Building resumes.. Kind of!

Well it certainly has been a while since I worked on a kit, and whilst not technically building I did manage to dig the Revell SR-71 from the bowels of the cupboard it’s been stored in for the last however many months it has been and look it over.

Truth be told I couldn’t really remember what I was doing with it before it got boxed away so whilst my workbench isn’t actually back in location I managed to set the spray booth up on a coffee table and get a coat of Vallejo black primer down on her to have a look see at the state of play.

So whilst the coat wasn’t the most even I have ever put down it did show up a couple of issues, a slip with the scribe became obvious as did an area near the cockpit that would need a little further attention with the filler and a sanding pad.

Whilst these aren’t too major an issue I think I may need to wait until I have my bench set up again before I tackle the issues.

Workbench should be going into place later this week, although I am also looking to increase my work area with the addition of a new bench, the better half is also going to be joining me in the studio once her jewellers work bench arrives and then I am also looking to add a laser cutter / engraver to the studio too.

Exciting times are ahead but first of all we have the largest show on my calender this year, the Scottish National Scale Model Show 2019. Whilst I don’t think I will be in much of a position to enter anything this year, truth be told I will struggle to add much to the clubs display either as many of my built models have been damaged during the home renovations.

Drone Done

It's been a while since I have done a completion photoset! Well this isn't really a true completion as it's only part of the kit really but as I think it's the first one this year (shocking I know!!) I am counting it. Having said that we are going to be in for a few completions very soon.

I present to you the Lockheed D-21B High Speed Unmanned Reconnaissance Drone as launched from the underwing of B-52's during the cold war.

Drone moves to paint

Nose job

Well with the addition of the nose and engine nacelles the main phase of construction is pretty much complete. I will fit the Intake cones once I have managed to sand the inside of the cowlings as there was a liberal application of Mr. Dissolved Putty on their internal seams. 

The join between the nose and the fuselage isn’t the best and it will be interesting trying to blend the join without damaging the raised detail. I might actually leave the vertical stabilisers off until after paint and decals are applied purely to ease access. 

D-21, The Speedster Drone!

Whilst the fuselage is all clamped up I thought I would tackle the Lockheed D-21 drone included in the kit.

For those that don't know the D-21 was an unmanned drone that was originally designed to be launched from the back of the M-21, a variant of the original Lockheed A-12 photo reconnaissance aircraft from which the SR-71 was derived. The D-21 was developed as a response to policies bought in by Eisenhower after the downing of Gary Powers. The original D-21/M-21 combination was designed so as the drone would be launched at Mach 3, complete a pre-programmed overflight of Russia or China then eject its recon package for retrieval before the drone was to self destruct, however this combination was short lived after an accident during launch of a drone lead to the loss of a crew member.

After this the drone program was modified to the D-21B which was to be launched from under the wing of a B-52. It is this D-21B that is actually included in the kit and whilst its inclusion with an SR-71 is slightly erroneous this they are know to be displayed together in museums and the two aircraft are linked.

Two big bits of plastic get stuck together!

Ok first of all sorry for the blurry photo, but here's the cockpit installed into the fuselage and two of the largest pieces of 1/72 scale plastic I have ever seen have been fitted together.

Blackbirds office

Classic Revell

Whilst there is a lot to be said for classic Revell kits, for example the shape accuracy on the Blackbird kit is pretty impressive considering the year of manufacture, however it is easy to see why they have picked up a bit of a reputation on their old kits too.

As you can see in the images above there's the questionable practice of stamping licensing etc information on the outside of the kit parts (lower nose has the licencing info shown in the photo, there is also a copyright stamp on the lower flaps on one side). Then there are things like this strange "blob" on the canopy frame, the blob is actually there to provide an ejector pin location on the other side of it, however you have to question the need for the blob to actually infringe into the canopy frame itself.