SR-71A Blackbird

There has been much relief in my life the past few days. The whirlwind of moving and then unpacking is enough to take a time-out and detox for a few weeks. With that not being possible, I must keep moving forward.
The SR-71 has been teetering on completion for far too long. The kit itself was simple without the loss of quality. There are plenty of details with room to add your own touches. Seat belts and the extra detailing to the exhaust cans was all that I added. Construction had a great fluidity to it. From start to finish, time was my only enemy. A week should have been more than enough time to finish. I should have been done a lot sooner, but that is okay. It got done and that is what matters.
Weathering went a little different this time around. A black skin doesn’t provide a good palette for black pastel to show up on. In this case, I used dark gray pastels to go over the panel lines. It gives it a subtle change to break up the all black. I can finally put this one up on the shelf.

Back in the Fray

Now that the move is behind me, it’s time for life to become normal again. I am slowly working towards completing the Blackbird. I am thoroughly disappointed in the lack of progress with so little remaining. The decals were applied two nights ago and I was able to get the weathering completed the next day. Final assembly is almost complete with only the canopies left to affix. I don’t foresee that taking more than a few minutes to accomplish and then I will be finished. Tonight should see the first flight of this Blackbird.
The Tiger remains neglected. I hope to attack the nose tonight or tomorrow. I have the next four days off to contemplate my strategies for recovery. I don’t think it will be as bad as I’m leading it on to be. At least that’s what I am hoping for. The wings might make it on tonight as well. They look pretty straight forward with no visible complications.
Also on tonight’s agenda is selecting two more kits. I have a few in mind that I have been wanting to get to. I may do some A-10 builds. The YF-23, MiG-15, and B-1 are also pulling at me to get built. Maybe a P-47 or a Tornado? Any suggestions?

I’m Not Playing Horseshoes or Hand Grenades Here

As close as I have come to finishing one final build at my home, I am left a little disappointed to not be able to complete the SR-71. I did get one last session at the airbrush, getting the final paint job done. Moving started at 7:30am and finally ended at 5:30pm. Moving couches and armoires doesn’t leave much energy to finish a kit so I bowed out and brought the Blackbird and Tiger to my new residence. It was a good run and I thought for sure I would finish. With unpacking and settllng in, I don’t expect too many gains in the next couple days. Life and responsibility win again.

Final Days at Home

The last time I moved was in 2006. I was five years away from re-starting this addictive hobby. We moved from a tiny one bedroom apartment to a 1,200 square foot home. My wife was pregnant with my daughter at the time so I did the bulk of the moving. Not so bad. Eight years later and yikes! We have amassed so much stuff. There has been a constant flow of packing, trashing, and transporting the past few days. The fire is under control and there isn’t much left to do. With two days left here, just the major stuff remains. More importantly, all models have made the transition safely. Not one broken piece!
In all the mayhem, building still resumes. The SR-71 needs some minor sanding on the engine nacelles where they required some filler. Other than that, I will mask the canopy off and get it painted tonight or tomorrow. This has been a straight forward build. The bigger fuselage threw me off a little while I was putting the halves together. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this one to be a “huge” plane. Compared to what I have been building lately, it’s more of a challenge.
The F-11 has hit it’s first speed bump. The nose has been cut off where the instructions advised me to. The instructions were either incorrect or the resin nose is too slim. I will need to figure out a solution before I proceed. I think I will affix the nose a little farther out and fill the gap so I have a little more room to taper when I inevitably have to sand. Bummer….yes. Challenge accepted. The rest of the kit looks pretty good. I sanded the seams on the fuselage and I will get them primed tonight. I think I can officially count this one out for a weekend finish.

Right On Track

My one week goal is still on track for the Blackbird. I might even get the F-11 done by then as well. The Blackbird cockpit and landing gear have been finished and now it’s time to focus on the huge fuselage halves. I didn’t add the detail like I originally wanted to. The fit of the fuselage worries me enough not to add any more for now. I may do some touching up when the two halves come together. At least I will know what room I have to work with then. I did add ejection handles to the seats for a little more detail.
The Tiger is surprising me with its ease so far. It’s cockpit is finished and ready to be installed. I’ll get the fuselage halves together today and maybe get the nose cut off tonight. The resin nose looks pretty easy to put on. It will be a straight cut down from the edge of the wind screen.the way it’s looking, I might get this one done by the end of the week.

Details

The SR-71 is underway and I am taking my time with it. With the all flat black skin making for a challenge in the weathering department, I have chosen some areas to add some extra detail to. One area are the exhaust cans. I sprayed the insides with flat white yesterday and used my pastels to detail them. I used shades of brown and black to dirty them up. The cockpit and landing gear are some other areas that i will exploit for more detail. My goal for today is to address those two areas. Everything has been painted and is ready for assembly and detailing.
I haven’t focused too much on the Tiger yet. I clipped the parts from the sprues and did a little painting. I’ll put the cockpit together today and go from there. I’ll also try to get the external fuel tanks sanded and primed. I’m not going to get into a huge rush for progress on this one. Any progress at all will be a bonus.

Final Build

With one week left until we have to be moved out of our home, I think I have enough time to get out one more build. Maybe two. I really thought that the Corsair, the Airacobra, and the Banshee would be the final builds.
To give myself as little of a headache as possible, I went with an easier kit. I chose Academy’s 1/72 SR-71A “History” kit. The basis for this choice is the minimal parts and a rather simple paint scheme. Bottom line is that I think a week is plenty of time to finish this kit. The tricky part will be the weathering. It’s an all flat black airplane so I will need to get creative. I have some ideas that I think will do well.
I have picked a second kit in Hasegawa’s 1/72 F11F-1 Tiger “VA-156 Iron Tigers” issue. I don’t have faith that this one will be done before the move but I am going for it anyway. Opening the box shows a quality build. I will have to saw off the nose to attach the provided, and correct, resin nose. The rest looks like a typical Hasegawa kit. I have been trying to fit this build in for a few months now and I am glad that I can finally get around to it.

F2H-3 Banshee

Hobbycraft’s Banshee certainly tested my patience in the beginning. This build may have had its issues, but I believe it finished well. I am pleased with the final presentation.
The RCN paint scheme looks fabulous. It took some effort with all the masking, but I think it was worth it. The decals were a disappointment to look at and work with. I unfortunately didn’t have any extra Canadian insignia decals in my spares so I was forced to use what was given. The overall build was not the easiest with the ill fit of some important parts. On the other hand, it definitely wouldn’t rank as one of my most difficult builds.

P-39Q Airacobra

With the Banshee successfully painted and decals having been applied, I was free to finish the P-39Q. This build started off a little gloomy with the gaps, but quickly changed for the better. I had a great time with this kit.
In the beginning of the build, I didn’t think to put any nose weights in. I figured that I was building a WWII aircraft and MOST WWII aircraft are tail sitters. I completely neglected the fact that the P-39 has a nose wheel. I knew that it had one, but didn’t think once about adding any weight. Fast forward to final assembly and there I sat scratching my head. As luck would have it, I had not installed the propeller yet. Carefully, I carved out the hole that the propeller and spinner would insert onto and I stuffed as many lead weights as it would hold. Success! It really irritates me when I forget the weight and have to attach a make shift stand for the tail to sit on. I dodged a massive bullet on this kit. Other than that blunder, construction went like a normal build. I am pleased with my finished Airacobra.

F4U-1 Corsair

The Corsair was completed last night and I have to say that it was a fantastic build throughout. It’s almost like it was a pre-finish kit that you just snap together. Well it wasn’t that easy but you get the point. The only downfall, to me, is that you can’t position the canopy opened up. Everything else was superb.