Another
excellent looking bomber from the US and a kit that looks great in 1/48. When
designed in 1951 the B-58 was so advanced that the specification was deemed to
be largely unachievable with existing technology. However it flew in 1956
and entered service in 1959. The
technology was so new that 11 of 30 development aircraft were lost in
accidents and 18 of 97 aircraft which entered service were also lost. This was
expensive as each B-58 cost the same as 3 B52's to build. Yet such was
the pace of change, it served for less than 10 years before being declared
obsolete in 1969. The Hustler was the first of the post war delta bombers to be
supersonic and so deserves a prime spot in
the delta bomber collection.
So much can go wrong, so fast in the B-58 Hustler.
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This
was the mid 80's boxing of the kit which
I bought from a deceased collectors estate before the kit was re-released in
the early 2000's. The model is
basically from the box with the cockpits tidied up and the nose probe modified
for easy removal. This is done by fixing some
tube in the nose and a brass rod in the end of the probe. (I
do this often as my collection has to travel the world with me and it is
easier to do this than keep repairing bits on arrival).
The
only issue I had with construction was I clamped the outer wings too tightly
while the glue set. There should be a gap between upper and lower wings
but I collapsed this. As a result when I came to fit the engines there was a
gap in the middle between pylon and wing. I should have put some plastic scrap
in to provide the strength without distorting the lower wing. The pilots
canopy I left loose to see the novel escape pod inside.
Finish
was an overall coat of gloss black auto spray and then various shades of Alclad.
I sanded off most of the surface
detail and used a thick coat of the auto spray to fill any remaining gaps and
scratches. The model looked great in overall gloss
black and it would have been good to finish it in a "night
intruder" scheme. I used the shades of Alclad to denote the panel
lines and this worked particularly well on the engines.
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Decals
in my kit were for the trans-Atlantic race winner and I don't normally do
special schemes. I picked this scheme from the Internet web site of a B-58
Association but their web page
seems to have folded so I'm not able to pass on credits or specifics. Decals
were therefore a mix of kit and spares
items with serials printed on the PC. I think
it looks great with its contemporary deltas, although the TSR2 is a later
design. The delta missing from the set now
is the Valkerie. 1/48 XB-70 anyone?
Cheers
Colin
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