkyrie
US US Air Force (1947-now)
NASA 20001
October 1965 - Dryden FRC, Edwards AFB, CA
Scale:
1:72
Status:
Completed
Started:
January 1, 1996
Completed:
June 6, 2020
Time spent:
50

Project inventory

Full kits
8908
North American
XB-70A-1 Valkyrie Limited Edition
AMT/ERTL 1:72
8908 1995 New box
Detail and Conversion sets
peA7210
XB-70 Valkyrie - Exhaust Nozzles for Italeri
UA Armory 1:72
peA7210 2012 New tool
/search.php?q=*&fkMATEID[]=32275&showast=no&fkWORKBENCH[]=WB32275&page=projects&project=45200
 
 

Photoalbums

North American XB-70 'Valkyrie'
41 images
View album, image #1
1:72
1:72 XB-70 Valkyrie - Exhaust Nozzles (Armory peA7210)1:72 XB-70A-1 Valkyrie (AMT/ERTL 8908)

Part of my Collections

Experimental Aircraft
Ideas 25×In progress 1×Completed 62×
U.S. Bombers
Ideas 3×Completed 3×On hold 1×

Comments

16 July 2018, 22:15
Ekki
Watching.
19 July 2018, 19:24
Glenn
Watching this big bird come to life, Somehow i ended up buying 4 of these! But they only ever built 2. Will use the others for a couple of "what if" projects!
20 July 2018, 02:57
Dave Burgess
... and one of them was destroyed in a mid-air collision! I think the remaining one is in the National Air & Space Museum
21 July 2018, 04:07
Glenn
Correct! I plan on doing one with the X-15-3 Delta on the back plus one in SAC light grey allover with a pair of Skybolt missiles under the wings!
21 July 2018, 09:44
Cuajete
Following!
21 July 2018, 19:23
Łukasz Gliński
Me too. Cool cover pic btw.
22 July 2018, 20:06
Maciej Bellos
I am in!
22 July 2018, 20:28
Donald Dickson II
I have this and have definite plans for it. LOL And the surviving plane is actually at the USAF Museum at Right Patterson AFB, Dayton OH. I went with my son back in March. Seeing this baby in person up close is worth the trip alone. Never mind the B-58, the B-36, Memphis Belle, etc etc.
22 July 2018, 21:31
Dave Burgess
Built first exhaust can from the Armoury photo-etch set. Uploaded pikkie. 'Cobra' attached to 'Orange Crate';
7 May 2020, 20:54
Cuajete
Looking good!
8 May 2020, 18:32
Ben M
Watching!
8 May 2020, 18:34
Dave Burgess
Just a little background on the cunstruction of my XB-70 model:

I actually started the XB-70 in the late eighties. Tired of waiting for a good 1:72 injection model of my favourite aircraft, I bought the Contrail vacuform kit (for some outrageous price!). Probably not a good idea at the time because I'd only built a couple of vacuform kits at the time, all quite small.

In classic fashion, I'd just got all of the parts sanded from the sheets and was in the process of putting it together, when AMT released their 1:72 kit. Damn! So I put the vacuform job aside, and started building the AMT kit, with the idea of building one wheels down, and the other wheels up, wing tips down (my favourite configuration), and NO idea where I would put them when I was done.

I go the 'Cobra' built and attached to the upper wing panel - a TERRIBLE fit! It left a 1/16" gap along the spine that had to be filled. I'd made the mistake of using Squadron Green on the vacuform kit, only to find that it cures as hard as a rock and takes forever to sand, so I tried using Squadron White. Big mistake - it's just as bad! I put that kit aside as well (alongside the XB-35), and all 3 kits languished, collecting dust, for almost 25 years. Fortunately for the XB-70 kit, it proved fortuitous, as the Armoury exhaust nozzle P.E. came out, so I got a set.

With the current COVID situation, and LOTs of model building time, I really didn' have any excuses left. In 2019, I built 3 LARGE display cases (48"Wx16"Dx72"H), so I have the display case. I picked up a really nice spray gun from Iwata (the G6), and new compressor (also from Iwata) which can handle the paint flow required to paint this monster. So I decided to go back to it.

The first thing I had to do, was scrape off all that Squadron White, and re-attach the 'Cobra' to the wing. This time I used Tamiya putty, which is WAY easier to sand. I'm now tackling the biggest problem with the kit - attaching the top and bottom wing halves - they just DON'T fit together. I had to do a whole lot of grinding, sanding, and scraping to remove enough plastic from the top of the bottom wing, and edges of the top wing, but it think it's FINALLY going to fit, with a judiciously applied clamps.

Once the XB-70 is done (another week or so, that will be 36 models I've completed since Jan 1st. That's usually my production for a whole YEAR, and we're not even through May yet! I started the year with 46 WiPs; I only have thirteen works in process left now. It'll be nice to finally complete them and open a new kit without feeling guilty about not finshing the ones I've already started.
10 May 2020, 19:25
Cuajete
Wow... 36 models completed since 1st January.... Congrats!

The expectations and suffering with the XB-70 for so long, will finally come to an end. It will be a pleasure to see it finished 🙂
11 May 2020, 17:42
Dave Burgess
Just about done. Uploaded a couple of snaps. The aircraft is essentially complete; I just have to make a stand for it. I was originally going to just use the landing gear wells, but I didn't like the look. Instead, I've drilled a 7/16" hole through the model's CoG and glued a 7/16" styrene tube (3/8" I.D.)in place. I'm getting a 3/8" solid acrylic rod which I'm going to mount on a spare piece of solid oak from a floor installation a few years back, and mount the nice gold plaque (that comes with the limited edition kit) on the oak base. Then I'll take the final set of pics, and put this 25-year old project to rest!
27 May 2020, 00:20
Ekki
Great work!
27 January 2022, 20:34

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