Hasegawa 1/72 B-47 "Stratojet"
Hi everyone!
This is my Hasegawa !/72 Stratojet, built about a dozen years ago.
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The primary mission of the B-47 was as a nuclear bomber capable of striking targets within the Soviet Union.
During 1951, the B-47 entered operational service with the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), quickly becoming a mainstay of its bomber strength by the late 1950s. Over 2,000 were manufactured to meet the Air Force's extensive demands, driven by the tensions of the Cold War. The B-47 was in service as a strategic bomber until 1965, at which point it had largely been supplanted by more capable aircraft, such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. However, the B-47 was also adapted to perform a number of other roles and functions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, and weather reconnaissance. While never seeing combat as a bomber, reconnaissance RB-47s would occasionally come under fire near to or within Soviet air space. The type remained in service as a reconnaissance aircraft until 1969; a handful served as flying testbeds up until 1977.
This is the old school Hase kit, originating in 1968. Mine was a 1975 copy. The overal shape is good but details are somehow sparse, especially at the cockpit which is very prominent. Assembly was straightforward with relatively good fit, the occasional puttying here and there. Typically, some attention must be paid in installing the underwing engines. Painting was aluminum topsides (no multishading) with white undersides. Decals were yellowed but otherwise useable. I taped them beside a window facing the strong summer Greek sun and after a couple of days - voila! - the yellowness disappeared!...so I used them and presented no problems. As you can see, though, time has taken its toll and they have yellowed again.
All in all, size apart, is a simple build and if you take your time during assembly and painting, you will get the job succesfully done
What a beautiful plane! I had a lot of fun building her.
You can see her in my last pic side by side with my 1/72 B-36. What a pair!
Happy modeling!
17 additional images. Click to enlarge.
bob mack said on April 5, 2020
that is a stark raving gorgeous build
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 5, 2020
Thanks Bob!
Rob Anderson said on April 5, 2020
Wow that's beautiful. This kit is on my bucket list.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 5, 2020
Thanks Rob. It is unbelievable a bomber could be such a sleek beauty!
Tom Cleaver said on April 5, 2020
This is one of the very best models from this severely-deficient kit (it defeated me 30 years ago) I have ever seen. Just marvelous work, Spiros. If I could "like" it 10 times, I would.
The most beautiful multi-engine jet ever made and you have really caught it.
PS: That B-36 also looks excellent - again, another kit that's not so easy to get to such a good point.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 5, 2020
Thanks Very much,Tom!
Haslam Yeoman said on April 5, 2020
Great build.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks you very much Haslam!
John Healy said on April 6, 2020
Nice to see this built too, Spiro.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks John!
Dan Lee said on April 6, 2020
NMF planes always stand out. Excellent job on a big kit. You must have gone through a lot of metallic paint to finish it.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thank you very much Dan! A lot of paint I DID went through. But can you imagine the amount taken for the B-36?
All the best!
Roland Sachsenhofer said on April 6, 2020
What a beautiful build, my friend! A delight to look at and study!
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thank you very much, my friend!
Tom Bebout said on April 6, 2020
Wow a big shiny bird. Nicely done Spiros.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks a lot Tom!
Scott Snow said on April 6, 2020
Very nicely done Spiros. I can actually visualize Jimmy Stewart at the controls.
Cheers,
Scott
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks Scott! I can visualise him too!
Colin Gomez said on April 6, 2020
Nice B-47, Spiros. Very smooth metal finish. The yellowing decal issue you mentioned isn't too obvious. For what it's worth, I have had good results lifting troublesome decals off with Tamiya tape. It is just tacky enough to pull them off without marring the paint. Any ghost image for the old decal buffs off with a 2000 grit sanding stick. The technique has saved a couple of my projects after the painting and clear coating stages.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks for the comments and for the info, Colin. I might give a try...
Robert Royes said on April 6, 2020
Looks great! Right out of Strategic Air Command.
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thanks Robert!
Greg Kittinger said on April 6, 2020
Great job on this! I recently got rid of my -47 - decided to trim some of the larger items from my stash to save on storage space in my display cabinets!
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 6, 2020
Thank you Greg! A true modeler's storage space will never be enough!
All the best, my friend!
Alex said on April 7, 2020
Knowing how difficult it is to manage metallic paint; well done and super clean. Bravo!
Impressed about the size of the landing gears :-O
Spiros Pendedekas said on April 7, 2020
Thanks Alex! Glad you like her!