Lockheed Martin SR-71A Blackbird - 1/72 Hasegawa

[Caledonia]

My wife made the mistake of buying me a copy of the July 2011 'Aviation News' magazine which had a feature on this aircraft where one of the ex-pilots described Blackbird Operations. The article fired my enthusiasm, which has brought this kit to the top of the pile. I am glad I bought the 1/72 scale as this aircraft is 'BIG', the kit only contains 43 parts, but the hard bit will be in the ageing of the paintwork.

For those not familiar with this aircraft some of its amazing statistics are Speed = +Mach 3.2; Ceiling = +85,000ft; Crossed the atlantic in 1Hr 54Min 56.4Sec in 1974.

Here are some shots of the box art and kit. Cheers Derek

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[msm2]

Will be following this with interest as I have one in the stash.

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[colin m]

Nice subject Derek,

Am I correct in thinking, it was the blackbird that leaked fuel all over until it was flying and up to temperature, then the 'designed in gaps' sealed themselves up ?

Colin M.........

 

[stona]

I reckon so.

The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird

Cheers

Steve

 

[colin m]

I reckon so. The Thrill of Flying the SR-71 Blackbird

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve,

Who would have thought his association with the SR71 started with a Revell model, just like me ! - but that was as far as I got !

Colin M........

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Colin, yes you are correct, on the runway it leaks fuel a lot, and in the article I mentioned there are some ariel shots of fuel pouring out over the wings during in-flight refuelling. They had to develop a special titanium alloy to take the 400 Deg C skin temperature. As the aircraft went faster the engines became more efficient, they used 20% afterburner and 80% ram jet. The article was a real eye opener. Cheers Derek

p.s. Was looking at the kit in more detail tonight it has very mostly fine raised panel lines and some recessed panel lines in the two fins, the two fuselage halves simply fall into place a work of art by the moulders. Hasegawa have just re-issued the kit, probably the same kit different decals and a lot more money.

 

[Caledonia]

Will be following this with interest as I have one in the stash.

Hi Tony look forward to seeing your one in due course, you probably know about the link below, but just in case have copied it for you some good walkaround photos of a Blackbird. Am going to try to copy the colours on these photos rather than the kit instructions. Cheers Derek

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Photo Walk Around

Stona, thanks for the article Steve, the magazine I mention covers european operations where they had to learn how the Blackbird behaved in high altitude higher and lower temperatures. The higher temps dramatically cut their range, and the low temp made it difficult for them to slow down for the recce run. Cheers Derek

 

[msm2]

Hi. I remember in the late 70's seeing one at the Greenham Common Airshow. Completely fenced off with warning signs all around "NO SMOKING". It was dripping fuel all the time.

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Tony, never did see a Blackbird in the flesh, must have been amazing, anyway the progress to date.

The kit comes with the fuselage in two halves inclusive of the wings, one clear sprue with the canopy and another sprue with all the other components. Decided to prime the components on the sprue with my usual Tamiya gray surface primer.

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I made the cockpit as per the kit, its pretty basic, but as I intend the canopies to be closed, and because they have very small tinted windows, I don't plan to spend any more time on them.

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Have cemented the two fuselage halves together, they went together perfectly without any filler.

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Cheers Derek

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[backonthecase]

I hadnt seen one either til Duxford at the weekend there. It looks mean!! yours is looking great Derek, think I might have to add it to the shopping list lol!

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Tony, lucky man, in fact it is photos of the Duxford Aircraft I am trying to copy colour wise.

The canopy of the rear windows in the canopies of the SR-71A have a red seal going around them, so to try to replicate this I have used some red border off an old kit's decal sheet and fixed it inside the window frame with micro set, after first dunking all the canopies in Klear. Not sure how effective this will be as the raised lines on the outer skin of the canopies for the windows are very shallow and you can barely feel them through the masking tape so it will be a hit or a miss. Have also given inside the canopy a thin coat of Tamiya Clear Green, as the windows in some of the photos are appear tinted.

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A shot of the finished model masked off ready for priming.

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A couple of shots of the model primed with Tamiya Aerosol Fine Surface Light Gray Primer.

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A shot of the model painted using Gunze Acrylic H333 - Extra dark Sea Gray, they airbrushed with Micro Gloss ready for decalling.

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And finally a shot of the aircraft with the decals and flat coat on, have tried to make the paint have a worn look like on the Duxford Aircraft, the Blackbirds were originally painted matt black but with the high skin temperature and prolonged supersonic flying hours they soon developed a grey patchy look. It's difficult to replicated without making the model just look as if its been badly painted.

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I still have some painting to do, wheel bays, inside the exhaust's variable nozzle, lights etc, but will make this my last posting here, and will post the finished model in the Aircraft Pictures in a day or two. Cheers Derek

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[backonthecase]

Looking good Derek I think you've done well with the patchy paintwork - looks convincing!

Top job!

Stuart

 

[stona]

What he said^^^^.

Very nicely judged.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Caledonia]

Thanks chaps, I appreciate your support. Cheers Derek