Tenax, Resin and Styrene

What should be my builds after the F-14A Tomcat "Sukhoi Killers, the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. II and the Monogram MiG 29 Fulcrum? Well, I've got several ideas. I have a Monogram F-117A Nighthawk, and the 1/48 Testors SR-71. I have yet to crack open the SR-71 to see how difficult the kit is, but I have the F-117A Nighthawk open and from what I can see inside the kit, the parts shouldn't be difficult at all. Plus considering it's all one color-scheme (flat black) it should be just fine. All it will take is FS 27038 (Coal Black) or FS 37038 (black) applied with a single action airbrush, after being pre-shaded with white or grey. The Coal Black will have to have dull-cote applied to it as it is a semi-gloss. Of course, the tough part of the build will be the actual scribing of the panel lines as black is very hard to see panel lines on. The build should take a few days provided I can stay focused and build for several days. The most color I'll probably be using is the grey and white.



When you look at the cockpit, even the seat-cover is grey. There are no ejection seat loops as on the GRU-7A ejection seat because this is an ACES II. When you've got a stealth aircraft you don't want any part sticking out. The cockpit will be built from the kit, considering its inaccuracy, I'm going to keep the cockpit closed and pretty much most of the build will concern the exterior of the aircraft. I'll check the Monogram cockpit out and see how accurate it is, but given the experience with the Monogram F-14A, I don't hold out too much hope on it being very accurate. But given a little searching on the internet, I found one of my ARC mods has written an article on the build he did for Internet Modeler (http://www.internetmodeler.com/1999/february/aviation/av_f-117.htm) in 1999. I'll have to ask him his impression of the cockpit while building it. He feels that the cockpit panels were pretty accurate with the LCDs in the right place.



Evidently, there will be some problems with the join fit between the body and the wingroots and that can be simply filled in with putty. It's just a matter of "how much". If it's a lot, I may go with red auto-glazing putty that Steve F. used. Because I don't have a whole helluva lot of the Tamiya putty after my going a little nuts with it on the MiG 29.




I can't vouch much for the cockpit of the SR-71 since I don't know who's built that monster. I know I can manage to scrounge up a True Details cockpit set TD48478 SR71 BLACKBIRD COCKPIT SET for around $20.00 US. Looks like I'm gonna have to hit a mail-order store to get it. Oh well, if I can't get it, I'll just build it cockpit closed. Either that, or I take the pictures that I find and scratch-build panels true to detail.




These builds will be worth the time and the effort put into it. Plus it'll give me some experience in preshading as well as weathering. After a flight, these birds must have really gotten grimy with the heat and the expansion of the different panels. I've always been interested in the SR-71 after the Blackbird's visit to Abbotsford in 1986 and hearing it fly for the first time. You have never heard loud until you've heard the J58s on the Blackbird. Damn, those things are earsplitting. Imagine ripping paper amplified 500 times coupled with the sound of a 747 taking off and that's the sound that you'll get from the twin J58s of an SR-71. Thus, I've always wanted to have an SR-71 in my model collection and now I've got one. So this build will be a stroll down memory lane as well as an easy build to gain experience in building.