Boeing B-52H Stratofortress: Dr. Strangelove

The goal; with the exception of being depicted in flight mode. 

Revell #4052 (ex-Crown) B-52H early. I will assemble in-flight mode, as u/c are atrocious. I have enough spare markings to make it a generic B-52H circa early 1960s to go with my Dr. Strangelove theme.  

Wings gluing up. These are much thicker than the later Revell #4583 & #4584 wings. I do not like the joint placement, or the fictitious panel lines. 

Okay, I did some major assemblies without taking photos, and now I am trying to catch up. Stabs & tanks, base coat of satin white, with chrome silver. AGM-28 Hound Dog is partially assembled. Next up: TF-33 assembly & paint; very ugly engine fan disks! 

Here are the fuselage and wings, partial masking removed. I built up several thin layers of "satin" white and let that cure for a day or two. Except for the nose radome, no puttying of seams. Then I masked and sprayed with Kyron Premium Metallic Chrome. 

Masking tape removed and wings test fitted to fuselage to check the seam. Looks good, better than Revell fit, although panel lines and spoilers are not accurate. 

Side view with B-52G 57-6520 of 34th BS in background. I masked all the straight lines first using panel lines as a guide, then trimmed some tape using a large metal jar lid for the gentle curve up to the lower radome line on the nose. 

Stop the presses! This just arrived: Golden Dragon #GDPR44008 B-52H early for the Revell-GMBH #4052 B-52H kit. (I think they meant Revell ex-Crown #4728.) By "early," they mean late 1970s with ECM blisters, but no EVS. However, EVS's came first. 

Revell (ex-Crown) wing tanks on outside and Golden Dragon resin G/H tanks on inside. Kit tanks are larger and fatter in shape than resin tanks. I think I will go with the resin.  

Revell (ex-Crown) TF-33 engine nacelles still on the tree. The shape is none too accurate. 

Revell (ex-Crown) TF-33 engine intake fans and exhausts still on the tree. Basically ugly. 

Golden Dragon TF-33 engine intakes and exhausts. WOW! Much finer and delicate detail and the overall nacelle shape is outstanding.  

Golden Dragon TF-33 engine nacelle tops. 

Golden Dragon TF-33 engine nacelle bottoms. 

Golden Dragon B-52H "Early" nose halves with not so clear canopy (exterior view). Notice the fine detail of the reinforcing plates, various intakes and vents and the slight "step" in the radome. Nicely molded!  

Golden Dragon B-52H "Early" nose halves with not so clear canopy (interior view). Brackets are molded to receive the Revell (new mold) cockpit, but could also hold the Crown cockpit as well. Cut out in bottom is for Revell EVS panel. 

Golden Dragon B-52H "Early" 20mm turret with extension (side view). 

Golden Dragon B-52H "Early" 20mm turret with extension (end view). Upper radome has a slight hollow spot, but the 20mm rubber boot is better than the Crown molding. 

Golden Dragon engines and tanks cut from their molding blocks. Their mating surfaces will need to be sanded. 

Notice that one tank has a slightly short shot trailing edge. Otherwise all excellently molded. 

First set of TF-33 engines. These turned out the best. The intakes mated to the exhaust portions almost perfectly. Top view. 

First set bottom view. 

Second set of TF-33 engines. These intakes did not mate well to the exhaust portions, leaving gaps. Top view. 

Second set bottom view. 

Engines all puttied, cleaned up and mated to pylons. The first set of engines became the inside engines and the second set the outside engines. 

Engines & pylons, top rear view. 

Engine bottoms painted white. 

Imagine my surprise to discover that 7/8 inch wide blue masking tape is the exact width I needed to mask the anti-flash areas. I trimmed each piece square, then folded in half before applying to the center of the nacelle undersides and leveled the sides. 

Engines glued to each wing. Had a little difficulty getting the pylons to seat all the way into the wing slot. Next time I will glue the pylons to the wing before painting, then add the engine pods. Wing tanks are next. 

Wings & tail glued on. Still have to paint anti-glare panel in front of cockpit and paint the nose radome a very light tan. 

I added a little "up" pressure on the wing tips with two clothes pins, thereby ensuring no gap on the top of the wing-fuselage seam. 

Wing tanks on. First AGM-28 ready for putty. 

Anti-glare painted flat black; radome painted light tan, and windscreen painted gloss white (all I had). Will mount tomorrow, when everything is dry. Decals are next! 

AGM-28 Hound Dogs with first coat of white paint.  

Finally complete. I am calling this one done! Well, almost done! 

B-52H, 60-0008, 843rd Bomb Wing, Burpleson AFB, "The Leper Colony," Maj Kong, Pilot, circa 1963. 

Port cockpit close up. 

Port tail close up. 

Stbd nose close up.  

Right 3/4 front view.  

Bottom view. No markings present on early B-52s. Some B-52s had the anti-flash white cover the entire lower wing, but not all! 

I removed the canopy and cut to size some Scalemaster black stripe (width E) and applied it the the back edge of the framing. Looks pretty convincing! 

There! Windscreen all fixed! Stbd view. 

Front view. What do you think?  

Port view. 

Hound Dogs decalled and ready to launch. 

An early B-52H as it should appear: with a AGM-28 Hound Dog missile under each wing and two unseen Mk 6 thermonuclear bombs in the bomb bay, flying airborne alert and holding at its fail safe point, with Major Kong as the pilot in command of the "Leper Colony." 

Completed!