AREA 88 : "Break The Big Leg" (B-1B)

That's a pretty big box! 

That’s probably because the sprues in the box are quite large as well... 

This time, let's start with the cockpit... painted two shades of grey. 

Seats and pilots painted, control panel decal applied...looks alright. 

Looks like everyhing fits... the black dash sits a bit low for my liking, but I’m not going to worry about it. Once the window is masked and painted, very little will be visible anyway. 

Now for the engines, drilled holes for the LEDs. The fit was a bit tight, but not really a problem. 

Next up is wiring up the LEDs for the afterburners. With a 5v power supply, we’ll need some resistors. 180ohms should work fine. 

Looks like they’ll fit. Time for some paint. 

Thought about painting the wires, but there’s no need. They won’t be seen. 

Huzzah! We have light! Maybe a bit too much judging by how it’s shining through the plastic. 

Time to wire up the insides. Have to make sure the wires don't obstruct the swing of the wings. 

interior painted black to prevent see-through. 

glued the rest of the fuselage together. Don't tell anyone I forgot to put the caps on the wing pivots...  

Quick check to make sure the lights still work... thankfully they do! 

Windows masked, first round of putty, sanding and a coat of paint complete... needs more work. 

Nothing like an early preview release. No doubt where this box came from! 

The sprues... are fabulous! 

...and there's lots of them! 

Started cutting out the big pieces. 

Have to sort out the cockpit and the engines again. Luckily I saved the electronics. 

Not really sure what colour to paint the engine interiors... Tamiya Dark Iron seemed a good bet. 

Engine interiors assembled and wire holes drilled out. 

The control panel decals are awesome! 

Cockpit assembled, Saki and his co-pilot are seated and ready for takeoff. 

Main assembly just waiting on a bit of sanding on the engine nacelles. 

Engines sanded and the main fuselage is assembled. 

A few more extras. I’m not sure there’s enough bombs... 😉 

Ok. Good. The lights still work. Whew! 

Masking on the canopy... I’m in love with die-cut masks! 

Under shading done... let’s hope this works. 

A few coats of white paint, and voila! The shading is there, but subtle... I’m calling it a win. 

The panel line wash was much easier with these fine details. 

Mounted and ready to go! I had a bit of trouble with wrinkles on the base decal, but no one will notice, right? 

Now for the decals! 

Decals on... a few bubbles here and there, but I think I can smooth them out. 

The decals really make this baby pop! 

Lights all wired up... afterburners are go! 

And there's the family group picture.