Author Topic: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!  (Read 29270 times)

Offline trickyrich

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Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« on: July 28, 2015, 09:06:36 PM »
Well the GB for this project is just about to start so I am starting this build thread properly. This build is part of a WhatIf GB on another site so I will be running a build on that site plus another one (I know some know me on all three sites). The build update will be exactly the same on all three sites, just the local replies to comments will be different.

I have been waiting for this build for quite sometime, 2 years to be exact, so it had to be something epic to celebrate it!! At one stage I was going to build the Arado Ar-234 P5 “Turbo-Prop” Nightfighter (which I am currently building here) for this build but after seeing some of the parts I didn’t think I would be able to complete it in the time available, as there was a lot of work required. My work patterns have changed so I do have more time for modelling now, and that build just seems to be just falling together. It’s too late for the GB as it’s past the 25% rule.

Then I as I mentioned in another thread I happened to see some amazing profiles by the artist Logan Hartke and I just fell in love with the ones of the B-51 Panther, which are based on the Martin XB-51. So after a couple of e-mails to him I had his blessing to use one of the photos as the basis for the build. Actually he was very excited to see someone actually try to bring this design to life (Very much appreciated Logan, I do hope I can do your wonderful profile justice!!).



So the base of the build will be Anigrands XB-51!  I had hoped to have had Collect-Aires 1/48th version (I will build one as soon as I can get one) as trust me it would have been an easier build than the Anigrand one….more on that later.





The new nose and canopy(?) will be from an Italeri B-57G along with a couple of other bits supplied from it as well. Though I have found a F-4E canopy that looks quite good on it as well!



Plus just to give myself a little bit more work a 1/72nd Master M61 Vulcan rotary cannon will be fitted to the weapons bay as per the Pave Gat program originally fitted to a couple B-57G’s in Vietnam in 1968. Insanely small PE….my favourite…I think not!

Finally she’ll be finished in RAAF colours for SEA operations around 1971. 

Work required;

•   Ok the Anigrand base model is horrible! All four sections of the fuselage were and still are warped, even a nice warm bath didn’t work, I think it made it worse! So lots of work there.

•   Main wheel well bays need to be rebuilt, are warped.
•   Completely new cockpit to be built.
•   Canopy will either be from the B-57 donor or a F-4E
•   Modernise the XB-51 airframe
•   Get carried away with any additional mods I always end up doing!!!

Well I have my work cut out for this one……but am so excited I can’t wait!!!

Oh the aircrafts full title is Martin B-51G Panther Tropic Moon III wt Pave Gat. The actual Tropic Moon III program started in 1967 as a result of operational requirements in Vietnam. Have managed to get the original de-classified documents for the program, which is really cool and very helpful!

So after much talk the build well begin this weekend…gee I’m a sucker for punishment!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2015, 03:03:55 PM by trickyrich »

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2015, 10:05:30 PM »
I'll be following this build with great interest and anticipation! 

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2015, 12:05:36 AM »
Me, too! You're going to be the first person to actually bring one of my profiles into plastic as far as I know, so I can't wait to see this one!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2015, 08:37:13 AM »
Me too.  Delighted to see this build.  Cool jet 8)
Have that kit and a vacuform B-51 in stash.  When find it will check fit.
1/72 B-51 really should be injection kit by now.

Logan - appreciate the inspiring profiles.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2015, 02:26:32 PM by finsrin »

Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2015, 08:57:53 AM »
 Always glad to see someone building a XB-51. Sorry the kit is such a chore - hang in there.

Offline FAAMAN

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2015, 02:02:18 PM »
Can't wait to see this :), love the XB-51, on with the show  ;D
"Resistance is useless, prepare to be assembled!"

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2015, 10:27:31 PM »
Thanks for all the nice comments, I have been looking forward to this build for sometime. The Arado build as difficult as it has been has given me  a lot of confidence for this one. It should be a lot simpler as the conversion is quite simple, the main issue is the warped fuselage. This shouldn't be too much of an issue as the resin is quite thick, so lots of rubbing down and filler will be the order of the day.

I do hope I can do justice to your profile Logan, that is probably one of the scariest things of the build!!! 

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” build!!!
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2015, 10:37:30 PM »
Ok time to start this build!

First off the rear fuselage was jointed together…oh that was fun too!! As can be seen the gaps are quite noticeable as well as the now warped wheel well! Unlike all the other resin models I have this one didn’t like the warm/hotish water bath at all, at first it did try to straighten the warped bits but as they cooled down they did crazy stuff!!! So there is a bit of work to do bit nothing like I have had to do on the Arado!!



The forward fuselage section is just as bad but this time one side is longer than the other!! The water bath didn’t do this!!



So with the two sections together you can see the fun I am going to have!! Nothing some filler and wet-n-dry won’t fix!



Now some of the updating work I will do, the tail section is quite plain, on the profile Logan has added a spike on the “T” junction, I’ll add something similar except it will be a little squarer in shape to house an antenna array.



There is something wrong with this picture!!! All three engines are meant to be GE J-47-GE-13’s so you’d expect them all to have intakes with the same opening areas! Clearly they didn’t get this one right! MY beast will have the later J-47-GE-27’s (as fitted to the F-86F’s, these had 5970lbs of thrust as opposed to the original 5200lbs ones of those fitted to the XB-51’s. So revised intakes are a must and the fuselage actually has a recessed section in it for the upper intake, so this one will have an enlarged intake and larger recessed section.



I have had a look at the three different options I have for the canopy, original, B-57G version, and one from a F-4E. While the B-57G one looks good from the side profile it’s quite wide when viewed from above and the fuselage is quite narrow. The F-4 one suits the era quite nicely so that’s the way I’ll be going, plus it will be much easier to profile it in!



Finally I had a look at some of the options I will have for stores. Due to it being a wee bit on the thirsty side, drop tanks are a must! Now being a Tropic Moon beast with the high-tech nose early LGB’s or Bullpup’s will be the go, and maybe AN/ALQ-87 or AN/ALQ-101 ECM pods.



Plus I have to build a new cockpit area and new main wheel wells!

While there appears to be quite a bit of work required it is all quite manageable. This should be a fun build and with luck I’ll dive right into it next weekend!

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 02/8
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2015, 06:23:02 PM »
Well the fun has begun and I have a workbench covered in resin dust…it would have been so much easier if it had been a plastic model!

So we’ll start with the rear fuselage section first. Thought I have been asked why I didn’t first glue the front and rear sections first, then glue the halves together…good question! Probably because I like to make things difficult for myself! But really with the sections being quite warped and fuselages being different lengths doing it this way is the easiest. Plus she’s very long it would make life a bit harder as I’m bound to break something, along with the fact I’m rebuilding the wheel wells as well!

So with the rear section glued together and given a quick rub down off we go.

First up the wheel well, I’ll be doing both the same. So I make a basic box for the well with the side the right height, I’m not worried about the ends for the moment, just that they are longer then necessary (who could have guessed a simple box would be so hard to make!!!). Then using the model and reference photos I add some detail, it’s not quite exact but looks the part. Then fit….well there is a little bit more involved in this part, for the rear one I had to first grind out the old one so the new one will fit, quite a long process. The front section will be a bit different as because I’m fitting a new cockpit as well I’ll do all this work before I join the halves together.



It actually doesn’t look to bad at all, there are quite a few sins which are hidden but it does look so much better, plus it would have been a horrible job to fill those gaps! As it turns out the models wheel well are too short and the doors are even smaller…guess I’ll be custom making those as well!





Next up the intake for the #2 engine, as it turns out I missed something completely with this one! The #2 engine was only used for take offs, so it was fitted with a rotating cover/fairing. In its open position there should be a lower section of the intake visible. So an old drop tank was sacrificed for this job along with another one for the intake proper further in. Plus the upper part of the intake was removed and enlarged slightly. I now have an intake with roughly the same inlet area as the other two.  After some filler, sanding and profiling she should look great!



Next up the spike on the tail, it seems some aircraft didn’t had it (suspect early prototype/s) while later ones had different shaped ones. So I’ve made one up, it still needs some tiding up plus I’m probably going to add another fairing as well…hmm think about that one.



I have started the basic shaping of the canopy but won’t do too much more until the cockpit is done and the fuselage is together. Speaking of the cockpit I have decided to go with an aftermarket one for the B-57 (oh I’ve decided to use that one instead of the F-4’s one) as it will be simpler and look much better.

So just taped together…… I love the look of it!! She’s a big aircraft with a long body and not so big wings, by all reports she handled nicely and was fast, her only real problem was she was thirsty!





It’s turning out to be more than a simple conversion but that seems to be the case for any of my builds like this. I still think the Collect-Aire 1/48th version would have been a simpler build…I even have a Collect-Aire B-57G ready to donate its nose as well! Well at least I have until late November, when the GB finishes, to complete her!

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 05/8
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2015, 11:04:56 PM »
It's already looking great, Rich! I know that nose does nothing for the aesthetics, but it does look a lot more business-like. Well done!

In case anyone is wondering for any future projects, we used the B-66 Destroyer's engine pods for the J57 upgrade and the Caravelle's for the Avon upgrade.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Talos

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 05/8
« Reply #10 on: August 08, 2015, 09:46:57 AM »
Looking great! This is the first model I can think of based on a profile drawing Logan and I've done. If you want lineart-accurate canopy, I used the F-101B canopy as a base for the drawing. The B-57's looks nice on it too.

EDIT: Didn't know this was mentioned by Logan on the other forum. Whoops.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2015, 09:59:14 AM by Talos »

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 05/8
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2015, 11:50:55 AM »
thanks, it's nice to here yours and Logan's comments.

I did sort of wonder at first what canopy you'd used as the B-57's didn't quite fit or look the same. The F-101B's canopy probably would have made it a bit easier, but since when have I ever made builds like this easy for me!


Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 05/8
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2015, 12:53:55 PM »
Very righteous of you to bring us a 60s-70s-? B-51G 8)
Is also example of extended service life.
Perhaps including service in first gulf war.

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 05/8
« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2015, 04:51:45 PM »
Well the replacement cockpit has finally arrived seeing the first one I ordered didn’t arrive….who knows where it will end up! So lot the fun continue.

As mentioned earlier I wanted the cockpit position sorted out before I closed up the front fuselage section. After couple of hours messing about I finally had it in a position I was happy about. This is not its final position but it’s close enough to allow me to close up the fuselage.



So after adding lots and lots of superglue gel and accelerator I ended up with gaps and joins like this….scary!!!



Not one to mess around they were given a very rudimentary going over with 240 grit wet & dry before being joined with the rear fuselage section. I wasn’t to concerned at the moment about how the front section looked as once it was align with the rear section the whole lot would be sanded to profile. The aligning required a couple of little plastic pegs/wedges to help, bit all was good. So more superglue and accelerator and a really good going over with wet & dry and I ended up with nice joins like this!



The fuselage does have a few dimples/ripples bit some filler will sort them out.

Next the radome/sensor head. The nose needed a bit of surgery for the radome to fit correctly….though I did get a bit carried away!



There is nothing behind the sensor window so I figured while I was here I’d at least add something, so it’s now all boxed up and I’ll add some sensors to it later. Plus I needed to add some “padding” around the sensor pod to help with the fit.



So again after superglue, accelerator and some filler the nose is on, and I’m happy to say it’s even aligned up properly!



So what’s all this work look like….

The tail is pretty well complete (she’s just sitting there for the photo), I’ll give it another quick undercoat to look for any final defects.



The #2 intake so pretty well complete as well, though a little more cleaning up is required. The patch of filler on the side was needed as that section had a very noticeable warp in it. So some plastic strip and filler to the rescue.




The forward wheel well will be fitted once the underside sanding is completed, I did run into a problem here as my new wheel well was slightly wider than the hole and there was very little material left in the fuselage. Some wafer thin sanding of the new wheel well was required….it’ll fit….just!



I was just playing around with some possible loadouts, though the drop tanks will be used.



She is a big sucker!!!



While I was waiting for the cockpit to arrive and in a fit of complete madness I decided to build up the Gatling gun! This is another one of those beautiful products for Master Models. As you can see she is tiny and is made up of 17 parts! Amazingly I didn’t loose any bits while building it and it didn’t take long to build. Pity though that this will be hidden from view under the aircraft!


Offline FAAMAN

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 11/8
« Reply #14 on: August 11, 2015, 05:50:07 PM »
Coming along awesomely!!!  8) 8)
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Online Old Wombat

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 11/8
« Reply #15 on: August 11, 2015, 10:48:47 PM »
Someone's stolen the wings! :o


Oh, no, there they are! I thought they were the fitment stubs! :-[


Very nice constructing there, mate! :)
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Offline b29r

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 11/8
« Reply #16 on: August 11, 2015, 11:53:27 PM »
Great job so far, loving this!  :-*  You are doing a masterful job of blending all these sweet components together  :)  Love the M61 concept too . . . when Dad worked at Boeing Wichita back in the day, I seem to remember him mentioning working on a similar project, tho it may have been the 30mm variety  ???  The memory is always the first to go.  Looking forward to more fine work of course!

Best regards,
Kem

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 11/8
« Reply #17 on: August 12, 2015, 04:32:05 PM »
Great job so far, loving this!  :-*  You are doing a masterful job of blending all these sweet components together  :)  Love the M61 concept too . . . when Dad worked at Boeing Wichita back in the day, I seem to remember him mentioning working on a similar project, tho it may have been the 30mm variety  ???  The memory is always the first to go.  Looking forward to more fine work of course!

Best regards,
Kem

they did have some cool projects for rotary cannons!!

Someone's stolen the wings! :o


Oh, no, there they are! I thought they were the fitment stubs! :-[


Very nice constructing there, mate! :)

amazingly the incidences of the wings could be varied, guess they had to do something to make up for their small size!

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 11/8
« Reply #18 on: August 12, 2015, 04:38:40 PM »
Well another busy day at the office and another of the major items can just about be ticked off and another one to be added!!

Most of the day was spent on two chores, contouring the nose and building the Pave-Gat system.

I started rubbing down the nose section but immediately came onto a problem, with the two small exhaust vents getting in the way and slowly getting miss-shaped. So these were removed to be replaced later, though while researching other stuff I found that Italeri had actually gotten them in the wrong spot in the first place. They should not have been on the radome section of the nose but slightly further back on the fuselage (on the B-57).  With them removed it was easier to clean up all that filler…I do tend too use too much. Then a second lot of filler was applied and left to dry.

Once the second lot of filler was cleaned up, everything was given a light-ish undercoat to see how it looked and what further work was required. All in all it all looks very nice, not to much work required to finish this part off. Re-doing the panel lines will be a fairly big job unfortunately and I hate that job!!!






The forward wheel well was fitted and small fairing strips added to the forward and rear section, I’m quite happy how both wheel wells turned out, so much better than the stock ones!



The tail looks good, though while researching other stuff I found that the brake-chute pod was missing from the tail! So one task completed and another to be done!



Ok the Pave-Gat system, this took up most of the day, as the information is so confusing, the building was actually quite quick! There are very few detailed photos of this system fitted or not, plus there appears to be a very early prototype version fitted to a test frame which looks nothing like the one actually fitted to the aircraft. There appear to be two versions of this weapons system, the TAT-161 (and it was officially called the Pave-Gat) and and earlier(?) version the TAT-157.

The TAT-157 had the M61 fitted at the rear of the pod/platform with the ammunition drum forward of the gun, while the TAT-161 had the M61 fitted to a turret forward of the ammunition drum. Most common photo of the Pave-Gat system shows a B-57B fitted with the TAT-161 system while the B-57G is shown fitted with the other TAT-157 version.




So for this build I will be going with the later version which if the numbering system is correct probably the more advanced version.





The M61 was rotated rearwards for storage when not in use.

It looks pretty good but after a closer look at the photos I may change the turret the holds the M61 slightly, as it does need some azimuth movement. But that won’t take long and that bit will be completed.

Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 12/8
« Reply #19 on: August 12, 2015, 04:59:37 PM »
Whatz not to like?
Assembling that M61 kit is its own feat :icon_surprised: :)

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 12/8
« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2015, 03:09:05 AM »
Wow!
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 12/8
« Reply #21 on: August 14, 2015, 05:09:52 PM »
Well lots more progress has been made though not too much to show, a lot of it involved sorting out final positioning of things, plus I rebuilt the Pave-Gat!

I spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out how the new cockpit was going to fit and how the canopy would fit.

So once the general position of the cockpit was worked out cuts were made for where it was going to sit, I didn’t need to change these. The height was the issue, as I wanted the canopy to be quite low and not appear to have been “stick on”!! I was lucky in still having two bulkheads still in place, so these were shortened as required until the cockpit sat just right.



The canopy for sometime had worried me as I like the look of it but the frame profile was all wrong, it had quite a pronounced curve on it (to match the B-57’s nose profile).



But I didn’t need or want this, I wanted an almost straight frame. So out with the scalpel and nail-polishing file and off to work we went (plus a quick dip in some oven-cleaner to remove paint). I now have a canopy free of framework and pretty clear and scratch free. Just needs a quick going over with 12000-grit micro-fibre, polish, and a dip on acrylic floor polish and she’s done. I can now have the framework I need to suit the fuselage profile. 




Ok the engines were fitted next, they went on trouble free, though I did use lots of thin CA glue and accelerator. This made the join cleaning up process a breeze with very little filler required.




Next was the cut-out for the Pave-Gat, I probably should have done this before I fitted the engines as it would have made the process a bit easier, but……  I faired off the rear section just so it didn’t quite act like a brick. The gun platform is fixed, so this is a permanent modification, the rear section of the bomb bay is now an additional fuel tank.



Ok the Pave-Gat itself, as mentioned I was quite happy with the look of it after reviewing the drawings and photo. So I pulled it all apart and gave it proper 2 axis movement, as it should have had. It looks much better now and a bit closer to the actual unit. The initial coat of paint looks a bit sad but it’s just an undercoat.



It does look pretty cool once fitted but there is one issue! Unless the aircraft is really moving quick there is a chance that ejected shells could hit and damage the port engine, so an additional strengthening plate has been added to that engine. Good old aussie engineering at work!  ;D




The bodywork is now pretty well completed, I just need to finish painting the cockpit and fit. The work required to profile and fit the canopy is quite minor compared to what has been done! The wings will be next, they just need to fit smoothly, no filling required, because the wings or the real ones could vary their incidences. The tail will be the last piece to be fitted, as that would be the first piece I’d knock off!! Plus I have started painting up undercarriage and engine bits.

Gosh at this rate I’ll be finished soon, then what would I do!

Offline Artoor_K

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 14/8
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2015, 07:30:24 PM »
Nice work :) I'll keep an eye on this :)
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Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 14/8
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2015, 08:12:30 PM »
Wow...just, wow. 

I can't think of the appropriate superlative(s) for this project.


Offline ChernayaAkula

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 14/8
« Reply #24 on: August 14, 2015, 11:06:08 PM »
Loving this! A lot!  :-*

Great to see that you found reference material on the Pave Gat installation. All my Google trawls regarding that system over the years haven't been able to produce anything worthwhile.
Cheers,
Moritz

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Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 14/8
« Reply #25 on: August 18, 2015, 08:56:48 PM »
yeah info in the Pave-Gat system was really hard to find, though it can be expected as there was only two aircraft ever modified. Though the program and what was learnt form it had an significant effect on the success of the AC-130 program!

Well just a quick update as I haven’t had a lot of build time the past couple of days.

So I finally completed painting the cockpit, it actually doesn’t look to bad, the quality of the resin cockpit wasn’t up to Aries or likes standards.



With this done I and fitted I could now concentrate on the cockpits fit.



First off plastic sheet was added to the underside of the cockpit, this will allow me to make most of this new work out of plastic.



Next the correct position of the front of the cockpit was set again with plastic rod this time. Plus the rear section of the cockpit was filled in with some sheet to regain it’s original shape. In some ways it would have been nicer to have fitted the cockpit first before closing up the fuselage rather than the other way around as I did, less of the original fuselage would have had to have been removed! Anyway!




Another drop tank was sacrificed for the rear section of the canopy.




I am now very happy with the shape of the new canopy, so now it’s just a case of filling in the gaps with plastic sheet of rod and hopefully just a wee amount of filler. I am half tempted to vacform (or slam mould) a new canopy... will have to think about that one.

The main wheels are pretty crap, even painting them didn’t help.



So a trip to the spares box and a set of 1/48th P-51 wheels look like they maybe the answer.



Unfortunately I only have a pair...so a quick a quick casting job (why has it taken me so long to discover or at least try it!!) and I now have another set, plus additional pylons I need and the missing half of a LGB I needed as well!



Well unfortunately work will start to slow down a bit of this build as I have to start working for a living again...sort of! But I can actually see the end insight already on this project, which is quite amazing!
« Last Edit: August 18, 2015, 09:02:14 PM by trickyrich »

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 18/8
« Reply #26 on: August 19, 2015, 08:32:14 AM »
Looking great! Keep up the great work!

Cheers,

Logan

Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 18/8
« Reply #27 on: August 20, 2015, 04:27:18 PM »
This is golden, great job!

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 18/8
« Reply #28 on: August 23, 2015, 07:29:22 PM »
Just a quick update tonight, did a little bit of work on her and decided I needed more work!!

First up started tiding up the canopy, have decided to stick with the current one and not make another….well for the moment! With the tape covering the “glass” bits it now has the look I am after. Just need to spend a bit more time on the rear cowling to get the shape right, but this task is nearly done.



So really it’s just the wings and tail to go on till painting time!!!

Arrr the wings…….This was going to be an easy bit until started to do some test fitting and positioning, or to find the port wing sat about 5mm lower than the starboard one!! So it would need to be moved up so they would be even. About now I started to think more about the wings and their size. The wing loading on this aircraft was really high, around 102 lb/ft2 (495 kg/m2) about the same as an F-104 and a lot more than a Eurofighter Typhoon! I want to drop this a bit and give her a bit more of an evolved look.

Plus being Australian it can’t quite be normal, we just love to modify things…….so time to add a big wing to her (well it worked on the F/RF-111C!). So a little bit more fuel, lower take-off speeds, plus she needs to have a smoother ride at medium altitudes for precision bombing and the Pave-Gat! So a wing job it is!

I did a rough drawing of what I’m after, longer tip and a small increase at the wing root for stage 1, stage 2 is to increase it half as much again. Will have to see how it looks after the first stage to see if I go any further.



It’ll look something like this.



So new wing root extensions added first, these will match two pieces a plastic strip I’ll add the fuselage so I can get a better bond with the fuselage (the two strips on the fuselage will be tired together with plastic rod through the fuselage, all will make sense in a later update).



Next a quick check where the tips have to come off.



Then off with yee tips with yea!!!!



A wee bit of plastic to help give me profile.



A wee bit of laminating which will make the shaping process a bit easier and require less filler!



Now that looks better, just need to wait for the glue to harden.



….and a trial fit to see if it will look any good!




That does look amazing, going from something that looked a bit odd and stumpy, to something that has a real modern look to it!! We aussies know how to make things look good!!

Now what else can I modify……….

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 18/8
« Reply #29 on: August 23, 2015, 09:04:17 PM »

Now what else can I modify……….

Did you update the crew relief tubes to ensure a snug fit without chaffing or causing undo discomfort?  :o

BTW I do not have the courage to do what you have done to date.
Work in progress ::

I am giving up listing them. They all end up on the shelf of procrastination anyways.

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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #30 on: August 23, 2015, 09:39:30 PM »
Great work! That's some serious talent! You could always go the engine pod modification route that Talos and I did.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #31 on: August 23, 2015, 09:43:56 PM »
Jaw-dropping.  This is sure to be an absolute stunner when all is said and done. 

Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #32 on: August 24, 2015, 03:54:55 AM »
Keen eye for wing mods and building skill to match :)
My skin took on a green hue.

Wonder what other kit OOB wings might work.  1/48 F-86 to large ?
Many choices to consider.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2015, 06:14:18 AM by finsrin »

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #33 on: August 24, 2015, 06:03:59 AM »
Amazing job! Is that a Brad Parker handle in the background?

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #34 on: August 24, 2015, 06:10:05 AM »
Amazing job! Is that a Brad Parker handle in the background?

no it/they are just something cheap I found at on of the local hardware chain stores. They're really nice to use and hold. Unfortunately they only had them in stock for a little while but I managed to get two, one for the scalpel and one for the mini razor saw.

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #35 on: August 24, 2015, 10:50:40 AM »
Odd looking bird, but it does have certain beauty to it, looking good !!
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Offline taiidantomcat

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #36 on: August 24, 2015, 09:19:12 PM »
This is just superb  :-* excellent skill
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Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” "Wing Job"
« Reply #37 on: August 25, 2015, 07:09:12 PM »
Today’s update will be called one-step forward and 2-3 steps back!!! 

Ok the good stuff…

The wings are pretty well done, just a couple of spots to tidy up and they can go on. So to get to here…

From the last update, the tips were given a good sanding to get their profile right.  Laminating with plastic sheet was certainly the way to go as it made this process so much easier.



Next some filler in the gaps and around the original wing/new wing joint. There are some noticeable hollows in the resin towards the tip, think it was a result of where the tip gear is. Anyway after a good sanding again it starts to look very nice.



Ends were fitted to the wing root ends and this section also cleaned up and profiled, This is a much later photo as I forgot to take one while doing this!



Next up the flap fairings needed to be fitted….there should and use to be 6 of them, in three different sizes! But some how I have managed to loose the 4 smaller ones….knowing my luck they’ll show up after I have finished it. So I had to make up some new ones, one sanded one not.



Now she’s all sweet, a final lite rubdown and done.



Ok the tail, it still shared a similar outline to the old wings. I had thought of completely redoing the tips but as it was complete and pretty well finished I decided to cheat a bit, so out with the big sanding stick. The tips were squared off, then it was given a smoother leading edge curve, while the trailing edge was slightly reduced. A subtle change but it matches the wings a little more closely now.



So with the wings and tail pretty well done as mentioned……at this stage I was getting ready to fit the wings, but things started to go down hill at this stage!

Now the backward steps, I’ll go from no so bad to crap!

Ok I had some plastic strip cut to the profile of the wing and was going to fit it to the fuselage first with CA glue and pinned with plastic rod through the fuselage. Then with pre-cut out holes the wing I would have a nice plastic to plastic join for them…..that was the plan.

During the test fitting stages it turns out the port wing is 5mm lower than the starboard one! No drama I just had to ensure that my alignment holes were correct. This all went together perfectly, the joins were good and everything was even. Then during some more test fitting I notice that the wings were completely level with the fuselage! They had the correct droop 6o anhedral but their incidence was nearly dead level 0o, which is not right. They should have some while on the ground, even in flight they still have some. So the original alignment holes on the RHS were in correct (maybe the LHS ones were correct…I don’t want to think about that!!!)  So all my lovely work was in vain and now I had to remove the ones I had glued on with CA glue!! So after much cursing they’re fixed, not as clean and tidy as before, but at least they are where they should be!!



Ok now to the crap………

I had been finishing the final shaping of the canopy surrounds and had a quick peek under the tape just to check how things were inside (I had head something rattling inside. To my shock and horror the canopy had lots of hairline cracks in it along with half a ton of dust! There was nothing to it but to remove the canopy, which did little damage to the surrounding area. Looking closely at the canopy you could see lots and lots of small cracks. What to do, well there was some cursing and the dust bunnies probably learnt few words they didn’t know before today! But it’s really not a biggie, just more work I didn’t want to do, but the canopy wasn’t the best to start with so I should have figured something like this may happen.!

Polishing and dipping in floor polish didn’t help. I tried the smash mould a new one but just couldn’t get it right, and I have managed to put a small dent in it now!



So after some searching Falcon VacForm has come to the rescue, they do a canopy set which includes a canopy for the B-57. Worse case I may just have to buy another B-57 kit and use its canopy! Though they would look nice together!!!

In the mean time I will redo the canopy frames, which should be easier now that I have positions to work from.



I have a semi-reasonable canopy I made that might work, as I think I will leave the canopy open now. So for this I will have to make a custom frame up…..will just have to see how time and motivation goes.



If I hadn’t had the canopy issues that wings and tail would have been on now….but why would we want to make life so easy for us!

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 25/08 update
« Reply #38 on: August 26, 2015, 12:09:47 AM »
If we wanted to do that we ... we ... well, we wouldn't be whiffers! :o
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline taiidantomcat

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 25/08 update
« Reply #39 on: August 27, 2015, 05:43:11 AM »
Excellent explanations thanks! Sorry for the bad luck in some places :) Looks well handled though
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Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 25/08 update
« Reply #40 on: August 28, 2015, 05:38:13 PM »
I had pushed this one aside for a while I wait for the new canopy to arrive (still haven’t decided if I’ll buy a B-57 as well). But while I was waiting for bits on the Arado to dry I did a little bit more on it.

I finished off the wings, they’ve had their final rub down and I’ve managed to get a nice smooth finish on them, which is great.

So with that done I couldn’t help myself and decided to fit them! I will start by saying the logical way would have been to fit these before fitting the engines (a big hint to anyone building one of these!!!). This would have made life sooooooooo much easier, but because I was working with a plastic-to-plastic join it hasn’t been that difficult.

The biggest job was getting the anhedral right, which wasn’t that easy! I made up a jig with balsa and locked down the fuselage, then after 40 minutes of measuring and fiddling I was set to glue them.  With the wings in place I initially used thin liquid glue to join them. There were some gaps (Anigrand has the original wing angle wrong at closer to 10o rather than the correct 6o, it doesn’t sound much but with the extended wings there is a big difference!) so into the gaps went some CA glue, this just locked everything in place. The remaining gaps, all under wing luckily, were filled with plastic strip.

The end result was very little sanding was needed to get some nice top joins, the lower ones will be nicely hidden by the engines and won’t normally be seen, but they too will clean up nicely. Not much filler was required either.





those are terrible files marks! Not sure how they got there, but they're gone now!
 
Next up while the wings were drying, the Arado was still drying and the Skyshark was…… just sitting there, I had a look at the tail!

The lower section of the rudder and base of the tail had a curved trailing edge to it, this just didn’t look right when compared to the more squared off tips on the new wing and elevators. I wanted this now to be more squared as well, so out with the sanding board.



This now has a much more squared off look, which matches the rest of the plane.



One other thing is with the tail on, the elevators tilts upwards, from the nose, where they should be inline with the horizontal axis of the plane. The whole tail needs to be tilted up slightly, once done it looks more natural. I may have to adjust that trailing edge of the rudder to make it square or I may just leave it with a slight slant.



I was struggling to get a photo that showed what I meant clearly



That new section though will make a perfect spot radar-warning receiver!


There is actually not a lot left to do on this at all now, once the replacement canopy arrives, all should progress very quickly to the painting stage!

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 28/08 update
« Reply #41 on: August 30, 2015, 05:16:25 PM »
Ok just a minor update today.

I have fitted the tail and completed the modification to it! Just needs the usual final tidy up and she’s done!

As I mentioned previously I didn’t quite like the look of the tail or how it sat, I think it needed to sit up a bit more at the back, so that’s what I did.

The tail and body were drilled in two places and plastic rod was used to get the tail in line with the centre axis of the fuselage plus to lift it up a bit, plus give it strength. Next the gap was filled with green putty, I just couldn’t be bothered yesterday with filling the gap with plastic card.




After curing over night it was given a good sanding back and some basic profiling of the tail as well. Plus I added a small bit of card so as I could get a nice sharp trailing edge. Now the fine filler was added.



You can clearly see what was required to fill the hollow in the fuselage behind intake #2!!



Once this filler had cured everything was given a good sanding back and the tail was finally profiled to shape.



Looks pretty good now, though I don’t like the bump on the top of the tail anymore so that will go, to be replaced by a rearwards facing radome below the rudder, and above the brake chute door, which needs to be added!





I think it looks much better now and suits the new lines of the aircraft. As I mentioned it’s pretty well complete now just sand final touching up and the tails complete, actually the same can be said of everything else. It’s almost to the stage that I could start painting now. No more modifications as I run the risk of breaking something…notably the wing tips!

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 30/08 update
« Reply #42 on: August 31, 2015, 08:26:10 PM »
Just an absolute tour-de-force in kit conversion and modification!  Can't wait to see it with some paint on it. 

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 30/08 update
« Reply #43 on: August 31, 2015, 09:07:04 PM »
Just an absolute tour-de-force in kit conversion and modification!  Can't wait to see it with some paint on it.

Thanks, if I hadn't had the trouble with the canopy it would have paint on it by now! I am trying very hard to resist doing some painting, but with the canopy work to go it would be silly. The new canopy is coming from the UK, so hope it gets here nice and quick. Plus that it will fit/work, else I'll have to buy a B-57 kit! 

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 30/08 update
« Reply #44 on: September 06, 2015, 05:21:56 PM »
Ok this is really a small update as I haven’t had much modelling time……work it interfering again!!

The vacform canopy hasn’t arrived yet, but I have decided to buy a B-51G as well, the canopy from this will be used for the build and the vacform one used on it.

I fitted a new radome to the base of the tail as well as removing the hump I added to the top of the tail, this looks much better in my opinion.



The whole thing was given a coat of acrylic Lt Grey, this was a chance to look at the completed plane. As well The main gear was temporarily fitted. Fitting the gear will be fun, especially to get it even and level!







It has such a good look to it, completely different to the squat look the B-51 has.

I’m glad to have finished all the main work, just the final tiding up of joins and she will be ready for painting….once the canopy is fitted!

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #45 on: September 06, 2015, 10:00:54 PM »
That looks great, Rich! You've really done justice to the concept! Great work!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #46 on: September 06, 2015, 11:17:50 PM »
Jaw-dropping just in primer...this is really going to turn some heads when all is said and done.

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #47 on: September 07, 2015, 02:24:03 AM »
That looks great, Rich! You've really done justice to the concept! Great work!


Wot he said.
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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #48 on: September 07, 2015, 05:45:28 PM »
That looks great, Rich! You've really done justice to the concept! Great work!

Jaw-dropping just in primer...this is really going to turn some heads when all is said and done.

Wot they sed! :)
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Volkodav

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #49 on: September 07, 2015, 09:06:30 PM »
Can't wait to see the finished product, were there licence produced in Aus like the Cranberry, or bought from the States like the F-111?

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 06/9 update
« Reply #50 on: September 12, 2015, 03:49:02 PM »
Thanks guy's, sorry things have slowed down a bit as work has given me a new project, so for the next couple of weeks things will be progressing very slowly until the new roster starts.

Ok this is just a very minor update, as I just haven’t had much time at all to work on this.

The new Falcon vacform canopies arrived and I was all set to fit the B-57 one again, but looking at it I would still have the original problem.



While I like the shape of the B-57 canopy it really doesn’t fit the shape of the B-51, plus I would have to try and reshape it (a lot harder with a vacform canopy) some how. So I abandoned that idea and was going to wait for the B-57 kit.

I was looking at the rest of the canopies and noticed the shape of the B-47E’s canopy! It would fit and it looked and suited the B-51 even better than the B-57 one I was using.

So I had to rebuild the canopy frame to suit this canopy….would have been soooo much easier if I hadn’t made the original cockpit/canopy hole so large in the fuselage!!!



I think it looks much nicer and a bit more sleeker now plus it is a bit narrower as well which does suit the B-51’s thin fuselage. So I just have to clean up the new framework and fit the canopy and then it’s painting time!!





Oh and part of the reason I didn’t get too much done today besides waiting for filler to dry is I brought this beasty out.



National markings have been painted on, this is part of what caused the delay originally, plus cowlings/props/ and undercarriage have been fitted, I’ll update the original post.

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 12/9 update
« Reply #51 on: September 12, 2015, 10:52:25 PM »
That looks great! I'm glad you found a canopy that fits!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” 12/9 update
« Reply #52 on: September 27, 2015, 03:55:01 PM »
The canopy is so much better than I had hope, I wish I had thought of it early! Anyway....

Ok as mentioned in the Arado update, work is killing me at the moment, am flying of Sunday evenings and coming home Friday nights! So not too much modelling time!

Anyway, have finally finished sanding and filling this beast! Well I did find a spot I missed but will sort that out later.

I’ve added a few bits and bumps to her, to give her a more busy look, she’s not meant to have nice clean lines now…she’s a work horse!

So next up the canopy was masked up….for a second time..and no dust bunnies present either this time!

First up the panel lines were pre-shaded, I only have to worry about the upper surfaces as the undersides will be black. Though I will spray each one as a separate panel to help break the blackness!



Next up the first colour down was the Tan, I will be using enamels for the paint job instead of acrylics. As much as I like using them I do need to do quite a lot of masking and enamels just have so much better bit of the undersurfaces. Plus because the panel lines are quite deep (!) I don’t have to worry if the coats are a wee bit thick. That said the first coat went of perfectly!




The photos were taken just after I had painted her so there are a couple of spots that were still not quite dry and a bit shiny.  Now that it has dried some more she looks great, the first coat went on perfectly! It’ll have a full week to cure before I can start on the next part which will be Mid-Green.

She looks so much more like a real plane now with this coat on…I just can’t what to see the final results.

And the two beasties together!


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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Painting
« Reply #53 on: September 27, 2015, 09:38:02 PM »
Nice Tan lines.  ;D

What did you use to mask your canopy?
Work in progress ::

I am giving up listing them. They all end up on the shelf of procrastination anyways.

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Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Painting
« Reply #54 on: September 28, 2015, 03:51:22 AM »
Just very thin strips of Tamiya masking tape and liquid masking solution

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Painting
« Reply #55 on: September 28, 2015, 08:22:20 AM »
Looking good!

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Painting
« Reply #56 on: October 01, 2015, 07:08:44 AM »
Yowsa, what an inspiration! That you can do such amazing work on such limited time is incredible!

I'm really looking forward to how this baby turns out. If the Tigercat is any indication, you'll finish it up an absolute gem!

Brian da Basher

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Painting
« Reply #57 on: October 04, 2015, 06:02:18 AM »
thanks all...

ok, well two months into this GB/project and I have to admit I’ve made good progress on this build even if I keep getting distracted on other builds (old and new projects..must start thread for them!!). I should get this one completed in time.

So straight back into painting the next colours in the scheme. For these lots of small sausages of blu-tack were made, because of it’s scale I wanted the demarcation lines to be quite fine. Then liquid mask to protect…maybe not the best of ideas as it ruins the blu-tack and I can’t use it again (am going through it at a fast rate!).

So before the Medium Green FS.34102, I quickly redid the panels line with black again just to help them stand out again. Next the green coat, this was done in a slightly uneven manner to help give it a slightly faded look.



After a few hours drying, am using enamels this time, more re-masking and masking fluid before a coat of Dark Green FS.34079.



I was so tempted to then just rip of the masks and see how it all looks, but the paint was a a bit soft so the whole things just sat outside for a few hours in the sun to dry.

Once dry the masks and blu-tack came off, not the easiest of jobs either, and there you have it! I am really happy with the finish, the paint was nice and thin and went on perfectly, just a couple of areas that need touching up. The inside section of the left hand engine pod is a bit rough so I’ll re-mash and touch up that one. But boy she looks great!



...and yes some photo bombing by the SkyShark, she's not far off from being completed as well, so photos will be up soon-ish!




The Tan has settled down really nicely since it first went on, am hoping the greens will as well.

Next will be the undersurfaces, these will be black. Because it’s a big area there is a possibility it will look too black, so I’m going to try something I have been reading about. I will use NATO Black for this area, it’s really a very dark grey, but it allows you to use black for shading so as to give the finish more depth….well that’s what I’m told. So we’ll just have to see, plus it’s an acrylic so it’ll go on quite and dry quick…..and probably come off quick too!!!

I should have the painting done today and maybe a clear gloss coat as well.

Offline polluxdeltaseven

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #58 on: October 04, 2015, 08:21:52 AM »
Very impressive ! I followed this topic from a far distance since its beginning and I couldn't wait to see the paint job ;)
(and I didn't know the story of the real Tropic Moon III before this topic, so thanks for that ;) )

Offline Tophe

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #59 on: October 04, 2015, 09:54:30 PM »
belately...: Wow! :-*

Offline Steve Blazo

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #60 on: October 05, 2015, 02:38:18 AM »
Looks really good, great job on the camo !!
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Offline taiidantomcat

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #61 on: October 05, 2015, 02:56:12 AM »
The camo just takes it up another level! Wow!! probably going to scream like a fan girl when I see it with decals  :o
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Offline elmayerle

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #62 on: October 05, 2015, 07:36:19 AM »
That's looking really sweet so far; can't wait to see the final product.

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” More Painting
« Reply #63 on: October 05, 2015, 09:56:22 AM »
thanks guy's, I'm getting excited with this one as well, can't wait to get the final canopy masks off so I can get a good look at the whole "look" of the beast!.

Well lots more progress and one minor stuff up, forgot to re-mask the canopy when I gloss coated the beast!! Least the canopy is vacfrom plastic, nothing seems to stick to the clear acetate.

Well as said lots of progress, the under side is painted and completed. I had intended to use NATO Black but forgot this was in a rattle can and near empty. But luckily a bottle of acrylic Rubber Black (Tamiya) was found instead, which worked out even better. NATO Black has a very slight green tint to it (well I think so) while the Rubber Black a slight Grey tint to it. But there is a subtle difference when compared to plain black, it’s had to see with the gloss coat as it is more noticeable when matt. The coat went of perfectly, being acrylic, dried very quickly. Next nose and tail radome’s were painted black as well as well as random spots of the undersurface to help brake up the evenness.

Next up a couple of white panels then the whole left to dry completely. It needed to have a clear coat on as soon as possible as the undersurfaces marked so easily especially as the whole thing sat on the engine pods!

So this morning a coat of gloss acrylic clear…and of cause as I was in a bit of a hurry I forgot to remask the canopy!! The clear will/should come off quiet easily.



Next up the undercarriage, again I needed this fitted to help protect the paint finish. And of cause as with the rest of the model/build it didn’t quite fit and was not straight! But surprisingly when finally fitted the beast actually sat fairly even, this was a worry for a while. The outrigger gear will be cut to length so that they sit correctly…plus they will be the final bits to ensure the beast sits evenly…lots of measuring will be involved there! The wheel rims were also given a wash and look really cool. I still have to make new main gear doors as the old ones will not fit…even on the un-modified undercarriage they are too small!

The Pave Gat platform is just tacked in to see how it all looks, I have all the painting to finish off on it yet.



Plus lots of weapons choices as well! I’ll only have 4 wing stores stations as well as the drop tanks, which will be of the outside on quite deep pylons. One of the pylons will have the ALQ-87 ECM pod fitted and I’m tossing up whether to fit the larger Bullpup and a couple of LGB’s/“slicks” or some other stores. I’m aiming for an early to mid 70’s time period, Vietnam or some other SEA conflict.




Well the end of this project is coming up fast! I’ll have the decals on this arvo ready for a mat coat in the morning. In the meantime I need to start making up all the aerials and antennas this beast will have, plus work on the pylons. Not a lot left to go!!



« Last Edit: October 05, 2015, 09:59:16 AM by trickyrich »

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Completed Painting
« Reply #64 on: October 06, 2015, 09:08:42 PM »
Right as mentioned earlier it’s all steam ahead with this this build now!

The decaling didn’t go without trouble. I had to use a mix of old and new decals which all decided to give me issues! I probably could have added more but I wanted the look to be clean.

She finally had a coat of matt clear to protect her finish, and I did mask her canopy….just forgot at the time! Once removed she has the exact look I was after and look very much like Logan’s original print!

New undercarriage doors had to be made, as the old ones were too small to start with.



The weapons were given a bath in oven cleaner ready for painting. The drop tanks pylons were made up to suit, with them and the tanks given a coat of Rubber Black. They’re just tacked on for the photos. The weapon load out will be an ECM pod, a single Bullpup for high value targets, and a mix of Mk 82’s and Mk 82 “Daisy Cutters” on a BDU, just the thing for late night visits on the “long and windy roads”!



She now looks so much the part, I just love her!!!






And for those who are wondering if I’m working on anything else….

The Arado is having all the extra bits fitted…



The SkyShark is getting closer to being completed.



…and this beasty has just entered the workshop…..after about 15 years! More to come on this one!!!



Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #65 on: October 06, 2015, 11:30:51 PM »
Those are all great, but the B-51 is an absolute beauty!

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #66 on: October 07, 2015, 12:13:22 AM »
The camo on the B-51 is great; just a hint of the pre and post panel shading is coming through and the dark gray undersides look good.

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #67 on: October 07, 2015, 03:50:48 AM »
Damn fine work there!

Looking forward to what I presume is the Bill Gunston VTOL fighter.
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #68 on: October 07, 2015, 04:56:08 AM »
haha, I'm surprised you recognised what it was, others have been trying to work out what it was. Guess you have had/or still have that book? My copy is sitting beside me acting as motivation to try and finish it!!!

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #69 on: October 07, 2015, 05:16:45 AM »
The intake and the tail are a dead giveaway!

All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline ChernayaAkula

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #70 on: October 07, 2015, 08:43:44 AM »
Nice job on the camo!  :)

Seeing that pic showing the Arado and the B-51, I wonder.... B-57-style nose and canopy on a crescent wing turboprop Blitz? Could look great.
Cheers,
Moritz

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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #71 on: October 07, 2015, 10:12:46 AM »
That looks great, Rich! Job very, very well done.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Goonie

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #72 on: October 07, 2015, 05:46:46 PM »
Wow, all of that 3 airplanes looks just great :) , but that B-51... It just looks so right  :D
« Last Edit: October 07, 2015, 05:49:13 PM by Goonie »
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Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #73 on: October 07, 2015, 06:43:26 PM »
Wow, all of that 3 airplanes looks just great :) , but that B-51... It just looks so right  :D

Totally with Goonie on this.  :-*

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Update 06/10
« Reply #74 on: October 09, 2015, 03:03:05 PM »
Well the time has finally come to call this one!

I had hoped to do a couple more updates before this one but frustration was getting the better of me in the end. Lot count of the bits I kept knocking off, including the new pitot probe that was last seen passing by my left shoulder to never be seen again! Plus my lovely acrylic Matt coat I use is actually really painful to use, the usual way I clean up my washes ends up turning the matt clear coat a cloudy white! Ok had my piece now on with it!

Well lots of antenna’s and bits were added, most stolen from the new B-57G kit…including the now lost/eaten pitot probe!

The wing tip gear was finally fitted, new gear doors had to be mode for them as well.

The stores were finally completed as well, I did some homemade “daisy Cutters” which turned out quite nice. The pylons I intended to use turned out to be way too short once I re-profiled them for the wings! So new ones were made to match those used on the drop tanks, overall these look much better. The Pave Gat platform was finished off and fitted.



Finally just some touch-ups and she’s done!I just so love the look of this aircraft and with all the mods I added she just looks “real”! It was not an easy build by any means and there are so many things I’d do different if I was building one again, I now have another unused nose! (Israeli B-51G??). I would so love to go large with this and build a 1/48th version, but unfortunately the donor model is a Collect-Aire beast and the latest one to show up on evilBay, well the seller wants $700USD for it!! Don’t think I could hide that one from the wife!

Anyway this was such a joy to build and finish, so here she is!!! Please enjoy…plus I will write a story to go with it……….











Story.

After the initial failure in the “Night Intruder/Bomber” fly off against the EE Canberra in May 51, Martin wasn’t put off. The XB-51 had a good turn of speed and general handling and performance was good, fuel economy though was not. So Martin set to the task of improving this notable by fitting a newer version of the General Electric J47 along with structure changes as well as the ability to fit wing mounted drop tanks. The variable incident wings were dropped as well to help save weight.

Initial plans to produce the EE Canberra in the US by Martin was scuttled by the then Labour government as relationships between the two countries soured again, and by Christmas of 51 the whole project was in doubt.

Martin had been in the meantime reviewing and implementing changes to the XB-51 program to make it a more suitable aircraft that met the Air Forces requirements. At the same time Martin had been courting other air forces as well with this new design. The Australian air force had shown early interest in the EE Canberra but a falling out by the Menzies government with the UK Labour Attlee government over trade and migration, and the forth-coming ANZUS treaty, this ended. The US was now the flavour of the moment and the RAAF was offered a deal on the B-51 they couldn’t refuse.

The B-51B entered RAAF service in mid 1954 and quickly gained a reputation for its handling and precision bombing abilities, even though its range was still a bit of an issue.

By the start of the Vietnam war B-51D’s had entered service with the RAAF, these were a major step forward in the B-51 program, with new avionics, improved engine performance and economy. But the two changes that were to have the most notable effects were the change a new cockpit layout and the fitting of the “Big Wing”. The “Big Wing” was a requirement the RAAF had wanted right from the start, but there had been development issues, which had held this up until the D model. These new wings had additional stores points as well as larger fuel tanks fitted.

Two squadrons were sent to Vietnam, 2 & 6 Sqn, these aircraft operated along side a detachment of Skysharks, which were providing Close Air Support for the Australian Army at the time. As the war continued on the role of the B-51’s started to change and an aircraft with improved all-weather/night-time abilities was required.

The result was B-51G, introduced in 1971, which had a variety of new sensors and equipment fitted. The USAF had only a modest interest in this model and only operated one squadron, the RAAF went on to modify all but a few of their B-51’s to this new configuration (four were converted to RB-51D’s). The modification program was call “Tropic Moon III” (there were two earlier programs using different aircraft). In addition to the new FLIR/LLLTV systems fitted in the new nose of these aircraft a new Pave Gat new gun system by Emerson was fitted to a few of these aircraft. These gun platforms fitted into the bomb bay of the B-51and featured a remotely controlled M61 20mm Gatling gun and optics system. In use along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, these Pave Gat fitted B-51G’s proved to be devastating to ground forces and infrastructure.

These aircraft continued in serve with the RAAF in Australia and overseas until eventually replaced by the RF/F111’s. They were finally retired in the early 80’s after over 30 years of service.

Offline finsrin

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #75 on: October 09, 2015, 03:28:36 PM »
Yeeee Gaaaads  ---  must be OOB RW
So cool in concept and build  8)  :-*  :-*  :-*

Offline LemonJello

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #76 on: October 09, 2015, 08:44:28 PM »
What a masterpiece! All your efforts really paid off in the finished product.

Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #77 on: October 09, 2015, 09:50:50 PM »


I'm now off to Michaels to pick some Butterick sewing patterns.
Work in progress ::

I am giving up listing them. They all end up on the shelf of procrastination anyways.

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Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #78 on: October 09, 2015, 10:18:34 PM »
That looks brilliant, trickyrich! You've definitely done my original profile justice and then some!

Finally just some touch-ups and she’s done!I just so love the look of this aircraft and with all the mods I added she just looks “real”!

Now you understand exactly what I go for with my profiles. It's easy to write off a design like the XB-51 when you look at a B-57G and just think, "well, the Canberra is just more workmanlike and practical, it's obvious why it succeeded." Now put all those bits, bobbles, mods, grit, and grime on the "failed" prototype, and suddenly things become more complicated.

Those extra antennas really look great on your model, but I know the hard part was all the bigger mods that you did and seem to integrate seamlessly on the finished model.

Great work, trickyrich!

Cheers,

Logan

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #79 on: October 09, 2015, 11:14:22 PM »
Nice work
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline trickyrich

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #80 on: October 10, 2015, 04:51:13 AM »
That looks brilliant, trickyrich! You've definitely done my original profile justice and then some!

Finally just some touch-ups and she’s done!I just so love the look of this aircraft and with all the mods I added she just looks “real”!

Now you understand exactly what I go for with my profiles. It's easy to write off a design like the XB-51 when you look at a B-57G and just think, "well, the Canberra is just more workmanlike and practical, it's obvious why it succeeded." Now put all those bits, bobbles, mods, grit, and grime on the "failed" prototype, and suddenly things become more complicated.

Those extra antennas really look great on your model, but I know the hard part was all the bigger mods that you did and seem to integrate seamlessly on the finished model.

Great work, trickyrich!

Cheers,

Logan

thank you.

I really did enjoy this build as difficult as it was at times, the whole idea of taking a "failed" prototype and turning it into a "real" plane is a lot of fun. Plus it was a big benefit to have that wonderful profile of yours as reference/inspiration. Don't worry I'm still looking all your other profiles for other ideas. Now if I ever get my mod kit for an P-61E/F-15 Reporter!!

This will not be the last of this type of work you'll from me now seeing as this experience was so enjoyable.

What's next....well a Ta-154 & a Ar-234 go into a bar......

Offline FAAMAN

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #81 on: October 10, 2015, 06:07:49 AM »
can't say more than what's already been said apart for Yea Gads that's brilliant!!  :o :o :o Outstanding work in realising this beastie!!! :) :) ;) ;) 8) 8)
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Offline uncle les

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #82 on: October 10, 2015, 05:26:31 PM »
Bravo !  I'm liking that a LOT.

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #83 on: October 10, 2015, 08:25:56 PM »
Wow all three of those builds are magnificent, but that B-51 really takes the prize!

Those 'roos really spice up a model nicely!

Brian da Basher

Offline ysi_maniac

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #84 on: October 10, 2015, 09:30:06 PM »
This guy is a MASTER!! :)

Offline KiwiZac

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #85 on: October 12, 2015, 04:52:35 AM »
Bravo. That's superb.
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Offline Artoor_K

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #86 on: October 12, 2015, 10:39:09 PM »
That's one of the best models I've seen recently :)
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You need strengthening, toughening
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Offline Volkodav

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Re: Martin B-51G Panther “Tropic Moon III” Finished!!!
« Reply #87 on: October 13, 2015, 03:52:00 PM »
Just love it, especially with the back story.